.

t was a while before things calmed down. Goldie clung to Ma and Pa and cried bitter tears. ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to get you locked up!’ She could hear Toadspit saying almost the same thing nearby.

‘We’re perfectly all right,’ said Pa, cuddling her tightly. ‘A little hungry, that’s all.’

‘But sweeting, look at your poor arms!’ said Ma. ‘Is that a scratch? Are you hurt? Oh, let me see!’

She exclaimed over each one of Goldie’s bruises and cuts, and inspected her for signs of fever. Around them, other prisoners were being brought up the stairs with cries of thankfulness and a spattering of song, ‘Three yea-a-a-a-ars I rowed the galley-y-y-ys—’

By now, Sinew was pacing up and down, his face anxious. ‘We can’t linger here!’ he shouted. ‘We must get the weakest of the prisoners directly up to the museum. Here, you boys, I’ll need your help.’

The Protector hurried over. ‘Several of the officers are going to Care. One of the boys must accompany them, to show them where the dormitories are.’

Goldie leaned back in Pa’s arms. It seemed like forever since she had slept, and her whole body ached with tiredness. But there’s still so much to do.

Toadspit’s pa raised a trembling hand. He was terribly thin, and had to hold on to his son’s shoulder for support. ‘I’ll go with them! Our daughter is in Care.’

The Protector shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, Herro—?’

‘Hahn. Striver Hahn. And this is my wife, Mollify.’

‘I’m sorry, Herro Hahn, you’d slow them down too much. You and your wife had best go straight to the museum. Don’t worry, the officers will find your daughter and bring her to you.’ She turned back to Sinew. ‘We have divided the Old Quarter between us. We must set about this business straightaway. The sound from the levees is worsening and I’m not sure that there are enough of us to reach all the households in time.’

‘I’ll help!’ Toadspit shouted.

‘No!’ cried his ma. ‘You’re coming with us. We’ll keep you safe.’

‘But they need me!’

One of the officers shook his head. ‘We can’t send children out by themselves.’

Toadspit scowled. ‘What do you think we’ve been doing all this time? We’re not babies!’

Above Goldie’s head, the roof rattled like a mad thing. ‘I’ll help too!’ she cried.

‘No!’ said Ma. ‘It’s much too dangerous!’

‘She’s right. I forbid it!’ shouted the Protector.

Sinew laughed and whacked the Protector on the back in a friendly fashion. ‘Forbid it all you like! I swear they’ll go anyway, the minute you take your eyes off them! And besides, we need them. They’re quick and they’re clever. We won’t get the area cleared without them.’

‘But— But who will listen to them?’ stammered one of the officers. ‘Who will listen to a child telling them to leave their home?’

Sinew winked at Goldie. ‘You might be surprised! The world we knew has changed tonight. The wildness is well and truly back in the city!’

As soon as Goldie stepped outside the House of Repentance, the wind hit her. Rain lashed at her face and the darkness wrapped itself around her so that she lost sight of the others almost immediately. The only landmark she could see was the Great Hall, its dome shining dimly through the storm.

She struggled along the footpath, fighting the wind every inch of the way. The groaning of the levees was getting louder. She crossed Trunkboat Bridge and staggered up Temple Canal to the area that the officers had assigned her.

At the first house, a man with a lantern answered her frantic knocking. He peered at Goldie through a narrow gap in the door, his face white and frightened.

‘The levees are going to break, Herro!’ shouted Goldie. ‘You must come with me!’

The man’s eyes widened. ‘Goldie Roth? Is that you?’

‘Herro Oster!’

It was indeed Jube’s father. Goldie had been so disoriented by the storm that she hadn’t recognised the house.

Now Frow Oster pushed past her husband, crying, ‘Goldie Roth? It can’t be! Oh, my dear, your poor parents! We tried to help them, but the Blessed Guardians—’

‘You can’t come in,’ interrupted Herro Oster gruffly. ‘We can’t take the risk.’

‘But where have you been?’ cried Frow Oster. ‘We thought you must be dead!’

