All hell may be breaking loose around her, but Pippa's immediate problem is making sure the mule now rearing up onto his powerful hindquarters doesn't kick her or anyone else in the head as panic overtakes him.

"Rooster!" Crossbow bolts sing and whistle through the air beyond the crowd, and the mad crush of bodies around her would be more than enough to leave her a bloodied and trampled mess if it weren't for the animal whose halter she clings to. His panic makes everyone else give him a wide berth, and maybe that's what saves her.

The last place she wants to be is the centre of the city square, and so even though he fights her, she struggles to pull him towards one of the alleys leading into Fairport's winding streets. "Come on--" she starts, and throws one last, desperate look back towards the gallows; Agata's body doesn't swing from that rope, but wherever she is, she's out of sight now.