Indy sprinted back to the corral, keeping watch for the rest of the guards as best she could as she ran. She knew Niko would only be a short distance behind her. The girls knew him because he was Loveday's biological brother.
As soon as he recovered from that kick to the groin he would be on her tail and angry! He looked like he would be fast too…
She arrived back at the rock corral, sweaty and panting.
"Delph! The guards have arrived. They'll be here any minute. We have to go!"
"Hell! That doesn't give us much of a head start. Let's go girls! Grab your stuff and make it snappy. We have to assume they've found the boat, so take everything you can because this will be it."
The girls rushed about gathering up their stuff and loading it into bags or around their necks and waists. The horses weren't nearly ready to carry both people and luggage.
Niko had recovered sufficiently from that agonising knee to his nuts to be up and pounding down the road, somewhat tenderly, finding plenty of evidence of the girls' footprints leading north.
That little minx! he thought. He looked forward to teaching her a lesson she wouldn't forget…
Niko blew a high-pitched whistle as he ran. If the men were in earshot they would join him.
Alton and his team who were less than a kilometre off, heard Niko's whistle.
"Sounds like he's found them," said the commander. "Let's go men!" The four men ran off in the direction of the sound.
The girls could hear that whistle too now, and it sounded awfully close.
Delphi hoped like heck that the Emperor's guards been briefed to capture them alive not dead, or they would be vulnerable to arrows while they tried to escape. These men were elite marksmen, and she didn't fancy their chances if they laid eyes on them.
"That's it girls, no more time!" she ordered the women who were still scurrying about scooping up their weapons and gear trying their best to arrange it so they could carry everything and still ride hard. "Lili, Feif, grab your horses and pull the logs clear so we're not trapped in here!"
Alton and his men hit the road to the north, and they could see Niko up ahead of them. The commander blew his own whistle and Niko turned and slowed for them to catch up to him.
"What's the story Niko?" asked the commander as they converged and kept running together.
"I found one of them by herself. It was one of the twins. India Rose maybe? She was getting water for them down at Swan Lake. I nearly had her, but she escaped and ran off. I followed her trail and when I hit this road there were heaps of prints. Looks like all of them have taken this route."
The commander took in his lieutenant's bloodied lip. He'd get the details of this derring-do escape by a slip of a female later…
"Alright, they can't have gotten far. When we spot them, split into pairs. Magnus, Cormac, and Bo, Niko. Try to take any one of them down. They're a tight knit bunch and I can't believe Miss Chastain will leave any of them behind. We just need to catch one to entice the others back in a rescue mission."
"Yes Sir!" they called.
"Trail thins here Sir," said Niko.
"Check if they left the road."
"Over here!" said Magnus, pointing to a clear human trail through the dirt and cropped grass.
They peeled off the road and pelted down the bush trail.
They burst into the clearing just as the last of the girls were leaving, galloping north. There was a short moment of hesitation as the men took in the unexpected sight of the girls on horseback, before the commander tried to recover the situation.
"Niko! Magnus! See if you can catch up to the laggards!"
They were the fastest runners among them. They both shot off running at their top speed.
Bo had an arrow nocked and trained on the final brumby that was exiting the bush clearing.
"Do you want me to take the shot Commander?" he asked urgently.
Alton waited a few beats, deciding. "Take the shot," he said. "Aim for the horse's leg."
Bo loosed the arrow which hit the final horse in the back left fetlock. It let out a wild whinny and collapsed onto its front knees, propelling its rider over its head.
It was Feifei, in the rearguard position as usual. She hit the ground and rolled, gathering her belongings before taking off at a run.
"Captain! Ruby!" she called. "Need another horse urgently!"
Delphi and Ruby were each leading a riderless horse they planned to use as spares and pack animals.
Feifei looked behind her and saw Niko and Magnus rapidly bearing down on her. She turned and flew off. There was no point bringing another horse back within their arrow range.
Ruby had already swung around with a riderless pony and was galloping back towards Feifei.
"Turn back and go!" shouted Feifei as she ran. "Don't bring it back this way!"
Ruby wheeled the horses 180 degrees and stopped for a minute, anxiously watching Feifei sprint to catch up and the two guards thundering behind her, closing in fast.
"Run Feif!" she cried.
Feifei raced towards Ruby and vaulted onto the horse. Ruby dropped the lead and left Feifei to her own devices. Both girls kicked their horses into a gallop.
Bo started to run, realising the unseated girl was going to exit his line of sight. The horses streaked forward. Feifei looked behind and saw the two guards were starting to drop back as the horses found their rhythm, striving to catch-up with their herd-mates.
"Yaah!" she shouted, hitting the brumby on the rump.
The horse put on an extra burst of speed and Ruby kicked her mount forward to pull alongside her.
Feifei gave one last glance behind her to see the two guards finally stumble to a halt in the dust, bending over to rest their hands on their knees as they puffed from their exertions trying to keep pace with the galloping horses.
"Thanks for saving my bacon, Rubes," Feifei yelled over the thundering hooves, grinning at her friend.
"Anytime Feif. I know you'd do the same for me. That was a badass commando roll you pulled off back there!"
"I thought that one would just live on in my own head," she smiled, her long ponytail streaming out behind her.
"No. I bore witness to your greatness baby."
Ruby reached out towards Feifei, and they leant towards one another and managed to squeeze hands in the girls' handshake.