My Lady Ghost

by June Calvin

“Can you see anything?” He wiped the water from his eyes.

  “Yes. Oh, yes! She is there. The tunnel continues on the other side!”

  They immediately began clearing a path through what remained of the rock pile. When they gained the other side of the rocks, they found the unexpected. Rather than a tunnel, they now stood in a small room.

  “The tunnel ends here,” Allison said, dismayed. “We are trapped once again.” She bit her lower lip, which had begun to tremble. Mustn't turn into a watering pot. Thorne has enough to contend with.

  Thorne looked around him carefully. “She hasn’t led us all this way to find a dead end, surely.” He examined the three sconces around the room. They looked no different from the hundreds of similar sconces that lined the tunnels, waiting for over a century to hold rush lights that were never lit

  “Just as I suspected.” Retrieving his knife from his jacket pocket, Thorne cleaned one hastily. “Allison, can you reach it? It obviously is designed for a woman’s hand.” He held his breath as she pulled down on the ring hanging from it, just as she had on the one that opened the vault—it seemed like eons ago. And just like that one, the tug produced a small but distinct grating sound, and Allison's sharp eyes quickly saw that a tiny crack had appeared in the wall.

  Thorne saw it, too, and let out an exultant shout. He put his left shoulder against the wall and pushed, then groaned and stood away, rubbing it ruefully. “Forgot,” he explained.

  Allison passed her hands gently over the injury. “Perhaps I can push it.”

  Thorne shook his head. “My other shoulder is fine.” He switched sides and pressed steadily with all his might. Slowly, the wall began to move in the same way as had the other one, emitting loud grating noises as it did so.

  When it had opened enough for them to step through it and into whatever lay beyond, the Silver Lady’s light vanished. It was pitch black. Allison pressed close to Thorne, once again fighting her fear.

  “I hope she’s just resting,” he growled. “I’m going to feel my way around ..

  “Be careful.” Allison released her hold on him reluctantly. Trembling began again as she once more stared into utter darkness. She fought back long-ago memories of a dark closet. Not now. Must stay brave.

  Before long Thorne cried out, “Ah! Stairs. Steep stone stairs. A narrow passageway, so no need for rails. Can you come to me, Allie, or shall I... ?” Before he could finish, she stumbled into his arms. He led her two paces forward and guided her hand so that she could feel the stairs. She looked upward as if she could see anything in that inky blackness—and found that she could!

  “Oh!”

  “What is it?” Alarm tightened Thorne’s voice.

  “I think she is ahead of us. Or at least... it seems I can dimly make out something above us.”

  Silence stretched for moments as Thorne stood beside her. Finally, he expelled a long, relieved sigh. “Yes, I can see light, too. She is there. Or perhaps ... it doesn’t look quite the same. It could be daylight above us.” He pointed out handholds carved in the wall and urged her to go ahead of him.

  Allison struggled up the steep steps, feeling the way with her hands. Her leg muscles began to tremble with exertion, but the growing light above them urged her on.

  Thorne called words of encouragement to her as she toiled up the steps. When she reached the last step, he placed his hand on her rump and gave a push.

  “Thorne!” she exclaimed with affronted dignity before crawling out of sight. Hoisting himself after her, he sat on the edge and looked around. Allison, panting but triumphant, stood in a tiny room that did not appear to give him space to stand fully erect. Part of it was of the same stone construction as the exterior curtain wall, but part of it had been carved out of the living rock of the cliff face.

  “What do you see?” He crawled toward her as she peered through one of several cracks in the outer wall, the source of the light that had guided them up the stairs.

  The first thing that Allison did was draw several deep breaths. “Fresh air. I never thought it could smell so delicious.” She put her eye to the largest opening. “I can’t see much. Rocks. Some clumps of grass. I could touch them if the crack were larger. Enough to see we aren’t on the north side.” She moved aside to give Thorne room to look out.

  “Thank God for that.” Thorne studied the limited view he had, then whistled in surprise. “I have been completely turned around by all the many twists and turns in those tunnels. There is only one place on the castle perimeter where one might see vegetation, and that is where the south face joins the bluff.”

