“Is something wrong?”

I shake my head. “I must have made a mistake. I heard the clicks for all but the last number, and it is not opening. I shall have to restart.”

I do that, and again, I catch the faint sound that signals success with all but the final number. As I peer at the paper, Nicolas comes over.

“That is a six, non? Not a five?” he says. “Non, it could not be a five. You would not have misheard the two numbers in English.”

“I had Lord Thomas confirm them. Let me try again. Would you put your ear to the safe, please? The noise is very faint, but you might hear it.”

I run through the combination again, and again, the last number fails. With a growl of frustration, I rock back on my heels.

“There!” Nicolas says.

“There, what?”

He points at the dial, which is on the seven. Then he turns the door crank, and it opens.

“Something must have shifted in the workings,” Nicolas says as he reaches inside.

A flicker beside him, and Lord Thomas appears. He sees the safe open.

“We have done it,” I say. “The last—”

I see his face then, agitated and wide eyed, as he flutters his hands at me. “Close it up! They are coming.”

“Who’s coming?”

“My son and his men. Close it!” He sees Nicolas pulling out papers. “Put it all back! Quickly! You can still get out of this if he does not know what you’ve done.”

“Nico?” I say. “Norrington is coming.”

He nods, and we both grab more pages, shoving them into the satchel Nicolas brought, as I ignore Lord Thomas’s sputtering and flailing.

“We have an escape plan,” I say to the ghost.

We shove in the last of the pages. It is then that we hear the pound of footfalls.

“You do not understand,” Lord Thomas says. “He is not simply approaching. He knows Nicolas is here. Someone must have spotted him.”

We’re already at the door. Then Nicolas stops short, and he curses under his breath.

“Nico?”

The moment I say his name, I hear the problem myself. The footsteps are not coming from the direction of the party. They come from the other way. From our escape route.

26

We peer into the hall. Nicolas said he left open a window in the next room. Except the next room is ten feet away, and footsteps are fast approaching the corner.

“Is there another way out?” I whisper to Lord Thomas.

The ghost nods. “Follow me. Quickly! We’ll go through the kitchens.”

We are already in the hall, running as quickly and silently as we can. A squeak sounds behind us. The men are about to turn the corner and see us. Nicolas slows.

“This way!” Lord Thomas says, waving down the hall.

Nicolas grabs my arm and pulls me to the left, along the side hall that leads back to the party.

“No!” Lord Thomas says. “You will be spotted! Child, tell him. He cannot hear me!”