The cool interior of the TARDIS had been a welcome relief to Nyssa and the Doctor, but they did not linger in its comfort. The Doctor quickly detached the necessary elements from the scanner and assembled them in a metal case. He switched on the device and nodded in satisfaction as it emitted two beeps.
"It seems to be working," he said. "One signal for each of us."
"I'm glad," Nyssa responded.
She hoped sincerely that the machine would detect indications of life at the ruins. She tried not to consider the possibility that no signs would be found. She stepped to the door and waited anxiously for the Doctor to join her. However, he set the scanner on the console and walked toward the hallway.
"Where are you going?" she asked. "Shouldn't we return to the ruins as soon as possible?"
"Yes," he said, already partially through the door, "but I want to bring a few more supplies."
He returned several minutes later with a cloth shoulder bag. Nyssa could see the outlines of various objects through the soft fabric. The Doctor took the scanner then opened the door.
"What did you get?" asked Nyssa as they stepped out into the heat once again.
He hesitated in his response. "When we find Adric and Nyssa, I want to be certain that we are fully prepared to assist them."
Now Nyssa paused before speaking; she was loath to verbalize the thoughts troubling her mind. "Do you think," she began slowly, "that they're all right? Adric must have been hurt very badly, and Tegan seemed so ill."
"Without knowing where they are, I cannot answer that, Nyssa. We must keep hope, though." He handed the bag to her, adding, "I've brought another bottle of hydrating liquid for you. Be sure to have some as we walk; I don't want you to become ill."
Nyssa found the bottle and removed it. She took a sip, recalling how weak and hot Tegan had been the previous day. Despite the intense heat, a small shiver ran up her spine.
The Doctor and Nyssa covered the area between the TARDIS and the ruins faster than they had on either of their previous trips. They spoke little, allotting their energy to the brisk walk. By the time they reached the mesa, Nyssa was tired, but she did not complain.
The Doctor set the scanner on the ground and switched it on. Immediately a double beep sounded. Nyssa held her breath, waiting for a third and fourth beep. The machine, however, was silent.
"Doctor?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.
He shook his head and moved the device. "It's picking up only us. Perhaps the rock is blocking the signal. Let's try moving this closer."
He lifted the scanner and took it to the base of the mesa. It continued to emit a double beep, but other signs of life were absent.
"Doesn't it register animals?" asked Nyssa.
"No, I've adjusted it to detect only humanoid life forms. Others would be too distracting." He fiddled with the switch, but the signal did not change.
Nyssa, discouraged and now growing alarmed, sat on the ground heavily. "Where are they? Where did they go?"
The Doctor sank down next to her. "There are really only two possibilities. Either they were taken away from here, or they are still somewhere in the area but are undetectable."
"Could the dogs have taken them?"
The Doctor shook his head. "No. There would be prints all around if that were the case."
"So if they were taken away, it was by someone or something that left no tracks. Who could do something like that, and how could it be done so quickly? I truly had Tegan out of my sight for only a few seconds." She bowed her head and added, "This is my fault. I shouldn't have left her."
The Doctor turned his head to look at her. "No, Nyssa, you're not to blame. If anyone is, I am."
"You?"
He nodded. "I should have seen the signs of impending heat stroke. I was so focused on finding Adric that I ignored Tegan. She said that she was tired, and I knew she was having troubling keeping up with us, but I thought she was just... being Tegan."
"You were angry with her, weren't you?"
He scowled. "Angry? I'm not sure I would use that word. Perhaps vexed—"
"You and she were arguing just before we left the mesa. What was it about?"
Nyssa's expression showed a glowing trust in the Time Lord who sat next to her. There was an ingenuousness, too, that prevented the Doctor from answering her with full honesty. "It's not important. Now, we know that Tegan was out of your sight for only a few seconds, and we see no tracks except for ours. This information seems to point us away from the idea of abduction."
"So she and Adric must be here somewhere!" Nyssa raised her hands in frustration.
"We need to check the rock carefully. There is a possibility that the inhabitants created some form of hidden passage. There may be a pressure point that opens it."
Nyssa stood immediately and hurried to the hollow where she had last seen Tegan. "This must be the access point! She was here. She can't have gone anywhere else."
