she was being kept. 'Mac's old room, actually. The door's not locked as far as I can tell, but he's got Wolf-Barry on guard outside.'
'Has she… has anything…' I couldn't quite bring myself to put my fears into words.
'I only found out where she was this morning, and as far as I know no-one's been in to see her since. But I don't know about last night, Lee.'
I didn't want to think about what Mac might have done to her. I recalled the mysterious bruise on Mac's cheek.
Norton handed me the two Brownings that he'd hidden for me and I pocketed them both.
'Right, we need to get Wolf-Barry away from that door. I need to get in there.'
'I might have an idea how we can do that,' said Norton. 'You might even call it a plot. But how are you going to manage? You can barely walk.'
I lifted my good leg off the wheelchair rest and placed it on the floor, levering myself upright. I gingerly put my bad leg down and allowed it to take the tiniest fraction of my weight. Not so bad. A bit more. Bearable. I tried a step and it was like someone had shoved a hot metal bar straight through my calf. I grunted in pain and clenched my jaw. But I could do it. I had to.
Norton looked at me doubtfully.
'Piece of cake,' I lied.
With the arrival of winter the school had become bitterly cold, and fires were kept burning in most grates throughout the day. Norton snuck into the dorm along the corridor from where Matron was being kept and nudged one of the logs out of the grate and onto the floor where it began to smoulder on the old waxed floorboard. The dorm door was open so we were counting on Wolf-Barry smelling the fire and raising the alarm before it really took hold. Last thing we wanted was to burn the school down.
Norton wafted the fumes towards the door then nipped out the dorm's back door and down the fire escape. It didn't take long for Wolf-Barry to cotton on, and he ran off shouting. I had managed to hop my way up the back stairs and as soon as he was out of sight I pushed open the stairwell door and hopped to Matron's room. I tried to ignore the blood that was beginning to trickle down my wounded leg, and the spots that were appearing at the edge of my vision.
I pushed the door – not locked, thank Christ – and lurched into the room. It was only my unsteady footing that saved me from receiving a floorboard to the face.
'Hey, hey, it's me, Lee,' I whispered urgently.
Matron was stood just inside the door holding her improvised weapon. Her face was one big bruise. One eye was swollen shut, her lips were blue and bulbous. There was blood underneath her nose, which bulged where I think it had been broken. Her clothes were torn, too. She was breathing hard and her teeth were bared and bloody.
'What kept you, Lee? Come to take your turn?'
No time to dwell on what that implies. Focus. Concentrate. Things to do.
'Matron, we need to get you out of here now.'
'And why should I trust you? They told me, you're his loyal second-in-command now!' She was fighting back tears, her words coming out in a furious mix of anger and pain.
There was no time to explain myself. The corridor would be swarming in seconds. I pulled one of the handguns from my pocket and held it out to her.
'Take it.'
She looked down at it, confused.
'Take it!'
She dropped the floorboard, grabbed the gun and then looked up at me. I couldn't read the expression on her wrecked face.
'Now come on!' I grabbed her hand and turned, gently pushing the door open as I did so. But we'd lingered too long. There was already a crowd of boys arguing over which colour of fire extinguisher they should use. Norton was nearest the door, bathed in a dim orange light, trying to take control but also keeping an eye out for our escape. Not only was he providing a distraction for us, he wanted to be closest to the danger, didn't want anyone else getting burnt because of his actions. My admiration for him grew hugely.
I pulled Matron behind me and dashed for the stairwell. We feel through the door and it closed behind us. We'd made it unseen.
It was only when I stopped inside the door that I realised I had run along the landing. Adrenalin is a great painkiller, but I knew I'd pay for that later. I could hear footsteps coming up the stairs below us; someone taking the back route to the fire. Matron and I flew down the flight of stairs and flung ourselves through the door of the next floor down, just in time to avoid being seen.
My leg buckled underneath me, and Matron helped me along the corridor to the San, which was almost directly beneath the burning dormitory. Smoke was beginning to seep through the ceiling from above.
'We don't have much time,' I said. 'Someone will be coming to get me to safety soon. They can't find you here and they mustn't suspect that I can walk yet. Help me into bed.' Matron did so, and her hands came away from my leg covered in blood. She gasped.
'Lee, you must let me see to this, you could be crippled.'
'No time. Now take the gun and go. Run. Find somewhere and hole up. This school isn't safe for you any more and I can't deal with Mac if he has you hostage. So go, please.'
She hefted the Browning. Then she popped out the clip, checked it was loaded, slammed it home, cocked the gun, chambered a round and slipped off the safety catch. She knew exactly what she was doing. How the hell was a boarding school matron so familiar with a firearm?
'I'm not going anywhere.' She was breathing hard and even through the bruises there was no mistaking the look of fury and determination on her face.
'And what are you going to do?' I demanded. 'Shoot them all? You don't stand a chance. There are six of them, not to mention Mac, and after what they've done do you think they'll hesitate to shoot you? This school needs you – I need you – to be safe, so that when we finally get rid of that fucker you're there to help us pick up the pieces.'
Her eyes burned with hatred, but I could see she was beginning to hesitate. I pressed my advantage.
'If you go after him now you'll be dead within the hour. Or worse – locked up again. Please, just run.'
She hesitated, her hand upon my arm. If I'd been in her shoes I don't know if I'd have been able to beat down the desire for vengeance, but somehow I got through to her. I looked up at her ruined face and saw tears of frustration welling out of her swollen eyes.
I had so much I wanted to say to her but this was not the time.
'Please, Jane, just run. Be safe.'
She leaned down and kissed me gently on the lips.
'You too,' she said, and ran out the door.
I thought she'd make straight for freedom, but once again I'd underestimated her determination. In fact she took refuge in a deserted classroom until the early hours of the morning and then crept out to implement her plan.
The boys were sleeping in five dorms of about ten each, and each dorm had one officer sleeping there as well, as a deterrent against night-time escape attempts. But the four girls who had taken shelter at the school slept in their own dorm, along with the old aunt and one grandmother. They were unguarded and in a different part of Castle to the boys.
Under cover of darkness Matron snuck in, woke them, got their bags packed and provided armed escort as they slipped silently out of the school and into the night. Although prepared to forgo her revenge, she nonetheless ensured that no other girl or woman would have to endure what she had.
When I found out about Matron's night raid I couldn't help but smile. She was certainly audacious. I didn't want to think about where she and the girls were going or how they'd fare. All I knew was that they were safer elsewhere, and were one less factor I had to consider when it came to planning Mac's downfall.
However, I needed Matron's medical skills more than ever; my leg was wrecked. The stitches had split, the wound was oozing blood and the pain was unspeakable. I started to worry about things like gangrene and amputation. I did the best I could to sort myself out with antiseptic, fresh stitches and dressings.
