A Trip To Tuanaki

Chapter 16

After the third kick, Alice says, rather tiredly, "Mal." However, his name isn't enough to stop him from repeatedly kicking the door. "Mal, come on. It's locked, what do you—"

He never answers. But then, he doesn't need to. For all the many locks securing the door, there is something their captors haven't kept in mind: The ability of a determined elf with a clockwork leg to kick out the hinges.

"Uh, what...?"

Mal doesn't answer. He's busy fiddling with the door, rocking it back and forth in its frame.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting us out of here," Mal grumbles as he works. "Or were you particularly looking forward to being hung in the morning?"

"We wouldn't be hung," Alice says irritably.

"I suppose you're right," Mal continues distractedly. "We're more likely to be shot."

Alice rolls her eyes as Mal throws his weight on the door. With a splintering crack, it separates from both hinges. He pushes it open and then gestures for Alice to lead him through it. "Ladies first," he says. "I mean, unless you'd rather stay around and explain this. I'm sure the splintered door will prove that you're totally innocent of all charges."

"Like hell you're leaving me here," she says quickly, scrambling to her feet. On the other side of the doorway is an empty, nondescript hallway. Mal is close on her tail, but he spares a glance back towards the splintered door.

"I suppose they must have heard that," he says, almost forlorn. "Well, nothing to be done about that. Where do you think our things are?"

Alice shrugs. "Try the other doors?" she suggests, and so they do. One of the unlocked doorways leads to a room with a table on which all of their confiscated belongings dumped. It's suspiciously easy, but Alice is already glancing over her shoulder every few seconds. When Mal drops a heavy chest on the table, she practically jumps out of her skin.

"You doing alright?" Mal asks.

"No," she snaps, though as soon as she's said it, she regrets it. "But what do you care, informant?"

Mal frowns at her. "Alice..."

She holds up a hand to stop him before he can get any further. "While I'd love to shout at you about this, now is not the time. Let's get out of here first, hmm?"

"Fine," he says. "But first, this chest. Can you open it?"

With a sigh, Alice pulls out a few picks to test it. After a minute of frowning and fiddling, she says, "Yes, but not quickly. Is it important?"

"Not if you can't do it quick. Come on, let's go."

Mal heads out of the room. Alice scoops up her tools and follows, so she's a few steps behind when she steps out into the hallway. Needless to say, she's surprised when she sees Mal heading back towards the locked door at the end of the hall.

"Where are you going?" she asks.

"Out of here," Mal says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Sure," Alice says. "But why are you going that way?"

"Oh, because you have a better plan?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Come on, places like this always have a back way out."

"'Places like this'?"

"Yeah, you know, hidey-holes. I've..." She pauses, trying to choose her words carefully. It's a new experience around Mal, but if he really is an informant... "I've gotten into quite a few of them, and they always have a second entrance — or exit, really. So the people whose hidey-hole it is can get out with their valuables."