“Lizzie!” the woman yelled. Joshua stared at the door with dawning horror that, any moment, half of Ferryman’s gang would be upon them. “Open this door or I’ll get Ferryman, I will.”
“That is our cue to exit,” King said, striding to the window. “Lizzie, are you coming or not?”
Lizzie looked at the door then back at King. Joshua reached out and took her hand. “Lizzie, come with me. I want to help you.”
“Lizzie! Open the door!”
“Joshua, I’m scared.”
“Don’t be scared. I promise I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
“Ferryman!” the woman screamed. “Ferryman, Lizzie has a man in the room.”
Lizzie went pale and groaned, but Joshua gripped her hand tighter and forced her to look at him. “Trust me, Lizzie.”
“Joshua, we have to go. Now.” King grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away from Lizzie. “We can’t make her come if she doesn’t want to.”
Lizzie looked at the door then at the window. Reluctantly, Joshua released her hand and went to the window, where King waited. “Go up. I’ll follow you.”
Joshua put a foot out of the window. “Lizzie,please,” he said. He gave her one last look, hoping it wasn’t his last sight of her, and climbed up the side of the building, using the drainpipe and the ledges of the windows above.
He didn’t look down until he reached the top, and when he did, he grinned broadly. Lizzie was climbing up, King right behind her.
Unfortunately, Ferryman stuck his head out of the window right then.
“King!” Joshua called. “Watch out!”
*
And this wasthe part of the story where he fell to his death, King thought as a hand clamped on his ankle. Joshua called a warning—too late—and King looked down to see Ferryman himself leaning out of the window. He’d removed his hat, and his greasy brown hair fell in his eyes. “Stealing my dell?” he roared. “I’ll gut you for this.”
“Not today,” King said. He’d worn his riding boots, which were not so easy to dislodge from his foot. In fact, Danby had always complained about them. Now King kicked out and dislodged Ferryman’s hand, narrowly missing kicking the gang leader in the chin. But the man let go, and King climbed higher and out of Ferryman’s reach. Lizzie was moving slowly, too slowly for his liking, but she had to make the climb in skirts, so King would forgive her. “Lizzie, I need you to hurry!” he called, looking over his shoulder at the window.
As he’d feared, Ferryman dispatched two of his gang to go after them, and they were climbing out and grabbing on to the drainpipe below him. That made four of them, three of the four grown men, holding on to one drainpipe. This would not end well.
Even as King thought it, the drainpipe seemed to shudder in his hand and pull back from its braces slightly. Lizzie felt it too and gasped.
“A little bit faster, Miss Lizzie,” King called, unable to crawl faster with her blocking his path. One of the men below him reached for his foot, and King kicked at him. “Joshua!”
“I almost have her,” Joshua called back. “Lizzie, hurry! Give me your hand.”
Her foot caught on her skirt, and she slipped. King held his breath for the long moment when she dangled precariously by only her hands. The drainpipe creaked and jolted, making his heart lurch.
Lizzie found her footing again and climbed higher. King followed, still kicking as the men behind him tugged at his feet and legs. Finally, Joshua got a hold of Lizzie and pulled her onto the roof. King tried to move faster, but Ferryman’s men were holding him back and slowing him down. In another moment, his hands would come loose, and he’d slide down to them. He looked over his shoulder at the long drop below. He’d rather not try his luck at flying today.
The drainpipe creaked again, and King judged the distance to the roof of the Black Bear. He was almost there, could see Joshua peering over the edge, eyes wide with fear. “Shake the pipe loose,” he called.
“What?” Joshua called, sounding as though he thought King mad.
“Shake it loose of the bracings!” King ordered him. “Do it.”
Joshua gave him a terrified look but went to work shaking the pipe. King held on, grateful the men below him had to do the same and were prevented from grasping at him. The pipe made an awful screech and began to bend backward at the weight of the three men.
“Give me your hand!” King called to Joshua.
Joshua reached down, and King took his hands, releasing the drainpipe as it bent and dipped. But he wasn’t out of the fire yet. Joshua was thin and wiry, stronger than he looked, but it took a lot of strength to pull a man of thirteen stone up and over a ledge when gravity was working against him. King prayed Joshua’s grip would hold as he tried to grasp the ledge of the roof. And then Lizzie’s face came into view, and she grabbed one of King’s arms with both of her hands and pulled as well.
Below him, the pipe made another loud screech, and the men echoed it as the loud pops of the braces breaking echoed through the alley. Then there was a horrible crack, an ear-splitting cry, and athud-thud.
