Part 7 (2/2)

The knot gave some.

I kept on tugging. It made my teeth ache, but I could feel it loosen. I pulled my head away and tore at the knot with my fingers until it came open.

Trudy pulled her arms out of the ropes. She flung her covers aside and leaned forward to work on her ankles. While she was busy with that, I gnawed on the knot at my wrists. I undid it some, and got my hands free.

Sitting on the cold wood between the beds, I struggled with the rope around my ankles.

It seemed like some kind of a race to see who'd get done first. But the race was really to get clear of the ropes before Whittle came back through the door.

Not that I had a notion what we'd do once we got ourselves untangled.

Likely as not, we'd only accomplish getting ourselves killed a little quicker than otherwise.

Trudy beat me at getting free. I was still unwrapping my ankles when she stepped down off her bed and rushed to the door. She tried its handle.

”Drat,” she said. ”He locked it.”

”He'd be a fool not to.” I kicked the rope away and got to my feet. While Trudy still had her back turned, I yanked a blanket off my bed and wrapped it around myself. ”We might be able to bash through it,” I suggested.

”He'd hear the ruckus.”

She came toward me. I retreated a few steps, and watched her stretch for something that looked like a trap door in the ceiling. She unlatched it and pushed up against it.

”Where does that go?” I asked.

”It's the hatch to the forward deck.” She shoved again, grunting.

”Let me have a go at it.”

”It's no use. It must be latched topside.”

”Shouldn't Michael be able to open it for us, then?”

She didn't answer that, but commenced to knuckle the hatch with both fists. For a gal opposed to the ruckus of breaking through a door, she was raising a mighty racket.

I doubted it would do much good, though. Even the way we were closed away below the main deck, I could hear all kinds of noise from outside: waves slapping against the hull, sails whapping, the mast creaking, wind whistling through the rigging, all manner of other groans and rattles and clanks. Unless Michael had his ear to the hatch, I didn't hold out much hope of him catching the sound of Trudy's whacks.

But Whittle wasn't likely to hear them, either.

While she kept on punching at the hatch, I knelt on her bed and checked a porthole. It wasn't big enough to squirm out through, so I didn't even try to get it open. But I pushed my face against the gla.s.s.

All I could see were rough waves, not a blink of light anywhere from a boat nor sh.o.r.e.

”I don't believe we're on the Thames any more,” I said.

She paused in her banging long enough to say, ”Of course not, silly. We're out in the Channel.”

I sank inside with the news of that. It wouldn't do, now, to jump s.h.i.+p and swim for land.

Trying to perk myself up, I thought how the True D. Light True D. Light was bound to have a lifeboat or dinghy of sorts. That didn't accomplish much in the way of perking, though. Even if we could get outside, Whittle would surely be on us before we could lower such a craft. was bound to have a lifeboat or dinghy of sorts. That didn't accomplish much in the way of perking, though. Even if we could get outside, Whittle would surely be on us before we could lower such a craft.

I reckon Trudy hadn't thought that far ahead, for she continued thumping the hatch.

She stopped when the boat gave a sudden pitch that banged my forehead against the gla.s.s and flung her onto me. She pushed and shoved and got herself off, and stumbled backward and dropped onto the other berth.

I turned myself around.

”He's bound to come back soon,” Trudy said.

”I'm afraid so.”

She shook her head. She sighed. Then she said, ”You'd best tie me up.”

”What?”

”Tie me up up again.” again.”

”We just finished getting ourselves un untied.”

”But there's no way out. We can't let him know we tried to escape.” She flung herself back across the aisle, bent over beside me and s.n.a.t.c.hed up one of the ropes. ”Get off.”

I stood up. With one hand, I kept the blanket on my shoulders. With the other, I grabbed the handle of the hatch to keep myself from being tossed off my feet.

Trudy sat on her bed and stretched out her legs. She reached the rope toward me. ”Be quick about it.”

”No.”

”What did you say?”

”No. I'm not going to tie you up.”

”You'll do as I say, boy.”

It goes against my grain to argue with women. Besides, it's generally a great waste of time. But Trudy was starting to irk me with her bossy ways. I told her, ”If you had no better scheme in mind than hoping we might slip out a door, you shouldn't have insisted that I untie you in the first place. Since we are are untied, however, we're no longer entirely at Whittle's mercy. We'll have the element of surprise in our favor. And it'll be two against one.” untied, however, we're no longer entirely at Whittle's mercy. We'll have the element of surprise in our favor. And it'll be two against one.”

”Don't be a fool.”

”I say we put up a fight.”

”What do you know? You're a child. child.”

”I fought him once before and made a good showing. It was me who cut off the blighter's nose, you know.”

”And a lot of good that did. If you'd left him well enough alone...”

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