  He sat down and looked at Allison. “Our troubles are nearly

  over, my love. We are, if my calculations are correct, close enough to the cliff path to drop down onto it if we can but find the exit.”

  “Near the top?” Allison massaged her trembling calf muscles surreptitiously through her damp, ragged petticoat, which she had tugged down over her knees for modesty's sake.

  He frowned. “Yes, more s the pity, for I am persuaded you will barely be able to make it down.”

  “Down? Don't you mean up?”

  “By no means. I shan’t risk getting you in Newcomb’s gunsight again.”

  “But he must be long gone with the treasure by now.”

  “You are probably right, but...” Thorne pulled a watch out of his jacket pocket, then shook his head. “Not working. It stopped at twenty after eleven, which must have been when I plunged into that pool. Can’t tell how long it took us from there, but surely not a full hour, though it seems like an eternity. There is an outside chance that he could still be loading the treasure.”

  “Let him have the treasure! Don’t risk yourself against him. You are unarmed and exhausted, and he has pistols and that brute Paddy. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you!”

  “Don't worry so much, love. I won’t go after him myself. I’ll go down with you and get some men to go with me as soon as I have you safely installed in Thorne Hall.

  “Even if he has departed,” Thorne added half to himself, “our chances of catching him are good. In our short acquaintance I have come to know him well enough to know he will try to put all of the treasure in his rickety carriage. Greed won’t allow him to take only what he can speedily drive away with, especially if he is driving the same spindle-shanked cattle he had yesterday.

  Allison frowned. “I hope it may be so. But somehow the treasure doesn’t seem so important to me now.”

  For that sentiment Thorne pulled her to him and kissed her tenderly. Then he broke away on a sigh. “First we have to get out of here.” He began studying the small room carefully. There was no wall sconce to tug upon, nor any other obvious means of egress.

  “It looks as if these rocks must be removed.” he said at last. “Perhaps when I push on them ...” His face turned red with effort, but the rocks remained firmly in place.

  “Let me help.” Allison moved to Thorne’s side.

  Though he doubted she could add much force to the project, Thorne once again admired her spirit. He smiled at her. “Very well, my Amazon. On the count of three.” So saying, he put his right shoulder against the rock that looked the loosest. Allison stood next to him, and they both pushed with all their strength. Still nothing happened. Thorne called a halt and dropped back on his heels to reconsider.

  “If the rocks were made to drop out, they might have done so during a cannonade,” Allison said, moving beside him to study the situation. “And once they had been pushed out, wouldn’t the opening have been seen?”

  “Probably. Like the collapsing ceiling in the tunnel, this escape route would only have been used as a last resort. But there must be an opening somewhere, or it would have been of no use.”

  As one, they began to examine the room inch by inch. When they reached the opening to the stairs, they looked at one another across the gap. Frustration had Thorne grinding his teeth. Disappointment had Allison biting her lower lip.

  “Don't despa
ir, sweetheart,” Thorne said, skirting the opening to go to her side. He pulled her into his arms. “If we can’t get out by our own hands, at least we know that we can shout and get someone’s attention. I can even push my shirt partway through that crack. That will catch someone’s eye, especially since they will be searching for us soon.”

  “I know, but I want out now!” Allison slipped from Thorne’s arms. She could just barely stand erect, being a few inches shorter than Thorne’s six feet. “There has to be a way ..She reexamined the wall intently, continuing past where the cracks could be seen and into the carved-out area. As she did so, her hair snagged on something on the ceiling.

  “Ow. Drat!” She reached up to free it, but couldn’t.

  “Here, let me.” Thorne moved beside her, stooping to avoid hitting his head. He couldn’t see what her hair was snagged on, for her head was snubbed up tight against the ceiling, so he probed carefully with his fingers, watching Allison grimace in pain as he did so.

  “Have I told you that you are the bravest woman I know?” He kissed her briefly while working with both hands to pull her hair free. Finally, the tension was released, and Allison ducked away with a grateful “Ahhhh.”

  “Thank you, kind sir. I look bad enough, without being snatched bald-headed too.”

