Chapter 5 - The Walled Courtyard
The iron gate slammed shut behind them with a resounding clang, and Julian threw the heavy security bolt into place just as a heavy body slammed against the other side. Wood splintered, but the reinforced frame held firm for the moment.
Julian spun around, taking in their new prison. The courtyard was an enclosed, rectangular space surrounded by crumbling stucco walls dripping with overgrown ivy. A central marble fountain, dry and filled with autumn leaves, stood in the middle of the flagstone patio. There were three heavy oak doors leading into the surrounding residential building, all of them tightly shuttered and padlocked from the outside.
"We're trapped," the boy whimpered, sinking to his knees against the stone rim of the fountain. He pressed his palms into his eyes, his shoulders shaking with silent, exhausted sobs. "They're going to kill us. They killed everyone else."
Julian ignored the rising panic in his own chest and knelt beside the child. He grabbed the boy by his narrow shoulders, forcing him to look up.
"Listen to me. Look at my eyes," Julian commanded firmly. "They are not going to kill us. I built an empire out of nothing, and I am not going to let some hired thug in a trench coat end it in a dusty courtyard."
"How?" the boy cried, pointing a trembling finger toward the bolted gate as another heavy thud rattled the iron bars. "There’s no way out!"
Julian didn't answer immediately. He stood up and scanned the perimeter walls. They were easily ten feet high, slick with moss and ancient mortar. Impossible to scale bare-handed without equipment. But as his eyes traced the upper cornice of the building to the left, he noticed a rusted metal fire escape ladder dangling precariously about four feet above their reach.
"The fountain," Julian muttered, a sudden spark of determination igniting in his eyes.
He rushed to the dry stone fountain, grabbing a heavy stone planter sitting on its edge and dragging it across the flagstones with a harsh scraping sound. He positioned it directly beneath the hanging ladder, clambering up onto the unstable stone base with a sharp grunt of effort. His joints ached, protesting every movement, but sheer willpower propelled him upward.
He reached out, his fingers stretching past the limit of his balance, and caught the bottom rung of the rusted iron ladder. With a desperate heave, he pulled it down until it locked into place with a metallic groan.
"Hurry!" Julian called down, waving frantically at the boy.
The boy scrambled up the stone planter, grabbing the lower rung just as the iron gate at the end of the courtyard gave way with a deafening crash of snapping bolts and splintered wood.
Julian pulled the boy upward as heavy footsteps echoed across the flagstones below. They scrambled onto the metal grating of the fire escape just as a dark figure rounded the corner of the courtyard, leveling a silenced pistol directly at them.
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Julian kicked backward, striking the metal ladder release lever with his heel. The ladder swung violently upward out of reach, leaving the gunman stranded below, shouting curses into the autumn air.
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