Marysvale (46 page)

I could hear Jane ask, “Aren’t you
going to share that with me?”

He handed her the bottle, as they
slipped into a room and closed the door.

I sprinted down to the door and flung
it open. The man was sprawled on the floor in a small puddle of
liquor and bits of shattered glass.

Jane stood over him, still holding the
broken end of the bottle.

I relieved him of his pistol and
stuffed it into my own belt.

Jane brushed the glass off him and
placed the end of the broken bottle near his hand, in an effort to
make it look like he had simply passed out.

With a smile, she looked at me and
asked, “What would you do without me?”

Before realizing what I was doing, I
threw my arms around her. It startled her—and me, for that matter.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, releasing her.

“
Don’t be,” she said,
drawing in so closely that we were only inches apart. “I have that
effect on men, you know.”

“
Goodness,” said Hannah from
the doorway. “I can’t ever leave you two alone, can I?”

Sarah stood by, wearing a
smile.

I stepped back and muttered, “We’d
better be on our way.”

“
Yes, we’d better,” replied
Hannah distrustfully.

Back in the hall, light spilled out of
an open room farther down; it was also the source of the laughter.
Far behind us came the sound of more laughter. Men were coming down
the long corridor behind us.

There was no choice; we had to go
forward. I scooped up Hannah, while Jane resumed her position by
Sarah’s side.

We passed by the open room. A dozen men
sat around wooden tables, located in front of a fireplace. The fire
burned low. They were drinking, laughing, and swapping tales. Some
had passed out on the floor. One noticed us and suddenly
straightened up.
Here it comes,
I thought and waited for
the alarm to rise. Instead, he raised his cup in a drunken salute,
then promptly fell over backward and lay unconscious on the
floor.

Safely past the commotion, we arrived
at the door. Sarah slipped the key in the lock and opened
it.

The night air felt cold and damp; the
storm had moved on and was now raging off in the distance. Outside,
the grounds were quiet, all the activity of the day long over. The
only movement my sight revealed was of the sentries manning the
wall, much fewer in number than the previous night, but still
alert. There were two guards posted at the main entrance to each
castle, and I assumed our castle had the same contingent. Four pair
of soldiers patrolled the grounds in a circular pattern, though
they appeared to be going more through the motions than actively
surveying. Crossing to the stables didn’t appear to present any
great challenge, more a matter of timing than anything.

When the nearest pair of soldiers
passed, we made our move. When the next pair neared, we hid behind
trees. And so we weaved our way to the stables. It was much slower
than I’d hoped, but still uneventful.

At the stables, I placed Hannah on her
feet while I unlatched and slowly pushed the large door open a
crack. Peering inside, nothing seemed out of place, except for the
sound of heavy sleeping. I motioned for the women to come. They
quickly slipped in and closed the door behind them.

After a moment of searching, I found
the source of the snoring. Within the stables were two small rooms.
In one laid my crossbow, absent of all but five arrows. I snatched
them up and silently strung it. The other room held a grimy bed on
which a smelly, muscular man slept. The butt of a pistol protruded
from beneath his pillow. I quietly added it to the other one
already in my belt. After locating some rope, the man finally woke
to me binding his wrists, while Jane gagged him. He struggled, but
with our task nearly completed, all he could do was glare at
us.

I tied his feet together, and then
secured him to the bed, patted his cheek, and muttered, “Sleep
tight.”

After grabbing all the ammunition I
could find, we returned to the others.

“
I don’t believe your farm
is safe anymore,” I said to Sarah.

“
No,” she
replied.

“
How far away is the nearest
settlement?”

“
There is only one
settlement close by. It’s just shy of a day and a half
ride.”

“
Then we’ll make that our
destination?” I suggested.

They agreed.

With that determined, I said, “Wait
here. I’ll be right back.”

Sarah and Hannah stayed put; Jane
didn’t. She followed me down the rows of stables.

In no time, I had found what I was
looking for. Smoke whinnied and draped his head over my shoulder in
a horse-type hug.

I patted him affectionately in
response.

The stall next to his contained Sarah’s
brown mare.

Jane took the task of saddling them
while I picked out another two of the fastest horses I could find,
or at least what I guessed were the best. Even more importantly, I
hoped they had stamina.

We saddled and led them back to Sarah
and Hannah.

“
We’ll have to go through
the main doors of the castle,” I said. “They are the only ones big
and wide enough to ride through.

“
We’re going to ride through
the castle?” asked Hannah somewhat dubiously.

“
Why not?” I asked. “Much
quicker than walking; and there’s no question the main hallways and
doors are large enough—they were built for the Brean. Do you think
you can manage?”

She nodded resolutely. “Just don’t put
me on Smoke.”

“
No,” I replied. “I think
I’ll ride him myself this time.”

I carefully lifted Hannah up into a
saddle. She winced in pain, but gave no complaint. I then helped
Sarah onto her horse, while Jane mounted another.

“
We’ll have to deal with the
guards at the doors,” I said to Jane.

She patted her musket, “I’m
ready.”

“
Is everyone else ready?” I
asked.

They nodded and gripped their
reins.

Going over to the stable door, I peeked
out and watched until the patrolling soldiers passed, waiting for
the largest gap possible. Then, swinging the door wide open, I
leapt on Smoke and led the charge, out onto the wet
grounds.

We were halfway back to the castle when
someone raised the alarm.

