Her destination was about eight feet off the ground. Six feet off the ground and her arms shook with the strain, her abs screamed, and her legs trembled. It looked so much easier when the forest people did this.
Every inch she gained required a herculean amount of effort and sapped her strength further. She was breathing hard by the time she was within a foot of the top. Sweat dripped down her neck as she paused within inches of reaching her destination.
She hadn’t considered what she would do once she got to the top.
At the moment, she was using the chain to anchor herself above the ground, but once she slipped it over the top, there would be nothing holding her in place. She would fall. Probably make a lot of noise and be recaptured in short order.
The chain rattled as she forced it higher. She didn’t care. She’d come all this way and wasn’t about to quit now. As the chain slipped over the top, Shea lost her balance. Her arms jerked over her head as they were caught by the chain’s anchor. She dangled several feet above the ground.
Wondering why she hadn’t plummeted straight to the ground, she looked up to find the loop caught on the top of the post.
If Fallon came in right this minute, he’d see what she was up to, and she didn’t really want to think about what would happen next. Not after Paul’s beating.
Setting a foot against the pole, she pushed off and tried to jerk the chain free. The scrape of metal against wood was as loud as a shout in the enclosed space. Once again, she checked to make sure nobody was coming before trying again.
Using her core, she tried to jack knife up and away. With a crack the chain slithered loose, and Shea landed on her back. The impact forced the breath from her lungs. She blinked up at the ceiling as she gulped at the suddenly thin air.
Rolling onto her elbows, she looked at the partition again. She was surprised no one had come to investigate yet. That fall, especially, should have drawn some attention.
She climbed to her feet and gathered the chain up, not wanting it to drag behind her. Perhaps they had lost interest in her now that they thought they had won.
Either way, it was a little early to be getting cocky. There was no exit back here and with how tight this tent was strung, there would be no crawling under the canvas.
She ran her fingertips along the slightly rough texture of the fabric. Perhaps she could cut her way out.
Damon discovered her knife the second day when he finally searched her for weapons. By the third day, she had secured a semi sharp rock and then upgraded to a dagger one of the men forgot in his rush to pack when he overslept. She might have had a hand in his lack of sleep the night before. Who knew the sound of fog koyots would keep him up all night? The creatures were harmless as long as you didn’t approach their young.
The dagger wasn’t as sharp as her previous knife, but it was better than trying to open a hole using just her fingernails. She picked a spot she hoped wouldn’t be seen by anybody entering the front of the tent.
She stabbed, but the blade resisted cutting into the fabric. She pushed harder until she opened a small slit before attempting a downwards slice. When that didn’t work, she sawed at the canvas.
When the hole was big enough, she peeled one edge back and looked out. The back of another tent greeted her. She peeked out the other side and saw the same. Good. Nobody would raise an immediate cry when she slipped out.
For a moment she hesitated, looking back at the room. The maps were still in the enemies’ possession. She didn’t like the idea of leaving them behind. Unfortunately, she had been supervised every time they had given her access to her bag and hadn’t wanted to chance trying to slip the maps out of their secret compartment.
But if she didn’t escape now, she didn’t know if there would be another chance. She would just have to trust the code on the map was strong enough to keep its contents secret. Maybe she could figure out a way to come back for them later.
There was movement on the other side of the partition as the men stood to greet a newcomer.
Time was up.
Shea gathered the chain and slipped one leg through the hole. The rest of her body slid after it.
Outside, she rose to her feet and looked cautiously around, keeping her back pressed against the tent. Her luck held.
She released the breath she had been holding.
The tents backed into each other, leaving only a foot or two between them to create a small alley. The ropes used to secure the tents created an obstacle course that only someone as thin and small as Shea could fit through easily.
She smiled. Perfect.
She moved stealthily along the alley, being careful whenever she came to the end of one tent and the start of another. Knowing her escape could be discovered at any moment, she took a few turns so nobody following her creative exit would be able to immediately see her by stepping through the hole she’d left.
Minutes after she made the second turn shouts rose from the direction she’d escaped from. She sped up, lightly leaping over one of the ropes and ducking under the next.
“Go that way; I’ll go this way,” a voice said from three rows back and slightly to the right of her.
She ducked down another alley, ran past a few tents and abruptly burst onto a road. Eyes turned her way as people stopped and stared. She didn’t pause, crossing to the other side and ducking between two tents. She slid past barriers as voices babbled behind her.
Not long after, she caught a glimpse of a figure crossing three tents in front of her. She slid to a stop, backtracked to the last alley and ran in the opposite direction.
“Here!”
Shea looked behind and saw a burly man at the end of her row turn and beckon for others to follow. Crap.
She zigzagged between the tents, darting across another road and down another long alley.
Several men were hunting her now. It wouldn’t be long until they cornered her. All it would take was for the men to come at her from several directions and then she’d be caught. Again.
With her coloring and these clothes, she was too noticeable.
The manacles on her wrists probably didn’t help her blend in either.
Night wasn’t far off, but there was still plenty of fading light. If she could only last until nightfall, she might have a chance.
The next road she happened upon was mostly empty in both directions. Nobody noticed as she slipped from shadow to shadow.
She needed a hiding place until the peopled chasing her passed. Maybe take that time to come up with an alternate plan. She cast a desperate look around, noticing a campfire with several blacksmith tools and a small tent beside it. It appeared empty.
Not pausing to think and praying like hell her luck would hold, she darted beneath the flaps and pressed her back to the side of the entrance. Seconds later, several men spilled out of a break in the tents. She could hear them running and imagined them peering down the gaps between the tents. She held her breath and prayed they didn’t think to start checking in the tents.
“Do you see her?”
“No.”
“Where’d she go?”
“She’ll be in the wind if you lot don’t stop flapping your jaws,” a man snapped. “You and you, go that way. You, head down this road before heading into the tents. You three go back the way we came, and see if she doubled back and is hiding. You, head to the outer perimeter and let the guards know to be on the lookout for a woman in her mid-twenties with light brown hair. They’re to detain but not hurt her.”