Chapter Five: Racing Away
At the sound of someone bounding up the steps two at a time, Purdey tensed, reaching toward the gun Gambit had loaned her. Then she relaxed as the steps grew rapidly nearer and she recognized the sound of his tread.
"We've got a problem, Purdey," he announced without preamble, double-checking the door after locking it behind himself. "He awake yet?"
"I am now," MacGyver groaned, sitting up and rubbing his hands over his face with a yawn.
"What is it, Gambit?" Purdey asked anxiously.
"They found out we're here," Gambit said grimly. "Got a couple of goons waiting to catch us when we leave."
"What about a back door?" MacGyver questioned.
Gambit shook his head. "Is none. I've got one more spare gun; if you're seeing well enough to shoot straight, we could try to fight our way out, but I don't know what kind of backup they have."
"I won't use one of those things anyway," MacGyver insisted firmly.
Gambit snorted softly. "You're worse than Steed. At least Purdey carries, even if she does have a habit of leaving her gun behind in her handbag."
"Hey!" Purdey protested.
"There's gotta be a way to get out without them seein' us," MacGyver insisted.
"There's the window," Purdey suggested, crossing to look out, "but it's too high without a rope of some kind."
MacGyver grimaced slightly at the thought. "So we just hafta find a rope, then."
"And where do you expect to do that, mate?" Gambit questioned with friendly skepticism.
MacGyver considered a moment, glancing with quick observance around the room, then stood and lifted a corner of the mattress to disclose a woven network of rope springs. "Well, there's our rope…oh." Letting the mattress fall, he half collapsed to sit on it, pressing his forehead into his hand.
"Are you all right?" Purdey questioned.
"Yeah. Just not up to hangin' upside down yet."
"The doctor left some headache powders for you," Purdey offered, handing him one of the little packets.
MacGyver fingered it thoughtfully for a moment. "Maybe later," he said a little vaguely, standing and pushing it into his pocket. "For now, why don't the two of ya see about gettin' that rope while I check out the window."
Purdey and Gambit looked at each other, but moved to do as he suggested while he crossed over to the window.
It opened easily and immediately began sliding down again, picking up speed so that he put out his hand quickly to keep it from drawing attention by crashing noisily into the frame. "Okay, gotta have somethin' to hold that up," he murmured, glancing again around the room.
He wedged the stick he found under the window, then gave it an experimental tug to see how easy it was to dislodge. "Yeah…that oughtta work," he murmured. "Now we just gotta have somethin' to muffle it a little when it shuts…" He quickly found a towel by the basin, and started the cut with his knife to tear off a strip. He lay it along the bottom of the window, pausing just once to grip the sill as he moved his head a little too fast. "How are ya comin' with that rope?"
"Got it!" Purdey exclaimed, pulling the last length free.
MacGyver glanced toward them. "Great. Can ya balance the mattress on the frame so no one will notice anythin' wrong?" He took the rope as he spoke, tying it to the window frame.
"As long as you don't sit on it," Gambit responded.
MacGyver flashed him a quick grin. "You got it." He eyed Purdey's frilly skirt and high heels a little dubiously. "You gonna be all right climbin' a rope in that?"
"The skirt's split," Purdey informed him, spreading it to demonstrate.
MacGyver raised an eyebrow and turned away politely. "Just be careful it doesn't get caught in the rope."
"Yes, I am an experienced agent," Purdey pointed out.
"Sorry," MacGyver apologized instantly.
"Shall I go first to catch you…just in case?" Gambit asked with a wink.
"You just want a look up my skirts, Mike Gambit!" Purdey flashed, moving to the window and climbing out in a quick flurry of frills.
Gambit turned to MacGyver with a resigned shrug. "Well, I guess it's ladies first. You next or me?"
"Go ahead; I want to adjust those ropes before I come down."
"All right; just be careful with that head."
MacGyver tossed him a teasing salute. "Will do."