‘There’s no time to explain!’ shouted Goldie. ‘You have to come with me! I’ll take you somewhere safe!’

Herro Oster’s face turned even whiter. ‘Go with a runaway? The Blessed Guardians would eat us for breakfast!’

‘Besides, it’s too dangerous,’ shouted Frow Oster. ‘We’ll be safer here.’

‘No, you won’t! The Old Quarter is going to flood! You have to come! Orders of the Protector!’

Herro Oster shook his head and began to close the door. Behind him someone said, ‘What’s happening, Pa?’

‘Go back in the house, Jubilation,’ snapped Herro Oster. But he was too late.

‘Goldie?’ said Jube, ducking under his father’s arm. ‘Where have you been? What are you doing here? Are you on your own?’

‘Now see what you’ve done!’ shouted Herro Oster angrily.

‘Listen, Herro!’ said Goldie. ‘Listen to the storm! If you stay here, you’ll drown!’

There was a crash of breaking windows. Herro Oster’s anger seemed to drain away and he began to tremble. Like everyone else in Jewel, he had been protected from every sort of risk and danger when he was a child. There had been nothing to test his courage, nothing to teach him when to stand and when to run. Now he was paralysed with fear and indecision, and so was Frow Oster. They were afraid to stay where they were, and they were afraid to go.

But Sinew was right. Some of the wildness had come back into the city. As Herro Oster tried to shut the door, Jube slipped through the narrow gap. Goldie grabbed his hand and the two of them ran out into the street.

By the time his parents ran after him, Jube was standing, amazed, in the midst of howling chaos. ‘Look, Pa!’ he shouted. ‘Look at our house!’

Herro and Frow Oster stared. The walls of their house were bulging in and out like an animal gasping for breath. It was clear that they must seek safety elsewhere, or be lost.

Frow Oster pointed towards the Great Hall. ‘The lights are still on! We’ll be safe there!’

Goldie shook her head. ‘No. We have to get to higher ground.’

Jube was shivering, but he nodded agreement. His parents looked at him in astonishment, then, slowly, they too nodded.

Goldie dragged them to the next house, and then to an apartment, and then to another house. ‘Hurry! Hurry!’ she shouted to the frightened faces that peered out at her. ‘The levees are going to break!’

Each time, it was the children who slipped out into the raging darkness first. Their parents followed close behind, trying to fasten guardchains to their sons’ and daughters’ wrists. But it would take more than a silver chain to keep them safe on a night like this.

Goldie found Plum and Glory and their families, and they gaped at her, then followed where she led. She found Fort and a score of other children, and they went with her, and so did their parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles.

She was no longer the only one knocking on doors. The children who had managed to evade their guardchains ran awkwardly from house to house, shouting, ‘Hurry, hurry, there’s not much time, hurry!’ until the frightened people inside tumbled out into the night.

At last they came to Goldie’s own street. As the wind and the rain raged around her, and garbage cans and fence palings and branches flew down the street past her head, Goldie pounded on Favour’s door.

‘Favour!’ she shouted, trying to make herself heard over the storm. ‘Herro Berg! Frow Berg! It’s me!’

When Herro Berg opened the door at last, he stared at Goldie as if she was an apparition. ‘G-G-Goldie!’

There was a cry from inside the house, and Favour and Frow Berg came running. Favour threw her arms around Goldie and kissed her. But there was no time to talk. Everyone was shouting, ‘Hurry, hurry!’ and the sense of urgency was impossible to resist.

By now, Goldie was so exhausted she could hardly stand. She stumbled forward, dragging adults and children behind her like a huge, frightened caterpillar. She wanted to rest, but the groaning of the levees drove her on. Hurry! Hurry!

And then she turned a corner and ran smack bang into Toadspit. He was soaking wet and there was a cut on his forehead. Stretched out behind him in the darkness was a long line of people.

When he saw Goldie, he put his mouth to her ear and shouted, ‘I just spoke to one of the officers! They’ve got everyone out of Care, and the rest of the Old Quarter’s clear as well! We’re going to the museum! Come on!’

