Chapter 30
R esolved and ready to act, Brigid was forced to bide her time for a while. In the end, she dozed off. The Professor didn’t come to see her, and neither did Finn. In fact, very little happened.
A leering serving man, eyeing her up and down, shoved a bowl of food and a cup of water into the tent. The food, some kind of stew, was perhaps the most terrible thing Brigid had ever tasted. She ate it anyway, manoeuvring awkwardly with her bound hands, and felt a strange sympathy for Edmondson’s men, if this was what they ate every day. No one came back to get the cup and plate.
She desperately needed to use the toilet. There was an empty bucket in the corner of the room, presumably for that purpose. She could just about manage her clothes with her hands tied, but squatting over the bucket with her ankles tied would be just about impossible.
“I need help!” she shouted.
No one came.
“Excuse me!” she shouted again. “Somebody please help me!”
The tent flap flew open to reveal the scowling face of the same man who’s brought her food.
“What do you want?” he growled.
“I need to use the bucket,” Brigid said, jerking her head towards it.
“Not my problem,” he said, and turned to go.
“Please,” Brigid said desperately. “Just untie my ankles. Then I’ll be able to manage it.”
He eyed her suspiciously.
“Just my ankles, I promise,” she said. “I won’t go anywhere.”
“As if you could get far,” he said. He reached down and untied her with just a few twists of the rope. Brigid didn’t like the way his fingers lingered on her ankle, but she wasn’t about to complain. At least her boots covered up all the bare skin. And, even more thankfully, the man left the tent again straight away.
Deeply relieved, Brigid managed to use the bucket successfully. It was difficult, given that her hands were still tied, but she did not face any major problems. Then she collapsed onto the floor and slipped back into a restless sleep.
She was woken up by some kind of whispering. Disoriented and confused, she struggled to sit upright. Almost all the feeling had vanished from her hands, even as she dug her fingers into the sandy ground.
The tent flap twitched a little. Brigid scrabbled backwards, suddenly not ready to face Edmondson. What should she do? What should she say?
Then Mary’s face appeared in the tent opening. Brigid almost fainted with relief. Mary slipped inside, closely followed by Tam.
Brigid almost cried, the wave of happiness that swept her was so strong.
“How did you get in here?” she whispered. “And how did you know where I was?”
“We knocked the guards out,” Tam said with a cheerful grin. “And we figured you would be in here, seeing as it’s the second most heavily guarded tent.”
“The second?” Brigid asked with a frown, trying to keep her voice soft. “Who’s in the most heavily guarded?”
“Well,” Mary said. “I asked the local magistrate a few careful questions. He’s an old friend of my father’s, you know. Anyway, turns out those bailiffs were frauds. Absolutely no authority to arrest anyone. They work for Edmondson.”
“You mean Sandy’s in the camp as well?” Brigid asked, horrified.
Mary nodded.
So, it seemed that the Professor had quickly replaced Finn with Sandy. Yet again, he had a way to manipulate her. Damn the man. How was he always two steps ahead? Just as she’d thought she was free, she found herself more tangled and trapped than ever.
Tam delicately slid his knife between Brigid’s hands and sawed until the rope frayed and fell away. The blood came rushing back, and Brigid clutched her hands against her with a moan.
“We need to get moving,” Mary said, although she looked sympathetic. “We’ve got to get Sandy out straight away, or there’s no knowing what Edmondson might do.”
Brigid nodded. It certainly seemed like Sandy was in a risky position right now.
The three of them slipped out of the tent, stepping over the prone bodies of two guards. At least the men were still breathing. Too many deaths were piling up for Brigid to be comfortable about the murder of anyone else, even one of Edmondson’s men.
As they tiptoed across the camp, Brigid noticed that Mary was carrying a big black bag. She gestured at it, questioning Mary with her eyes. Mary grinned in response. She opened the bag a little to reveal sleek, gleaming metal. Brigid’s jaw dropped. She recognised that - it was the time travel equipment! Without it, Edmondson would struggle to travel in time, unless someone set up a portal on the other end. And Brigid could use it to get herself home.
“Mary, you’re a wonder,” she whispered.
Tam waved his hand, cutting through their quiet conversation. He indicated a tent on the other side of the open area. There were three guards outside this one. Brigid sank into the shadows and bit her lip nervously. Could they take on three guards? She didn’t even have a weapon. Brute force would probably not serve them well in this case.
She jerked her head at Tam, hoping he would catch her meaning. She began to creep around the side of the tent, keeping to the shadows. With any luck, the guards weren’t expecting intruders in the camp. To her relief, Tam and Mary followed behind her. They huddled close beside the tent wall. Brigid made a slashing motion at the canvas and Tam nodded. He pulled his knife from his belt - thank goodness he understood - and handed it to Brigid. She drew a breath and then carefully made a long cut in the material, trying to keep as quiet as possible. Moving slowly, she clambered through. She mustn’t fall, mustn’t make a noise. They could not attract attention, or this would all be over.
And there was Sandy, slumped on the floor in the centre of the tent. Brigid thought he was asleep, until she took a step towards him. His eyes flew open and his head whipped around, then he gasped in surprise.
“Brigid!” he whispered. “Thank goodness you’re safe.”
Brigid crouched down and copied what Tam had done for her, gently sawing through the rope. Sandy’s hands slipped loose and he immediately grasped her face and kissed her with such force that she gasped. He pulled back a little to smile at her as Mary and Tam crept into the tent behind her, struggling a little with the narrow slit.
“How very touching,” a sardonic voice said. Brigid jumped back from Sandy and looked up. Professor Edmondson stood in the tent entrance, flanked by guards. Brigid looked around wildly, only to spot more guards standing on the other side of the hole in the tent.
It looked like Brigid was trapped yet again. And, this time, all her allies were trapped along with her.