He waited until Gambit reached the ground, then untied the rope and looped it around the stick before tying it again with a different knot.
Then he looked down at Purdey and Gambit, and a moment later was gripping the sill as the world spun crazily beneath him.
"Are you all right, Mac?" Purdey called up anxiously.
MacGyver drew a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. "Yeah." Don't look down, Mac. Why do you always look down?
Double-checking to be sure he had hold of the correct end of the rope, he climbed out, carefully not looking at the ground again, and made his way quickly down the rope. Then he squinted up and gave the other end a tug, jerking the stick free and untying the rope so that it fell in loops on the ground.
A moment later, the window shut itself with a muffled thump as it landed on the towel MacGyver had placed on the sill. "Let 'em wonder how we got out a closed window with no rope," he commented, squatting to coil the rope on his arm without bending.
"Good thing I parked at the back," Gambit remarked, getting into the driver's seat.
Purdey started to open the passenger door, then changed her mind. "You'd better take the front, Mac; it's a smoother ride."
"Actually, I think I'm leavin' ya here. They'll be lookin' for three, so we're safer if we separate."
"You're not," Purdey protested. "I saw your face at the window; you're still too sick to be on your own, especially on foot."
MacGyver grimaced. "I'm all right; heights always get me that way," he insisted, refusing to admit even to himself that the reaction had been worse than normal for such a relatively small drop.
"Will you hurry it up before someone sees us?" Gambit protested. "Mac, get in for now; I'll drop you off up the road if you want so you at least have a head start on them."
Recognizing that any argument would only serve to delay Purdey and Gambit's own departure, MacGyver slid into the front seat, and Gambit pulled away almost before he and Purdey had shut their doors.
MacGyver rubbed his forehead, throbbing again in the brilliant sunlight, and reached into his pocket for his sunglasses, amazingly unbroken.
"Shouldn't we be going a little faster?" Purdey questioned, leaning on the front seat.
"I don't want to draw any attention to us," Gambit explained.
"Might want to get on the other side of the road, then," MacGyver suggested.
Gambit grimaced. "Oops; sorry."
For several minutes no one spoke, and then Gambit looked toward a sheltered spot in the trees. "If you still want to be let off, I could stop there," he offered. "Puts at least a mile or two between you and any pursuers."
MacGyver glanced over his shoulder. "Maybe not! Don't look now, but I think we got someone on our tail."
Gambit let his gaze flick up to the rearview mirror. "Could be right," he admitted. "I'm turning off here; see if they stay with us."
"They're still back there," Purdey reported.
"Then hang on; I'll try to shake them!"
MacGyver braced himself with a hand on the ceiling to keep his head from banging into it as Gambit turned a corner, then sped up and took another corner without slowing.
"Whew," MacGyver whistled. "Not bad. Ya ever think of drivin' racecars?"
Gambit gave him a half grin. "'Bout a year on Formula One."
"Yeah? Me, too."
"I hate to break up your reunion, but they're still back there!" Purdey exclaimed.
"An' ya shoulda let me drive; you're on the wrong side of the road again!"
Gambit tightened his lips, but said nothing as he swerved back to the correct side of the road.
"Get down!" Purdey cried suddenly, her voice so urgent that MacGyver and Gambit both ducked without question.
Then came the sound of a gunshot behind them, and almost at the same moment the car jerked wildly, making MacGyver's elbow crash painfully into the window as he protected his head.
"Got the tire," Gambit said grimly, fighting to regain control. At last the car came to a jarring stop on the side of the road.
"Everybody all right?" Gambit asked.
"Yeah, but we won't be if we stick around for them to find us here!" MacGyver paused only long enough to grab the map from the glove box before scrambling from the car, closely followed by Purdey and Gambit.
"Stay low, and head for that barn over there!"
Half crouched, the three ran through the overgrown weeds to the abandoned building.
Next chapter coming next week!
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