“She’s locked us in,” Patrick said.
“She’s locked you in,” Ruth said. “I couldn’t go anywhere anyway.”
She sat up. Patrick retrieved the food and drink he had brought up and
offered her a cup of tea. Ruth took it gratefully. Patrick sat beside
her, staring at the floor.
“This is all my fault,” he said. “I shouldn’t have listened to her, shouldn’t have agreed to help.”
“You didn’t know she was going to do this,” Ruth replied. She put
the mug down carefully. Her head was still spinning and she didn’t want
to drop it if she fainted. Patrick saw her uncertainty and put an arm
round her shoulders.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, supporting her. “The thing is, it was all a
mistake anyway. The adjudicator came up to me in the bar after we
performed in the festival the other night. She said something
flattering about how good we’d all been and asked me to meet her the
next morning. I agreed, but when I got there I found out it had been a
mistake. She thought I was Ernest. Someone had pointed him out to her
in the bar and I must have been standing next to him. Well, it makes
sense that she wanted him, the director, someone who’s always a great
performer- and leader. So she was angry when she found out I wasn’t
him. She clearly didn’t think I’d be as useful to her, that I’d be able
to play the part she wanted. So maybe that meant I was more ready to
agree to her plans- to prove her wrong.
“She told me she had heard that some members of our group had got hold of a Thespis score.
She said she had a plan that would get it-and us- the fame and money
it deserved, if I would co-operate with her. She hinted at roles I
could play, with her patronage. Of course I agreed. She said nothing
about stone monsters or taking over the country.
“But then I took you all down to that cavern, as she’d told me. And
that’s when I realised that she wasn’t what she seemed. But I stayed-
and I kept you from leaving. I was afraid of what she’d do to me if I
ran away- and I still hoped to get something out of her. I should have
gone, should have run.”
“It wouldn’t have made any difference,” Ruth said. “The others ran, and she caught them again.”
“And you gave them a chance to escape,” Patrick said. “But I helped
her against them, and against you. I’m so sorry. But I’m not going to
help her any more. Never.”
“It would seem she doesn’t trust you any more, any way,” Ruth said,
glancing at the locked door. “But don’t be too quick to reject her. It
won’t do any good if you end up getting hurt too.”
“It might mean I could forgive myself,” Patrick muttered.
“If you hadn’t agreed to help her, she’d have got us some other way,”
Ruth said. “And as for after that...” She didn’t know what to say.
Patrick’s betrayal, that he had turned against her, had hurt her more
than the adjudicator’s torment. And yet- he had been afraid. And now
he was sorry. And was as much of a prisoner as she was.
“I can’t really blame you,” Ruth said quietly. “I agreed to help
create that fantom, because I was afraid. Who knows what else I’ll do
or say to try to save myself?”
She remembered how he had earlier asked for forgiveness. Then, she
had not felt able to. But now she felt so exhausted that it did not
seem to matter as much. And she was grateful for his help and sympathy.
“Who am I to judge?” she said, half to herself. She looked up at
Patrick and smiled. He tightened his supporting arm around her for a
moment in a hug before turning away, and Ruth saw him wipe his eyes.
It had been evening when the adjudicator had taken them up to the
cave, and pitch dark by the time they returned. With the effects of all
she had been through that day, plus no sleep the previous night, Ruth
was exhausted. There were a couple of blankets in a corner of the room,
and she and Patrick lay down to try to sleep. That was when she
realised.
“Patrick,” she whispered. “The window’s open!”
He looked up. It was a sash window, and it was, indeed, slightly
open. He went over and gave it an experimental push, and it opened
further.
“Could you get out?” Ruth asked eagerly.
He stuck his head out and looked down. “I think so,” he said. “The
gap’s big enough, if it opens all the way. It would be a bit of a jump
down, though.”
“We can use these blankets,” Ruth said, already gathering them up. “Make a rope, and then you can go and get help.”
“What if someone sees me? Won’t she have guards?” Patrick said. “And anyway, what about you?”
Ruth looked up. “I can’t run, or even walk,” she said. “You’ll have to go and get help somehow.”
“I can’t leave you on your own,” he protested. “When she finds out I’ve gone she’ll-”
“I know,” Ruth said. “But she won’t kill me, not while she still
thinks she might need more fantoms. You’ll have to be quick, but it’s
our only chance- otherwise we’re stuck here, and she’ll win. Please,
Patrick. It’s a chance to put things right.”
She held up the blankets, tied together into a long rope.
“All right,” he said. “I’ll try.”
The story continues...
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