Ralph couldn't sleep. Try as he may, he could not get himself to sleep. He needed to see when the flashlight blinked so he could escape with Kidaya from this room. However crazy the girl Miya sounded, he had to give their plan a try and see if it would get him and Kidaya free from the slavers. He was still thinking of how he would get a carriage that would take them to Mulrine city especially since he lost the bag Commander Ben had given him which contained the coin purse, when sleep took over him. He had not meant to sleep, but he did.
He was dreaming of Ishaya castle and the lights all around the castle on the last ball they held last festive season, when the first light flashed. He was getting a gift from his father in his dream, when the second light flashed, and somehow, he found himself jerking awake from his sleep. First, he turned to his left to be sure Kidaya was still asleep beside him, and she was. Looking up, she saw Miya beckoning for him to hurry over.
"Get up, Kidaya," Ralph says shaking her awake and the little girl wakes up with a jerk. "Let's go." He says offering her his hand.
The room had no light, and all the children slept on the floor, so Ralph had to guide Kidaya carefully to avoid any of them stepping on the other kids or waking them. Finally, they got to where Miya and her brother were waiting.
"Follow me," Miya says to all of them leading the way.
They all sneak into the next room which seems to be a washroom. The guards and taskmasters on duty were dozing from their different positions, so it gave them the chance to sneak past them into a second room without notice.
"We are here," Miya says when they arrived what looked like a store room.
"Now what? This is a store, Miya." Sam says looking around with no sign of an exit.
"Patience, Sam. Patience." Miya says smiling.
"You know I do not have one. If the taskmasters find us here, they will-
Miya walks off to the right side of the room which had a big heavy drape by the wall. Still smiling, she pushes the drape slightly aside and goes behind it, her brother joined her and so did Ralph, holding tightly to Kidaya. Behind the drape was what looked like a small window, but instead of being up on the wall, it was down, close to the floor. No doubt, it was used for smuggling between the two rooms.
With a little yank, Miya opened the lid that closed the opening and crawled out into another room through the opening. Sam nods at Ralph to follow suit, but Ralph nods at Sam to go first instead. With a sigh, Sam bends and crawls through to the other room. Ralph assisted Kidaya to crawl through before he followed suit. Getting up, the kids realized the adjoining room was a gambling den on the ship. Different men and women sat everywhere playing one game or the other. They were all too busy to notice the kids.
"Come. We need to get out of here and into the VIP section before anyone sees us and reports us to ship authorities." Miya says leading the way through rows of crowded gamblers.
"How did you find the passage ?" Sam asked her when they finally made it out of the gambling room.
Smiling. "I came onboard the ship three days ago when it decked and did a thorough survey of every big room and space. I didn't know exactly which room the slavers would use, so I surveyed all and took note of every escape route from every big room. We are lucky the slavers didn't use the large room four compartment to the right. That one had no escaping route and only had one route in and out." Miya explained. "Now hurry let's hurry."
As they walked past the other rooms on the ship, a Lady was about to throw some leftover food into a trash can when Sam stopped her and got the plates from her. Without hesitating, he began to eat the leftovers.
"Sam!" Miya, shrieks.
"What! Am hungry and we do not have anything left to eat because we share them with them." Sam said with a mouth full of food.
"We will find something to eat," Miya says to Ralph and Kidaya, leading them away.
"Wait for me," Sam said hurrying with the leftovers. He finishes up and hands the plate back to the Lady who had been waiting.
"You're a pig, Sam," Miya said when Sam caught up with them.
"I accept, as long as I die a filled up pig." He says smiling at Kidaya. Seeing that, Ralph quickly changes position, taking Kidaya away from Sam.
They were passing the Middle-Class part of the ship when Kidaya bumped into a man by her side. She quickly bows her head in an apology. "Am sorry, Sir." She says raising up her head.
The others gasped even before Kidaya could figure out who she had just bumped into. The Slave Master!
"Watch where you go, Kid!" The man grumbled walking past them.
Miya heaves. "I almost had a heart seizure for a minute there, thinking he would recognize us."
"He didn't, but he may sooner. Quick, let's run over to the Aristocrat section." Sam says making the first run. The rest joined with Ralph holding firmly to Kidaya as they ran.
The Slave Master was still humming and heading back to his section of the ship when the voice of the boy who had walked into him a few minutes ago, echoed in his head. More than his voice, it was his eyes that stilled him now. The boy had emerald green eyes, the kind the strange looking men had described when he was about to board the ship at Vianto. They had offered to pay three full bags of coins and a trading pass should he find who they were looking for. But they were looking for a little girl with emerald green eyes, not a little boy with such eyes. He shakes his head, freeing his mind from the thought.
"I am sorry, Sir." The boy's voice echoes in his head again just as he takes his first step to walk away. Wait!
That was no boy's voice. He was a girl! That was a girl! A little girl with emerald green eyes, just like the men had described. Only, this girl had no long black hair like the men had also said. This girl's hair was shaved off
His eyes widen in acknowledgment. She or her friends may have shaved off her hair. Not minding his huge body size, he quickly spun around and began to run back in the direction he had met the kids. With much luck, they wouldn't have gone far.
"Out of my way!" The man screamed as he ran after the kids.
Sam looked behind him and saw the Slave Master running after them. "He's behind us! Faster!"
"Head left, Sam. There's a small door after two turns to the left. We can lose him there." Miya says also running.
" Stop there!" The man screamed still chasing after them.
Everyone else on the balcony turned to look at them, but no one got involved. They saw things like this happen every time on the ship. Either the kids had stolen something, or they were escaping from their master.
"There there!" Miya directed.
Sam ran into the small door, followed by Miya. Ralph and Kidaya were still some feet behind because he had to hold her hand while running. And the bulky man ran quite too fast for his size as though it was something he did every day. He was behind them in no time. He just needed to stretch his hand and grab the girl before she made it through the door that would clearly not let him pass through due to his size.
He pushes himself forward and grabs the girl by her clothes, but Ralph quickly bends and bites the man's hand causing him to Yelp and let go of the girl.
"Run inside!" Ralph said to Kidaya who did exactly as told. But the Slave Master caught Ralph, who began to struggle to escape from the man's grasp.
"Let go of me, Sir." He said still struggling.
"Have the girl come out and I will let you go!" The man says. Sam, Miya, and Kidaya watched from the other of the door. "Have her come out here and I'll let you all go."
"Run Kidaya! Run!" Ralph screamed at her, but she would not.