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‘Get them! Get the-’
The soldiers fell silent the moment they stumbled out of the undergrowth onto the seaside promenade, and several hundred people turned to stare at them. They seemed to realize several things at once: firstly, their prey was nowhere to be seen, secondly, they were wearing British Indian Army uniforms on French territory, and thirdly, the crowd did not seem to appreciate the guns they were waving around.
‘Ehem.’ One of the soldiers, probably the commanding officer, cleared his throat. ‘S-sorry if me and my friends gave you alarm. We… just had a bit too much to drink. Got a bit above ourselves, that’s all.’
Weak though the explanation was, it was generally accepted, and as the soldiers lowered their guns, the crowd slowly returned to their business. The men - there were only two; Mr Ambrose had indeed hit the third one, apparently - huddled together and began whispering.
Up on the deck of the Urania, Mr Ambrose and I crouched behind the ship’s railing, peering through the gaps down into the harbour.
‘What do you think they will do now, Sir?’ I asked.
‘They are alone and do not know what to do. They will not risk attracting the attention of the crowd in order to find us. They have no authority here. Were Dalgliesh present, it might be different, but with things being as they are, we have a chance - if the ship leaves before they get reinforcements or, worse, support from the French authorities.’
‘Do you really think the French are in on this?’
Mr Ambrose’s face was grim. Even more so than usual.
‘I’m convinced of it. Dalgliesh is no fool. He wouldn’t set up his base in an environment he cannot control. Our only chance is to get away before the authorities can be notified.’
As he spoke, one of the soldiers darted off and up towards the centre of the island like a bullet shot from a gun. The other one began moving among the crowd, stopping people, asking questions. We remained where we were, watching, our anxiety rising with every minute. Or at least my anxiety was rising with every minute. I wasn’t sure about that of Mr Ambrose, or about whether he had any at all. His face still looked like the bust of some stoic philosopher, only without the long beard and the toga.
The soldier down on the promenade moved closer and closer to the Urania. Not long and he would figure out that it was the only ship due for departure, the only way his prey could get off this island. But at the same time, the line in front of the Urania was dwindling. People were hurrying to get aboard. The sun was setting, and they seemed eager to get to their warm cabins before the cold of the night set in.
Beside me, I could hear Mr Ambrose let air hiss through his teeth, and turned my head to see what was wrong. He was staring at a point far above the crowd, where a road led up towards the centre of the island.
‘What is it, Sir?’
‘There might be slight difficulties for our departure. There, Mr Linton. Look!’
He pointed to the very top of the road, where several riders in blue uniforms, accompanying a rider in red uniform, were racing down towards the harbour. Slight difficulties indeed.
‘Don’t tell me those are the French, Sir.’
‘Those are the French, Mr Linton.’
I grimaced. ‘Thank you so much, Sir.’
By now, the soldiers were halfway down the road. I saw the foremost rider waving, trying to catch the attention of somebody on the ship, but the crowd was getting in the way. He shouted, but his words were drowned in the babble of the people admiring the sea view. Never had I been this grateful for the thriving French tourism industry.
‘What will they do if they catch us?’ My mouth felt dry. For some reason, my hand snaked along the railing, towards that of Mr Ambrose.
‘The French? Or Dalgliesh?’
‘I don't know. Which is worse?’
‘Both.’
‘Oh.’
My fingers found his. He twitched, and I was about to draw back, but then his fingers closed around mine like a vice, and held them tightly in place. I was so surprised that I almost didn’t hear the shout from directly beneath us.
‘Larguez les amarres!’
‘W-what does that mean?’ I whispered. ‘'Seize the spies'?’
‘No.’ Mr Ambrose’s voice was just as cold as ever, but underneath the ice, there was triumph, waiting to break through. ‘It means “Cast off”!’
Before I could even process what that meant, I felt a shudder underneath us and saw the gangway retract. Helpless, the faint cries of the French officers rose over the babble of the crowd as the ship detached itself from the jetty and lurched forward, its steam engine roaring to life like some giant, ancient beast. But unlike the Nemesis, this was a friendly beast. It had come to take us to safety.
With a dizzying mix of relief and disbelief, I watched as the harbour moved away from us, slowly at first, then faster and faster, as the ship gathered speed and moved away from the island into the channel. The French and British Indian soldiers shouted in vain, their voices drowned out by the engine that carried us farther and farther away from the danger.
Mr Ambrose’s hand didn’t loosen its grip on mine.
‘We made it!’ I whispered. ‘We actually made it!’
He turned towards me. There was something in his dark gaze - not cold, this time. Something else. Something indefinable. He opened his mouth. But before he could speak, we heard a gentle cough from behind us.
Letting go of his hand as if it were a block of ice, I whipped my head around and stared up into the concerned face of a member of the ship’s wait staff, looking down at the two of us crouching on the floor with concern.
‘Um… we do have seats on this ship, Messieurs. It is not necessary to sit on the floor. Would you like me to show you?’
The helpful young member of the wait staff guided us to our cabins. I didn’t know what Mr Ambrose did after disappearing into his. Stand in a corner and calmly calculate how much money he was going to make out of his new canal, maybe? I, for my part, slumped onto the thing that vaguely resembled a bed nailed to the wall. Bunk, dunk, shwunk - I couldn’t care less what it was called or what it was for. It was relatively soft. That was all I needed to know.
The knock that woke me from my sleep was tentative but resolute. I blinked and yawned. How long had I been out? I didn’t really care. My clothes had dried, so it had to have been some time.