“
Halt,” yelled one of the
patrolling soldiers. His partner turned to see what the commotion
was about.

“
Halt,” he yelled again at
the top of his voice. Now we had the attention of all the soldiers,
including those manning the walls and guarding the
doors.

We made no attempt to stop.

He fired a warning shot.

We ignored it and charged on toward the
castle. As we drew near, the guards at the door looked
uneasy.

One yelled, “Halt.”

When we didn’t, they raised their
muskets and aimed threateningly.

Jane pulled up next to me and drew her
musket. I did the same.

Both sides waited tensely for the
distance to close—the closer we were, the better the shot.
Unfortunately, they had the advantage, as it was much more
difficult to shoot accurately from a moving horse.

A few scattered pot shots rang out from
the patrolling soldiers, but they were too far away to be a
concern.

We drew within effective weapons range.
Securing our reins, we both stood up in our stirrups, while using
our legs to hang on and absorb the up and down motion from our
mounts.

Jane fired first. The musket erupted,
with billowing smoke shooting out the end. The white plume was
angrily disrupted and scattered, as she continued her charge
through its midst.

Her shot was true—a guard violently
jerked and toppled over.

Following her lead, I fired. My weapon
mimicked hers, the cloud of smoke obscuring my vision. Charging
through the sulfurous smell of the smoke revealed that my target
still stood, calmly, in fact.

He took his time and, deciding to take
revenge on Jane, changed his aim from me to her.

I couldn’t bear the thought of
something happening to her. I kicked Smoke and he surged ahead. It
wasn’t much, but it was enough to cut in front of Jane, causing her
to alter course slightly and thereby putting me in the sights of
the soldier.

He fired.

For a brief moment, I thought he had
missed; but then a searing pain roared across my side, just above
my belt. The force from the little ball felt like I’d been hit with
a large, heavy hammer, swung by a strong blacksmith.

Using every ounce of effort, I kept
myself from flying out of the saddle. Warm blood ran down my
side.

The guard dove for his fallen comrade’s
unspent musket. At the same time, the doors flung open, hitting him
in mid stride and sending him sprawling onto the ground.

Armed soldiers filled the
doorway.

Smoke leapt up the steps and plowed
into the unprepared men. Bodies scattered this way and that, as
those lucky enough to avoid Smoke now had to scramble away from
Jane, Hannah, and Sarah’s mounts.

Hooves clattered and echoed through the
stone castle as we continued our charge.

Officers screamed orders at the fallen
men, trying to get them to their feet and in pursuit.

Torches and lamps whizzed by, like
angry fireflies.

Occasionally, we slowed to make a
turn.

A few curious onlookers dared to enter
the passageway, only to leap back in an effort to avoid the
gigantic dark gray horse.

I passed a turn.

“
No, it’s this way,” shouted
Jane, who then took up the lead.

Hannah and Sarah followed
her.

Smoke slid to a stop on the smooth
stone.

The shouts of soldiers rang through the
castle, accompanied by the sound of boots pounding the stone. It
seemed like they came from everywhere.

Awkwardly, I turned Smoke around, and
we quickly caught up to the others.

Through one last, recognizable
corridor, we emerged into the cavern. Before us, the torch-lit
staircase descended like a coiled serpent, wrapping its way around
the black shaft of darkness.

Jane hopped off her horse and started
to lead it down the steps.

“
Wait,” I called.

She stopped.

Addressing Sarah, I asked, “Do you
think you can ride down the stairs?”

“
Yes,” she
replied.

“
Good.”

I dismounted Smoke and, with a bit of
maneuvering, we positioned Sarah in the front. She led Jane’s mare,
followed by Smoke, who had no need of being led, with Hannah taking
up the rear.

“
Is this necessary? Can’t we
walk?” asked Hannah more than a little worried.

“
It is necessary,” I
replied. “You can barely walk and, at any moment, soldiers are
going to pour onto the stairs where we will be easy targets. Your
part is simple; your horse should follow the others without a
problem.”

“
Should?” she asked
anxiously.

“
You can ride Smoke if you
prefer.”

Suddenly, she seemed fine with her
horse.

Grabbing my crossbow and ammunition, I
signaled for Sarah to start going. “Wait for us at the bottom,” I
instructed.

She nodded, turned forward, and nudged
her mount forward. The line of animals slowly descended the
stairs.

I gave Jane my musket. “Load it for
me?”

She took it. “What are you going to
do?”

The shouts of soldiers drew
closer.

“
You’ll see. Follow
me.”

I ran down the staircase and, grabbing
torch after torch, flung them over the edge.

They fell, flickering and fluttering in
their downward rush to meet the bottom. Hitting the rock, they
spewed burning embers everywhere.

Not quite halfway down, I caught up
with the horse caravan. Taking one last torch, I tossed it over the
edge, and then ran back up to meet Jane, who had only made it about
a quarter of the way.

I stopped her. “This is a good
position. We’ll cover them until they get to the
bottom.”

She handed me a musket. “A good
position? I don’t see how… Oh,” she said, looking around and seeing
what I had done. The top half of the cave, where we were hiding,
was now enshrouded in darkness. The bottom half remained lit for
horse and rider to see.

“
Here they come,” I
warned.

The first soldier, an officer, burst
out of the corridor and onto the stairs.

Waving his sword at the horses, he
yelled excitedly, “There they are. Shoot them!”

Apparently, in his exuberance, he
failed to notice that two of the horses were missing
riders.