by Nathan Roden
I was also shown the room where Toby was staying. I knew that he was being taken care of—and probably being spoiled rotten, but I still felt bad about being away from him. Spoiled or not, he was in a strange place. I know that he was uncomfortable and probably a little scared.
Toby danced in circles and barked when he saw me. I could hear barking coming from the next room. That had to be Gracie, Skyler’s Westie. Had they spent time together? Did they get along, or fight? I would have to ask.
The guy that was showing me around stood outside the door waiting for me.
“I can find my way back,” I told him. “I want to visit with Toby for a while.”
“Okay,” the guy said. “Good night.”
“Good night,” I said.
I waited a few minutes, and then I sneaked Toby back to my room. I was willing to pay the cleaning charge if there was one. I was doing this as much for me as I was for Toby.
It had been an unbelievable day, and I felt as light as a feather. I was the best kind of exhausted, and I knew that I would be asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow. I fluffed up a pillow beside me for Toby, and we went down for the count.
Thirty-Seven
Holly McFadden
Branson, Missouri
Duncan and Nate walked into the main room of the castle, where the McIntyres were. Nora jumped up and took Duncan’s arm.
“Did you have a nice visit?” she asked.
“Yes,” Duncan said. “Very nice.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Nate,” Dallas said. Elizabeth and Charlotte nodded.
“It was great meeting you all,” Nate said. “I wish you well on your journey. I…I’ll certainly never forget you.”
Nate hugged Duncan. His eyes were moist.
“See ya ‘round, Dunk,” Nate said.
“Yeah,” Duncan said. “See ya, Nate.”
Nate smiled at everyone and waved, and then he turned and left the castle.
“Would you like to be alone for a while, Duncan?” Elizabeth asked.
“No, no. I’m fine,” Duncan said, sniffing. “How about I read a little?”
Charlotte’s eyes lit up. She grabbed the book and opened it. Honey walked into the room and pushed against Charlotte’s shoulder with her nose.
“Go away, you old goat!” Charlotte said with a laugh. She pushed Honey’s head away.
The little horse took a step toward Charlotte and pushed her again. Charlotte toppled over and giggled.
“You know that she’s not going to give up,” Nora said.
“Sorry, Duncan,” Charlotte said. “I’m going to have to take the old Battle-ax for a ride.”
Duncan laughed.
“We’ll be right here when you get back,” Duncan said.
Charlotte led Honey outside and was just about to round a corner of the castle when she heard a noise. Charlotte peeked around the corner and saw Holly sitting on top of a picnic table between the castle and the woods. Holly sat with her back to Charlotte. Charlotte could tell by Holly’s trembling shoulders that she was crying.
Charlotte backed up silently and led Honey away.
“Mother,” Charlotte whispered. “Mother, please come.”
Elizabeth followed Charlotte, and the others followed behind.
Charlotte held a finger to her lips as she neared the back corner of the castle.
Elizabeth put her hand to her mouth. Dallas stopped at Elizabeth’s side and put his hand on her shoulder. Nora looked on. They stood there, still, for a few seconds before they backed away.
“Oh, Dallas,” Elizabeth said. “We can’t. We just can’t.”
Dallas was confused.
“We can’t…what? Lizzie?” he whispered.
“This is all wrong!” Elizabeth said. “It hasn’t felt right from the beginning! She’s all alone now, Dallas. We can’t leave her alone!”
“Oh,” Dallas said.
“You want for us to…to stay, Lizzie?” Dallas asked quietly.
“I cannot leave her this way, Dallas,” Elizabeth said. “She’s like our own daughter.”
“Aye,” Dallas said.
“Aye,” Charlotte said.
“What about Duncan?” Nora said without looking up.
“That will be the young man’s decision,” Dallas said. “What say you, Duncan Westerhouse?”
Duncan gulped.
“Something is telling me that we have more to do here,” Duncan said.
Nora threw her arms around Duncan’s neck.
“Shall we tell Holly?” Dallas asked.
