Saga of Old City by Gary Gygax

Author:Gary Gygax
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781931275996
Publisher: Chenault & Gray Llc
Published: 2008-04-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

The searching guards could be no more than fifty feet from the place now. Within a very short time, light from a torch or a lantern would reveal the form of the would-be escapee, even though the webs above and around Evaleigh were very thick. Gord wished there was room for him to turn around, but he knew the cylinder was barely wide enough for forward progress.

"Try drawing up your legs and pushing with your boots!" Gord called over his shoulder to her as loudly as he dared. "Push your forearms tight against the walls to anchor them and hunch your body ahead wiggle-wise!" he added. Then he moved ahead a bit to see if there was any place that might afford him space to reverse himself and lend a hand.

A big bug of some sort plopped on the back of his neck just then, and Gord reacted with an involuntary sweep of his hand to remove the vermin before it bit him. His hand did its work, and he was surprised to notice that it did not make contact with any surface above his head. In a flash Gord rolled over, and with his back to the floor reached upward. There was a square, vertical shaft here, and it allowed him to rise cautiously erect. Once upright he turned, lowered himself until he was again on his stomach, and now found himself in a position to crawl back toward Evaleigh.

"Oh!" Evaleigh said, startled at first contact with his hand.

Before she could utter anything else, Gord grabbed her by the upper arms and yanked her toward him. He worked backward down the pipe a short distance, enough to straighten out his arms, and pulled her toward him again. She was well clear of the constricting entrance now, and able to move on her own, so Gord merely backed a bit further, stood up once again in the shaft he had discovered, and quickly climbed upward a couple of feet.

"Gord! Where are you?" Evaleigh whispered into the darkness.

"Pssst! Ahead! I'm in a shaft that goes up. When you hear me clearly, use your hand to find the opening above your head," he instructed the frightened girl. "I'll keep talking, and I'll climb up farther so you'll be able to stand in here, too…. Are you at the place yet?"

Gord heard her moving directly beneath him. "Yes, I'm going to stand up now," she said. "But I can't climb!"

"I'll help, so don't worry—we're as good as free now!" Actually, Gord had no idea where the shaft would lead, or if they would ever escape, but here was a chance. This was no time for doubts!

There was a good foothold just a couple of feet up into the shaft, and using this advantage, the young man braced himself and reached down between his feet to where he felt Evaleigh's hands grasping at his booted legs in a desperate attempt to move upward in the chimney. As the sounds of the search in

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