Nyssa began feeling about inside the indentation. She remembered the engravings at the bottom of the hollow and ran her fingers over them. "Could these be the trigger?"
The Doctor peered down at the characters and touched them. "Possibly." He pressed on them, one at a time. "If they are, there is most likely a specific sequence required to activate the doorway, though this stone appears solid."
He moved his hands carefully along the interior of the indentation, trying to discern any cracks or spaces, while Nyssa continued to prod at the characters.
After several minutes, both sat back on their heels. The Doctor said, "If this does open, it has been masterfully designed. There are no appreciable gaps."
"It must open, though," said Nyssa. "There doesn't seem to be any other possibility. I think these characters must activate it. If only we could read them."
The Doctor took a small notepad and pencil from his pocket. "That may not be necessary. If they do act as some sort of a rudimentary keypad, all we have to do is figure out the required sequence. We must determine all of the possible permutations then try each one systematically." He was already writing rapidly on the paper.
Inspired by a shred of hope, Nyssa permitted herself to lean back against the smooth, cool stone as her fingers caressed the carvings that would surely reveal her missing friends.
----------
By mid-afternoon Tegan was anxious to speak with Adam again. She had assisted her hostess, whose name she found to be Hahmala, in preparing lunch, mostly to stave off boredom. Hahmala had appeared pleased at the offer of help though reticent at first to accept. Initially she had declined with a small bow, gesturing for Tegan to sit at the table and wait for the food. Tegan, however, had insisted, and Hahmala finally relented, permitting the Australian to shell some beans. Now Hahmala smiled at Tegan each time she caught her eye; a small degree of friendship seemed to form between them.
Tegan sat next to Hahmala at the table, watching her skillfully braid dried grass into a mat. After a time, Tegan placed her hand on Hahmala's arm. The villager looked up at her.
"Please, Hahmala," Tegan said softly, "would you take me to Adam again?"
Hahmala's brow wrinkled in confusion.
"Ah-dahm," Tegan said slowly, gesturing toward the far end of the village then pointing at herself.
Hahmala's mouth formed an "oh," then she nodded in understanding. However, her next response was a shake of her head followed by several words.
"Please," Tegan said again, this time allowing her voice an entreating edge, "I need to see him. Please?"
Hahmala looked toward the doorway. The guard stood eating a bowl of beans that she had given him. The look she returned to Tegan conveyed a willingness to help but a fear of repercussion.
Once again Tegan said, "Please," as she grasped Hahmala's wrist.
Hahmala stood with a nod then walked to the guard. She spoke to him in a firm voice. He scowled, but he stepped aside. Hahmala beckoned Tegan with her hand, and they hurried down the pathway toward the edge of the village. The sentry followed closely behind.
When they reached Adam's home, Hahmala removed the bar and permitted Tegan to step inside. Adam still sat upon the pallet; Tegan doubted that he moved often. However, she noticed that a half-empty bowl and a cup sat beside him.
She knelt at his side, briefly lifting the cup to sniff it. The distinctive acrid smell met her nose; Adam had received the soporific, too. She hoped that she would be able to rouse him; this might be her only chance to speak with him again.
Tegan gently shook Adam's shoulder and spoke his name. He mumbled and shifted on the pallet.
"Adam, please wake up. I have to talk to you!" Tegan leaned inward to speak close to his ear.
"Adam," he repeated, "you called me Adam." His eyes opened, and he blinked at her. She saw the same slight haze that had clouded Adric's vision earlier in the day.
"Come on, Adam," she encouraged, "stay with me. Tell me about how you came here."
"Came here? Where?"
"I don't know! We were on Anahsti, at the ruins, and somehow we both ended up here. Please try to remember how."
"Anahsti. The ruins." He nodded and smiled sadly. "I was working on my Ph.D. I was going to be a professor of anthropology. The carvings—they were my research. I was ABD!" His voice rose slightly in anger.
"ABD?" Tegan feared that he was rambling again.
"ABD," he repeated. "I was so close—all but dissertation. Adam Martin, ABD—not Adam Martin, Ph.D."
"All right—you were studying and were close to finishing. But how did you end up here?"
