The Secret of Zanzibar (21 page)

‘Cheese roast? Are you sure? Then come on, Horace,
what are you waiting for? We don't want to keep the cheese roast – I mean, the general – waiting.'

Alice heard their footsteps walking away, growing fainter. After several minutes she judged they would have left the street and was about to emerge from the bin when she had second thoughts. What if it was a trap? What if they knew she was there and were just waiting for her to reveal herself and lead them back to Maxine's place?

She couldn't take the risk and so she stayed, huddled in the bin, too scared to leave. Every time she thought enough time had passed, she'd get scared and decide to stay where she was. From time to time she heard voices and footsteps on the street outside and waited in tense silence until they had passed by, but for the most part the street remained quiet and she was left with only her fears for company. Her mind kept returning to one question. Had Horace seen her? And if he had, why hadn't he said anything?

She had no idea of knowing how long she been in the bin by the time she had worked up the courage to push the lid aside and climb out. Her limbs were aching, and she was hungry and desperately tired as she ran through the silent streets, expecting to be stopped at any moment. When at last she reached Maxine's house at the edge of the darkened square, the door was opened almost immediately by her brother, who had first watch that night.

‘Where have you been?' Alex demanded, his voice angry, as he closed the door behind her. ‘It's close to midnight. I thought the Sourians had got you!'

‘They nearly did.' Alice described her close encounter with Sophia and Horace.

Her brother wrinkled his nose. ‘You sat in a bin for six hours? No wonder you stink.' But his tone was kind.

‘Have a shower, Alice,' said Maxine, ‘and we'll fix you a light supper. Then you can go straight to bed. We've a big day ahead of us tomorrow.'

‘I'll take your four am watch,' Tom volunteered.

Within half an hour Alice was stretched out on the couch under a blanket, ready to sink into sleep. But sleep was a long time coming as adrenalin continued to surge through her. Finally she fell into a light doze, only to awaken immediately when she heard her cousin's low voice.

‘Uh-oh,' said Tom. ‘Looks like trouble.'

Alice sprang from the couch and rushed to the window, her pulse racing, her worst fears realised. She had not been cautious enough! She had led Sophia and Horace to their hiding place!

‘What is it?' Alex mumbled, still half asleep.

Without turning from the window Tom uttered the dreaded words: ‘I think the Sourians are coming.'

‘How will we get into the city?' Alistair asked, rubbing at his shoulder where the strap of his rucksack was pinching him. ‘We can't just enter through the gates.'

They were in the secret tunnel, all of them except Great-Aunt Harriet and Grandpa Nelson, who declared that the tubes through the Crankens had been quite enough excitement for them. It was the same secret tunnel Alistair, Tibby, Feast and Slippers had travelled through on their unsuccessful mission to Atticus Island; he and Tibby had used it again after they had fled the Queen's Guards with Zanzibar and found Emmeline and Rebus.

‘Isn't there a tunnel that goes to Cornoliana?' Tibby asked.

‘I'm sure there is,' said Emmeline. ‘Alistair, check the map.'

Alistair unwound the scarf from around his neck and he, Emmeline and Tibby pored over it.

Tibby pointed. ‘We can follow this branch,' she said.

Alistair sighed. It was a long way off and the excitement of being back in the underground tunnel, perhaps passing under the very feet of the Queen's Guards, had worn off many, many hours ago. They had already passed one night in the passage carved from earth and rock and he was longing for sunlight, fresh air.

Tibby carried the scarf, counting the forks as they passed them. From time to time they stopped to rest for fifteen minutes or half an hour, but time was running short and they would have to walk through the night if they were to reach the capital in time.

Alistair was too tired to feel excited when Tibby finally said, ‘It's this one!'

One by one they filed into the narrow tunnel, ducking under a tangle of tree roots that protruded through the earthen ceiling. Tibby led the way, Alistair following close behind.

Unlike the main tunnel, this branch wound its way under the earth, so that it seemed at times as if they must be doubling back rather than moving forward.

‘It's a good thing Ebenezer isn't here,' Rebus joked as the already-cramped passage constricted further. ‘I doubt he'd get that big belly of his through.'

Suddenly Tibby stopped. ‘It's a dead end.'

Emmeline spoke up. ‘That can't be right,' she said. ‘If the tunnel is marked on the map there must be an exit.'

Tibby held up her candle. ‘You're right,' she said. ‘It
is
an exit – but something's blocking it. A big stone, I think.'

‘Let me give it a push,' said Feast Thompson, who was the strongest of the group.

They all flattened themselves against the walls of the tunnel to allow Feast to move to the front of the line.

Once there, he put his shoulder to the stone and threw all his weight against it.

