Mr. Jik himself put slave collars on all of us and gave us a stern lecture on the futility of trying to escape. Everyone who was not a slave wore their collars so it was quite obvious they were free. If anyone tried to cover their neck they were assumed to be a slave who was trying to be mistaken for free; that was not looked on well to say the least. The collars were quite comfortable but were fastened with magic as well as physically so they were very difficult to remove except by one who knew the formula.

The remasting and refitting would take about two weeks during which time we would be kept in an escape-proof inn, except for an occasional outings to relieve the boredom. We were taken to the inn at night so we wouldn't be seen. Lira and Aril were never allowed to be seen together; their worth, as beautiful twins, was such that many would risk everything to capture them. Even at the inn they were never seen together. The people at the inn were told that there was a sick girl in the room and Aril was tending her. That way they could both eat, no one else would be allowed in the room and no one was likely to investigate.

The little trees told us that Malcolm, Piro and Fortas with three trusted sailors were about two days from the town. Since they were strangers as well as probably having been seen at Garnet Bay by most of the slavers, they were traveling invisible and sleeping in Malcolm's tent. We were to continually provide them with our situation, but they wouldn't give us any more information so there would be no chance of us letting anything slip. The opportunity for rescue could come any time after two days, but would probably be more. There would be no hint of when the rescue would come; for, it was thought, if we knew deliverance was imminent we might unconsciously act differently and increase the slaver's alertness.

With six rescuers and seven rescuees plus possibly one slaver slave, Tarl, we would be quite a large party. There must be no slip-ups. We had to be especially careful of Tarl, we were told to only let him into our plan at the last second and then only if we thought it would be very obvious to him that we could get away. Tarl was staying at the inn with us as Mr. Jik's assistant. Mr. Jik was our constant overseer. This was fine because it made us more careful of what we said and added an extra element of safety.

So - all we could do now was keep Malcolm informed and enjoy, or endure, the days ahead according to what time and chance had in store.

At least we were allowed to use the common room in the secure part of the inn. We stayed there most of the days talking together. Lira and Aril would alternate; the one in hiding doing most of the messaging back and forth with the rescue party.

There was also an enclosed and guarded courtyard where we could get outside for an hour each day.

The three of us improved our language skills greatly, as all we had to do most of the time was talk and listen to the others talk. We learned their histories and told what we could of ours, giving no hint of any magic. I did tell them of my flight from my village and the encounter with the tree spirit of the apple tree, but nothing further about our dealings with trees. We glossed over how we had met and why we were traveling together with a troop of entertainers.

The outings were pretty boring but we didn't let on for fear they'd stop altogether. The only thing our captors seemed to find interesting and were comfortable taking us to about was the shipyard where the ship was being remasted. We all acted like docile little slaves, knowing that we would be on our way in two weeks. Lira, Aril and I of course knew we'd be rescued even sooner - we just didn't know how or when. Our every move, our schedule, the layout of the inn and anything else Malcolm wanted to know was transmitted to him by way of the little trees. But we got no news in return. The lack of response was frustrating but we knew it was necessary.

It had been a full week, and we were getting mighty tired of our captivity when I was awakened with a hand over my mouth and a whisper from Malcolm that they were there. Malcolm had already put his most powerful invisibility spell on me and I was to go out into the courtyard where Piro was waiting.

We stood there waiting for about fifteen minutes before Malcolm and Fortas came out. They led me to a ladder that went to the top of the wall. While Fortas brought up the ladder that had been on the inside of the wall I noticed that only Aril and Lira and I of the captives were there. "Where are the others?" I asked.

"In Malcolm's pack, under a sleep spell. Tarl too," said Aril. It was as if the sun had just come up in my mind; what better way to minimize commotion and the possibility of notice! And what better way of rescuing Tarl without the possibility of him giving the alarm. We picked up the ladders and carried them away, collecting the three sailors who had been on watch as we went.

We marched for about three hours away from the town and the sea towards the middle of the island. The last fifteen minutes was through a narrow gorge with a swift flowing stream running through it. It was hard going, for there was no trail and we had to walk in the stream bed most of the time. Finally, there was Malcolm's tent and a banked campfire which was quickly kindled to warm our cold wet feet.

"Most of the time you've been waiting," Malcolm told us as we warmed ourselves, "we've spent finding the best places to hide as we stop on the way to where we'll be picked up. We'll sleep in the day and travel by night. Even with invisibility this large of group can be noticed by our tracks, kicked stones or bent limbs of bushes as we pass as well as several other things, so we'll use the cover of night as well as invisibility. Yes, we can also put an avoidance spell on the tent but with the whole island hostile towards slave rescue we can't be too careful. This place is far from any habitation and is seldom visited so we should be safe here during the coming day. Dawn is starting to break. We'll start a breakfast now and wake the others as it cooks."

Piro and Fortas were very handy at cooking on the trail so they worked on the breakfast. As the smells started wafting our way we realized how hungry we were after our strenuous three hour hike.

"Fortas and I were able to get the others into my pack while you were waiting." Malcolm told the three of us. "The sleep spell will keep them from waking, but it won't last one day, let alone several; I'd hate to have them wake up in there, it could be most disorienting. Also, I had to take most of my stuff out of the pack to get them in and I need to repack it for the journey. Let's start getting them out and waking them up, shall we?"

Malcolm laid his pack down on a blanket and reached inside. With a tug he got two hands out and we were able to ease Rose from the bag. Malcolm removed the sleep spell and Aril began to wake her. "What's happening?" she asked as she sat up, "Where's my room and who are these people?"

Aril led her over to the fire where the breakfast was cooking and explained what was going on. Similarly, Mima was extracted and wakened and taken aside by Lira.

Next Tarl was taken by one of the sailors he knew well. As soon as he understood what was going on he helped get Krager out and oriented. Last of all we got Tarl out. He was very nervous but we finally convinced him that there was almost no chance of being recaptured and if we were we'd tell our captors that we'd kidnapped him - which was essentially true. He then became an enthusiastic escapee.

Malcolm easily removed the slave collars starting with Tarl - then we had a celebration breakfast.

As we ate, Malcolm told us that they'd spent the whole previous day setting up a false trail for the slavers to follow. On the way in they had also set up a number of diversion trails along the actual trail we had taken to get out. There were several ways out of this canyon and Malcolm had placed warning spells on all of them in case the slavers found a local wizard who could find the real trail.

With everything secure we explored the area after breakfast We were in a wide place in the canyon where other canyons entered and the stream widened into a beautiful pool. The canyon walls were in reds and yellows now blazing in the morning sun, contrasting with the many greens of the deciduous and evergreen trees. One of the side canyons had beautiful smooth sides and strange shapes in bright clear colors of red, orange, yellow, green and white.

As the sun rose and the day heated up we all went swimming in the pool. The sailors didn't like the fresh water; it didn't buoy them up like the salt water of the sea did. Then we had lunch and napped so we could travel as long as possible that night. When everyone had awakened and Malcolm had repacked his bag we set out up the canyon.

Read Part Twelve 

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