McCann's Manor (56 page)

"
I am
,” Benjamin replied. “I suspect they have both been using the portal for some time, though I fought the idea before."

Tarrh brought his fist crashing down on the table, overturned half a dozen ampules on its surface. “I had no idea! If they can control the portal, they have an advantage over us,” he said. “We could spend an eternity jumping back and forth through time and space trying to find them."

"Aye,” Benjamin agreed, “we
could
, but I doubt very seriously they have fled to another time or place using the portal. They mean to
confront
us, not to escape from us,” Benjamin asserted. “Had they meant to go away through the portal, they would have done it long ago. Besides, they are not the only ones who can control the door into time."

"Then
where are they
?” Tarrh asked through clenched teeth, Benjamin's final remark seeming to go right past him.

"I have no idea where they are,” Benjamin confessed, “but I am fairly sure they are still here in this house, or at least on the grounds."

"Now what?” Melody asked.

Tarrh shook his head. “My only plan was based on catching them here before they were finished with their plans and confronting them,” he confessed.

"May I make a suggestion?” Benjamin asked.

"Aye,
suggest
,” Tarrh said.

"They do seem to have gotten the jump on us, although I am not truly certain they have finished with their spells,” he began. “The best thing we can do now is to proceed in a way they will not expect. We cannot go back to your chambers or your workroom. They will be expecting us to do just that."

"Then where
do
you propose we go?” Tarrh asked.

"To the pit,” Benjamin said simply.

"The pit?” Kim parroted. “You mean
the
pit?"

"Aye, lass,” Benjamin said, “that is precisely what I mean."

"But
why
?” Liz asked.

Tarrh smiled at the wisdom of his heir, spoke up, “The pit is the last place they will expect us to go, for they have no idea of its significance. They will have to come to us there, which will give us the time we need to prepare an adequate counter spell. They are seeking to control the two of you, which is why they stole your hair. Divide the five of us and they have a better chance,” he explained.

"I would
never
let them control me!” Liz said.

"Aye, lass, ‘tis easy enough to say,” Tarrh said, “but you have no idea how
effective
a spell or two can be, or what they can make you believe if it suits their purpose. Look what they did to me all this time."

"Tarrh is right, dear,” Melody agreed. “They can make ye do things ye thought ye would never do."

"In the dream I had, Sean said he had thrown people into the pit before. Is that true?” Kim asked.

"Oh, ‘tis quite likely,” Tarrh said, in a nonchalant tone. “To be honest, I have tossed enemies of mine in there when the situation called for it."

Kim and Liz shot each other a grimaced glance. “How
nice
,” Kim said.

"Come, lass,” Tarrh coaxed, “'tis no time to be faint hearted. Being in the pit will give us several advantages, most of which even Moira and Sean do not know about. Come, we had best be on our way."

Melody tossed her handful of sleeping potion into the fire, took her dress and petticoat off, threw them into the fire as well, proceeded with only her under garments toward the secret panel. Tarrh gave her form an appreciative once-over, smiled. “You two next,” he said.

Liz headed toward the panel, but Tarrh put his hand out, stopped her in her tracks. “What?” she asked.

"Alas,” he said, “those pretty full skirts and petticoats will do you more damage than good on your way into the pit. You will have to take them off so you will not trip on your skirts or get them caught on the rocks on the way down."

Liz frowned. “You want us to take our clothes off?"

"Not all of them, lass.” Benjamin said, “but Tarrh is right; those long, full skirts can only endanger you and slow your progress. The way is slow and perilous without the skirts getting in the way. Take them off and discard them into the fire."

Liz sighed heavily, cast her sleeping potion into the fire as she had watched Melody do, untied the bonds that held her skirt and petticoat in place, let them slide to the floor. She could understand taking the clothes off, but why burn them? Kim followed suit with the sleeping potion she held and with her skirts; they threw the clothes into the fire after taking the crystals they had with them out of the pockets

"You will have to stuff those into your bosom or something,” Benjamin suggested. “You will both need your hands for the journey down."