  “I’m afraid you’ve left quite a little hank of hair here.” He craned his neck so he could examine the little tuft of silvery blond hair hanging from the ceiling, then exclaimed in surprise. “Something here. Take a look, will you?”

  A moment’s study yielded results. “Yes!” She inserted a fingernail into the crevice where she had caught her hair. Carefully, she teased out an irregular chunk of stone. Under it a steel ring like the ones on the wall sconces lay waiting. Allison gave it a hard tug, but nothing happened. “Why can’t I budge it? ft was made to fit a woman’s fingers.”

  “Time has doubtless had its way with the mechanism.” He cast his eyes around for a tool. “Your petticoat is entirely too long, madam,” he said.

  She looked down at the bedraggled garment ruefully. “Why do I think you wish to remedy that situation?” Thorne brought out his knife and soon had a strip of the damp fabric. Twisting it to give it strength, he inserted it into the ring, wrapped it around his hand, and pulled. A familiar grating sound drew their attention to the part of the room that had been chiseled out of the cliff face. A gap had appeared—not in the cracked section of the curtain wall, but in what had seemed like solid rock.

  “Another pivoting door, no doubt.” Thorne moved to the rock and pushed hard with his right shoulder. It gave slowly, reluctantly, a few inches. “Damned clever,” he exclaimed, feeling the lower edge of the opening. “There is a metal bar here that probably anchored a rope ladder. I’m guessing there is a trompe l’oeil effect from the outside. Tie the right knot, and the rope could be loosed once the escapees climbed down.” He shoved hard on the rock again, and it gave a few more inches.

  Allison could insert her body into the opening and peer out. “It is so far down, and there were no stairs then. How could they expect any woman to manage it... ?” She withdrew, her face pale at the idea of climbing down that sheer cliff.

  “When your life is in danger, you acquire extra strength, I expect. However, I surmise that the plan would have been to use a rope harness to lower anyone incapable of going down hand over hand. Would that I had a rope at my disposal, because if I am wrong about our proximity to the cliff path, we may have to wait for rescue.” He shoved once more, and suddenly, with a sharp crack, the rock lurched forward and began toppling out of the opening.

  With a short scream of terror, Allison grabbed at Thorne, catching his coat as he teetered on the edge. He quickly regained his balance, and the two peered out.

  “I was right!” Thorne sat on the ledge and swung his legs over. “We are just over a landing.” He dropped down so that Allison could see only his head. Whatever he saw made him drag his hand down his face and groan loudly.

  “What is it, Thorne? Did you hurt yourself? Oh, drat you! Don’t keep me in suspense.”

  “Look for yourself. What incredible luck, though I am not at all sure it is good luck.” He hoisted himself back into the room, knocking his head against the ceiling as he stood. Muttering to himself, he held on to her blouse as Allison leaned out to view the situation. The huge stone had fallen onto one of the wooden landings his grandfather had placed at various points along the stairway.

  “But it is perfect. Why did you wonder about our luck? Oh, do let us go. I am so hungry and thirsty!”

  Thorne’s stomach growled its agreement, and they both laughed.

  “Look again, love. The rock has dropped down in such a way as to block access to the stairs below. It wasn’t intended to fall out, of course.” He pointed to broken metal inserts at the top and bottom of the opening. “My guess is that cannon fire and time weakened it. There is no way we can go down the steps, at least no way I would care to risk just now. I don’t fancy a dive off the cliff as a grand finale to this adventure.”

  “But we can go up, can’t we?” Allison looked anxiously out the opening.

  “Yes, but I told you, I don’t want you to go up there. Very likely Newcomb has left, but—”

  “Pooh! He is not brave enough to linger.”

  “Not deliberately. But suppose there was some delay ? The man is ruthless, Allison. You spoke truly when you said he planned to earn the gallows today. It would be safest for you to remain here, just until I make sure.”

  “If... if you think it best.” The large blue eyes filled with tears, and Allison turned away. The thought of being left in this small room alone did not appeal to her, nor did the thought of Thorne facing those two vicious men. But she did see that her presence could only complicate matters for him. Blinking frantically to suppress her tears, she faced him with a smile.