"I never finished," he lamented; he was growing agitated. "I wanted to finish. That's why I went to Anahsti—all the way from Earth. From Arizona to Anahsti—all that way for what? For what?" He gripped her arm with more strength that she thought he possessed.
"I'm sorry, Adam. I wish you could have finished your education. But maybe I can help you get back to Anahsti and then back to Earth."
His blue eyes met hers. "Back to Earth? But it's been so long..."
"You could still go. I have a friend who can take you. But you have to tell me how you got here from Anahsti."
Adam's eyes appeared clearer than they had been. He closed them for a moment then spoke. "It was hot. I was working... at the base. My leg," he touched his knee, pushing away the blanket. Tegan saw that he wore a simple, coarsely woven shift which exposed his legs from the knees down. A faded white scar was still visible across his shin. "I fell and cut it... the rocks were so sharp."
"I know." Tegan ran a finger over the cut on her palm. "Go on, Adam. You were working at the base. Then what?"
"So hot," he murmured. "The sun just beat down, and my leg... it was throbbing, oh it hurt. And I wanted a minute in the shade, just a minute to be cool. I wasn't leaving my work. I was just getting cool."
"And how did you do that? How did you get cool?"
Adam sighed. "The rock—the little hollow in the rock. It was cool in there."
Tegan pressed her hand to her lips. She remembered, now, that she had been in some sort of shaded, cool area; could it have been the same hollow?
"The rock was so smooth," he continued, smiling now at the memory. "So cool, and so nice against my hands. I sat back and closed my eyes." He scowled, then his head drooped.
"Adam! Come on, just another minute. What happened then? You closed your eyes and then what?"
He shook his head. "I was here, on this planet—not Anahsti. I knew—the sky—it's purple here, and there are two moons. But I couldn't get back. I could never get back." A tear glistened against his cheek.
Tegan swallowed; a lump had formed in her throat. "But you tried?"
He shook his head. "No. Yes. They won't let me leave. I have to stay here, in the village, in Tlan-Arana. But I got away—I crept away three times. But I couldn't go back."
"Where did you go?"
"To where I woke up—across there, out by the other mesa. But I couldn't find the way back to Anahsti. I had to stay here."
Tegan caressed the old man's hand gently. "I'm sorry, Adam."
He looked at her with little comprehension. She could see that he was slipping into oblivion again. Quickly she asked, "Wait, Adam. Please—tell me why they've kept you here. What do they want from you?"
"Me?" He smiled ruefully. "They want me. I came from away—I came from the mesa. I have to stay."
"But why?"
"Good fortune," he murmured. "I was their hope." His head lolled back in slumber.
Hahmala took Tegan's arm to urge her upward. The guard was watching them with considerable suspicion and disapprobation, but Tegan did not care. A wave of despair washed over her. Adam did not know how to return to Anahsti, and he had not even been permitted to leave the village in over fifty years. This certainly could not bode well for her and Adric. She blinked back tears as Hahmala led her back to the dwelling.
----------
Nyssa crossed off each combination of characters on the pad of paper as the Doctor pressed at the relevant sequence in the base of the hollow. Glancing at several completed pages, she was beginning to feel discouraged. The Doctor had tried over three dozen combinations with no success. There were still hundreds remaining.
Nyssa sighed audibly as she drew a line through the sequence that the Doctor had just attempted.
"Don't give up hope," he said, glancing at her. "We still have many more to try."
"And more time goes by with each attempt," she fretted. "Doctor, if they are somewhere inside the mesa, how long can they survive?"
"If there is a source of accessible water, they could sustain themselves for several days."
"If they can get to it, and if Adric's injuries aren't too severe," Nyssa added. She looked down at the drops of blood still visible on the rusty earth near the hollow.
The Doctor turned his attention back to the characters. "What is the next combination?" he asked.
Nyssa focused on the page in her hand. The Doctor had assigned each character a number to simplify Nyssa's identification of them. She read out, "Seven, four, thirteen, eight."
He pressed his index finger against each carving, then said quietly, "Next."
----------
Tegan sat on her pallet against the wall, legs stretched out before her. She felt defeated and dispirited, seeing little hope for returning to the mesa where she had awakened. She considered attacking the sentry during the night; perhaps she could catch him by surprise and dash away. But this seemed unlikely, given the vigilance shown by the night guard. As twilight fell over the village, she dozed, exhaustion fueled by her melancholy.
