Faris and Jack Read online

  Chapter 2 – The Escape

  It took Faris less than ten seconds to make up his mind that he was going to try and leave the Foundation. But that was the easy part. The hard part was working out how exactly he was going to get out. First he would have to leave his dormitory without waking up any of the other boys. You might have thought that they wouldn’t care what Faris was doing creeping around in the middle of the night, but you would be wrong. Mister Grimbaldi was just as clever a man, as he was mean. To prevent disobedience in the Foundation, Mister Grimbaldi promised extra scraps of food for boys who told tales on anyone breaking the rules. And although the boys hated Mister Grimbaldi they were often so hungry that they couldn’t help reporting someone else breaking the rules – sometimes, when they were really starving, they would make something up just to get some more food! It was a horrible place to live.

  As he sat thinking of how to escape, Faris realised how difficult a task this would really be. If I can get out of here then there’s the stairs and the landing and then – oh no! Even if he could make it out of the dormitory without being caught, he would have to get down the creaky old attic stairs to the floor below where Mister Grimbaldi, Mrs Ladle (the cook) and Mister Grimbaldi’s four huge dogs slept. Rumour had it that these dogs were about as close to wolves as you could get and wilder than the average lion when you stamped on his foot!

  From that landing there was another flight of stairs to get down to the ground floor where the workrooms were and where he would find the backdoor (and freedom beyond). But it wasn’t going to be easy once he got to the ground floor: Faris would still have to deal with Gamage.

  Even though he was the Foundation Caretaker, Gamage didn’t get special treatment: his bed was a large mat in the corner of the kitchen, right next to the backdoor. Faris knew that this was carefully positioned to prevent exactly the kind of escape he was currently planning. He would need some kind of distraction to get past Gamage… He sat wondering about all sorts of possibilities, but after considering and discarding several options – all of them rubbish – he began to think he would never get past this last hurdle.

  Just as Faris was trying to work out how he was ever going to make it out of the Foundation, a flutter of wings at the window made him turn. Three large owls had landed on the window ledge. They were so big that they were jostling with one another to make enough space for them all to fit. Faris stood up and walked quickly towards the window. As he did so, two of the owls dropped large objects on the ledge and flew away, the third owl stood and waited for him. When Faris reached the window he saw that the last owl had a small white roll of paper in its mouth – identical to the one the pigeon had given him. He held out his hand towards the owl and it dropped the small scroll from its beak. Tipping its head, just as the pigeon had done, it turned away from him and flew off after the other owls.

  Faris picked up the new scroll and unravelled it. Inside it simply said: ‘Use these - Ω’. He looked down at the window ledge and saw that the objects the owls had dropped were five large dead rats.

  What on earth do I need dead rats for? Faris looked at the dead animals and wrinkled his nose in disgust.

  It was obvious that this Jack person thought he’d need them for something, but what could that be? “Think, think, think!” Faris muttered to himself as he dropped back down onto his unused bed and his brain began to tick over. Several minutes later he jumped up.

  “How could I have been so stupid?” he chuckled. This was how he would get past the dogs! They would go for the rats as a starter, before turning to the main course. Faris gulped quietly – he hoped the rats would fill them up; he certainly didn’t want to be the main course! Picking up the pillowcase from his bed Faris took out the tiny pillow and pushed the rats into the empty case. He didn’t like touching them at all, but they were the key to his freedom. He just hoped they would work.

  With the rats stashed safely inside his pillowcase Faris looked slowly around the room that he had called home for the past seven years. He was lucky that there were only two boys in the dormitory that night – the fourth boy who normally slept there had caught the flu and been moved to a slightly warmer dormitory next door to recover. The other two boys he shared with were still sound asleep.

  I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve frozen, rather than just sleeping.

  Faris frowned as he looked down at the two half-starved boys. In many ways he was sorry that he was trying to leave the Foundation because he was leaving the other boys to face the hardship he had lived with so long. He’d never been outside the high stonewalls of the Foundation, what was waiting for him if he actually managed to escape?

  It’s not that likely, a small voice inside piped up, no one’s ever escaped from here before. Faris shook his head from side to side, shaking the voice into silence. “I will get out of here!” Faris said fiercely under his breath. “I don’t care what happens – anything is better than staying here wasting away.” With a final glance at the shabby room Faris gathered up the smelly pillowcase from the floor and turning away from the sleeping boys he crept silently towards the dormitory door with his package hanging securely over his shoulder. He didn’t look back again.

  Faris put out his hand and grasped the doorknob tightly. Once he opened this door there would be no turning back. His small hands were hot and sweaty with nerves and as he tried to turn the handle his fingers only slipped across the wet metal. He pulled his hand back and wiped it dry on his ragged pyjama bottoms. Reaching out again he grabbed the doorknob firmly and turned it.

