The Tower Grave (25 page)

             
“We think we got in ok. We’ve just got to be fast.”

             
“I understand. Go to the end of the corridor, down the stairs and then back on yourself. Open the third door on the left and you’ll find what you’re looking for. I’ll stay here unless anyone comes.”

             
“Thank you,” Jake said sincerely before trotting down the corridor with Chris in tow.

             
“I can’t believe how connected that man must be,” the young technician said over his rattling chain-mail as he followed on behind.

             
“Starkes?” Jake asked. “Tell me about it. Dangerous man if you ask me.”

             
As they hit the bottom of the dark stairs, hurried footsteps cluttered down from behind, burst between them and nearly knocked them from their feet as a distant voice sounded above.

             
“Sykes? Where are you?” called Sergeant Rogers at the top of the stairs. Sykes almost slipped to his backside as he flew to the bottom of the stairs and turned to talk to them.

             
“It’s Rogers,” he said, panting. “He wouldn’t be back without reason. If he’s in a small group, he’s kept it to himself. If he’s with a mob, you’re screwed. Let me lock you in a cell to hide you.”

             
“Not a chance,” Jake replied. “No offence, but I don’t trust anyone and there is no way I am putting myself in a cage to be captured.”

             
“But I can’t be implicated.”

             
“Say we forced you.”

             
“They’ll kill you.”

             
“Then we’ll have to fight. It’s better than you being implicated for helping.”

             
“Please, you must hide.”

             
“No,” Jake replied firmly as he drew his sword at the shadowed footsteps approaching on the stairs.

             
“Well look at this,” said Rogers as he stepped into their sight. “I thought I recognised you, Rougemont. Welcome to our dungeon. Sykes? What a surprise.” Two more soldiers stepped down behind him, and though Jake was watching, they appeared to be the last. Waiting to confirm no one else was coming; Jake took a breath and went with his instincts. He lifted his sword and pointed it to Sykes’ neck.

             
“He’s under my control,” he said calmly. “Back away now or I’ll run him through.”

             
“Kill him,” Rogers replied smugly. “You’ll do me a favour. I’m sick of him anyway, and then you’ll be outnumbered. So do it, then surrender.”

             
Jake smiled at him without seeing the small hammer hurtle through the gloom from one of the two soldiers at the stairs. It slammed into his armoured chest and thumped him from his feet leaving him helpless. He was protected by the metal plates, but winded from the impact as it thundered into his ribs and forced him down.

             
Rogers sprang forward with his sword held high and barged Chris to the wall as he ran out to stop him. With a clear path to the struggling Jake, he swung his sword and stepped forward for the blow. The moment hung still in time for Jake lying helpless before them. Roger’s eyes glowed with malice in the firelight and he yelled as he swung his sword down and caught the sword of Sykes directly in his gut. He froze as blood spilled from his mouth and his face stared grotesquely in pain and shock.

             
“I do my own favours,” Sykes whispered as he twisted the sword slowly. He looked into the eyes of his dying rival and tried to pull out the sword before they finally glazed over and he dropped dead to the stone. As he fell, he trapped the sword beneath him and caused Sykes to stumble as it was pulled in his hand. Jake got to his feet as the two soldiers ran at them. Chris was knocked from his feet and fought from the ground as Sykes tried to pull the sword from beneath the body and looked up in panic at the approaching blade. Jake tried to get to both of them but as he tackled the soldier over Chris, the unprotected Sykes was struck by the remaining soldier’s blade through his neck. Jake could only watch in horror as the big Sergeant cluttered to the floor and his own opponent dropped out cold on the steps behind him. Jake watched the remaining soldier as he stood over Sykes with his sword dripping with the big sergeant’s blood. He raised his sword as Chris clambered up next to him and lifted his own. The soldier looked them over for a moment and then down at his dead colleagues before dropping his sword on the floor with a clang.

             
“Sensible,” said Jake, walking up to him and crashing his sword hilt against his head.

             
“Thanks, mate, you saved my life,” said Chris as he stepped up to the soldier to help Jake drag his limp form away.

             
“Well now we’re even after you saved mine when we got here,” Jake replied. “So, third on the left...”

             
Glancing together at the silence, Chris opened the door and found John and a peasant standing there with relief on their faces.

             
“Thank god it’s you!” John shouted as he ran out and embraced them both.

             
“It’s so good to see you, John,” Chris replied, hugging him tight and making him cry out at the sores on his ribs. “Sorry,” he added.

             
“Don’t worry, they’ll heal. Great to see you too
,
mate,” he replied smiling and turned to Jake. “How on god’s earth did you manage to get in here?”

             
Jake laughed.

             
“It’s a long story, but it’s not over yet. Get a uniform on and let’s go.”

             
“Have you got two?”

             
Jake looked over at Brierly who stood there nervously as he recognised him and then down at the soldiers lying silently on the floor.

             
“Absolutely,” he said, smiling.

             
After changing into uniform and dragging the bodies into their cell, John covered Sykes with his robe, whispered his thanks to the man who saved his life more than once, and then stepped out to lock the door. They walked in thought with their nerves building as they paced the dark, foul-smelling corridor until they met the table and Chris broke the silence.

             
“He reckoned if Rogers was in a small group then no one else would know about us.”

