The sound of clanking gears in the distance broke the silence as Lewis extinguished the lamp he had been carrying. ‘Where are we?’ Emily asked as he placed the doused lamp on the small ledge just inside the gate.

‘We’re near the pump house on the other side of the wall,’ Lewis replied, turning his attention to the gate that was baring the end of the pipe. With one hand, he pushed at the icy metal bars. To his surprise, the gate swung open. Easing open the gate, he winched as it squeaked.

With no one in sight, he half-ran towards a pile of large, snow-covered wooden crates, Emily close behind him. The pipe had led them to what looked like a storage area behind the red brick pump house. Looking around the side of the crates, he could see the huge towers and the steam billowing out into the cold air. Even outside, they could hear the turbines that created the pressure to drive the water into the city.

Before Lewis could try to find a way out of the storage yard, a pair of voices rounded the corner of the building. ‘I don’t see why they want us to go in the service tunnel,’ the first complained.

‘They said they thought they saw someone at the other end of the tunnel,’ the second replied as they walked past where Lewis and Emily were crouched behind the crates. In the light reflecting off the snow, Lewis saw that they were both wearing the same uniforms as the city guards.

‘One of those rookie guards must have left the gate open again; no wonder they keep thinking they have security breaches,’ the first laughed as they disappeared into the tunnel, unaware that Lewis and Emily would be standing in plain sight if they turned around.

When they had disappeared from view, Lewis slipped out from behind the crates, pushing the gate shut and sliding the bolt across. At least if they came back, it would give them a few extra seconds, he thought.

‘How are we supposed to sneak out of here? This place is probably crawling with people,’ Emily asked as she watched a second pair of guards walk along a raised concrete path a couple of hundred feet away.

‘We don’t,’ Lewis said slowly as he looked into the dark tunnel. ‘The guards were wearing the same uniforms as city guards, the same ones that we are wearing now. If we don’t do anything to attract anyone’s attention, they might think we are just some of the new guards.’

‘What happens if they realise we aren’t guards, though?’ Emily asked wearily.

‘I’m still working on that part,’ Lewis sighed. ‘We need to move before the two guards that went in the tunnel come back.’

Straightening up behind the boxes, Lewis peered around the corner. Gesturing for Emily to follow him, he stepped out, trying to keep calm and pretend he knew where he was going. They had barely made it a dozen steps when there was a shout.

‘Any sign of any intruders?’ called a man in blue overalls as he leaned against the wall of the pump house. A series of tags had been pinned to his chest.

‘Let me do the talking,’ Lewis whispered to Emily as he walked towards the man. Beside him, she nodded.

‘Anything?’ the man demanded as they stopped in front of him.

‘Nothing as far as we could see,’ Lewis lied confidently.

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‘Very well,’ he muttered, stroking his straggly beard. ‘Did you check the service tunnel properly? They might still be in there.’

‘Two of the other guards just went in there to check it out,’ Lewis replied as he subtly tried to look around for an exit.

‘Damn it! I bet that’s Dalton sending them down there,’ the man shouted. ‘I bet he offered them a cut of the bounty for finding those two fugitives.’

‘There’s a reward for finding them?’ Lewis asked as he took a step to his left. In the distance, he could see a high metal fence and a small brick tower standing beside the gate.

‘There is. A mighty big one at that,’ he said. ‘The boy isn’t worth much, but the girl got fifty thousand gold marks on her head!’

‘I can see why you don’t want Dalton to find them first,’ Lewis said enthusiastically, hoping that the worker would let them slip away.

‘Damn right, I don’t want Dalton finding them,’ he laughed as he produced a folded piece of paper from one of his pockets. ‘I’ll tell you what, you two seem like a decent couple of kids. You take this letter down to the gates for me while I check the service tunnel, and I’ll cut you in on the bounty if we find it. How does that sound?’

‘Sounds fair to me,’ Lewis replied as he took the letter the man was holding. Beside him, Emily nodded silently.

‘Good on you, lad,’ the man said, clapping Lewis on the back. ‘What did you say your name was again?’

‘I didn’t. My name is Conner Steele,’ Lewis lied, picking the first name that came into his head, which just so happened to belong to Robyn’s younger brother.

‘And you are?’ he asked, turning to Emily.

‘Emily-’

‘My sister,’ Lewis said, jumping in before she could finish.

‘A brother and sister team then,’ the man said appreciatively. ‘I have a brother who works at the pump house inside the city. The name’s Michael Seer; you might know Justin if you work security for the pump houses?’

‘No, we haven’t been working here all that long,’ Lewis said. ‘We should see to delivering that letter; you wouldn’t want us all missing out on that bounty.’

‘Right, you are Conner,’ Michael replied with a laugh. ‘You two get to that, and I’ll see if I can find those two that went in the service tunnels.’

Glancing at each other, Lewis and Emily waited until Michael disappeared through the open gate to the tunnel.

‘Let’s go,’ Lewis whispered, grabbing Emily’s arm and pulling her in the direction of the gate beneath the watchtower. ‘I thought I told you not to say anything,’ Lewis hissed when he was sure that there wasn’t anyone within earshot. ‘You almost gave him the name on the bounty sheet.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to say,’ she replied.

‘You could have said anything. Anything except your name,’ Lewis snapped.

‘Well, sorry if I can’t just make a name up off the top of my head!’ Emily huffed. ‘Crawling around in service tunnels doesn’t come as easily to all of us as it does to you.’

Deciding not to rise to the occasion, Lewis led her down the narrow path that had been carved through the snow. Apart from the path, the rest of the snow was still mostly untouched. In the distance, he could see the walls of the huge reservoir that held Tristan’s main water supply.

‘I can think of plenty of other places I would rather be,’ Lewis muttered as he let go of her and moved ahead.

This time the day before, he would have been settling down for lunch in the dingy kitchen back home with Arron. Now he was on the run from the law with a suspected murderer and nothing to eat except half a loaf of bread and a couple of apples.

When Emily didn’t reply, he glanced over his shoulder. She was a couple of paces behind him, her eyes looking intently at the path in front of her.

Sighing, Lewis eyed up the pair of guards that stood at the gate, one leaning against the watchtower as they held an animated conversation. In his head, he tried to think of the best way to talk his way out of the pump house complex.

‘At last!’ one of the guards called, pointing at Lewis and Emily when he saw them.

‘You’re here to take our place at the gate, right?’ asked the second when they got closer.

‘Seer sent us,’ Lewis confirmed.

‘Precursors bless that man,’ the first cheered. ‘Sorry, we’ve been out here all day.’

‘I don’t blame you,’ Lewis laughed. ‘You should go make the most of the warmth inside before he sends you back out here, though.’

Moving away from the wall, the guard slapped Lewis on the shoulder. ‘Thanks, mate,’ he said before they set off up the path Lewis and Emily had just followed.

‘I’m sorry,’ Emily whispered when the guards had disappeared.

‘Let’s just get out of here while we still have the chance,’ Lewis replied as he turned to the gate.