Elizabeth shook her head.
“We cannot interrupt her now,” Elizabeth said. “She may be embarrassed…”
Elizabeth didn’t notice Duncan trying to get her attention.
“…she may feel guilty or responsible for our staying. We need to speak with Mary and Frederick. We’ll tell Holly in the morning.”
“You’ll tell me what in the morning?” Holly asked.
Two hours had passed, and it was late, but Holly McFadden could not sleep. She was happy with the McIntyre’s decision to stay until her parents were found, but she was also troubled by guilt. She did not like feeling that she was preventing her friends from moving on.
Holly rolled out of bed and walked into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator door and stared inside—looking for nothing in particular. She settled for a bottle of water. She opened one of the French doors leading to the outside and stepped out into the cool night. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, catching the scent of a fire from a nearby chimney.
Holly’s breath stopped when a strong hand clamped around her mouth. She automatically repeated the moves that her Uncle Seth had forced her to practice, over and over again. She kicked backward with her left leg, threw her right elbow backward, and bit down on a finger. Her foot and elbow made solid contact and the hand jerked away from her. A man swore in a muted scream.
Holly spun and ran inside. She tried to close the door. One hand and forearm blocked her. Another arm got through. Then a third and a fourth.
Holly pushed against the door with all of her strength while she hooked her foot around a nearby chair. She flipped the door toward her. It toppled onto its side. Holly turned and ran toward the front entrance doors. Twice she screamed, “Help!” at the top of her lungs. She heard a crash and more swearing as two men fell over the chair.
Holly slid to a stop in the entry hall. She hit the “panic” button on the top of the security panel. Nothing happened.
“What the…?”
Holly tried to activate the alarm system, but she could not remember the security code. She hated the security system, and never used it.
Charlotte was the first to hear the commotion. She ran into the main room just as Holly gave up trying to open the massive front doors. The panic button had not sounded an alarm, but it had disabled the opening mechanism for the doors.
Holly yelled for help again. She gave up trying the front doors, turned, and ran for the stairs.
Dallas, Elizabeth, Nora, and Duncan caught up to Charlotte.
Dallas said, “Charlotte, find Bru—!”
“Bruiser!” Charlotte answered. “He’s outside with Arabella. I’m on my way!”
“Bruiser!” Charlotte yelled, interrupting Arabella.
“What is it, child?” Bruiser said.
“It’s Holly!” Charlotte said. “She’s in trouble!”
Bruiser, Arabella, Dougie, and Delbert followed Charlotte through the front doors. Charlotte pointed.
“She went up the stairs!”
A crash came from the next room. Shards of glass from a broken lamp slid across the floor of the main room as Cyrus Findlay and Scottie Rose ran in. Scottie was limping. Cyrus grabbed the handles of the front doors and pulled.
“She didn’t get out of these,” he said. He whipped his head around.
“Up the stairs!” he yelled at Scottie.
Dougie Day hopped up and down nervously. He
bumped into one of the suits of armor, which sent a lance clattering to the floor. Everyone jumped. Cyrus and Scottie halted, halfway up the staircase, before they continued to climb.
“What do we do, Bruiser?” Dougie asked.
Bruiser looked down at the lance; he glared at the suit of armor.
“What do you need to rescue a damsel in distress?” Bruiser said. “A Knight—in shining armor!”
Bruise took two steps and disappeared inside a suit of armor. The suit began to move. One step with the left leg, then one step with the right.
Bruiser’s voice boomed from inside the steel helmet.
“I-I-I-I-I like it! Somebody hand me my pointy-stick!”
“Wait for me!” Dougie Day said. He disappeared inside the other suit. The suit took one step forward. Dougie appeared back outside of it. His shoulders drooped.
“It’s no good,” he said. “I can move the legs, but I’m too little to do anything else.”
Charlotte grabbed Dougie’s arm and pulled.
“Hold onto my feet, Mr. Day!” Charlotte said. “I’ll stand on your shoulders and work the arms!”
