Authors Note: Huge thanks to my reviewers- Dreamingdreams, KLCtheBookWorm and Sebastian-Flight for sticking with me! Reviews are as always very very welcome! S&F

Chapter Twenty: Deep Water

'Reeds!' the word had barely left her mouth when she stumbled and the water washed over DGs mouth and nose making her splutter and choke.

She had to fight to regain her feet without the use of her hands. In the process she swallowed several mouths full of slightly muddy water which still, after two days in a box tasted muddy not refreshing. After pulling down some of the reeds nearby in an attempt to be upright DG was surging on through the waist deep water and cursing her dimwittedness- Reeds. Reeds.

'Reeds!' she hissed to herself. Most usually found growing in water! Rivers, ponds and places like that. In the dark the water had seemed as solid as the land and DG had ploughed into it without realising. It was cold and had instantly soaked through her clothes and shoes.

The cold however was somehow refreshing rather than freezing and it eased the pain in her legs. The sharp pain that came from her broken rib wasn't eased by the water but DG did her best to ignore it. She had to keep focused. The reeds seemed to be springing back after she pushed through them which was good, she had left a path in the corn field marking her escape quite clearly. The magicians would not need magic to work out where she had gone there. If she was going to stay escaped then she needed to be as careful as possible now. Which meant slowing down.

DG had been running as much as it is possible to run through waist high water. She could hear the splashing herself and that was the first thing Cain had taught her about tracking things- people tend to hide their footprints but forget to hide the sound of their foot falls. That was how you knew someone was following you.

A familiar pain fluttered in her chest as the Princess thought about the General but she forced herself to concentrate. She slowed her pace to a steady walk which was more or less silent in the water. DG also turned 90 degrees to her left figuring that she had been moving straight ahead away from the Clear Lands. Now she was heading parallel with them. Eventually, she reasoned, I'll be able to head back in towards the Clear Lands when I think the magicians have stopped tracking me. If the magicians stop tracking me.

(###)

Wyatt Cain, General of the Court of Central City and ex-Tin Man stood at the edge of the Clear and Reed Lands with the border stretching out to either side without limit. His blue eyes were fixed at a point some three metres out. There stood, or rather didn't stand, four broken and bent reeds.

'She's in the water.' He said slightly louder than he had meant to but gruffly to hide the emotion he felt welling up in his throat.

'Are you certain?' asked Glitch a little way behind him one hand on his horse's nose.

'I am. Look-'

'She can't be. There are signs of her being moved again round the back of the farm house.' Lyle Day interrupted. He was walking from out from behind the farm house: both he and Seb Cook had been asked to search for signs of DG or her captures in the building and its outskirts.

When the party had arrived at Pipers Calling they had found an abandoned truck parked beside the crumbling farmhouse. In the back of the truck was a wooden crate, almost big enough to be considered a coffin. It had been broken open, splinters of the lid lay across the ground beside the truck. Seeing that box and realising what it was for had had mixed reactions within the quartet of travellers: Cook had sworn and Day turned pale, Glitch offered up prayers and wishes on all of the stars above them. Cain had gone rigid and barked instructions at the younger men before heading down to the reeds.

'What do you mean?' He asked Day now fixing the blonde haired soldier with his stony gaze.

'Scuff marks on the floor... signs of a struggle. I guess they caught her and dragged her off...' Day was hesitant as he spoke and was obviously sweating despite it being a cool night.

'What sort of evidence is that?!' Cain's voice rose to a yell and Day visibly flinched.

'Cain!' interjected the advisor hastily the Tin Man looking away but nodding slightly. He sighed and was about to apologise when Glitch asked:

'You told DG that your sister is sick with the Turning Malady, didn't you?' The Advisors steady dark brown gaze was fixed on the perspiring young man, his expression unreadable. For Glitch a thousand tiny things he hadn't realised he was noticing had clicked into place. All because of the hesitant tone of the younger man's voice.

