The Blighted Fortress

by David E Dresner

  Grunting Glenda said, “Is this me being leg-weary from all the walking and swimming, or are we climbing up a mountain?”

  Traveler nodded, “These riser heights are crazy. Who climbs up staircases like this? Goats would have to jump from stair to stair. This is very bad architecture for most people. Children and the elderly would struggle and likely fall. In our time OSHA and its lawyers would sue the designers for creating a health hazard. This is an accident just waiting to happen, let’s be sure we’re not the accident.”

  They continued to climb in silence. Each step required a push off with the lower leg then tension on the elevated leg. Their breath was quickly coming in short intakes. “I feel like I’m sprinting up the museum staircase,” said Glenda, “but this is definitely harder.” Traveler just grunted to save his breath.

  Finally they reached the upper landing. The landing was a simple platform that jutted out from the facing wall. There were no protective handrails.

  “One way they could thin the soldier herd would be races up and down, that would sure determine who was in fighting trim. The Marines would love this gauntlet climb as a fitness test.”

  “All right Mr Marine, let’s get inside. I think it may be nighttime and we can start scouting this place before the halls are filled. We need to find places we can hide in while we figure out our game plan.”

  Traveler was standing in front of the door and saw the massive sliding iron bolt used to block entry. Glenda looked the door up then down, “More security locks,” she said and pointed. On the top and bottom were thick vertical iron rods that could be sunk into the stone. The locking bars were all in a free state and the door appeared ready for an outward shove.

  “Our hiding place is an 800-year-old safe room,” said Traveler, as he slowly pressed against the massive door. Despite its size the door cracked open with ease.

  Traveler cautiously stuck his head into the corridor. It was pitch black. “I can’t see anything.”

  Glenda stepped past him, torch in hand she waited for Traveler to step beside her. They looked in both directions and saw only impenetrable darkness beyond the limited light cast by the torch. In a whispered voice she said, “Do you feel lucky going right or left?”

  Traveler whispered back, “I’m a contrarian; people instinctively go right so let’s try lucky left.”

  They advanced slowly. The torch only illuminated the walkway about ten feet ahead. They had seen far too many Indiana Jones and mummy movies to rush forward. “This feels like we’re inside a great pyramid. I hope arrows don’t shoot out of the sides,” Traveler said.

  “I think we can be optimistic and speak up. It looks like we’re in a hidden passageway built for either escape or spying. These walls are thick stone and nobody can hear us. Somewhere there will be places to exit or peep holes to view the other side. Watch the right-side wall for cut-in places.”

  As they walked they began to relax. They were in a passage that was likely long forgotten. Their torch burned steadily indicating there was sufficient oxygen but no air movement. Ventilation was apparently adequate but the source was not obvious.

  “I wonder who maintains the pantry in our safe place?” Traveler reflected out loud as they advanced.

  “Probably some old servant who knows the castle and is trusted by the duke,” said Glenda. “After all, if the hideout is well-known, then it’s no longer a hideout.”

  “Makes sense. Do you see anything ahead yet?”

  Glenda was ready to answer “No” when she stopped and put her hand on the wall about five feet off the floor. “Here’s something. It feels like a wooden shutter set into the stone.”

  Traveler began to study the shutter, “I think it slides to the side, I’ll give it a try. Easy does it,” and he slowly slid the thick wood along its holding tracks. An observation opening appeared in the stone.

  The viewing slot was cut through the stone and widened toward the exit point. The narrowness of the opening limited the width of the viewshed. Looking out was similar to using a telescope. Unlike a telescope that can be moved to capture a wider view, the stone was not moveable. Score one for the telescope.

  Glenda pressed her face into the opening, “Wow, wait till you see this.” They took turns looking into the open slot. The thick stone opening guided the eye into a great hall.

  The hall was set up to easily host hundreds of attendees. Heavily planked tables were surrounded on both sides by heavy benches. Elevated at the front was a dais. Centered on the dais was a massive carved table with carved chairs.

  The elevated seating declared who the rulers were. As those seated below enjoyed their wine and ale, they were constantly reminded of who their superiors were. The superiors were those looking down on them.

  Looking straight out Traveler saw the high ceiling was supported by heavy stone pillars. There were scenes carved into the stone columns. The carved pillars reminded him for a moment of the glyphs on the portal in the Chicago museum. He shivered and pushed the memory away.

  Connecting the walls to the support columns were wide horizontal wooden beams. Looking at the crossbeams he noted their unusual width. A good four feet, I wonder why so wide?

  Glenda looked through the opening and studied the beams, “These seem overly wide to just provide support to the pillars. Wait, I see there’s an enclosed platform built around the top of the column where the beam meets. It reminds me of a crow’s nest on old sailing ships.”

  Chapter 63

  A Shooting Gallery

  Traveler focused a second time, “You’re right, I didn’t notice it at first glance. The crow’s nest is decorated to appear like a part of the aesthetics of the column, but I don’t think that’s its real purpose. I think it’s a shooting platform for archers. I have no idea how archers could get to it, though. It would take thirty-foot ladders to get them up there.”

