The goblin was too short to climb up on his own. I was seriously tempted just to leave him there. It would certainly have made things a lot simpler, that’s for sure!
But I gritted my teeth in annoyance and started unraveling the spider’s web. I had to help the goblin, otherwise Kli-Kli would never forgive me for abandoning him, and he’d throw a fit of hysterics right there under the wall.
“Hold on to the rope,” I hissed, lowering the spider’s web.
A shadow appeared beside me. It was Ell.
“Why the delay?”
“That damned goblin’s showed up! Kli-Kli, set one foot above the other!”
“That’s … what … I’m … doing!” the jester panted. Of course, he wasn’t getting anywhere, just swaying from side to side, like a sack full of stones.
I tightened my grip on the rope, at the same time trying to keep my balance on the wall. The slightest deviation to the right or the left, and those spikes were waiting for me.
“Let me help,” said Ell. And he gave me a hand, ignoring the spikes.
What a sight! Two shadows standing on a wall, trying to pull up a third. Fortunately for us, there was no moon or stars, and no spectators, otherwise we would have been in really big trouble.
Eventually Kli-Kli appeared on the top of the wall, panting hard.
“What are you doing here, goblin?” Ell’s tone of voice wasn’t exactly friendly.
“Obvious, isn’t it? I’m taking a breath of fresh air. Why do they build such high walls around here? I wouldn’t have bothered to come if I’d known. The villains! It’s incredible! They deserve to be robbed just for that!”
“Leave the talk until we get down!” I said, stepping over the spikes.
The elf flitted down like a silent, weightless shadow and stood below me.
I had to hang on with my hands, on the other side of the wall, then open my fingers and drop onto the grass. Of course, I could have jumped, like Ell, but what for? Why risk my legs when there was no need? It would really mess things up if I broke anything.
Kli-Kli was still sniffling up on the wall.
“Kli-Kli!”
“Coming!” the goblin squealed, and came crashing down on top of me.
I managed to stretch my arms out and catch him just in time.
“And now explain what you’re doing here!” said Ell, moving closer.
“I’m helping Harold. And don’t you look at me like that, you’ll drill a hole right through me.”
“He’ll stick to you no matter what we do, right, thief?” Ell said with a thoughtful glance at Kli-Kli.
“Only as far as the house,” the goblin assured Ell hastily. “Just what were you thinking of doing?”
“Tying you up.”
“I am the royal jester, and I will not allow any tusky-mouthed elf to tie me up! I’m warning you! I’ll bite and I’ll scream!”
“I’m wasting time with you two,” I exclaimed angrily. “You can discuss what to do next without me!”
“All right, let him go with you.” The elf had only two ways out of the situation. He could slit the goblin’s throat, or let him go. “But remember, Kli-Kli, if anything happens, I’ll personally skin you alive.”
“No need for threats … I get the idea. Anything happens, and I’m done for!”
“Good luck, Harold, we won’t be far away.”
“What’s happening with the patrols?”
It was very dark that night under the thick crowns of the trees, but I thought I saw Ell grin.
“We took out three of them, so the west wing’s free.” The yellow-eyed elf picked up his powerful crook- backed bow off the grass.
Fewer guards meant fewer problems. Now I had to run round the edge of the estate and make my approach to the windows of the west wing. It had to be the windows, because the central entrance was out of bounds—just like all the other doors leading in and out of the manor house, in fact.
According to Deler, who had drunk wine with the count’s servants, there were guards standing watch at almost every door—the usual arrangement for people afraid of a sudden attack. That left the windows, and only the ones at the back of the house, because there was only one patrol there, and the chances of being spotted were far smaller than anywhere else.
It wasn’t possible to break straight into the east wing of the house—there were bars on the windows of the second floor there. There was only one way to do it—get into the house through the west wing, walk along the incredibly long corridor to the balcony that overlooked the reception hall, and from there along the corridor with the pictures as far as the count’s bedroom.
“Time to go. Kli-Kli, try to keep up!”
It was dark; the massive tree trunks in front of us were black silhouettes. And then the lights of the house came into view. The only lighted torches were beside the central entrance of the mansion house, and there were four guards standing there. Or, rather, one was standing and the other three were sitting on the steps and making conversation. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about—I was too far away.
“They’re not sleeping, the skunks,” Kli-Kli hissed in disappointment.
“That’s their job.”
“Ah, no, I meant the ones in the house.”
There was light in the second-floor windows. They weren’t sleeping, and that meant I could run into problems. The Nameless One take those night birds! In my line of work there’s nothing worse than people who don’t go to bed when any decent law-abiding citizen ought to.
“Where to now, Harold?”
“See those little trees way over there?”
“Well?”
“We run over to them, then across to the wall of the building and up to the window.”
“They’ll see us!”
“Don’t talk so much, and do what I do, then they won’t see us. Or you can stay here in the park and wait for me, I don’t mind.”
“I think I can avoid attracting any unwanted attention,” the jester replied quickly.
The open space between the park and the house was about forty yards across. Mostly short-cut grass and beds (or, rather, entire fields) of roses. I tried to run across all this as quickly as possible.
There was total silence all around, not a sound but the light wind that had sprung up, rustling the crowns of the trees. No birds calling, no crickets singing. Kli-Kli and I had to trail straight through the flowerbeds, trampling the bushes of white and yellow roses cruelly with our heels. I could just imagine the curses that the gardener would call down on our heads the next day! The roses took their revenge by surrounding me with the scent of cheap women’s perfume. Disgusting!
The wall of the house suddenly rose up in front of me and I leaned against it in relief, catching my breath. Kli-Kli puffed and panted beside me.
“You scamper along faster than a royal messenger. I didn’t know a thief’s work was so hard.”
“And nerve-wracking, too. Keep up!”
The wall stretched away to the right of us. I crept along in front, with Kli-Kli right behind me, almost stepping on my heels. Unfortunately for us, there was no grass. Someone had thoughtfully scattered little stones on the ground, so we had to move very carefully—as if we were walking over dry brushwood.
The darkness was pitch-black, as if we were deep underground. Of course, it was hard for anyone to make out Kli-Kli and me now, but the trouble with darkness is that you can’t see the enemy, either. Just as we reached the corner of the building, a patrol of guards appeared out of the gloom. I froze instantly, and Kli-Kli blundered into my back with a grunt of surprise.
In the next three seconds I managed to do three things at once: pull my hood up over my head, stop the goblin’s mouth with my free hand, and try to melt into the wall—there was enough shadow there to hide ten Nameless Ones.
To give Kli-Kli his due, he never even twitched.
The three guards walked slowly toward us, talking to each other. That would have been fine, but one of them was holding a torch. In a few seconds the goblin and I would be in plain view.
