by Hall, Thomas
I nod.
“Well get on with it. I’ve got other things to do.” It is the first time I’ve seen anything approaching anger in him and it scares me. He is wielding it like a weapon.
“I’m looking for my daughter.”
He frowns.
“Her name’s Harriet. I think she’s here.”
If he recognises the name then he doesn’t show it. His expression is completely unreadable.
“Is she here?” I say.
“This is unfortunate,” Cortez says. I am not sure what he means, exactly, but I agree with him. “You know, I thought I recognised you.”
“So she is here?” I say.
That flash of anger again, his eyes seen to change and his mouth stiffens. I want to take a step back but my legs have locked in place.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” he says.
“Excuse me?”
He doesn’t reply to me. Instead he turns to the guard on his left. “Take them out and make sure they don’t come back in.”
Is he telling the guard to execute us?
Cortez keeps turning until he is facing the door. As if Chris has been standing outside listening, the door opens and Cortez leaves.
“Is she here?” I call after him. “She is here, isn’t she?”
He doesn’t turn back and he doesn’t reply. As far as I can see he doesn’t even hear me. I take a step to go after him, but the guards come together, blocking my way.
I turn to Douglas for support, but he is standing there, not saying or doing anything. I feel hopeless, lost, but I have my answer: Harriet is here in the castle and she is alive.
CHAPTER 21
IT IS COLD AND A FREEZING DRIZZLE FILLS the air, not so much falling as floating around us. I am wearing every item of clothing that I have with me, but I still feel the chill in my bones.
“We need to find shelter,” Douglas says.
I don’t want to look at him. Since the guards left us here I’ve avoided it for fear that I will see relief in his expression. It would be understandable, but not helpful.
“There’s a block of flats we could get into.”
“You go,” I say.
“You can’t stay out here,” he says. “You’ll freeze.”
“Then I’ll freeze.”
“And what good is that going to do her?”
He’s right, but I can’t bring myself to move. I’ve already frozen and this is where I will stay.
“Come on,” he says, taking my shoulder and turning me. “We’ll get the kettle on and talk about it. There’s bound to be something we can do.”
I doubt it.
She’s in there and I’m out here and, much as I hate to admit it, that seems to be exactly how it will stay.
Eventually he manages to move me. We find a abandoned building nearby and break in.
The tea does nothing to warm me. I sit on an overstuffed sofa wrapped in blankets with my hood up, shivering. Douglas is in the kitchen, I can’t see him but his shadow dances up and down the wall as he cooks.
The flat has two bedrooms and a view of the castle when it’s light enough to see out. It is decorated with rich paintings which seem out of place in the small rooms. There are only two pictures of the original owners. An old couple with their arms around each other and the Eiffel Tower behind them.
Harriet is less than a mile away, but she might as well be on the other side of the planet. If she shouted I might be able to hear her, but I can’t see her and I can’t get to her.
“It’s not much,” Douglas says.
I look up as he walks into the room with two plates full of pasta and sauce.
“It’s all they had in the cupboards.”
The smell makes me feel like vomiting. If I had told him this was Harriet’s favourite meal then I would think he was making it to spite me. But there is no way he could have known. I force a smile and take the plate.
“We need to figure out a way to get inside again,” he says.
I nod, scratching a path through the pasta with my fork and wondering whether I can bring myself to put any in my mouth. I don't hear what he’s saying.
“If we’d known Cortez would throw us out we could have kept quiet and stayed inside. It’s going to be more difficult now, he’ll be expecting us.” He scoops a large fork full of pasta into his mouth, and doesn’t stop talking while he eats it. “We’ll have to be careful, but he can’t have every entrance guarded. Then we have to find out where he’s holding her.”
I want him to stop talking about it, but I keep quiet. Doesn’t he realise that I’ve thought about all this? I’ve already considered every option and know that there’s no point. We can’t get in, and even if we could, the castle is huge and she could be anywhere. The chances of finding her are tiny.
“We’ll deal with that problem when we come to it though, first thing is getting inside, right?”
I look at him but don’t say anything.
“What’s wrong?” he says, as if he doesn’t already know.
I turn away and put my bowl on the floor. “I’m going to get some rest.” I stand up.
“Evan?”
I look at him.
“We’re going to get her back,” he says.
I know that he’s trying to be a friend, that he’s trying to lift my spirits, but it isn’t working. I want to shout at him. I want to accuse him of being happy with the situation. I want to hurt him. But I don’t have the strength. Instead I nod, turn away and go into one of the bedrooms.
When I hear knocking on the door I assume it is Douglas and turn away. It is the middle of the night and he has woken me, but I don’t feel angry. I don’t feel much except a desire to return to the empty oblivion of sleep.
The knocking continues. I mumble for him to “go away” but not loudly enough to do any good. Then I hear footsteps and the door to the room opens.
“Evan?” he says.
“What?”
“There’s someone at the door.”
“I… what?”
I sit up and the covers fall away from me. The cold is so intense that it takes a moment for me to feel it. My skin is on fire.