When she heard Adric's voice, however, she sat up quickly. Hahmala was walking out of his room carrying a cup. Tegan stood and hurried to the boy.
"Adric!" she said. "Did she make you drink more of that stuff?"
He shook his head. "I had just a little. The rest is there."
She saw another cup by the pallet. It was nearly full.
"Good," she told him.
"It tastes really awful," he said, frowning.
"It smells pretty bad, too. I wish it didn't. I might be able to slip some into the guard's dinner otherwise."
"Couldn't you mix it with something that would cover the taste and smell?"
Tegan thought for a minute. "That's a really good idea. Perhaps that pink juice—it's already rather sour, and maybe I could add a bit of honey to sweeten out the taste of this stuff. I saw some honey when I was helping Hahmala."
"You'd probably need to drug her, too," Adric said. "She could wake as you're leaving."
Tegan nodded. "You're right. But first we need to see if that juice will mask the taste. I'll be right back."
Tegan went to the kitchen area, where Hahmala was preparing supper. She took an empty cup and poured some juice into it from a clay pitcher. Her hostess smiled, thinking that her guest must like the area's bounty.
Tegan took the juice back to Adric's room and added a splash of the soporific. She held it out to him. "I'm afraid that you're going to have to be the taste tester; I have to stay awake."
Adric scowled faintly but accepted the cup and took a small sip. "It's not too bad," he said. "I can taste a little bitterness, but nowhere nearly as much as in the pure stuff."
Tegan sniffed at the cup; the acrid odor was nearly undetectable. "All right," she said, "I'll take what's in your cup and mix it into the pitcher. Hahmala has served from that at all of the meals. I hope it's enough to knock out both her and the guard."
"Maybe you can find more of this stuff," Adric suggested. "She must keep it somewhere handy."
"I'll try, but I'm going to have to be pretty sneaky just to get this into the pitcher without her seeing me."
"I'm sure you'll manage."
Tegan stood again, then she looked down at the youth. His expression was less pained than it had been earlier in the day. She bent to move the cloths from his arm and leg, asking, "How are you feeling?"
"A little better," he responded honestly. "The cloths might be helping."
"I wonder what's in this liquid?" Tegan asked, touching the yellowed fabric.
"I don't know, but I can feel the bones beginning to mend."
Tegan looked at Adric with some surprise. "Really? So soon?"
He lifted his chin slightly. "Alzarians heal much faster than you."
She nodded. "I forgot." She considered him for a moment. "Adric, if I can leave tonight, I think that you should come with me."
"Go with you?"
"Yes. If I can somehow find a way back to Anahsti, we should go together. I have the strongest feeling that travel back and forth is not something we can rely on. Even if I can get back, I don't know if I'd be able to return here for you—although I'd certainly try."
"Do you think there's any chance that the Doctor can get here?"
Tegan shook her head. "If he could, I'm sure he'd be here by now. He could be searching for us anywhere on Anahsti. There's a lot of open land to cover. I'm sure he and Nyssa are trying, but I'm really afraid that they won't be able to find a way to get here. So we need to try to get back there together."
Adric turned his face away. "I don't know if I can." The mention of Nyssa had left his cheeks burning again.
"I'll help you as much as I can," Tegan said. "I think if I put splints on your arm and leg you can move more easily, and I can save a little of this stuff for the pain."
"You can't carry me," he said dejectedly.
"No, but I can support you. Adric, I really don't want to leave you here." As she spoke, she took his hand, but he pulled it away. The physical contact made his face burn hotter.
"You'd have to hold me the whole way," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I can manage, I'm sure."
"But you'd—I'd have my hands around you."
Tegan chuckled lightly. "Yes, you would. That's the usual way to help someone along."
"But I might... I mean, you'd have to trust me."
"Trust you? No, Adric, it's you who have to trust me. And I won't let you down. I know I'm not always the most reliable person in a crisis, but this time you can count on me. Now I think you need to rest; you seem a bit bleary, and if I can pull this juice thing off, we're going to have a long night ahead of us."