             
“It was that Rogers’ watch when I was caught.”

             
“He’s probably right then,” Jake replied. “The bastard didn’t want a reputation. We just have to act normal. If we’re stopped, tell them we’ve been sent to the gate by Rogers who is fuming and down there with Sykes. They won’t find them until we’re long gone. What do you think, John? Are you ok?”

             
Yeah,” he said, nodding for a moment. “I’m fine; it was just that seeing that interrogation room brought back some feelings. You’re right though, that’s a good plan. I just need to get out of here. What about the gate?”

             
“It should be sorted.”

             
“Great. So no tunnels?”

             
“No tunnels.”

             
Jake led them up the stairs and out of the upper door into the cool, silent air. John took a deep, relieving breath at his first supply of fresh air in days, and they turned and marched as four soldiers towards the gate. They couldn’t believe their luck. The street in the Tower was empty and Jake’s confidence began to rise as he saw only a single guard at the gate.

             
“Shit,” Chris whispered, interrupting his thoughts. “That’s a different guard.”

             
“Are you sure?” Jake replied, wincing through the darkness. “It’s definitely not the second bloke from before?”

             
“No, he’s definitely different. What do you want me to do?”

             
“Approach nicely, then overpower him and get out before he’s spotted. We’ll have to do him and hide him in that room. Shit, I hate killing these soldiers.”

             
But as they walked on, they began to see the group of a further six or seven soldiers standing nearby to the side of the gate discussing something between them.

             
“Change of plan,” Jake whispered. “Don’t attack, just be quiet.”

             
Their hearts beat like drums as they approached the soldier and he turned to face them smiling. A couple of the other guards glanced at them then carried on with their conversation as they approached.

             
“Alright lads?” the soldier said. “Where have you been sent to?”

             
“Fucking Rogers has sent us out to patrol outside, the bastard. Reckons he’s suspicious of something. He’s an idiot.”

             
“He’s such a fool. I hate his whims and moans that we all have to bow down to.”

             
“Tell me about it. Well, hopefully he’ll fall down some stairs tonight,” Jake added as he walked past to the gate.

             
John had kept his head down but as he heard the soldier chuckle at Jake’s comment, his mind raced with memory and he looked up involuntarily to see his torturer standing before him. His head snapped towards the young guard and the two locked eyes for a moment before recognition dawned on the soldier’s face and he screamed.

             
“Imposter!” he shouted as John punched him from his feet and the roar of men from behind told them they’d been spotted. They turned to face six soldiers running them down with their long blades drawn and tried to react in time to their charge.

             
As they drew their own swords, a crossbow bolt flew past John’s ear and struck a soldier in the throat, dropping him dead. His confidence rose slightly, but Chris’ second shot never came before the final five soldiers met them in a crash of metal.

             
Charlotte’s stomach dropped as she heard the noise inside the walls and the soldier she stood teasingly in front of shook out of his state of hypnosis.

             
“Shit!” he said, pushing her away. “I’ve got to get in there.”

             
“Leave them,” she said trying to block his way. “I’m ready now, honey.”

             
“Get out of my way, you stupid whore. I’m going in and you’ve gone and stitched me up! Move now.” He pushed her away again, making her stumble slightly.

             
In anger, she switched to her alternative plan and kicked him hard to the front of his knee. He buckled in agony and pulled a knife from his waist as he stumbled up to face her. She struck him hard in the face with a punch, then stepped back and kicked him in his bleeding nose, dropping him to his side to lie still in the dirt.

             
Inside the gate, the violence was desperate as the trained soldiers faced an unbalanced array of fighters. As Jake dropped one man in seconds, two more faced his whirlwind of anger in a rapid series of defensive blocks. John was left fighting one man evenly while the last soldier occupied both Chris and Brierly who swung at him like alley cats in a street fight. As quickly as it had started it had ended as Jake ran through both his adversaries in quick succession, John dropped his man with a strike of his sword hilt and Brierly managed to stab the groin of the soldier he faced with Chris.

             
They paused and glanced around themselves panting, surveying the lives they’d taken and amazed to see each other alive. A whistle shot past John’s ear from the other direction and cluttered off the wall behind him as a shout sounded from the high inner turrets. The thud of heavy feet echoed around a corner between the two defensive walls as the four men, feeling lucky to be alive, dived for the gate and out into the dark, public streets of London.

             
“Are you ok?” asked Charlotte with growing relief, as they ran out of the gate one by one.

             
“All fine,” Jake replied quickly. “Looks like you are too,” he added, smiling down at the burly soldier lying sprawled at her feet.

She giggled back as she fell in with them and ran from the Tower into the shadows,
collecting David as they went. They split into groups of three and the sounds of voices in pursuit trickled off as they wound their way back to their new lodgings in the darkness.

Twenty-T
hree

              Jake stood hunched over as Charlotte prised the mail suit from his body and laid it next to Brierly who sat on the floor, struggling to remove his own. She grinned at him and helped him pull it free as he nodded shyly in thanks to the lone female in a family who can break prisoners out of the Tower of London. As a security measure with Chris out of the building as well, they had hidden their equipment in advance and as such were able to bring the surprise that was Richard Brierly back home with them.