Rowan awoke, took in a deep breath, opened his eyes and stared up at the darkness – the smell of mould and the damp earth he lay on were just the same as he remembered. The pain in his head was much more painful than before. He knew that the pain would soon pass. Rowan felt pleased with himself, he was going to enjoy the task this time, he had a water flask with him and an array of gadgets to help him survive – a much better kit than Kayleb had.
Rowan could hear breathing, he knew Kayleb was awake. He sat up, found his flask, unscrewed the top, took a sip of water, replaced the lid and then rubbed his forehead; his headache was beginning to go.
Kayleb heard a scuffling sound. He knew he was not alone; something or someone was moving nearby. Just to be safe, Kayleb managed to slide back, away from that someone, in case he or she was dangerous.
‘Is someone there?’ he called out.
Rowan stood up. He still felt a bit groggy. In the darkness, he felt for his pockets and found a pair of night-vision lenses. Carefully Rowan placed these in each eye. He could now see Kayleb lying on the floor on a pile of bones. Rowan smiled to himself, Kayleb looked so pathetic lying there. Rowan turned around and saw the bucket attached to the rope. Quietly he walked over to it and pulled himself up onto the rope.
‘Who’s there? What are you doing?’ Kayleb called out. Without a word Rowan continued to climb. The boots he was wearing dug into the rope and made climbing easy.
‘Where are you going?’ called Kayleb. ‘Please don’t leave me here!’
Rowan climbed out of the well and then jumped into the wilderness.
It was desolate and shrouded in darkness; he was glad he could see with his night-vision lenses. He planned to walk only at night; it was much safer that way. Rowan began to walk northwards.
He had an old-fashioned compass in his hand that did not rely on sunlight to power it. Rowan took a sip of water from his flask and began to walk again. He was determined to get back to London alone and in record time.
After a few steps Rowan stopped. Something was bothering him. He looked behind him, he knew that Kayleb couldn’t reach the bucket and he knew that he was too weak to climb the rope. He sighed. If he left him in the well, then Kayleb would die. Rowan continued to walk towards London and then stopped again. He cursed out loud with irritation. He would have to go back and help him get out of the well.
Rowan walked back to the well and wound down the bucket. He sorted out the knots in the rope to extend the rope further and called down to Kayleb to get on the bucket while he pulled him up.
As Kayleb was hauled up to the top of the well, he felt hurt that the person helping him had not given him the chance to try and climb the rope and wondered why the stranger presumed that he was too weak to do his task without being assisted. Kayleb felt the cool night air hit him as he reached the top of the well and gasped when he saw Rowan. Rowan held the winding handle tightly so that Kayleb could climb off the bucket and over the edge of the well.
Kayleb stood on the dry earth. He looked anxiously at Rowan and thought to himself that this was probably the worst night of his life. Of all the people in the world that he could have done his task with, he had been given Rowan. Kayleb wondered if things could get much worse.
Rowan said nothing and, without looking back, ran off into the darkness and headed north towards London. He ran for a few minutes and then thought about what might happen to Kayleb. He would most likely perish and his death would be his fault. Rowan stopped and looked over his shoulder. He could just see Kayleb’s silhouette standing by the well. Rowan kicked the ground angrily. No amount of brainwashing would clear his conscience of murder.
Slowly, Rowan walked back towards Kayleb.