guarantee that your offer is accepted, as generous as it is.”
The house was really in deplorable condition. The floors were cracked, the doors hung poorly and didn’t close, and the walls had holes in them. The truth of what he was seeing began to dawn on Lord Wason. He walked back into the entrance hall and looked at the crates. Nodding his head, Fredrik retrieved some coins from his pouch and counted them out.
“I must have men in tonight to take measurements and I will not want them disturbed,” Fredrik ordered. “Here is one hundred crowns deposit. The belongings in the entry hall will not be available until tomorrow after midday. If you can carry them, you can take them now, otherwise, do not send for them until that time. I will have my agent draw up the papers tomorrow and by nightfall you will be a very wealthy woman. Good night, Lady Mabel.”
The woman bowed with a grin on her lips and hefted a crate on her way out the door. Arik started to ask for an explanation as Fredrik dashed up the stairs to the top floor. Arik pounded after him and looked out the window at the Palace grounds.
“What was all that about?” asked Arik. “Do you know that not going through with the purchase of this house could be considered cheating a merchant?”
Fredrik was studying the lay of the grounds as he spoke. “This house is not for sale, Arik,” he chuckled. “And that was no Lady. I can’t be sure, but I think this house held rooms that were rented out. Each of the crates in the entry hall had a different name written on them. That woman was probably one of the renters who received an eviction notice. Look at this place. It has probably been condemned and is scheduled to be torn down. The way the woman bowed proved she was no Lady.”
“Then why did you give her the money?” quizzed Arik.
“The money was well spent,” laughed Lord Wason. “She will be scurrying around to the other evicted renters offering to have their belongings brought to them for free just to stop them from coming here and alerting me. This place will not be disturbed during the night. Now, we not only have a good view of the grounds, we have a new base for the rescue.”
Arik shook his head in amusement as he studied the layout of the island prison. Fredrik watched a piece of wood fall from the window as he withdrew and headed for the stairs.
The two boys returned to the Fluttering Jib and sat at the table occupied by Tanya and Tedi. He quickly described the house and told them that Arik and he would bring their belongings to the house when they had finished eating. The second team left for the abandoned house and Fredrik and Arik ordered a healthy meal that had been put off too long.
After the meal, Fredrik spoke to the innkeeper and explained that part of his party would be leaving and he no longer required the smaller room. He paid for both rooms for the night and the innkeeper was well pleased by the sudden change in plans. Fredrik left his belongings and, together with Arik, collected everyone else’s and carried them down to the stables. The horses had been cared for as the blacksmith promised and leaving Fredrik’s horse they loaded the rest and rode to the abandoned house.
The house had no stables and Arik led the horses inside to the parlor. The boys ran up the stairs and found Tanya and Tedi sitting on the floor, drawing diagrams in the dirt. Arik plopped down alongside them but Fredrik stood not wanting to subject his apparel to the dirt.
“We have a few things worked out,” Tanya offered. “The climbing claw I purchased today will get us over the wall and we can make a rope ladder to get us down into the cell. That still leaves the problem of getting across the moat, the roving guards, and carrying Niki.”
“You forgot about the lock,” Fredrik mentioned.
“I can take care of the lock,” Tedi chuckled and Arik looked at him queerly. “Fredrik, can you make a shield like Kalina did in the canyon?” Tedi asked.
“No,” answered Fredrik. “How would that help you?”
“It was just a thought,” Tedi sighed. “Tanya told me about our archer’s new bow and his abilities. I figured if you could create a shield like Kalina did, only make it curve back around, Arik could shoot an arrow with a string tied to it. He could shoot the arrow to one side of the flagpole and the shield would make the arrow curve back on the other side of the flagpole. That way we would have a string wrapped around the flagpole and we could attach a rope to it and pull it around so that we had a rope stretching across the moat.”
“And what good would that do you?” Fredrik inquired.
“I could walk across the rope to the cell,” Tedi assured him.
“Can you really do that?” Tanya asked. “Because I know how to get a rope across the moat. I can use the same climbing claw that we will use to get over the wall. I am sure that it will catch on the bars to the cells.”
“Can you walk across the rope with Niki on your back?” Arik asked. “From what Fredrik said, she will be in no condition to help herself escape.”
“If you can figure out a way to keep the rope taut with our weight on it,” Tedi declared, “I can walk across it with anything that I can carry.”
“I can make Tedi a harness to carry Niki,” offered Fredrik. “That way his hands will be free.”
“Okay,” Arik commanded, “Fredrik, you get started on the harness. Tanya, try to time the roving patrols so that we have a sense of how long we will have to get Niki and get back. Tedi, you get to make the rope ladder. I’m going to search this house for something we can use to tie the other end of the rope to.”
The Rangers split up and went about their individual tasks. In a couple of hours everyone had reassembled and changed into the blacksuits. “I wasn’t able to find anything suitable,” Arik admitted, “but I did think of how we can accomplish the task. After Tedi gets to the island, he can tie the rope to one of the cells and throw the grappling hook back to us. We can affix it to the other end of the rope and dig it in to the ground. As long as the rope doesn’t flex too much, it should work.”
“If not,” Tedi commented dryly, “you three can take off.”
“The four of you will have to leave the city right away,” Fredrik stated. “I will stay at the Fluttering Jib because the King will check to see if I left with his prisoner. I will also have to tell Garth where you have gone.”
“There is a cove about four miles north of here along the shore,” Tanya nodded. “I will lead them there and wait for the rest of you.”
The three Rangers descended the stairs and exited the old house. Fredrik, still in his red velvet suit, remained at the window to lend magical assistance if everything fell apart. The trio quickly crossed the street and hid in the extra darkness that the wall provided. Tanya watched the window of the old house and when she saw a small sparkle of light, she threw her climbing claw up at the wall. It took her two tries to seat it and she cursed over the first attempt. Arik was first up the wall and he signaled Tedi to follow and then hung by his hands and let go to fall to the ground.
Within moments the three Rangers were over the wall and inside the estate grounds. Quickly, Arik grabbed the grappling hook that Tanya had lowered and ran across the field to the moat. He hurled the hook towards the cages and missed. As he hauled it back in, the hook fell into the moat and got stuck on something. Arik pulled feverishly and something pulled back almost causing him to lose his balance. He called softly to Tanya and Tedi and they each grabbed onto the rope. The three of them pulled and the beast on the other end pulled back. The tug-o-war lasted only seconds before the hook was free and the three Rangers were sprawled on the ground, but it felt as if it had lasted for ten minutes.
Arik tossed the hook again and this time was rewarded with a clang as the hook snagged a bar on one of the cells. Arik wrapped the free end of the rope around his back and sat with his feet dug into the ground. Tanya placed herself a couple of feet in front of Arik and also grabbed the rope and dug in. Tedi walked to the edge of the moat and tested the flex in the rope. It seemed taut and time was running quickly, so Tedi put his faith in his partners and hopped onto the rope.
Tedi’s balance was excellent and his fear did not emanate from the thought of falling, it came from the flexing of the rope as it dipped close to the water’s surface. One thing he hadn’t thought of was that the beasts might actually rise up out of the water to eat him. Tedi tried to concentrate on gaining the other bank and off of the moat. He felt the rope firming as he neared the far edge and soon he was on land again. He looked into the cell that the hook had caught on and his heart skipped a beat. The cell was empty.
Even as he was feeling doomed and wondering what to do next, his hands were untying the hook and tying the rope to the bar of the cell. Without thinking he threw the hook across the moat to Arik and Tanya. Tedi untied