  Wait! Just as he was about to pull open the dormitory door, Faris remembered that one of the hinges had a terrible loud squeak – almost as loud as their morning alarm call! How could he get out without waking everyone in the village?

  Faris’s heart thumped loudly in his chest. The fear of not being able to escape now that his chance had finally arrived made him panic more than anything that was waiting on the other side of the door. Casting his eyes around the room, his gaze landed on the small stub of a candle left in the candlestick on a table next to the door. Plucking the candle from the holder, Faris rolled it in his hands to soften the wax. The wax melted easily and he rubbed the warm, slimy goo into the squeaky old door hinges. Dropping the candle back onto the table Faris slowly turned the doorknob again and eased the door open. The wax did the trick and the door opened silently.

  This was it. From this point on, Faris would either succeed in escaping the dreaded Foundation or he would fail. And he didn’t know what would happen to him if he were caught trying to escape, but he knew that he definitely didn’t want to find out!

  Determination filled his eyes, making them glow in his pale face. He was not going to fail. Squaring his shoulders, Faris stepped through the door into the darkness of the attic landing. He gently pulled the door closed behind him as he went, before creeping forwards along the landing with his rat-bag hanging over his shoulder.

  The stairs to the Foundation attic were old, rotten and creaked loudly in protest whenever they were used. Faris kept to the edge of each step, as close to the wall as possible, to stop the floorboards making any unwanted sounds as he stepped on them. Slowly, but quietly, he made his way down, his eyes and nose scrunched up in his face as he concentrated on trying to make himself as light as a feather. Thirty seconds later, Faris’s nimble feet had found their way to the landing below and he began creeping along the hallway towards the next flight of stairs and the freedom that lay beyond.

  In contrast to the shabby walls of the attic bedrooms above him, the hallway Faris now stood in had sumptuous yellow-gold paper everywhere and thick, soft carpet beneath his feet. This was where Mister Grimbaldi lived – wallowing in luxury paid for by the boys’ workroom activities. Faris could hear loud grunting snores coming from one of the rooms that lay off the hallway further along. He grinned to himself: it was Mister Grimbaldi snoring like a pig. Faris nearly choked as he tried not to laugh at the pig-like noises the pig
gy man was making.

  Just then a door to his right creaked open. Faris dived to the side, his heart pumping in terrified, erratic beats, as he pressed himself into the wall. Mrs Ladle’s plump frame waddled out into the hallway, two feet from where he stood. Faris stuck to the wall, trying to make his body as thin as possible (this wasn’t too hard, most of the half starved boys from the Foundation were thin as rakes anyway!).

  Please don’t see me…please don’t see me

  Faris’s eyes squeezed shut, as he chanted his little prayer. And somehow, it worked! Even though Mrs Ladle was only inches away, she appeared not to notice him and walked directly across the hallway and opened another door, which turned out to be a bathroom. When she disappeared inside and closed the door, Faris let out the breath he had been holding in a quiet whoosh. It took a few moments for him to gather his courage again, before he scurried on down the landing.

  When Mrs Ladle appeared again, Faris was hidden in an alcove opposite the next flight of stairs. From this angle he saw that she had a sleep mask pulled down over her eyes – no wonder she hadn’t seen him!

  Mrs Ladle’s door closed behind her and Faris stood in the alcove for another five minutes as he waited for everything around him to go quiet again. Soon all he could hear were Mister Piggy’s snores and so he crept out of his hiding place and moved carefully towards the top of the stairs. Just as he was about to put his hand on the banister Faris saw eight eyes glinting up at him from the dark stairs below.

  Oh no. It was the dogs!

  Very slowly Faris let go of the handrail and reached towards the bag hanging over his shoulder. The gleaming eyes crept closer and now he could see sharp white teeth glistening below each set of eyes. His fingers fumbled to open the top of the pillowcase as a low growling noise began to rumble behind the teeth.

  The first dog pounced towards Faris just as his hand opened the pillowcase. It looked like a flying demon as it sped through the air towards him with its teeth bared. Faris heard the other three dogs move immediately after the first and with a great effort Faris flung the horrible smelly contents of the pillowcase behind him along the hallway from where he’d come.

  It’s too late!

  Faris groaned with despair and fear, as two huge front paws – the size of footballs – dug into his chest and knocked him backwards onto the floor. But, in the next instant, as he waited for certain death and eating by the hounds he realised that it had worked. The dogs jumped right past him and bounded down the hallway after the rats. Glancing around in the darkness Faris realised that the first dog must have caught the scent of the rats and used his body to push himself towards where they had landed. Seizing his chance, Faris clambered back to his feet and ran down the stairs as fast as he could. He still managed to be reasonably quiet, given that he was running for his life…A nasty feeling in the bottom of his stomach told him that the rats wouldn’t distract the dogs for too long.