'You don't have a sister.' It was a whisper, barely audible but somehow everyone heard it. It came from the dark haired soldier behind Glitch. Sebastian Cook had just emerged from searching the building for signs of DG or her captors. His dark green eyes were full of panic.

'What?' Cain barked rounding on the young man.

'He... he doesn't have a sister. We grew up together... it was just him and his dad...' there was huge amount of pain in the soldier's voice. He knew what he was saying... and as he looked up to meet Glitch's eyes he knew that the Advisor had known what he was asking as well.

'I thought so... your brother mentioned it you see. James Cook... works in my laboratory. Said his brother had friend who was on his own except for an invalid father. That they'd both got jobs in the army here. I thought it was you Lyle...'

Lyle Cook stood frozen in the centre of the three gazes one cool brown and disappointed, another green and devastated. Finally Cain's icy blue stare was full of fury.

'You talked to the people... you're the reason we took such a wide route here... you said not to tell the Princess about the plan at the... you betrayed us? This is you?' the treachery was so clear in Cook's voice that it spoke far more loudly than his words.

Silence rang at Pipers Calling for a long moment before Glitch having turned to the Tin Man called out-

'Cain! NO!'

Then a gunshot split the air.

###

DG heard something that rang out over the reeds. It sounded like a distant gunshot and her heart lurched. Cain? Or someone shooting at him? But the farm house on the edge of the Clear Lands was a long way away now. She had been walking for almost an hour.

For the better part of a quarter of that time the Princess had been following what she could only describe as a 'road' in the reeds. It was a stretch of open water clear of reeds and heading in a reasonably straight line. It was about as wide as DG was tall and the water here was deeper, coming up to the middle of her chest as she was determinedly half swam, half waded onwards. She had stumbled into the road as she walked through the reeds. One moment reeds followed by more reeds followed by more reeds and then clear air and deeper water.

The reeds were at least a foot taller than she was now and grew densely at the edges of the clear water. DG was beginning to long for the sight corn fields in Kansas again as she forced her aching exhausted legs onwards. Stem after stem of dark greeny brown reed surrounded her. Each topped with a goldish spike. She felt intimately informed regarding the reeds of the Reed land now.

As well as being particularly knowledgeable about reeds DG was exhausted. Her legs ached and she felt that they must be filled with lead to weight as much as they did. Even breathing was becoming difficult because the air was heavy with the smell of the reeds and water. It clogged in her lungs like it was partly liquid. And her arms, caught up behind her still shackled... Her arms were actually on fire. They had to be there was no other explanation for the pain she was experiencing from them. It was like the time she had as a child spilt hot cocoa on herself and the blisters had emitted a distressing amount of heat for days afterwards. Her back, shoulders and arms were pouring out heat. Each muscle was tensed and riddled with knots and every step jerked them.

She wanted sleep. She wanted rest. Being dry wouldn't be a bad thing either DG thought. But there was no end in sight. She felt miserable and alone. In her mind the single gunshot kept ringing out. Where was Cain? Was the reason he hadn't arrived to rescue her because he had been shot again? It was a hideous thought but it was stuck in her mind. She was used to Wyatt Cain rescuing her. He had done it with such frequency over the last few months that it was practically part of their routine. Only this was the longest his recue had ever taken.

The boat was made of pale wood which looked almost silver in the moon light.

DG didn't react to seeing it for a long moment. It was a beautiful sight. Golden patterns raced over the prow of the ship and billows of fabric came from its mast. As the sight of it sunk into her wearied mind DG and cried out.

For one long moment she thought it was Cain come to her eventually... the people in the boat were wearing white shirts and brightly coloured head scarves. There were three of them in the long slender boat staring out at her.

'Hey! Over here!' DG went to wave her arms and couldn't. But it was okay, the boat was coming towards her anyway.

'We hear you storm-child.'

As the voice reached her DG suddenly remember everything she had ever heard about the people who lived in the Reed Lands. The Gypsies.