Kim and Liz did as they were told, if a bit reluctantly, moved through the panel Melody had opened and followed Tarrh and Melody out of the passages and down the stairs toward the first floor of the house. Once on the bottom floor, Tarrh opened another hidden passage, ushered the group into its safety before closing the panel and lowering the platform on which they were standing maybe twenty feet with a sturdy rope. “All right; we have to continue from here without benefit of the lift,” he said as he secured the rope and opened yet another panel that led into a dark, dank cavernous opening.

Liz tried in vain to catch sight of the bottom of the pit or the opposite wall as she allowed herself to be led off the platform and onto a narrow rock ledge. “I can't do this!” she shouted. “I can't see where I'm going."

"Aye, ‘tis a bit spooky at first,” she heard Tarrh say. “This ledge is wide enough to stand on, but you will have to stay to the wall and move slowly. It spirals downward and we will have to move as fast as we can. I want us to be at the bottom before they know where we are off to. Here, take my hand and let me show you. Aye, you feel that? ‘Tis a hand hold and here is the next. They continue just that far apart all the way to the bottom. Melody, my love, show the others, will you?"

"Aye,” Melody replied. “Come, Kim, you feel it?"

"Yes, I feel it. Wish I could
see
it!” Kim said as she moved off the platform and onto the sheer rock wall of the pit. “Just how far
is it
to the bottom, anyway?"

"'
Tis
a bit of a drop,” Tarrh said, “so if you are thinking of letting go and jumping to save time,
think again
! Come, we must move faster than this. You should be getting the feel of it by now. Do take care, but move along as fast as you can."

Liz tried to stay as close to Tarrh as possible, but she could hear him proceeding on farther and farther ahead of her as she felt her way along the cold wall of the pit. The rock wall was fairly smooth, but cold and damp. It wasn't long before her hands grew so cold she could barely feel anything with them. She could hear the others moving along behind her, but she soon lost the sound of Tarrh's drive ahead of her and knew he had made much more progress than the rest of them had. She was close to hyperventilating as she tried to force her hands and feet to move faster, but her hands were too cold and she was having more and more trouble closing her fingers around the hand holds tightly enough to feel secure.

Twice her hands slipped and she nearly lost her grip of the wall and once she almost stepped right off the ledge. She let out a stifled scream, pulled her trembling form hard enough against the wall that she whacked her head with a loud smack. “Ow!” she cried. She clung tightly to the wall now, fearing to move lest she fall, afraid the magnitude of her quaking would cause her to topple into the pit.

Kim was close behind her, reached out a hand to touch her on her shoulder. “Liz, are you all right?"

"No,” she sobbed, “are you?"

"You
can
do this, sweetie. Don't worry about trying to go so fast if it makes you nervous. Just take your time,” she soothed.

"Tarrh said we need to hurry,” Liz sobbed softly.

"I know, but sometimes one can move faster when one
doesn't try
so hard,” Kim said.

"I just wish I could see where I was going,” Liz complained.

"You know, it is probably better we
can't
see how far we still have to go,” Benjamin said. “If you really knew how deep this pit is, you might have an even harder time with it."

"Thanks,” Liz said coolly. “That really helps a lot. My fingers are so cold they're numb."

"Mine, too,” Kim agreed, “but we will be all right. Just take one step at a time and if your fingers get too numb, don't use your hand holds for a few steps."

"Right,” Liz said. “I know
that
will help!"

"No, it
does
; really,” Kim encouraged. “That's what I have been doing and it helps a lot. This ledge seems to be getting wider or I may be getting used to it. If you just lean against the wall, you can continue to move and let your hands rest a few minutes."

"Lass, Kimberly is right. You
can
do this. And if you feel yourself falling, remember you can stop trying to remain here and simply go home,” Benjamin reassured her.

"Would that
work
?” Kim asked.

"Aye, lass. If it gets too dangerous here and either of you think you might perish in this or any other attempt, let yourselves be taken home. The portal will carry you home to safety,” he said.

