Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Which is what I want to do the moment we step aside, but instead, we resort to a fast-walking pace so as not to appear suspicious.
My heart feels as if it’s pulsing a thousand beats per minute.
Fear and panic utterly immobilize me. My chest tightens as I take short, quick breaths, clutching onto Henry’s arms for support as we race back toward our cabins.
I feel a small twinge of relief when no one calls after us, and Officers Row is now within our sight.
“Bloody hell,” Henry exclaims once we are inside my cabin. “How does your father know Dr. Richmond? Why is Dr. Richmond visiting your father? What is this man’s game with us?”
Standing in the middle of the cabin, I shake my head, scared beyond belief. “I don’t know, but it’s not good that he is here at the same time we are.”
We haven’t even been in Hullbeck for a full day, and its defenses have been exposed.
If our number one enemy can get within its walls so easily, then what protection is it giving us?
My own father could easily be turned against us in a matter of minutes, which is what Dr. Richmond must be doing as we speak.
Henry strides over to me, his eyes darting wildly in panic as they lock onto mine. “We need to leave.”
“And go where?” I blurt. My eyes trail over him, matching his frantic energy to act now.
He rakes a hand through his hair, now undone, clearly at a loss. His pulse quickens at his neck as he takes deep breaths. “I don’t know, but we can’t wait here to figure that out. Once we are within a safe distance and out of immediate danger, we can consider our options.”
I nod, knowing that for our safety, we must leave now while we can. “Okay. Let’s pack our things and meet back outside in five minutes.”
Scrambling, I pack my things in less than a minute and slam my valise shut. Before I step outside, a second thought comes into my mind, and I backtrack inside to hastily remove the contraption from my torso, knowing I’ll need the artifacts for our escape from Hullbeck, tucking it under my arm.
Quickly, I leave the cabin without another afterthought and find Henry already waiting for me, his suitcase in hand.
“Thank goodness,” he says with a relieved sigh upon seeing the artifacts. “I thought I was going to have to convince you we need to use the artifacts to get us out of here. Do you have any idea how we can get out of here unnoticed?”
He reaches for my valise, which I gladly hand over. I can’t risk dropping the artifacts.
Thinking on my feet, I glance down at the pillowed contraption and come up with a plan. It may not be a solid plan, but it’s a plan.
“I could compel our way out of the base. Manipulate the soldiers we come across, and possibly we can walk out the front gates without sounding off the alarms.”
“That could work…” Henry agrees, “but we wouldn’t be walking.”
Confused by what he means, I glance at him. “Then how are we getting out?”
Henry lifts one of his arms—valise still in hand—down Officer’s Row to a parked two-seater Austin Seven on the side of the curb. “We’re going to drive our way out of this place.” He walks down the pathway and gestures to me. “Come on. We don’t have much time to waste.”
“And how do you think we steal it? It’s most likely locked,” I say breathlessly as I catch up to him and stand before the car. He puts down the valises and taps a finger on the car’s passenger window with a smug smile. “Someone nicely left us the keys.”
Peering inside, I find the car keys are left in the ignition, as if a soldier on the base knew we would need to escape. “Well, if that’s not fool’s luck…how did you know the keys were left inside?”
“I spotted the car as we were rushing back to the cabins and took a quick look inside before I headed back to pack,” Henry informs, opening the door for me.
I shouldn’t be surprised he found a way to escape before he even packed his own things. He always thinks ahead.
He heads to the driver’s side, placing our luggage in the back seat, then climbs inside.
Turning on the ignition, the car thankfully starts, and with a full tank of gas.
As Henry speeds us away from Officers’ Row toward the front of the base, I take out each Eudaemon artifact and place the crown on my head.
“Do you know how you are going to compel them to let us go freely?” Henry asks, running on adrenaline now that we’ve started making our escape. His hands grip the steering wheel tightly as he leans forward, peering out the windshield for a better view.
“If I time it correctly, I could compel them to open the gates so we wouldn’t have to stop. And to ensure we have as much of a head start as possible, I can make sure the guards won’t remember seeing us.”
“Do you think you can do all that in such a short timeframe?” he asks, skeptical.
I sure hope I can.
I turn to face Henry and say with as much conviction, “Yes.”