“What should I do?” he says.
I get dressed as quickly as I can. “Who is it?” I say.
He shakes his head.
I look through the peephole but I can’t see anyone in the hall outside.
“Who’s there?” I say, whispering out of instinct. I am sure that Douglas, myself and whoever is knocking on the door, are the only one’s in the whole building.
“Open up.”
The voice belongs to an unfamiliar woman. I am relieved, but despite that I find my hand falling to the knife at my side. I don’t take it out, but I am glad that I have it with me.
“What do you want?” I say.
“It’s about Harriet,” she says.
My heart jumps. I turn to look at Douglas and find I can see him a little better now that my eyes have adjusted to the darkness. He looks worried, but he doesn’t tell me not to open the door.
“You got the note?” she says.
I open the door.
Her name is Michelle. She is in her late thirties. She has long dark hair streaked with grey and pulled back in a loose ponytail. She is sits on the sofa in the living room and Douglas brings her tea.
“You got the note?” Michelle says.
I nod.
“Did you write it?” Douglas says. He hands me a cup of tea and I hold it close to warm myself up. He sits down next to me and we both stare at Michelle.
She nods.
“Is it true?” I say. “Is Harriet there?”
She nods again.
“How did you get out?” Douglas says. “Is there a way to get back in?”
“There are a lot of hidden entrances,” she says. “Cortez doesn’t know them all.”
“So you can get us in?” I say.
“If you take me with you,” she says.
I’m not su
re what to say. Of course she must have had a reason to send me the note. I am not so foolish to believe that she did it out of the kindness of her heart, but I am reluctant to agree to help her.
“I should have been evacuated,” she says.
“What happened?” I say.
She shakes her head and looks down into her cup. There is no milk, so all the tea we drink now is bitter and black, she takes a sip and I see her wince. I have begun to wonder whether I will ever get used to the taste.
“We stayed behind to make sure everything was locked up. The helicopter was supposed to come back for us.”
It dawns on me what she means. “You worked at the castle?”
She nods but doesn’t elaborate.
“What happened?”
Michelle shrugs. “The helicopter didn’t come, but Cortez and his men did. They locked us up. Killed anyone who refused to work with him.”
She looks as if she is going to cry, but when she looks up again her eyes are dry. I suspect that she has cried herself out a long time ago.
“Is Harriet okay?” I say. “He hasn’t hurt her?”
She shakes her head and I am not sure which question she is answering. “There’s a playroom. He keeps her there.”
“Why?” I say.
“His wife,” Michelle says. “She wanted children.” Then bitterly she adds: “Not that she wanted to do any of the work.”
We drink our tea. I collect the cups and carry them out to the kitchen. I can hear Douglas and Michelle talking, but I don’t go straight back.
If Michelle can help then I have to try, regardless of what she’s asking for in return. But is her price that high anyway? She should have been evacuated in the beginning, the fact that she is still here doesn’t change that.
When I return to the living room I am ready to agree to her proposal.
CHAPTER 22
A THIN LAYER OF SLIPPERY ICE COVERS THE ground in places that are difficult to spot. It is early evening and the sun has set. The sky is a deep inky black and everywhere is silent. The only light comes from the moon and the few windows in the castle that have power behind them.
We are early but I already feel myself worrying that she isn’t going to come. That something would have happened to her after she left us last night. That somehow Cortez would know.
“She’ll be here,” Douglas whispers, as if he can sense my anxiety, or as if he’s feeling it as well. “She said she’d be here and she will.”
I try not to pace because the last thing I need to do now is slip on the ice and hurt myself. Instead I bounce up and down on my toes and try to keep the blood flowing through my legs. We should have waited inside for longer, but my impatience got the better of me.
“Can you see anything?” I say. We have to speak in a whisper because there are guards everywhere. Carrie told us that some of them walk the streets, especially now that it is the only way to keep warm. There could be one of Cortez’s men close by and we wouldn’t know it.
“Nothing,” he says.
We continue to wait.
I am beginning to give up hope when I sense movement. I turn but I don’t see anything there. I peer into the darkness, willing my senses to improve, but nothing happens.
“We have to hurry,” she says. Her voice comes from behind me and I jump a little, startled, but manage not to cry out. “It’s this way.”
Douglas and I follow Michelle. She moves as if she is skating over the ice. I try to copy her but I am old and clumsy.
We walk until we reach a building with little remarkable about it. It is too dark for me to make out any of the details.
“This isn’t the castle,” I say.
“It’s a secret entrance,” Michelle says. “We can get in through here.”
A gust of wind blows along the street and I don’t even shiver. I want to believe her.
“It belonged to a servant,” she says.
“A servant?” I say. It is difficult to make my mouth move, I know that I am gurning but I can’t do anything to stop it.
She nods.
“We need to get inside,” Douglas says. “It’s freezing out here.”
She nods again. I am no longer capable of moving my head. She turns to me. “Can I?”
“Okay,” I say, but even to my ear the sound comes out half intelligible.