She stood again and walked out of the room. Adric's eyes remained open; his heart was pounding. What would Tegan think of him if he accidentally touched her the wrong way? Could he trust himself and his actions? He had not even been aware of his ignominious behavior before the Doctor had pointed it out to him. Shame washed over him; his companions had surely lost all respect for him. Even if he could somehow make it back to Anahsti with Tegan, he felt certain that he would never be able to face Nyssa again.
----------
The Doctor and Nyssa had exhausted nearly all of the combinations of characters when night fell. There was still one page remaining as darkness covered the mesa completely.
"Come on," the Doctor said, standing. "We should get back up into the dwellings."
Nyssa balked. "But we only have one more page to go! If the combination exists, it must be one of these." She waved the pad in front of her.
In the distance, a faint, eerie howl quivered through the air. The Doctor said, "It will have to wait until the morning. I don't want to risk encountering those dogs again."
"But Doctor, if Adric and Tegan are in here," she patted the rock, "they might not be able to wait until morning. Please, let's keep working as long as we possibly can."
With a sigh, the Doctor knelt again. "All right, what is the next combination?" He had memorized the location of the characters; he required little light to know which ones to touch.
Early evening moonlight provided sufficient illumination for Nyssa to read the numbers on the pad. The Doctor's fingers moved quickly over the characters, then, with some impatience, he said, "Next!"
Nyssa had read all but the last two combinations when the dogs' howls were near enough to make her stomach twist in primal fear. The Doctor began to stand; the dogs were clearly less than one hundred yards away. Nyssa, however, read out the second-to-last combination, finishing with, "Just one more, Doctor."
He bent again, his fingers moving rapidly, "No," he said in a clipped voice, "next."
Nyssa stated the final set of numbers; her heart was pounding in both fear and anticipation. If the characters were the trigger, this permutation had to be the correct one. She watched the Doctor's hand in the moonlight.
He stood and turned to her; his expression was sober. "Come on," he said gruffly, "we haven't much time."
Disappointment flooded her, but she had no time for remorse. The Doctor took her arm and walked quickly toward the ladder. The dogs yipped and growled; their eyes flashed in the silvery light. With a glance ahead and one to the side, the Doctor shouted, "Run!"
He pulled Nyssa along, the dogs now suddenly running beside them. The canines snapped at their prey, one catching at Nyssa's leg. The Doctor tugged her forward, away from the animal's jaws, and she leaped in an attempt to propel herself further away.
Nyssa felt her body fly through the air for the briefest moment, then her feet hit the ground. She stumbled, falling to her knees even as the Doctor dragged her ahead. But her change in position was unexpected to him, and he turned to look back at her. His foot hit a stone and slid out from under him. Arms flailing in a futile attempt to regain his balance, the Time Lord fell to the ground, landing on his hip. Nyssa had not regained her feet, either, and as each scrabbled upward, the dogs surrounded them.
The Doctor pressed Nyssa against the rock face and stood in front of her. "Back!" he yelled at the advancing canines. His words had little effect; the animals stalked forward. The Doctor reached into his pocket to withdraw a matchbook, still watching the dogs. His fingers fumbled with the small cardboard flap.
"Doctor!" Nyssa cried, "hurry!"
She could feel the dogs' breath on her legs.
"I'm afraid I'm all out," the Doctor said somewhat apologetically. He tossed the matchbook at the nearest dog, but the animal did not seem to feel the light missile.
He reached around for anything else to throw, then he leaned forward. "Try to distract them," he said. "I need about ten seconds."
Nyssa had no idea what her companion was planning, but she could see that he was reaching to the side, where several dogs snapped at his hand. She stepped forward to wave her arms and shout at the animals. They backed away slightly, one narrowly missing the Doctor's fingers with its sharp, strong teeth. Nyssa's warnings deterred the canines for only seconds, however. Their hunger drove them forward, unafraid of the small figure that moved and yelled before them.
The dog nearest the Doctor clamped its jaw around his wrist just as his hand jerked upward. A sharp, shrill noise made Nyssa jump. It was followed immediately by another. The dogs seemed to freeze momentarily; several yelped as if in pain. The Doctor pulled his arm away from the dog's mouth as a second pair of beeps exploded from the scanner.