Dougie Day grinned and nodded his head before he disappeared inside of the suit.
“Dallas…” Elizabeth said. Dallas stepped toward his daughter.
Bruiser Brady raised the face shield of his helmet.
“It may take all of us, Dallas,” Bruiser said. “Anything or anybody tries to harm a hair on the girl’s head, I’ll tear him limb from limb.”
Dallas nodded. He lifted Charlotte into his arms and tapped the side of her head with a finger.
“Use your head, Commander. Battles are won between the ears,” he said.
“Aye,” Charlotte growled. She leaped from her father’s arms into the suit of armor.
“Giddyup, Dougie!” Charlotte’s muffled voice said through the helmet.
Elizabeth stared at Dallas in disbelief. Dallas shrugged. Bruiser and the team of Dougie and Charlotte lumbered up the stairs. Scottie Rose followed Cyrus. They tore open doors along the second floor. Cyrus saw movement from the corner of his eye. The door to the turret tower swung violently against the wall.
“Come on! Move!” Cyrus hissed at Scottie. They started up the stairs.
Holly was hiding around the corner from the turret tower door. When she heard the two men take the circular stairway upward, she sprinted back the way that she had come. She nearly crashed into Bruiser, veering out of the way of the suit of armor. She crashed into a table along the wall and went down hard to the floor. Charlotte slipped from the other suit of armor.
“Holly!” Charlotte said. “Are you hurt?”
Holly winced and rubbed her ankle.
“No,” she said. “Charlotte? What are you doing here?”
Charlotte pointed to the suits of armor.
“We’re not going to let them get you, that’s what we’re doing!” Charlotte said.
“But—” Holly said. No one waited for her to finish. The two Knights hurried toward the turret stairs.
Cyrus and Scottie reached the top of the tower steps when they heard the crash. They stood and looked at each other for a few seconds before they started back down the stairs.
Cyrus stopped when he heard a noise. Scottie ran into his back. Cyrus panicked when he saw the shining helmet moving up the steps toward him. Cyrus pulled a pistol and emptied the magazine into the head and chest of the suit of armor.
Bruiser Brady unleashed a primal scream and plowed ahead through the barrage of bullets. The bullets ricocheted in every direction. Bruiser was close enough to feel the breath coming off of Cyrus Findlay, and to see the terror in his eyes. Bruiser raised a metal fist into the air. A desperate Cyrus braced his hands against the walls, lifted his feet into the air, and kicked at the suit of armor with every bit of strength that he could muster. Bruiser wobbled. He fell backward into the suit that contained Dougie and Charlotte. The suits tumbled and broke into pieces on their way to the bottom of the stairs. Arms came apart from torsos and boots broke away from the legs. Bruiser, Dougie, and Charlotte watched helplessly, as Cyrus and Scottie kicked aside the armor on their way out of the stairwell.
“No!” Charlotte screamed.
She pulled on one of the lances from underneath the pile of useless rubble. Bruiser and Dougie worked clear the way. Charlotte yanked the lance free. Cyrus and Scottie were on their way to the stairs that led back to the first floor. Charlotte ran, holding the lance at her side.
“Aye!” she growled. She ran around Cyrus to get at Scottie, who was in the lead. Cyrus backed up when he saw the lance float past him.
“Scottie!” Cyrus called out just as Scottie reached the top of the stairs. Scottie turned his head—
Charlotte stopped and grabbed the lance like it was a baseball bat. She swung it with all of her strength at the backs of Scottie’s knees. Scottie tumbled down the stairs. Charlotte dropped the lance. Cyrus ran down the stairs and bent over Scottie.
“Scottie, we have to go,” Cyrus said.
Scottie Rose was in a great deal of pain and on the verge of tears.
“My leg! My leg, Cyrus! It’s broken!”
Cyrus grabbed Scottie by his collar.
“We don’t have time for this,” Cyrus growled. “I’ll get the girl. You get yourself to the car—however you can. I mean it. I don’t care if you have to crawl like a snake. If you’re not there after I nab her, you’ll be rottin’ in a prison with your busted leg.”