She unlocks the door and we follow her inside.
The house is cold but, without the bitter wind, it is a relief.
I can hear them talking.
We are all in the same room but it seems to come from miles away, caught on the wind and half disturbed. Are they are talking about me?
Words like ‘injuries’ and ‘exhaustion’ reach me, but they have no meaning.
“Evan?” Michelle says.
Somehow she is standing beside me. I am on the floor and she is crouching down, bent at the waist. I turn to look at her.
“How are you feeling?” she says.
“I’m fine,” I say. It is a lie.
She hmmms, to herself but doesn’t go away. “If we’re going tonight then we need to go soon. Do you think you’re up to it? We could wait until tomorrow.”
I shake my head, for a moment I’m not sure which part of her sentence I’m responding to. “No, let’s go now.”
“Are you sure?”
If there is a chance, if there is any chance that I can reach her tonight, then I have to take it. I don’t know what Cortez has been doing to her, and I don’t want to know, but I am her father and she needs to be with me. “I’m sure,” I say.
“Okay,” she says.
She helps me stand. I am little shaky at first, but after walking for a few minutes the blood starts to flow again.
Douglas is waiting for us in the kitchen. There is a door which looks like all the rest, but when he opens it, I see that there is a shallow staircase behind it. The steps disappear into the distance, into what I assume is the castle.
“Okay?” Douglas says.
“Let’s go and get her,” I say.
I follow Michelle into the passageway. Douglas closes the door behind us, I don’t even know if I will be able to make it to the top of the stairs.
It takes us more than fifteen minutes to walk to the end of the passageway. This is a private entrance to the castle. Whoever lived here before must have been someone of importance. One house, one entrance. If the information about its existence fell into the wrong hands…
I realise that, from Cortez’s perspective, we are the wrong hands.
Michelle opens the door at the end of the passage and I find myself in the castle kitchen. We are quiet and there is no one around. The lights are off and everything is still, even so, I am certain that we are being watched.
Douglas closes the door and I wince at the sound it makes. I want to tell him to keep the noise down, but doing so would only add to the din that we are creating.
“This way,” Michelle says, her voice so quiet that I can hardly hear it.
I nod, unsure whether she can see me in the darkness, and then follow her through the kitchen.
Cortez has guards outside of the castle, so it seems reasonable to assume that he will have them inside as well. I imagine them patrolling the corridors.
We step out into the corridor and there is no one there. The lights are off and there are no windows. We are still underground.
“This way,” Michelle says.
She moves quickly and I struggle to keep up with her. My legs and arms feel as if they are lead weights. Douglas is huffing and puffing beside me. We keep going until we reach the stairs.
Michelle leads the way.
We are completely exposed from above as well as below and there is nowhere to hide if anyone comes this way. I don’t know what we will do if that happens, all I can do is hope that is doesn’t.
It is a nerve wracking few minutes.
I keep stopping to listen and make sure no one is around, but even as I do so I realise that it is a false economy. I
f anyone does come, then stopping won’t help. The correct course of action is to keep going.
We reach the top of the stairs without incident and I find myself recognising the place. I try to remember whether I came this way with Chris, but I don’t think so. It feels like an old memory.
Our footsteps make too much noise as we walk across the marble floor. I am certain that everyone in the castle must be able to hear us. I look around for a place I will be able to hide when they come out.
No one comes.
We reach the stairs and follow Michelle up.
There are a thousand things that I would like to ask her, but now is not the time. I should have asked these things earlier, when we had the chance to talk, but now it is too late. If we become separated then I won’t know where to find Harriet. So the most important thing to do now, is make sure that doesn't happen.
I check behind me and Douglas is still there.
The castle is bigger than it seems.
When we were here with Cortez’s permission we only saw a few of the rooms. When I was here with school, I only saw a few of the rooms. But the castle is bigger than the two visits combined. It reminds me of an office block, everything is out of proportion with reality. The ceilings are so high that you could fly a kite in here.
The further we go, the warmer it gets. At first it makes me more aware of how cold I am, but I soon begin to thaw. There is a chance that I will actually be warm by the time we find Harriet.
At the end of a long corridor Michelle stops.
She turns back to look at us and puts a finger to her lips. We both nod that we understand what she means. Then she turns back to the door and opens it.
I can’t see what is on the other side, but we don’t go through immediately. I watch Michelle as she watches whatever is there.
When she steps back to look at us she repeats the finger on lips gesture and we repeat our acknowledgements.
She turns away from us, steps through the door and we follow. Beyond the corridor we find ourselves in the heart of the castle.
This is a part of the castle the public never sees. It must be where the Royal Family spent most of their time when they lived here. I am shocked by how ordinary it seems.
Don’t get me wrong, it is still a grand place. The ceilings are still twice the height of those in a normal house. The walls are still bedecked in huge paintings in large ornate frames. The furniture is still ancient and elaborate. But there are things which lend it an air of familiarity; a large television, children’s toys, greetings cards and books. It looks like somewhere modern day people might actually live.