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whispered back firmly. ‘We have to try this. Rajka’s coming back with an axe.’
    ‘Where do we go when we get into the ceiling?’ asked Markes.
    ‘What else is on this floor?’
    ‘There’s my room next door. The others on either side are empty.’
    ‘I’ve seen Mesree and Long-Li,’ said Charlonge.
    ‘Me too,’ said Markes. He pointed to the south of the building. ‘That way, I think. At least five or six rooms along.’
    ‘Once we’re up there, we must find their room. Mesree might be able to get word to Ruzalia and Long-Li,’ said Naif.
    ‘It’s a mutiny, isn’t it?’ said Charlonge. ‘And after what she’s saved them from . . .’
    ‘They don’t understand that. They know they’re going to die.’
    Noises started up again in the corridor outside.
    This time Markes acted first. He went to the desk and began to drag it across the room. ‘You’ll have to help me.’
    Naif and Charlonge got up and the three struggled to lift the desk up on top of the drawers. The chest was barely wide enough to hold it; two of the claw feet stuck partway off the wood.
    ‘It’ll topple,’ said Charlonge.
    ‘We’ll hold it while you climb,’ said Naif.
    ‘But the last person up . . .’
    ‘That’ll be me,’ promised Naif. ‘I’ll tie a sheet around my waist and throw you one end. If the table slips, you can pull me up.’
    ‘I’m not strong enough.’
    ‘There’ll be two of you. Please, Char. Please!’
    Something crashed against the door, rattling the drawers and sending a chunk of wood flying across the room.
    Naif ran to the other side of the room and grabbed the chair.
    When she returned, Markes climbed onto the drawers and then the table. Charlonge and Naif held it steady for him while he caught his balance. He reached down for the chair and placed it in the centre of the desk.
    As he climbed onto it, another loud crack sounded and the tip of an axe slammed through the wood.
    ‘Hurry!’ cried Naif.
    Markes reached for the small square hatch in the ceiling while she held the table steady.
    Naif grabbed a sheet from the bed and tied it around her waist. When that was done she nodded to the girl. ‘Your turn.’
    Charlonge collected a second chair from near the window and put it next to the drawers to help her climb onto them. When she reached the desk, she hesitated.
    ‘Char, get onto the chair and let me pull you up,’ called Markes softly. He was inside the ceiling now, lying down with his arm dangling through the hatch. ‘Come on.’
    She nodded, kneeling on the chair first before slowly getting to her feet. She and Markes linked the wrists of one arm together. He pulled her while she used the elbow of her other arm to lever up through the hatch.
    Naif fretted as she watched. It was taking too long. At any moment Rajka would knock down the door and catch her. Her mouth was dry from fear and her legs shook as she began to climb.
    When the next loud crack came, the axe head flew clear through the wood and light from the corridor spilled in.
    Naif scrambled onto the chair but she wasn’t tall enough to reach Markes’s hands. Instead she threw the untied end of the sheet up to him.
    ‘Tie it around me,’ Naif heard him tell Charlonge. ‘Then grab me around the waist. Don’t step off the beam, though. You’ll fall through the ceiling.’
    When that was done, he looked back down at Naif. ‘Now. Hurry,’ he whispered.
    The chair stayed balanced for a moment and then as she shifted her weight, it slipped from beneath her.
    Suddenly she was dangling in the air.
    Markes gasped as her weight pulled him forward and she thought he would fall down on top of her.
    Charlonge grunted with effort, holding him back.
    He caught his balance as a final ear-splitting crack sent the lock flying across the room. The drawers and desk began to rattle. The door was being pushed inward.
    Naif stared up at Markes. His face was flushed, his arm twisted at an unnatural angle.
    ‘Char, help,’ he