“But Cyrus—” Scottie cried.
Cyrus slapped Scottie hard across the face.
“Grow up, Scottie,” Cyrus said. “I’m through carrying you. Be in that car. I mean it.”
“What are we gonna do now, Bruiser?” Dougie Day asked. Charlotte turned and floated away toward the outside wall.
“Where are you goin’, Charlotte?” Bruiser asked.
“I think I heard someone outside,” Charlotte said.
Cyrus ejected the spent magazine from the gun. He reached into his pocket for his spare. His pocket was empty. He tried his other pockets. He looked up the stairs and decided against looking for the missing ammunition. Whatever else was at play in this castle that night, he wanted no more part of.
Cyrus walked back to Holly’s apartment. The chair he and Scottie had fallen over was still wedged beneath the door handles, where he had left it.
She didn’t get out this way. So she’s still inside. There aren’t many places to hide on this floor.
Cyrus crept back to the hallway while he kept an eye on the stairs. Scottie had dragged himself halfway across the floor. Cyrus bent over him.
“You see anything?” Cyrus whispered. Scottie shook his head. He didn’t look up or stop his crawling. Cyrus continued down the hall until he reached the office. He tried the door knob. It was not locked. He slipped inside. He flipped on his flashlight and switched on a desk lamp. He shined the flashlight around the room. The glass-walled room caught his attention. He pushed open the glass door and stepped inside.
How bizarre, he thought. An entire workshop, dedicated to…birdhouses? Who would do such a thing? Crazy Americans…
“This is exactly where I would hide if it was me,” Cyrus said aloud. “Not that it will do you any good—”
Holly burst from inside of a closet and bolted for the door. She was a second too late. Cyrus grabbed her by the wrist. Holly wrenched her arm back and forth and kicked at Cyrus’s shin. He swore but held on. Holly made a fist and pelted the side of his head with her other hand. Cyrus flinched but held tight. Holly pulled on her captive arm with her free one. She fell backward against a worktable. As Cyrus lunged for her, Holly reached for anything on the table she might use for a weapon. Cyrus clamped down on her arm again. Holly raised the hose attachment to Cyrus’s face and pulled the trigger.
Cyrus screamed and stumbled backward in a panic. Two seconds later, he realized that the blast to his face was nothing more than compressed air. He opened his eyes and laughed.
; “You’re not making this any easier on your—”
Cyrus stopped when he felt a tap on his shoulder. From behind. He turned around.
Cyrus screamed as he took the full dose of pepper spray into his eyes at point-blank range—from the hand of Aimee “Tooie” Reznik.
Cyrus screamed for several seconds and then began to whimper and moan. Minutes later, two hands grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet. Cyrus screamed again; in fear.
“Shut up, you idiot. It’s me,” the invisible voice said. “We have to get out of here, now!”
Cyrus stumbled along behind the man who pulled him. Cyrus winced when a biting wind blew across his tear-streamed face. He tried to stand on his own, even though he was blinded. He pushed away at the body that held onto him. Cyrus took a hard slap to his face and fell to the ground. Strong hands grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled him across the hard ground.
Cyrus heard a car door open. He was thrown into the back seat of a car. He landed on Scottie Rose’s broken leg. Scottie screamed until he felt the barrel of a gun against his forehead.
“The next one to make a bloody sound loses his head!” Sebastian Wellmore seethed. “Get your heads down. Now.”
Cyrus and Scottie did the best they could. They moved to either side of the back seat of the car. Their heads rested against each other while they whimpered in agony.
They drove for miles. Cyrus and Scottie grew numb from their injuries. Scottie felt a dull ache from his ruined leg as the white-hot and searing pain subsided. Cyrus had shed enough tears to dull the pain from the pepper spray though he could still not see. Paralyzed with fear, both men were relieved that Sebastian Wellmore had saved them from a long life behind bars.