The canines whined and backed away. After several more beeps, the pack trotted away. Picking up the scanner, the Doctor nudged Nyssa toward the ladder. She climbed up as quickly as she could; her injured hand slowed her somewhat. The Doctor followed only a few rungs behind her.
When both had reached the dwellings, they pulled the ladder up and lay it on the pathway. This safeguard completed, they walked tiredly into the home in which the Doctor's bags lay. He switched on a small battery-operated lamp as Nyssa sank down onto her bedroll.
"How did you know that the scanner would scare them away?" she asked, finally feeling as though she had caught her breath.
The Doctor had set the scanner on the ground; he now patted it affectionately. "Canines' ears are very sensitive; they can perceive sounds in the 0.1 decibel range, much lower than most humanoids can. However, sounds above 100 decibels are painful to them. Fortunately, the scanner's signal is 110 decibels."
"I'm just glad that you had it available."
"Hmm, yes, it was rather fortuitous." He set the lamp near Nyssa then sat down next to her. "Are you all right?"
Nyssa looked down at her legs and ankles. Her pants leg was ripped across her calf. She moved the fabric aside. Four reddened streaks lay across her skin. The Doctor bent in to peer at them.
"It's just a scrape," he said. "It didn't break the skin."
Nyssa nodded. "Did the dog bite your wrist?" she asked.
The Doctor lifted his arm toward the light. He saw that his cuff was torn, but the extra layer of interfacing inside the fabric had prevented the dog's teeth from penetrating his flesh.
"We were both lucky," he said. "Remaining out there with the dogs so close was foolish, though. I won't risk that again."
Nyssa's voice was low as she said, "At least now we know that the characters don't open a passage in the rock."
"That surprises me. It seemed such a logical explanation."
Nyssa frowned, deeply in thought for a moment. "Doctor, perhaps we're being too logical about this."
"Too logical? What do you mean?"
"Perhaps we should consider other possibilities."
"Do you have any in mind?"
Nyssa shook her head. "Nothing specific, but I think we should consider all of the facts we have. Maybe we should focus on the things that aren't logical, since the logical aspects don't seem to help us."
"Hmm. You sound rather like Tegan."
Nyssa smiled sadly. "Perhaps Tegan's way of thinking is just what we need."
----------
Tegan and Hahmala sat at the table enjoying a supper of seasoned, cooked beans, chewy flatbread, and a crispy root vegetable with a slightly gingery taste. Tegan's spirits were buoyed by her success in adding a full cup of the sleeping draught to the pitcher of juice. She had managed this while Hahmala took a bowl of beans to Adric. She had found a container on a high shelf that held more of the liquid, and she poured Adric's cup as well as several additional splashes from the container into the pitcher. She quickly added some honey, then she tasted a drop of the concoction to be certain that the addition was not obvious.
Now she poured a second cup of juice for her hostess. She had seen the night guard drink from his own cup several times. Tegan had held her cup to her lips repeatedly and pretended to swallow, but none of the drink had entered her throat. After refilling Hahmala's cup, she nodded toward the guard and held up the pitcher.
Hahmala gestured toward Tegan's cup, but she shook her head with a smile, patting at her stomach to indicate satiation. She swept her hands over her bowl and made a satisfied sound. Hahmala smiled with pleasure and stood to replenish the guard's drink.
Tegan did not know how much time would be required for the draught to have its desired effect. She had given Hahmala considerably more juice, knowing it was important that the woman be asleep when the guard became affected.
Hahmala removed the dishes from the table, Tegan eagerly assisting her. Hahmala appeared somewhat unsteady on her feet as she stood by the counter. Tegan glanced at the doorway; the guard's shadow fell across the entrance, but he was not watching her at the moment.
Tegan led Hahmala quickly to the room in the back that served as her bedchamber. By the time she had eased her hostess onto the pallet, the woman's eyes were closed and her breathing indicated deep slumber. Tegan returned to the common room. The guard leaned against the doorway; she saw that his eyelids were drooping.
Nonchalantly she sat at the table and took up the mat upon which Hahmala had worked earlier. Tegan allowed her fingers to move over the grass, feigning a weaving motion, as she watched the guard from the corner of her eye. The moment he begin to slump, she leaped up and ran forward. She caught him under the arms as he slid toward the floor.
