Jemma and the Raven by B. D. Reeves

Author:B. D. Reeves [Reeves, B. D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Junedog Press
Published: 2023-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

THE LAST PLATEAU

There were no windows in the cell. When the door slammed behind her Jemma crawled to the corner. She pulled herself up, kicking the wall until the realisation of helplessness descended in a wave of drowsiness, and she slid down to the floor and lay on the freezing stone, hugging her satchel to her chest. She wanted to cry, to shout, but what was the use?

Follow the water.

Jemma listened. The sound of a trickling drain, coming from somewhere in the opposite corner of the cell. She traced along the walls until she felt the first patches of damp. And then a vein seemed to glitter on the walls. The Queen spoke true. The stone glowed, and Jemma saw what it revealed – a trail of water.

Above her was the opening where the pipe came into the cave. She could see it clearly now. The surface of the wall was rough and grooved, enough for her to get a purchase with the tips of her nails, but her feet kept slipping down. Then she found a deeper ledge and pulled herself through to the opening of the pipe, pushing her satchel out in front. It was as far as she could go.

‘Edgar!’ she called as loudly as she could. Her voice echoed through the tunnels. She called again, ‘Edgar!’ and heard something up ahead, the flutter of wings.

‘Where are you?’ It was Edgar’s voice.

‘Here! This way – hurry!’

Then she saw his shadow. He flew along the water pipe.

‘I am sorry,’ he said. ‘I’ve led you not to safety, but to danger. I’ve been tearing my feathers out searching these tunnels.’

‘I think they’re coming,’ Jemma said.

Gripping the edges of the pipe, she tried to slide in.

‘Yes, they are certainly coming. I can hear them in the passage. Hurry.’ Edgar pulled on the strap of her bag. ‘They are going to flush the pipes.’

‘I can’t move.’

‘You must.’

‘It’s no use. I can’t!’

He pecked her on the hand and the short, sharp pain produced a final burst of energy. She reached again into the tunnel, clawing at the rock. There were muffled shouts coming from the passage behind. If the Queen had deceived her Advisors, it had not been for long. Jemma pulled with all her might, boring her fingers into the stone. She was nearly there, heaving and wriggling, when the cell door opened and, a moment later, someone grabbed hold of her foot. Edgar took the strap in his beak, this time hooking it over a sharp ledge.

‘Pull on the bag!’ he said.

Jemma took hold, kicking wildly, feeling a crack of bone against her heel. It was enough to release her foot and she scrambled up the passage.

Edgar led the way into the darkness as a hollow, gurgling sound came from somewhere up above.

‘They’ve released the water,’ Edgar said. ‘This way. Quickly!’

He went ahead but Jemma remembered: ‘Go to the right.’

They turned, just as a jet of water came gushing past.

‘Don’t stop,’ Edgar said. ‘We must be getting close.’

They climbed vertically through the jagged tunnel, until they reached an opening to the caves in the cliff top.

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