‘It's not budging,' he gasped.

‘Let me help,' said Rebus, and he too put his shoulder to the stone.

After a few seconds there was a scraping sound and the stone shifted just enough to leave a narrow gap. Alistair squeezed through behind Feast, Rebus and Tibby Rose to find himself in a small square. It was barely light – just before dawn, he guessed. He gazed around at the apartment houses and small terraces lining the square, before turning back to face a wall and the stone that had been blocking the tunnel. It was, he saw now, a statue of a mouse holding a quill.

Timmy the Winns was patting it affectionately. ‘Who would have guessed?' he whispered. ‘Old Doffy, eh?'

Emmeline laughed softly. ‘Oh, I never imagined I'd see Doffy again!'

Alistair was shrugging at Tibby Rose when a movement in the small house butting up against the wall caught his eye.

‘Someone's there,' he hissed, and they all froze as the door to the house creaked open.

‘This way!' said a voice, and Alistair did a double take as he recognised the voice as Alice's.

Without a word he rushed through the door she was holding open, followed by Tibby and the others.

‘Tom was on watch,' Alice was saying as she hugged her mother and father, and then carried on hugging everyone within reach. ‘He saw you. Not that he knew who you were. He thought you might be Sourian invaders.'

‘Who's Tom?' Alistair asked as he tried to disentangle himself from her embrace.

‘Tobias's son,' his sister explained, pointing to a tall skinny mouse with marmalade fur who was standing in the doorway next to Alex. ‘Our cousin.'

‘We rescued him from the dungeon,' his brother added casually.

Emmeline moved forward, smiling. ‘Hello, Tom,' she said. ‘Of course I recognise you – you look just like your father. Doesn't he, Tim?' She turned to her younger brother.

‘What's going on here?' A small grey mouse had joined Tom and Alex in the doorway. She looked irritated, Alistair thought, as she scanned the crowd. ‘What are all these strangers doing in my house?'

‘I'm sorry, Maxine,' Alice started to explain, but stopped as Zanzibar stepped forward.

The grey mouse's eyes widened. ‘Aren't you …?' She put a hand to her mouth and whispered through her fingers, ‘Zanzibar?'

Zanzibar smiled. ‘I'm sorry if we're disturbing you,' he said. ‘Maxine, is it?' He held out a hand for her to shake but the grey mouse had ducked her head and dropped into a deep curtsy.

‘Your Highness,' she said.

Zanzibar looked embarrassed. ‘Please,' he said, ‘call me Zanzibar.'

Maxine lifted her head to gaze at him reverently. ‘Zanzibar,' she said. ‘You're here. You're home, in Cornoliana. I never …' Tears sprang to her eyes. ‘I never thought I'd see … After everything … Please excuse me.' And she rushed from the room.

Alice hastened after her.

As they milled around in Maxine's entrance hall, it occurred to Alistair to wonder what they would do in the hours before the protest. They had been so focused on reaching Cornoliana, and now they were here. What next?

Slippers Pink said, ‘We need somewhere to hide until the protest begins. Do you know of anywhere? Is Solomon here?' She looked around.

‘Alice, Tom and I have been staying here with Maxine,' Alex said, but as he looked around the tiny space, which was strewn with pillows and blankets and rucksacks, he said, ‘I don't think there's room for all of us, though.'

Alice re-entered the room, alone. ‘The cathedral,' she said. ‘That's where we should go. We know someone who'll hide you.'

Slippers exchanged a quick look with Feast then said, ‘We'll stay here and talk to Maxine. She can take us to Solomon and the other Figleafers.'

Alistair saw Alice's confidence waver, to be replaced by a stricken expression. ‘Solomon …' she said.

Alex stepped forward. ‘Not now, sis. Let's get to the cathedral first.'

Why had Alice looked so upset when Slippers had mentioned Solomon? Alistair wondered. And who were the Figleafers?

But there was no time to ask the questions, for Tom had opened the front door and, after peering into the cool grey dawn for several long seconds, was motioning to them to follow.

One by one they slipped out into the quiet square and hurried after the marmalade mouse. Alex and Alice moved forward to act as advance scouts, checking that there was no one lurking in the side streets they passed. They stuck to small dark alleyways kept in shadow by the buildings towering on either side, turning into one tiny narrow street after another until Alistair was sure they must be travelling in circles. But his brother and sister and cousin seemed to know the route they were taking well, for every now and then one of them would say something like, ‘Stop a minute, there'll be a guard on the
boulevard … okay, all clear,' before hurrying them along again.

