The Master's Apprentice - Oliver Potzsch Page 0,231

“I think we’re on the right track.”

“How do you know that?” asked Karl.

Johann pulled his hand out from underneath his cloak and held up a small box about the size of his palm. The top of the box was covered with glass, and inside sat a quivering needle. “This is the commander’s,” he said. “It’s a compass. It shows us our direction, even underground and without the stars. We really must return it when we’re done here. It is constructed with a gimbal mounting, according to Leonardo da Vinci’s design, and it’s worth about as much as a destrier.” He shook his head and focused on the needle. “Until very recently, the church condemned compasses as witchcraft—a terrible thought.”

Using the compass and leaving pencil marks, they continued to move southeast, passing through several more chambers with doors. Each time, Valentin pulled the key ring from his pack and found the right key. Every now and then they heard rustling and scuffling noises in the dark—rats, they assumed. On one occasion Johann thought he heard the jingle of small bells again, but he guessed it was only the key ring.

They came to yet another door. Valentin unlocked it, and this time, there wasn’t another corridor on the other side but a round reservoir. Johann held his breath. He lifted the lantern through the door and looked down. The black surface of the water was about three paces below them, and a bucket was floating on it. The bucket was attached to a chain that disappeared somewhere in the dark above them. Johann thought he could make out the hint of a flickering light up there, like from smoking torches.

“This is the Loch Prison well,” whispered Johann as quietly as he could. “I recognize it.”

“But what about voices? Or the cries of the inmates?” whispered Karl. “Shouldn’t we at least be hearing a couple of guards talking to each other?”

“We have no choice but to climb up if we want to find out,” said Johann.

“But then we run right into the guards’ arms!”

“You forget I came prepared.” Johann took the pack from his shoulders and started to rummage inside. Then he produced a small wooden keg that stank of sulfur.

“Once I light this keg, we must act fast,” he whispered. “It’s going to cloak everything in smoke. Karl and I climb up the chain. Valentin, you wait here.” He looked at his old friend. “You said there was a set of keys in the guards’ chamber?”

“I . . . I think so.” Valentin nodded slowly.

“We’ll take yours just in case.”

“But these are just for the underground passages, not for the prison. And how are you going to get to her cell with all the guards?” asked Valentin. “The keys won’t help you against those.”

Johann smiled. “You brought a magician, Valentin. Remember?”

Johann lit a pine chip on the lantern and then used it to light the contents of the keg. Instantly, dense rust-colored smoke started to pour from the keg and drifted up the sides of the well in thick clouds. Johann carefully set down the keg at the edge of the reservoir and tied his damp kerchief around his nose and mouth.

“Now!” he said, and he grabbed the chain and started to climb up it.

The rusty chain links dug into his fingers, and every single muscle in his body ached. It had been years since he’d last climbed up a rope—since his time with the jugglers, in fact.

Inch by inch, Johann pulled himself up. Below him, Karl panted as he followed him with the laterna on his back. The dense smoke made Johann’s eyes water, and he tried to inhale as little as possible. The mixture inside the keg included cinnabar and ocher, coloring agents he’d bought from a Nuremberg dyer. The powder produced red, almost purplish smoke, which looked particularly devilish. And the smoke was a perfect screen for projecting heinous images with the laterna magica.

Finally Johann reached the edge of the well and pulled himself up over the side. He paused cautiously and looked around. He’d expected to encounter some guards. It had been his plan to use the general chaos and the cover of the smoke to rush over to the guards’ chamber and steal their keys—or to knock down the prison keeper and take his. Meanwhile, Karl was supposed to distract the other guards with images from the laterna magica. It was a terribly poor plan, but it was the only one he’d managed to come up with.