He was a large, sturdily built man, and Tegan struggled to pull his prone body into the house and toward the wall next to the door. By the time she had finished, sweat beaded her forehead. However, she took no time to rest. She hurried back to the table and took the mat in her hands. From a basket near the wall, she took two more mats. She carried these into Adric's room. He lay on the bed with his eyes closed.
"Adric!" she urged. "Come on! Wake up!"
The boy's eyes opened.
"The drug worked; Hahmala and the guard are completely out, but I don't know how long it will last. I'm going to put splints on you." She knelt beside him and rolled one of the mats then flattened it against the floor. She placed this under Adric's arm. "I think we should leave these cloths on, since whatever's on them seems to help." She was speaking quickly, looking about for something with which to secure the splint to Adric's arm.
The blanket that covered him was too heavy for her to tear. The pallet was constructed of a roughly woven fabric sewn at the edges and stuffed with a soft material inside. Tegan grasped the edge and tried to rip the covering, but it was a strong weave. "Rabbits!" she exclaimed in frustration.
She looked down at her skirt. Her stockings would be easy to tear. She reached for her hem and lifted the skirt slightly, but Adric's eyes widened.
"What are you doing?" he asked breathlessly.
"I'm going to use my stockings," she answered.
"No! You can't do that!" Adric's voice rose sharply.
Tegan saw the color that flooded his cheeks, then she remembered the issue that had led her and her companions to Anahsti in the first place. In the confusion and crisis of the last two days, the small matter of Adric's decorum had been far from her thoughts.
"I don't know what else to use," she said.
He gulped. "My belt. Use my belt."
Tegan pushed back the blanket; Adric's clothing had been rolled up to expose his injured leg and arm. He still wore his shirt and pants, but his belt and mathematics badge were gone.
"Where is it?" she asked.
Adric shut his eyes for a moment. "I don't know."
Tegan searched about the room. In a large basket on the opposite wall she found the belt and the badge. She used the belt to secure two of the rolled mats to his leg. She still required some sort of binding for his arm, so she hurried back to the common room. The guard wore a soft animal skin belt around his waist. Quickly Tegan removed it and ran back to Adric.
After fastening the splint to his arm, she paused for a moment to pin the badge to his chest. "We can't leave without this," she said with a quick smile.
She assisted Adric in sitting, then placed his arm over her shoulders. "All right, I'm going to help you to stand now," she said.
"Tegan," he said plaintively, "I don't know if I can. Maybe I should just stay here."
She turned her face to him; she was only inches away. "No. You're coming with me. I won't leave you here. You can do this; I'm going to help you. Come on, up." She stood slowly, pulling him upward with her.
Adric gasped; the movement was obviously painful, but Tegan felt there was little choice for him. She took him out of the bedroom, supporting him with her shoulder. He kept the broken leg slightly up from the ground, and his arm dangled at his side.
Tegan led him to the table, where he balanced with his good hand while she filled her flask with a mixture of juice and the sleeping draught. She offered a small sip to Adric.
"Have just a little for the pain," she said.
He nodded and swallowed a few drops as Tegan checked the doorway. The guard still slept soundly, and there did not seem to be anyone about the village. She could see lights in some of the other homes; she knew that she would need to pass several of these to reach the ladder.
"Wait here," she told Adric. Tegan hurried toward the ladder, keeping low to the ground. Fortunately the edge of the path was in shadow. When she reached the ladder, she crouched to grasp the top rung in her hands. She tried to lift it, but the ladder was heavy. She knew that it was possible to move it; the residents of these cliff dwellings brought their ladders up when enemies threatened from below. However, she suspected that several men usually hoisted the ladder upward, not a single, slim woman.
Undaunted, Tegan attempted to slide the ladder to the side. It was difficult to get sufficient leverage from her post above it, but she forced her shoulders into the task. With a hard thrust of her arms, the ladder moved several inches. Tegan took one step sideways and managed to shift it a few more inches. However, this time she became slightly unbalanced from the effort and teetered on the edge of the path. She gasped and gripped at the small ledge that ran along the pathway, steadying her body and her breathing.
