Emilie & the Hollow World - By Martha Wells Page 0,68

branch. She climbed along it, closer and closer to the dark bulk of the airship. The branch was getting more slender, and Emilie winced when it creaked under her. She tried to tell herself it wasn't as bad as climbing out the prison window, but she wasn't so sure. Those ledges seemed quite wide and safe compared to this tree. She couldn't think what was worse, falling and dying or falling and breaking a leg or an arm or both, and being at the Nomads' mercy. Neither, she thought, please let it be neither.

She edged further and further forward, until finally the airship's catwalk was just above her. About five feet above her. Hell, it didn't look that far from across the valley. Emilie tried to ease up slowly, felt herself start to slip, and dropped back to grip the branch tightly. She held back a sob of terror. This won't work, she thought, feeling the branch sway beneath her. It had to work. She couldn't go back.

She looked up again. She couldn't do it slowly, so she would have to do it fast. She pushed herself up into a crouch without letting go with her hands. Then she braced herself, and shoved upright in one quick motion, making a wild grab.

Her right hand brushed metal, she gripped the slim post of a railing, just as her feet slipped off the branch. She hung for a moment, her arm straining, then found the edge of the catwalk with her other hand. She hauled herself up as far as she could, her heart pounding with the effort, then managed to pull a leg up and hook her foot onto a supporting strut for the catwalk. Pushing from there let her drag her weight up onto the metal walkway. She huddled for a moment, breathing hard, astonished to be still alive. That was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, Emilie thought, and scrubbed sweat off her forehead.

She eased to her feet, gripping the railing because her legs were still shaking. She felt the airship move slightly under her, pushed by the wind. She realized belatedly that it might have moved when she had been hanging off the railing, but it was far too big to tip or shudder with her weight. If the Nomads had noticed anything, they would think it was just the wind.

Emilie crept around the catwalk, stopping to peer into the darkened windows, but she couldn't make out anything inside. As she came around the bow of the cabin, she had a good view of the compound, while still being in the shadows above the reach of their lamps. There was still activity at the far end, toward where she had set the fire. She bet the darkness in the woods was helping her; the fire had been slowly smoldering rather than burning brightly. The Nomads were probably having trouble locating it. The three door guards were still looking off that way, and there weren't any other merpeople around, at least that she could see.

Keeping her steps as quiet as possible, Emilie moved along the catwalk down the airship's side, to the narrow plank bridge that led from it down to the round roof of the tower. Ha, I was right. There was a round opening in the roof, dimly illuminated by a light somewhere inside. It would have been disappointing, to say the least, to discover that there was no way inside the tower from here and that they had reached the airship with ladders up the outside or some other unusable method.

Emilie reached the catwalk and started across, moving slowly to keep the light wood from creaking. It was too dark to see the ground below her, and the bulk of the tower blocked her view of the guards.

She stepped down onto the smooth material of the roof, reflecting that the good thing about this stone was that it didn't creak. No one below would hear her moving around up here. She went to the opening and cautiously peered down.

All she could see at first was a white stone stairway with shallow steps, spiraling down the center of the tower. Emilie crouched on the edge and listened, but couldn't hear any movement or voices inside. She circled the opening, angling for a better view; she could see some bare floor in the room below, but that was all.

Nervously, Emilie leaned down far enough to get a good look, ready to dart away