  “Take a look at this,” Glenda said as she knelt down to the base of the wall. “There’s another shutter down here.”

  The lower shutter was three feet high and the width of a big man’s shoulders. She slid the shutter open and saw the crossbeam was right there ready to carry a man to the crow’s nest. “They get to the crow’s nest on the wide beam, no ladders required.”

  “How clever,” said Traveler. “This place was built to ambush the occupants on the floor level. The crow’s nest is a protected place for archers and reminds me of a shooting gallery.”

  Glenda lifted the torch higher and walked forward a short distance then announced, “We’re at the end of this tunnel, solid wall here. Let’s backtrack and see if there are more openings we missed. Let’s shut this access opening up tight, we don’t want the torch light to betray us.”

  Traveler nodded and quickly sealed up the bottom opening. Before sealing the upper shutter, Glenda took a final look out, “I can just see the end of another column to our right. It looks about twenty-five feet away. Let’s pace off the distance and see what’s there.”

  They counted eight strides and then studied the wall. They immediately found a window slot and a lower access door and carefully opened both. Again, the lower exit tied into a crosswalk to a column. Traveler looked out the upper shutter and concluded, “Looks like the shooting gallery comes every twenty-five feet. There is a covered field of fire so there’s no place to hide below. Death from above for your enemy. Sweet.”

  They continued to backtrack and located the other hidden openings. At each opening they took in the sights. “Notice how the surround stone is black,” said Glenda. “If you were looking up all you would see is black support walls. The openings are not visible since the open slots are all black. The only way these windows and exits could be spotted is if a torch created visible light.”

  At the eighth and final opening they agreed on the hall’s size. “This hall is around 200 feet long and I’d guess it’s a good eighty feet wide, almost a small soccer field,” reflected Traveler.

  Chapter 64

  Stables and Haylofts


  “We’ve returned to the door that leads back to the hidden safe room. Let’s see where this right-hand way takes us,” said Traveler.

  They continued forward, carefully watching for covered window slots or lower exit doors but nothing appeared. After ten minutes Glenda softly called out, “I see what looks like an escape door ahead. It looks small and is only about three feet off the ground.”

  When they reached it, Traveler squatted down and declared, “You’re right, good catch.”

  Traveler noted a heavy sealing bar across the stone. Bending down, he slid the bar to the side to free the door. Studying the stone more closely he announced, “There’s an iron ring built into the center of the stone, I’ll give it a push.” He gripped the ring and pushed forward, nothing moved. “OK, if ‘push’ doesn’t work let’s try ‘pull’.”

  Pull worked and the heavy stone moved slowly but easily into the passageway. Looking down Traveler saw there were iron runners grooved into the hallway floor. “That explains why it’s easy to move,” he said to the standing Glenda. He then proceeded to poke his head and shoulders into the narrow access opening.

  “What do you see?”

  Traveler’s answer was muffled by a sneeze. “Straw, and more straw.”

  He began to crawl forward on his stomach using his elbows. Finally his feet disappeared. The straw monster got him, Glenda chuckled to herself.

  A voice whispered back, “Come on in, the straw’s fine.”

  Glenda entered the access tunnel and emerged to a clearing of old straw. Standing up in the center was a grinning Traveler. “Welcome to sneeze city.”

  The straw came up to their chests and Traveler proceeded to clear a narrow path out. Once free of the mounded straw they were standing on heavy wood planking. Mounds of straw were everywhere. It was a graveyard of straw from past hay harvests. Hay was the food for horses and sheep while the residual straw was likely used as floor and ground coverings.

  Glenda surveyed their loft and noted how the straw was organized into large piles. There were pitchforks frequently sticking out of the mounds. “This is obviously where the old straw gets stored. They probably bring it down in the rainy season to soak up mud. I bet nobody comes up here unless forced to.”

  Traveler looked at her and started to laugh, “You’ve collected your own share of straw, be careful barn swallows and owls don’t try and nest in your hair.”

  Glenda immediately put her hands into her hair. “Oh great. I’m the scarecrow in Oz, with straw sticking out of me everywhere.” She proceeded to shake her head and finger-comb her hair. Every time she combed more straw fell out.

  Traveler just wiped his hair and the straw was mostly gone. “Just another advantage guys have.” Glenda ignored him.

  Traveler walked to the edge of the storage platform, dropped to his knees and carefully looked down. Immediately below was the main storage loft for the feeding hay. The hayloft extended fifty feet beyond the upper straw platform and ran over a hundred feet in both directions.

  Below the hayloft were long columns of stabled horses and Traveler noted the efficient design. Hay and horse were close together for easy feeding.

  Traveler saw there were frequent ladders to access the hay platform but few for the straw loft. He looked for access to their present loft and only saw one distant ladder built into a wall. “This place rarely gets visitors, I think we have a secure base of operations.”

  Glenda joined him and looked down into piles of stacked hay, “I don’t see anybody down there, let’s jump down and explore. We can leap back up if we need to.”

  Looking down, Glenda was suddenly a little girl again. She did not need to use her Mary Poppins gravity skills, she just leaped down into an inviting pile of hay. Again a head of hay-hair became a potential bird’s nest. Rats, forgot about this. Running fingers through her thick hair she repeated to herself, Double rats. The price of fun.