It seemed impossible that the storm could get worse. But as Goldie and Toadspit and their followers struggled towards Old Arsenal Hill, the wind began to scream even louder. The rain tore at them, as if the soldiers from behind the Dirty Gate had invaded after all and were attacking them head on. Goldie blundered along in a nightmare. Across Pestilence Bridge. Past militia headquarters. Towards the safety of the museum.

They were just about to step onto Old Arsenal Bridge when a small figure hurtled out of the darkness towards Toadspit. He flinched, but then his face lit up like a hundred suns and he held out his arms. ‘Bonnie!’

‘Toadspit!’ screamed Bonnie. ‘Toadspit Toadspit Toadspit!’ She threw herself at her brother, laughing and crying. Rain and tears streamed down Toadspit’s face. Ignoring the storm and the sound of the levees, he wrapped his arms around his little sister and held her tight. The rest of the children from Care surged past, herded by anxious militiamen.

‘Bonnie! Toadspit!’ shouted Goldie. ‘We have to go!’

They hurried across the bridge with the long line of people straggling after them, and began to climb the hill. They had not gone far when Goldie heard a sound that stopped her in her tracks. Metal tore against metal. The groaning of the levees rose to a shriek.

Toadspit grabbed hold of Bonnie. ‘Run!’ he shouted, and pushed her towards higher ground. Then he and Goldie turned to the people behind them and screamed at the top of their voices, ‘It’s the levees! Run! Run for your lives!’

Their words were snatched away by the wind. It didn’t matter. Everyone knew what the sound meant. But they could not move. They stood helplessly, clutching their families. The terrible night had finally taken its toll.

Goldie and Toadspit raced down the lines, tugging at people’s clothes and screaming, ‘Run! Run!’ Bonnie followed them. ‘Run!’ she shouted.

‘Bonnie, get out of here!’ screamed Toadspit. But Bonnie ignored him. ‘Run! Everyone run!’

Still no one moved. Goldie grabbed Favour and shouted right in her face, ‘Favour, you have to go! The levees are breaking!’

Favour’s eyes were wide with fright, but she clung to her parents and did not move. Goldie was almost weeping with fear. Every nerve in her body shrieked, Save yourself! Save yourself! But she couldn’t leave her best friend to die. In desperation, she pulled at the other girl’s hand and screamed until her voice was hoarse. ‘Please, Favour! Please, Herro Berg! Make her run!’ She could hear Toadspit and Bonnie nearby. ‘Run for your lives!’

But Favour would not move. Nor would anyone else.

And then, just when Goldie thought that there was no hope, that they were all going to die, there came a great roar that could be heard even above the sound of the wind and the rain and the collapsing levees. And out of the darkness, like a huge iron statue brought to life, charged Broo.

His teeth were bared. His eyes glowed red as fire. Someone screamed, ‘A brizzlehound!’ And the whole crowd of people – including Favour and her parents – sprang to life and began to run clumsily up the hill.

The floodwater caught them halfway up the next block. It surged up behind them in a hungry wave, snatching at their legs. No one could run now; the street was a river. Mothers and fathers scooped their children up into their arms. Hands grabbed hold of anyone who stumbled. A clockwork bird floated past Goldie like a tiny metal corpse.

They were high enough to have only caught the edge of the flood, and before long the water stopped rising. As Goldie staggered out onto dry land, Broo appeared beside her for just long enough to rumble, ‘Herro Dan and Olga Ciavolga are safe.’ Then he melted away like a bad dream.

The wind and the rain seemed to ease for a few minutes then. The black clouds parted and the full moon shone through. In that moment of quietness, Goldie, Toadspit and Bonnie turned and stared at what they had left behind.

The Old Quarter was hidden beneath a sea of water. Buildings poked up out of it like strangely shaped islands. In the midst of it all stood the Great Hall. It was half-drowned and leaning perilously to one side, but the lights were still on. Goldie thought – though she was too far away to be sure – that she could see two tiny figures in the glass dome. They seemed to be waving for help.

As she watched, the lights flickered and went out. There was a terrible grinding noise. Then the whole building tore loose from its foundations and floated away into the night.