He was in Cornoliana, Alistair reminded himself, but it was hard to believe when his only view of Gerander's capital was a series of dark shabby streets – until: ‘Oh!' he exclaimed involuntarily, awestruck, before hastily covering his mouth to smother the sound. For down a side street he had glimpsed a huge red dome, a flash of marble. It disappeared again, only to reappear when they turned a corner and found themselves on the edge of an enormous square.

‘The cathedral,' Alice announced in a whisper, and Alistair heard in her tone a reverence for the magnificent building that soared above the square. It was both gigantic, so that Alistair had to tip his head back to take it all in, and intricate, with its carved niches and elegant patterns of pink, green and white marble. A slender bell tower stood gracefully alongside.

‘Wait here: I'll wake Daniels,' Alice told them. Before Alistair could ask who Daniels was, she was jogging across the square and around the side of the building.

A few minutes later she reappeared and waved for them to join her.

Alex nudged him. ‘Come on, we'll go through the side door.'

To Alistair's relief, no Queen's Guards rushed into the square as they crossed – though even if they had,
they might have been too startled by the strange sight to respond immediately. Zanzibar, his golden fur glowing in the sun's first rays, was the first to draw the eye, but there was also Timmy the Winns, his fur a deep midnight blue.

But the grey-bearded old mouse who stood by the side door of the cathedral didn't seem at all startled by the sudden rush of strangers across his threshold. As they stood in the dim, cavernous space, catching their breath after the quick, tense journey through the city streets, he regarded them over the tops of his half-moon glasses.

‘Sir,' he said, stepping forward to stand before Zanzibar. ‘Welcome home.'

Zanzibar's face broke into a smile. ‘Daniels,' he said, reaching out to clasp the old mouse's hand in an affectionate handshake. ‘I can't believe you're still here after all these years.'

‘Someone had to look after the old place,' Daniels said gruffly.

‘I hear you've been doing more than that,' said Zanzibar. ‘And I wonder if we could impose on you to hide us here until the protest?'

‘Of course,' said the old mouse. ‘I don't have much in the way of comforts …' He waved a hand around the large bare space. ‘But you are welcome.'

‘I'm thinking those pews look pretty comfortable,' Timmy the Winns said with a yawn.

And Alistair, yawning too, had to agree. ‘I might just have a lie-down,' he said to no one in particular. He stretched out on one of the hard wooden benches.

‘I hear the Figleafers are ready?' he heard Zanzibar murmur. ‘Where is Solomon now?'

But before he could hear the answers, he was asleep.

‘Alistair!' Someone was shaking him.

‘Huh? What time is it?' He rubbed at his eyes. The light filtering through the cathedral's high windows seemed no brighter than it had when he'd first laid his head down.

‘Nine o'clock,' said his brother's voice impatiently. ‘You've been asleep for three hours.'

Alistair sat up and looked around. His parents – for he couldn't help thinking of them in that way – were asleep, and so was Tibby Rose. Zanzibar and Timmy the Winns were in a corner talking with Daniels and some mice he didn't recognise.

He focused on his brother and Tom, who was hovering by Alex's right shoulder.

‘Where's Alice?' he asked.

Alex shrugged. ‘She's been running messages for the Figleafers.'

‘Who are the Figleafers?' Alistair wanted to know.

‘They're part of FIG really,' Tom explained. ‘They're a group set up by Solomon Honker. They use a fig leaf as a sign that they're supporters of the movement. They've
been spreading the word about the protest and they're going to work for Zanzibar when he's restored to the throne.'

‘Alice looked upset when Zanzibar mentioned Solomon earlier,' Alistair remembered.

Alex looked sombre. ‘Yeah …' He sighed heavily. ‘Solomon's dead. Sophia killed him. Alice was the last to speak to him.' He lifted his shoulders then shook his head as if to clear it of unpleasant memories. ‘Anyway, I woke you up because I wanted to show you something.'

They tiptoed past the sleeping forms of Tibby Rose, Emmeline and Rebus.

‘You've got to see this,' said Alex, and he and Tom led Alistair through the cathedral's side door.

Alistair stepped outside then recoiled in shock. The square that had been deserted a mere three hours earlier was now filled with a sea of mice, packed in so tightly that not an inch of cobblestone was visible.

‘Check this out,' said Alex. He pushed through the crowd to the front of the cathedral, Alistair and Tom following in his wake. ‘There must be ten thousand mice in this square!'

‘Where did they all come from?' Alistair said.

‘I've come all the way from the south,' said a voice near him. It was a white mouse with fine lines of black marbling his fur.

‘I'm from just east of the Winns,' said a tawny mouse. ‘There was no way I was going to –'

Before she could finish she was shushed by a mouse in front, and suddenly a hush fell over the whole crowd as the cathedral doors, their hinges rusty from disuse, creaked open and a figure stepped out.