"Maybe so, but then we won't accomplish what we've come here to do, will we?” Liz asked.

"Nay, but at least you will not die in the attempt and to me
that
is equally important,” he said. “Just a little something for you to remember that might help you feel more secure."

"All right,” Liz said. “That does help a little, I
guess
. Thanks."

"You are welcome,” Benjamin said.

"Thanks,” Kim whispered to Benjamin. “Even if it
was
all bullshit, maybe it will help
her
."

Benjamin smiled to himself, continued his way along the wall. “It was not really all that much
bullshit
, as you put it. If she falls, I
will make sure
she gets home safely,” he whispered, “you can depend on that. In any event, I shan't let either of you hit bottom."

Tarrh reached the bottom of the pit long before the others, began the ritual that would bring his magical beast again to life in this realm and ignite the low luminescent glow in the center of the floor to light their way. It had been a very long time since he had summoned the creature he had first called forth as a youth, longer still since he had called on the huge crystal in the center of the floor of this pit to show forth its brilliance.

This was the pit of magic his ancestors had created centuries before; here, a wizard such as he was all but invincible,
if
, as Elizabeth had said during his healing, his old magical friends would still serve him. He had little cause to doubt her word or that of his grandfather and he could feel the powers of the earth and the spirits to which he called beginning to respond to him, even now. He stood in the middle of the chamber, his hands on each side of the giant earth keeper crystal, closed his eyes, began the ancient chant his grandfather had taught him when he was a mere child.

"
Om-na'-kai-nashantra
,” he intoned softly, as though to himself. He felt the instant accompanying insurgence of warmth coursing through his body, felt himself become one with the crystal and with the pit, one with the creature he now called once more to himself. “
Om-na'-kai-nashantra
,” he repeated, each time with a louder voice as he watched the subtle light from within the depth of the crystal come forth, growing in strength and brilliance as he continued his chant.

The others were nearing the end of their long journey downward now and the light would help them finish the descent, which became steadily sharper as it approached the bottom of the chamber. He drew his hands wide apart over the crystal and with his gesture, the light increased a thousandfold, illuminated the vast chamber before them completely.

"Ah,” Melody said, “now we can speed things up a bit. Tarrh has wakened the crystal. Mind your step now, lasses; the going gets harder from here. At least now ye can see what ye are up against."

Liz blinked at the sudden light, took a moment to scan her surroundings. She could scarcely believe her eyes as she peered upward at the rock walls she had been descending. She looked downward, then, found she was probably about fifty feet from the floor of the chamber. This pit must be at least two hundred feet deep. How long they had been coming down, she could only guess. The distance they had covered was staggering; no wonder she felt tired. And was it her imagination, or had the light actually warmed the walls? A comforting thought entered her mind then, namely that if Sean and Moira had to climb down into the bowels of the earth as they had just done, there would be no dogs with them. How could the dogs come down this narrow ledge? No sooner had that thought occurred to her than she wondered why Moira and Sean would follow. Why not stay above and wait them out? What had been the purpose in coming all the way down here anyway?

Tarrh waited impatiently as the others continued to pick their way laboriously toward the floor of the chamber. This was taking too much time and the longer Elizabeth and Kimberly were on the wall, the greater the chance Moira's devilry would claim one or both of their lives. They needed to be on the floor with him, needed to take their places. Sean and Moira were on their way; he could sense them. Things had to be in place before they began their descent into the pit.

He took a deep breath, called his creature into visible form. He only hoped the conjured beast would remember who its master was after all this time. He closed his eyes, called on the creature of his craft, envisioned it coming to him in obedience to his summons and complying with his wishes. If it did not obey him, this would be the end of them all. “
Oaim-la-khar-loshan
,” he whispered, instantly felt the earth tremble under him, the air about him came alive with electricity. “
Oaim-la-khar-loshan
,” he repeated and opened his eyes to see the magnificent creature staring him in the eyes. “Bring them down,” he said to the beast, “but be gentle."