  At the foot of the stairs was the main entrance to the Foundation. A large wooden door, with several bolts, locks and chains stood between Faris and freedom this way. That was no good! Faris looked around for an alternative escape route that was easier than the main door. Doors to the various workrooms were dotted around the walls. Deciding hastily that the back entrance to the Foundation, through the kitchen would be his best bet, Faris moved quickly, he didn’t know whether Mister Grimbaldi would sleep through the noise the dogs were making on the floor above him – it sounded like they were fighting over the last rat.

  Sprinting towards a door on his left, Faris ran into the boys’ dining room. Not that it could really be called a dining room. Instead of a table there was a long thick piece of wood on the floor and around the edges, instead of chairs, there were small carpet tiles that the boys sat on. There was no expense spared – even the carpet tiles had been free samples! Faris ran down the middle of the table towards the kitchen door at the opposite end of the room.

  Reaching out a small sweaty hand, he clasped his fingers around the large brass door handle. Just as his fingers closed around the cold metal it was pulled roughly out of his grasp. The door was flung wide open and Faris found himself face-to-chest with Gamage the Caretaker.

  “Where’d’ oo think yer goin’?” Gamage growled at Faris, through crooked yellow teeth.

  “I…er…I…” Faris couldn’t answer. In his hurry to get away from the dogs he had completely forgotten about Gamage.

  “Escapin’ are we? Tryin’ to leave the Foundation, eh?” Gamage’s eyes glittered wickedly in the darkness. “We’ve not had a ‘scape attempt since lil wee John. ‘Oo remember little wee Johnny don’tcha boy?”

  Faris could see Gamage smirking in the moonlit room, his smelly breath blew into Faris’s face as he spoke making Faris wrinkle up his nose in disgust. Faris remembered John all right. John had been his only friend and the only person he’d ever met from the real world, outside the Foundation. His only friend had disappeared on the night Faris knew John was going to try to escape and even though Faris had heard him get caught on the second landing John never came back.

  “Yes I remember John.” Faris spat back at Gamage, his eyes narrowing. He knew exactly why Gamage was smiling his horrible yellow-toothed smile. Gamage had been the one who caught John a year ago and Mister Grimbaldi had rewarded him for it.

  “Oo know what?” Gamage was still standing in front of Faris blocking the doorway and his escape.

  “What?” said Faris through clenched teeth, his hatred of Gamage obvious.

  Keep him talking…Faris’s mind told him as it carried on churning, trying to think of a way to escape from Gamage.

  “I’m gonna get me plenty of extra food for catchin’ oo. Might even get a nice roast chicken like I did last time.” Gamage licked his grubby lips at the thought. Faris’s mind was still racing and he hadn’t thought of a way to escape.

  “Now, I ‘fink its time for me to shout for them dogs, don’t you?” Gamage said. Faris’s eyes widened in terror at his words – he’d barely got away from them the first time. “Yes,” Gamage nodded grinning horribly “I ‘fink they’ll like you.” Then he pursed his lips together tightly and whistled, the shrill sound hanging in the silent air for a second.

  Think, think, think! Faris commanded his brain to work, but it wasn’t cooperating with him and now he could hear the dogs coming. They were bounding down the stairs and sounded like a heard of stampeding elephants. Faris was so concerned with the dogs, he had almost forgotten about Gamage until he whistled the dogs again, drawing them towards the dining room.

  Turning towards the door Faris saw it burst open and the dogs bounded into the room their teeth bared and eyes wide. It looked like the rats weren’t enough to stop them after all. Faris was rooted to the spot, fear turning his feet to stone and then it struck him.

  “The rats!” Faris exclaimed loudly as his idea burst from his mind and flew out of his mouth.

  “The what?” Gamage said stupidly from behind him.

  But it was too late. Faris still had the empty pillowcase in his hand and he quickly he threw it over the surprised head of Gamage.

  “Wh- Wha- What?” Gamage stuttered as he tried to get the pillowcase from his head.

  Darting around the side of Gamage and through the kitchen door Faris found himself with the caretaker stood between him and blood thirsty hounds. Faris didn’t stand to watch him struggling with the pillowcase because he knew that the dogs would still follow him even if Gamage couldn’t. He raced to the back door and grasped the door handle but when he pushed it the door remained tightly closed.

  The door’s locked!

  Faris searched quickly around the kitchen, looking for the key. In the house above him Faris heard the noise of people grumbling and moving around now. Faris wasn’t surprised that the uproar in the dining room had woken Mister Grimbaldi. They’d probably woken the whole village! Then Faris saw the door key out of the corner of his eye, hanging on a hook next to the oven. He yanked
it down and slammed the key into the lock, but his hands were shaking so much that he couldn’t turn it. “Come on!” He shouted at himself and the key. And luckily, it turned.

