Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [150]
He takes it and goes over to James where he begins tying it under his arms. The sound of approaching footsteps coming down the hallway toward the room warns him someone is on their way. Jiron quickly removes the sheet from around James and slides under the bed, scooting as far back against the wall as he can.
The bedroom door opens and two men come in, quietly talking to each other. They walk over to the bed, their feet mere inches away from the spot where Jiron is hiding. It seems as if they’re seeing whether James is ready for interrogation or not. After they stand there for a few minutes conferring with one another, both men turn and walk back out the door.
Slipping from under the bed, Jiron again ties the sheet tightly under James’ arms. When he has it secured, he goes over to the window and opens it wide. Returning to the bed, he lifts James up and carries him to the widow where he sets him on the window sill.
Taking a firm hold of the sheet, he eases him over the edge and begins to quickly lower him to the ground below. The sheet isn’t quite long enough to reach the ground and ends up having to drop him the last three feet to the ground where he lands with a thud. Hoping James hasn’t broken anything, Jiron slips out the window and begins to descend the side of the house when he suddenly remembers James’ medallion and the other items sitting on the table.
Sighing, he goes back inside and quickly grabs James’ empty pouch that’s sitting on the floor and scrapes everything off the table into it. Tossing it out the window so it lands near James, he again begins his descent and closes the window.
Once on the ground, he takes the pouch and secures it to his belt, then he removes the sheet from James. Picking him up, he slings him over his shoulder as he heads to the gate.
Running as best he can with James’ added weight, he crosses the distance quickly. Upon reaching the gate, he kicks the rock that was set to keep it closed to the side. Pushing the gate open wide, he starts through just as a cry arises from the house. Glancing back, he sees someone at the window to the room where James had been held, hollering and pointing in their direction.
He passes through the gate quickly and closes it behind him, locking it with the key in the hopes of slowing down the pursuit. With James slung over his shoulder, he runs down the deserted street and then enters an alley to cut over to the next street. Running as fast as he can, he quickly reaches the end of the alley and then turns to the right. Racing down another deserted street, he tries to put as much distance between himself and pursuit all the while working to make it to the edge of town.
After running down the street another two blocks, he sees a group of people far ahead of him in the street. Ducking down a nearby alley, he moves into it a short distance before coming to a stop. It’s a dead end! Turning around, he moves to leave the alley when several figures enter from the street and block his escape.
Chapter Twenty Six
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One of the shadows says something to him as they advance further into the alley.
Still having James slung over his shoulder, he waits to see what they intend before doing anything. They’re obviously not part of the pursuit from the estate.
Another shadow says something in an excited and animated fashion while pointing toward him.
Jiron takes in the situation. Without James to worry about, he probably would have little difficulty with these guys. But with him to protect and pursuit on the way, he just isn’t sure what to do.
He begins backing into the alley away from them and watches as another ten shadows detach themselves from the dark and join the ones already moving his way. The street behind the approaching shadows begins