  “I’ll just wait for you out on the landing, shall I?” At least she could escape the confines of this small room.

  Thorne considered the matter. He was gratified that she was deferring to his judgment, but that made it imperative that his judgment be correct.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Allison did not argue with Thorne about accompanying him, but her eyes spoke her feelings eloquently. He shut his mind to their appeal as he tried to figure out which way she was least likely to come to harm. He didn’t think the steps had been weakened by the fall of that heavy stone, but he couldn't be sure. If so, they might collapse while she waited. On the other hand, was this room hiding any nasty little traps for the intruder? He finally decided the best thing to do was to get her away as soon as possible.

  “It isn’t far to the top. Will you swear to me that you will remain out of sight on the walkway while I reconnoiter the castle?” At her vigorous nod, he held out his hand to her. “Out you go, then. I’ll wait until you have reached the stone steps, just in case the wooden section has been damaged. Wait for me outside the gate.”

  Allison felt as if a ten-stone weight had been taken off her shoulders. She held his hand while she maneuvered out of the opening. He lowered her slowly, instructing her, once she stood on the rock, to sit and slowly slide off onto the landing rather than jumping down. To her immense relief, the wooden structure held firm. When she reached the carved stone steps, she turned around, waving to Thorne. Her heart in her throat, she watched him gingerly climb the stairs.

  When he reached her side, they quietly proceeded to the gateway that had been cut into the battlements along the south wall. They crouched as they slipped through the gate, so that anyone standing in the courtyard could not see them over the top of the balustrade. Thorne motioned her into a sitting position, then carefully raised his head and peeked over—and ducked back down again immediately.

  “Are they there?” Allison whispered. She could scarcely believe it.

  Thorne whispered a colorful oath. “Yes, and Jamie is with them.” He motioned her to be silent and tried to hear what was being said, but they were too
far away. “I’m going to sneak down to the tower and creep closer.” He started moving to the south, but Allison grasped his jacket and tugged hard.

  He sat back on his heels and glared at her.

  “The geese,” she whispered. “Their pen is beneath the shade trees that grow by the south tower. You must go by the west tower.”

  “Thank God you thought of that. Can you imagine the noise those birds would raise?” Thorne hugged her. “Stay out of sight, Allie. Promise me?”

  Allison nodded. “Be careful, Thorne.” As she watched him, bent at the waist, make his way to the tower, she silently prayed for his safety. When he disappeared from sight, she crept to a small gap in the rocks and peered out at the tableau in the courtyard below.

  I can hardly believe this of you, Jamie, she thought as she watched. James was helping Newcomb’s servant reposition a carriage wheel that had almost fallen off, probably a casualty of the weight of the treasure. Paddy strained with all of his considerable might to lift the axle high enough that James could straighten the wheel. Newcomb stood nearby, his back to her. The team of four horses quietly stood in their traces, heads drooping.

  Thorne was right, she thought, studying them. It will be a wonder if those nags are able to pull that coach with such a heavy load of gold and silver.

  She could not see Thorne, but something made Newcomb uneasy, for he suddenly straightened and put his right arm out. A peculiar mingling of relief and terror washed over her when she saw that he had a long, lethal-looking pistol in his hand, pointed directly at James. Jamie hasn’t betrayed us. but now l have two loved ones in danger.

  Paddy suddenly bellowed loud enough for Allison to hear him. He stood, shaking his hand violently. It had obviously been injured in the process of trying to work the wheel onto the axle of the heavy carriage.

  To Allison’s surprise, James launched himself directly at Paddy from a crouched position, butting his head into the man’s vast midriff. They were so badly matched that it seemed almost suicidal in James to attack the burly servant. Paddy fell backward, and they struggled with one another, briefly rolling under the wheels of the coach where Allison could not see them. Almost immediately, James clambered out. His right hand closed over a large rock just as Paddy grabbed his ankle and jerked him onto his back, then dove over him, his huge right fist raised. James brought the rock up hard against the man’s temple. He wilted, collapsing on top of the smaller man. Even unconscious he was a formidable opponent. James struggled without much success to get free of Paddy’s bulky form.