  Faris flung the door open wide and cold night air rushed into the kitchen. Freedom! At that moment Faris realised the dogs still hadn’t come for him. Turning to look back into the dining room he saw the dogs leaping all over Gamage, who still had the pillowcase on his head.

  “Ow – geroff!” Gamage was shouting (along with a lot of unprintable words) as the four dogs jumped on him. Faris laughed loudly. The dogs could obviously still smell the rats from the pillowcase and must think that Gamage was the biggest rat they’d ever seen. Faris laughed even harder – the dogs weren’t wrong; Gamage was the biggest rat!

  Turning his back on the scene of madness Faris raced into the darkness of the Foundation courtyard. At first he saw nothing. Then he heard a voice shouting his name.

  “Faris! I’m over here – by the barn.”

  Faris ran in the direction of the barn following the sound of the voice.

  “Hurry up Faris! The lights are on in the house and there’ll be more of them coming. Hurry!”

  Faris darted around the corner of the barn and nearly ran into a jet-black horse that was stood next to the wall. The only reason Faris saw him was because of the bright, white star-shaped mark on his head that shone in the moonlight. He must have gotten out of the stable, Faris thought absently, as he ran on looking for the person shouting him.

  “I’m here!” said the voice from behind Faris.

  Faris turned around again, but there was no one there, only the horse.

  “Where are you?” Faris whispered as he crept forwards, “I can’t see you.”

  The horse moved slightly next to Faris and before he knew what had happened it had thrust its large black face in front of his.

  “I’m right here,” the horse said looking Faris in the eye. Faris nearly fainted.

  Pulling himself back onto his feet, Faris ducked away from the horse that was leaning over him. “I’m going crazy!” he muttered, as he tried to step around the huge, black body. “Grimbaldi’s going to kill me and I’m hearing horses talking!” He looked around wildly for some way to escape, but a large brick wall surrounded the Foundation that was far too high for Faris to climb over. Faris’s heart dropped from his chest to his toes as he realised that he would never get away. In his despair Faris had almost forgotten about the horse until it nudged him with its long black nose.

  “Faris?” The horse nudged him again and continued when Faris didn’t answer. “Faris…You are hearing horses but you’re not crazy, it’s just what you do.”

  Faris still didn’t respond. He stared bleakly around at the high wall.

  “Look, I’m Jack.” The horse continued. Turning away from Faris, he peered around the side of the barn towards the Foundation. “We’ve got to get out of here, before that horrible pig-man comes for you. I may be quick, but I’m not sure I can outrun those dogs if they come too!”

  Faris didn’t know what to do, but he knew he couldn’t hang around the Foundation any longer. And the horse, I mean Jack, well…it wasn’t any stranger than pigeon messengers, was it? Or friendly owls that bring you dead rats…?

  “I must be crazy!” Faris murmured.

  “But are you crazy enough to hang around here waiting for those dogs?” Jack asked.

  “No…I suppose not.” Faris said slowly as he made his decision. Talking horses were definitely a step up from bloodthirsty hounds and working for Mister Grimbaldi. “What are we going to do then?” he asked the horse.

  “That’s more like it!” Jack grinned a wide horsy-toothed smile. “Quick, jump on my back and we’ll get out of here. I can explain everything else once we’re safe.”

  “I can’t ride a horse!” Faris stepped back in surprise.

  “Of course you can. I’ll take care of you, don’t worry.”

  Jack lowered his neck and let Faris take hold of his sleek, black mane to pull himself up onto his back. Faris had never sat on a horse before and he was a little nervous about how high up he was.

  “Hold onto your horses!” Jack shouted. “Well, hold onto your horse, I should say!” He whinnied a little laugh at his own joke and reared up onto his hind legs, nearly throwing Faris back onto the floor.

  Faris clung onto his mane for dear life as Jack leapt forward through the air from their hiding place behind the barn. He bounced around on Jack’s back and saw buildings flash past in blur as they charged across the courtyard towards the far wall. Jack’s hooves banged loudly on the cobbled stones as he skidded to a halt and quickly changed direction to avoid one of the wolf-dogs that jumped into his path. Two flicks of a tail later and Jack had jumped over the high wall surrounding the courtyard and they were charging away from the Foundation across open fields.

  Faris glanced back towards the Foundation as they galloped away. He saw that most of the lights in the house were on and he could still hear the shouts of Gamage struggling with either a dog or the pillowcase. But the shouts were growing quieter and the lights more distant with every second that Jack ran. Dark trees and hedges rushed past the unlikely pair as they charged through the night and the bright moon that Faris had watched from the dormitory window now shone along their path guiding them onwards. Faris tipped his head up towards the moon and grinned. It’s happened…I’ve finally escaped from the Foundation. And right now he didn’t even care if he was crazy and talking to horses. He was free.