CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

For a moment, Vita was obliterated. Instinct seized her and shook her like a rat; it told her to push the others out of the way, tear down the stairs, leap into the water and swim home.

Get out, said her blood. Leave the others. Go.

She gripped the window sill and waited for it to pass. It did, as it had always done before, and left her feeling sick to her stomach. It had felt like a sharp hour, but it had only been seconds: the others were still standing in the corridor, waiting for her to tell them what to do.

She turned to them, lifted her chin and pushed back her shoulders so she faced the night like a detective, like a cat, like an acrobat.

‘He’ll either go and check on us straight away, or he’ll go to the garden and see if they’ve found the jewel. I think that’s more likely.’

‘Yes,’ said Silk.

‘Either way, he’ll soon find out we’ve escaped,’ said Vita. ‘And he’ll start searching the house.’ She spoke so quickly her words collided, and the others leaned closer. ‘Listen. This place has twenty-six rooms. If he searches each of them properly, and starts from the bottom floor, it could take him twenty-six minutes to reach the last one.’

‘No. A minute’s a long time. More like thirty seconds per room – so, thirteen,’ said Arkady, but his eyes were beginning to shine again, as he understood what she meant.

‘The way out,’ said Vita. She spoke quickly. ‘You need to know where it is. There’s a grate in the wall, in the back of the cellar – it’s just a gap with a grating over it – it’s where the waste pipe used to be.’

‘Waste pipe? That’s your escape route? A drain?’

‘Not any more – now it’s just a grate. It’s bolted to the wall, but it unscrews from the inside. Silk should be able to use a lock-pick on it. It drops straight into the lake – that’s why it’s exit-only – so you’ll have to swim.’ She stepped backwards, down the corridor, away from them.

‘He’s here. I’m so sorry – this wasn’t how I thought it would be. You need to go.’

Arkady gave a snort that sounded like a laugh. ‘We’re not leaving you here!’

‘Yes you are! We didn’t know Sorrotore would come – I would never have brought you here—’

‘What are you planning?’ said Samuel.

‘I’m going to the turret. That’s the last place he’ll look. It was boarded up years ago, when it got too dangerous. He might not even come up there. Maybe.’

‘But what if you get trapped?’ said Silk. Her voice was very quiet. ‘Vita, maybe you’re right – maybe we should leave. But if we’re going, you have to come with us. This isn’t a game; you don’t know what he might do if he finds you.’

Vita shook her head. ‘I swore.’

‘Your grandfather wouldn’t want you to do this!’ said Silk.

‘I swore.’ As urgent as the fear was the image of Grandpa – how he would take the emerald in his twisted fingers, holding it up so the light would catch its glow, and the smile that would break across his face. ‘I know it’s not a game! When I find that necklace, everything changes.’

‘Well, we’ve already wasted a full minute,’ said Samuel. ‘Go.’

‘I’m coming,’ said Silk. ‘If you’re going to be stupid, I might as well be too. There might be locks.’

‘Ark and I will keep watch on the floor below,’ said Samuel, ‘and send a signal if he comes up.’

Vita nodded. She wanted to find words that were large enough for the ache in her chest – words that were more than ordinary, day-to-day language – but there was no time, and Sorrotore might be anywhere.

So she only said, ‘Thank you,’ and ran.