Tegan realized that she would not be able to move the ladder very far alone. Her only recourse was to bring Adric out here. She glanced back at the nearby dwellings. Soft voices could be heard inside the nearest one.
She skulked back to Hahmala's house. Adric leaned against the table, pale and shaky. Tegan took a blanket from the pallet against the wall and wrapped it around his shoulders.
"We have to walk a short distance to the ladder," she explained. "If anyone should see you, they may think you're just an old man walking along."
Adric nodded hesitantly. "You don't have to take me."
"Adric, we've already gone over this. I'm not leaving without you, and I absolutely intend to go, so you're coming, too."
She placed his arm over her shoulder again and pulled him toward the door. They hobbled down the pathway, Adric on the inside and Tegan very close to the edge of the cliff. Adric seemed to resist the forward movement, but Tegan was determined. When they were half-way to the ladder, a sharp voice came from the nearest dwelling.
Tegan's heart began to race. The voice spoke again, very close to the doorway. Tegan tried to pull Adric forward, urging him toward the ladder, but he stopped.
"Adric!" she whispered. "Come on!"
"Wait," he said softly. She saw his hand stretch out from underneath the blanket. "T'lock aparra," he called out in a husky voice.
"T'lock aparra," the voice from the dwelling responded.
"Now we can go," he said.
Tegan continued, shaken from the near encounter. "What was that?" she asked quietly.
"That's what Hahmala said to me in the evenings. I think it means good night."
Tegan reached for his hand over her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Brilliant, Adric!"
They now stood before the ladder. Tegan looked down at the top rung. She had failed to consider exactly how she would get Adric down the ladder and to the ground. "Cripes," she muttered, thinking as quickly as she could.
"What's the matter?" Adric asked.
"We have to figure out a way to get you down. Can you put any weight on your foot?"
Adric tested the appendage, wincing as it touched the ground. "I don't know."
Tegan lowered his arm then turned to place both hands on his shoulders. "You have to try. It's the only way."
"I—I don't know if I can."
She gripped his shoulders harder. "You must." She turned back to the ladder. "I have an idea."
She helped Adric to sit on the edge of the path, then she lay down on her stomach. She moved his uninjured leg to a rung and set his foot against it, then she swung the broken leg gently down and eased the foot onto the same rung.
"Grab hold of the top rung with your good hand," she instructed.
Adric complied, but he said, "Tegan, I can't climb down. I'll fall—" She felt him beginning to tremble; she was sure that he was recalling his plummet from the Anahsti mesa.
"I won't let you," she said. "Just hang on."
He gripped the rung as she placed her hands between his. Carefully, fingers clenched on the wood, she swung her body around Adric and lowered her feet to the rung just below where his feet lay. Her body was pressed against his back, holding him in place.
"Now," she said firmly, "we're going to climb down together. I'll stay right in front of you, just like this, and I won't let you fall. You just need to use your good hand and foot to go down one rung at a time."
"Tegan," he protested, cheeks flaming at the intimate contact and heart racing in fear, "I can't."
"Yes, you can. Come on."
Tegan moved his hand down a single rung then used her toes to urge his foot downward. They had gone down several rungs, their heads well below the path, when they heard voices again.
"Sshh!" Tegan warned, pressing in against Adric even more firmly. If someone should peer down over the ledge, she hoped that her body would not be visible.
Neither young woman nor boy drew a breath for nearly a minute as the voices floated by above them. Looking up, Tegan saw a light pass by; her heart seemed to stop when the light ceased its movement directly above them. She felt the ladder shake slightly; she thought that someone was trying to move it. However, after a moment she realized that Adric had simply shifted his foot to the side.
When the voices had passed, they continued their slow descent. Tegan remained firmly against Adric, keeping his body steady with her own. She could tell that he was uncomfortable and in pain, but she did not stop. Finally, after what seemed like hours, she felt her foot touch solid ground.
"We made it!" she said, hopping down then helping Adric off of the ladder.
In the moonlight, she could see that his cheeks were flushed and sweat dripped down his face. "It's all right," she tried to soothe, "you did fine."
He said nothing, so she placed his arm over her shoulder again and began to walk through the dark curtain of night.
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