When Henry makes the final turn, the base’s front gates come into view.
Knowing I cannot get this wrong, I scour the guard post and the top of the fence line, making sure I can visibly see ten soldiers—the exact number we saw when we arrived not that long ago.
If I miss even one, it could throw our escape into disarray and lead us straight back to Dr. Richmond.
I must see all ten soldiers for this to work.
Quickly, I count the soldiers, panicking when I come up with only nine.
Where is the last one?
As we get closer, I check once more and find that the last soldier was hiding behind a column near the guard post. Letting out a breath of relief, I send out the command to open the gates, and the four soldiers by the guard post do as I say without question.
“You did it!” Henry exclaims, then hits the gas pedal harder as we approach the gates.
“Hey!” one of the soldiers shouts from the guard wall above, aiming his gun right at us.
“Uh…Clara, it would be a great time to wipe their memories, now.”
Before the soldier attempts to take a shot at us or alerts the other nine soldiers, I compel the soldiers to let us go and forget they ever saw us.
Holding my breath, I close my eyes in anticipation as Henry drives through the open front gate.
When no shouts to stop us come, I look behind and see not a single guard is paying attention, as if we went completely unnoticed.
Henry glances over his shoulder, double-checking that we aren’t being followed or shot at.
“We did it,” I say in disbelief.
Henry shakes his head and quickly glances at me. “No, that was all you, Clara. You got us out of there in one piece.”
“I really did, didn’t I?”
Shocked, I stare out the windshield and into the English countryside, surprising even myself with what I can do with the powers I behold.
“Now, where do we go?” Henry asks once we are a good distance away from the base.
As Henry drives toward an unclear destination, we suggest places we could go to. But we quickly turn them down when we realize how easily my father and Dr. Richmond will find us there.
Ever since we left the S.S Charlotte, it feels like we’ve been running endlessly in a race we’ve been trailing behind in. For once, I want us to be ahead so we can finish it victoriously. To do so, we will need the help of someone we trust to gain ground in this race.
Who can we trust that isn’t hundreds of miles away?
Thankfully, there is one person who comes to my mind.
“Kensington Gardens,” I finally announce. “I know someone there who’ll help us.”
Without questioning, Henry drives us west—this time with a set destination. It takes us about three hours to reach London due to spells of heavy downpour, deteriorating the visibility.
Before we reach our destination, we make a quick stop at a telegram office in Walworth to notify Grandad, Amina, and Dr. Alarie that Hullbeck is compromised and to cease sending communications there.
I wish I could explain more to ease their minds, but we need to arrive in London before it gets late.
I make a promise to myself to call them once we are in a safe location.
Once we reach Kensington Gardens, the rain has stopped, and the sun is about to set. All I want is to stretch my legs, have a hot cup of tea, and sleep for days on end, but despite how exhausted and fatigued I am, I know tonight will bring another round of restless sleep.
As Henry pulls the car in front of Evangeline’s shop, we notice the display windows are dark. In fact, all the stores on the street are closed for the day.
“Is anyone still here?” Henry asks, craning his neck to check if anyone is still inside.
I know the shop is not the place to look at this time of day. Leaning over the dashboard, I glance at the flat above the shop. I smile when I notice the windows on the second floor are alight.
“She’s here,” I say as I get out of the car, walking toward the shop’s front door.
After ringing the shop’s doorbell, we linger on the pavement, eyes scanning fearfully for any passing pedestrian—anyone could be working for Dr. Richmond.
Take Mr. Meier, for example: he looked like any other businessman, yet he turned out to be a violent madman.
To operate an invisible syndicate, I imagine Dr. Richmond’s employees are the least susceptible kind, leaving him always one step ahead.
I smile as a dark outline appears on the back steps. She is about to shoo us away, thinking we’re another pesky customer who can’t read the ‘Closed’ sign on the front door. But her eyes widen in shock when she gets close enough to see that it’s me standing on the other side.
“Clara, is that you? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in Turkey?” she asks, opening the door and ushering us inside. Her face swiftly turns from confusion to worry, knowing there is only a small list of scenarios that would pull me away from the expedition.
“I’m terribly sorry to disrupt you at this time, Evangeline,” I apologize. “But I didn’t know where else to go, who else we could trust to help us.”