  Traveler picked an open spot below and landed softly, sans hay. He sent the princess an annoying grin. She read his lips, “Look before you leap.” She stuck out her tongue.

  They proceeded to the edge of the large hay storage loft and could hear multiple voices below. They worked themselves to an end of the platform that was away from the voices. Slowly peering over the edge, they viewed a massive stable.

  The stable had hundreds of occupied stalls. Each stall had a watering trough and a holding basket for hay. The stalls were arranged in long columns broken by wide aisles. Each column ended in front of a large door. If all doors were open, hundreds of horses could trot out in minutes. Later they discovered the enormous central courtyard for released horses.

  Glenda and Traveler watched as a small army of stable workers attended to the needs of the large warhorses. Each horse had its hooves picked clean daily to remove embedded stones or piercing objects. Their faces were wiped down as well as their bodies. The horses generally enjoyed the attention and soft nickering echoed through the massive building.

  After watching the activity Glenda whispered, “Let’s go back. There’s more of the walkway to explore.”

  Chapter 65

  Ground Zero

  They moved back until they were close to the overhead straw loft. With a single leap up, they landed back on the higher storage platform. “You go in first, I’ll pull the straw after me to seal the opening and cover our tracks.” Glenda gave an appreciative smile and ducked into the opening.

  Traveler studied the return path. He then positioned large mounds of straw on each side of the path. To return he did a backward crawl while pulling straw down to cover the path. Once inside the passage he started to slide the vertical locking bar down then stopped.

  “We better not lock it, we may need to get in here coming from the other side. I think our path is well-covered with straw and the opening has a mound in front. Nobody should ever know this stone opening exists.”

  “Good thinking-ahead. You’re right, we may need to come back here from the other side and don’t want to be locked out.”

  The torch continued to light their way as Glenda proceeded ahead. Suddenly she gave a startled gasp, “Watch out, there are stairs here! Easy to miss in this gloom.”

  “Good catch partner, I might have easily fallen without that heads-up.”

  Holding the torch up higher she slowly descended while Traveler remained several steps behind, he didn’t want to pressure Glenda as she descended.

  Traveler knew from his middle school days how dangerous it was going down school steps for recess or lunch with a thundering herd on your back. He had seen nasty falls from the herd pressuring the lead students to descend faster. Thoughtless school lemmings, he thought.

  The stairs continued downward, and the riser distance was the same as the long staircase from their safe house. As they descended they had to control each downward step and they quickly noticed their thigh muscles were getting exhausted.

  Traveler found an additional problem while descending was vertigo. Distance runners know it’s easier to remain balanced going up versus going down. After a few minutes of descending Traveler said, “Let’s stop and gather ourselves. My legs need a rest and my head is starting to spin a bit.”

  “Thank you. I feel the same way. I thought it was just me.”

  After pausing a few minutes they continued to descend. Just as Traveler was ready to suggest another stop Glenda announced, “We’re here. I’m not sure where ‘here’ is, but I think we’re at ground zero. The stairs end and there’s a small landing area with a very big door.”

  They studied the door. It went up ten feet before arching higher. “Built for giraffes,” quipped Traveler, “I wonder where it goes.” An easy answer appeared when they noted the heavy locking bar had been pushed to the side. The door was not locked from this side.

  Traveler pushed against the door. Nothing. Then he pushed much harder. There was still no movement. The door must be locked from the other side. As he studied the door Glenda pointed to a lever cleverly built in
to the wall. Traveler looked over, grinned and said, “Since brute force doesn’t work, pull the lever down and let’s see what happens.”

  Glenda gripped the lever with two hands and slowly brought it down until it stopped. Then they heard soft clicking sounds from the other side. “Good eyes and good reasoning, Glenda, I think you’ve unlocked it! I don’t hear any sirens going off, so let’s see where this door leads us. I’ve got no idea what’s on the other side so ‘caution’ is still the word of the day.”

  “Like all our days,” Glenda responded.

  Traveler placed his ear firmly against the door. He held his breath and listened. After several minutes he nodded. “Cross your fingers, the coast is clear… I think.”

  Traveler pressed against the door and this time it moved slowly forward. He could tell by the effort of his pushing that this door was massive. As the door slowly moved, he continued to press it forward. Once the door was open enough to exit, light came in. He peeked out, “Good news, we can see. You can leave the torch here for our return.”

  Once Traveler stepped into the room Glenda came right behind him. As she stepped out, she paused to look at the width of the door. It was a foot deep made of solid heavy oak. As she inspected the wood, she saw round holes cut into the door’s width and had an epiphany.

  She motioned for Traveler to step back. She pointed to the holes, “This door is built to be sealed from both sides. We need to find the sealing device similar to the side we just came from. It’s good to get in here but we need to be able get out quickly.”

  Traveler nodded in agreement. “You’re right. We need a two-way street not a dead-end alley. We’ve already had our share of dangerous alleys.”

  They knew the opening and closing devices had to be near each other, just separated by the thick wall. Knowing where the lever was located for their entry, they looked for a similar mechanism on the other side.