The Gallows Curse (61 page)

    'Come
on,' Elena urged. 'Quickly!'

    Moving
her hand along the slimy wall, they edged down the passage. Several times they
both slipped on the wet stones beneath their feet, but they managed to steady
each other. At last, as they came round the curve of the tunnel, Elena felt a
breeze on her face and saw before them the thick iron bars of a gate glinting
in a shaft of moonlight.

    On
the other side of the iron grid, three steps led down to the water's edge.
Stretching out in front of them was the broad river; black and oily in the
silver light, it twisted and writhed as it rushed past them. Moored along
either bank were the dark humps of boats. Here and there the red glow of a
small brazier on a boat's deck, or the yellow smudge of a lantern hanging from
a mast or prow, showed that their owners were spending the night on board, but
most of the little craft rocked at their moorings, black and silent. On the far
side of the broad river more fires burned outside a small cluster of wooden
shacks, but beyond that was darkness.

    Finch
pointed to a rope hanging from the roof of the tunnel. 'See, you have to pull
that and the gate comes up, but it goes down as soon as you stop pulling'

    Elena
grasped the thick rope and tugged. It took all her strength to make the grid
swing upwards just the span of her hand, but as soon as she slackened her grip,
it fell back into place with a crash that echoed through the tunnel. She and
Finch both froze, holding their breath, but they heard nothing except the
rushing water.

    Elena
looked around, her heart thumping in her chest. Time was running out. There had
to be a way to keep the gate open. She searched both sides around her. Then she
saw a metal bar, jutting out high up on the wall. When the gate was raised
fully, it should be possible to loop the rope over the bar and hold it open,
but they'd never be able to close it behind them. They'd have to pray that no
one came down here for hours.

    'Finch,
listen to me. As soon as I lift the gate, you get under it and scramble up the
bank beside the steps.'

    'But
you're coming with me. You promised.'

    'I
will, I will, but you have to go first. Go as soon as I tell you. Are you
ready?'

    Finch
nodded. Elena planted her feet wide and grabbed the rope in both hands. She
heaved. The heavy iron gate lifted a few inches. She pulled harder, the rough
fibres of the rope biting into her hands. The gate lifted a little higher.

    Then
she heard it, faintly but unmistakably, a man's voice calling from somewhere
behind her.

    'Finch!
Answer me, you little brat! Finch!'

    Finch
heard it too and turned. In the moonlight she could see his eyes wide with
terror.

    She
heaved on the rope with all her strength and the gate rose just another few
inches. 'Now, Finch, now! Crawl under. Go on quickly. I can't hold it.'

    Finch
hesitated, then as the voice above them called again, he dropped to his knees
and slithered under the gap. It took all Elena's remaining strength not to let
the gate fall with a crash; she eased it down as slowly as she could, but even
so iron fell back on to stone with a dreadful clang.

    Finch
threw himself against the closed gate with a wail. 'Holly, Holly, open it! Open
it! You can do it.'

    Behind
her, Elena heard Talbot's voice again, nearer this time. 'Finch, you'd best
come out now, lad, or Ma'll flay the hide from your back and worse. Come on,
lad, no use hiding, you know I'll find you.'

    Finch
cringed, but he still thrust his arm through the bars, trying to touch Elena.

    'Please,
Holly, please,' he begged. 'Open the gate. Let me back. I'm scared. I don't
want to be out here. Let me back in, please.'

    Elena
crossed to the gate and took his cold little hands in hers.

    'I
can't, Finch. I can't. That man, that werecat has come back. You have to go.
It's not safe for you here.' She reached through the bars, stroking his mop of
soft curls.

    'Listen
to me, Finch. You have to be a brave boy. You must get on to the bank and
follow the river. Keep walking all night, and when daylight comes find a place
to hide and sleep. Then walk again when it gets dark. Walk until you are a long
way from here. When you reach another village or town, then you can look for
work. But, whatever you do, don't trust the boatmen. Don't let them see you.
Too many of them come here. They might recognize you or Ma might ask them to
find you.'

    'But
Holly, how are you going to escape?'

    'Don't
worry about me. I'll find a way out, you see if I don't.'

    Talbot
was bellowing again, fury in his voice. The caged beasts were snarling and
hurling themselves at their bars, disturbed by his shouting.

    She
pulled her hands away. 'Go, Finch, go quickly! Talbot is coming.'

    The
boy stood motionless, his little fists gripping the bars. His face was ghost
white in the moonlight, and silver tears were running down his cheeks.

    Elena
softly began to sing.

Lavender's green, diddle diddle, Lavender's blue.

You must love me, diddle diddle, 'cause I love you.

    'Remember,
Finch, always remember.'

    As
she resolutely turned away, her throat tight with tears, she thought she heard
a soft echo behind her, a tremulous, broken little voice that might almost have
been the sobbing of the river.

Let the birds sing, diddle diddle, let the lambs play,

We shall be safe, diddle diddle, deep in the hay
.

    She
did not turn round.

    Elena
groped her way back up the slope as quickly as she could. She was desperate to
reach the cellar before Talbot could come down the passage. She had to stall
him long enough for Finch to get clear. She only prayed that the boy had the
sense to run and was not still standing there. 'Blessed Virgin, look after him,
keep him safe.'

    It
seemed much longer going up that tunnel than going down. She began to fear that
she had taken a wrong turn, but there was no turn. She dragged her hand along
the wall, feeling her way. The other she stretched out in front of her, to feel
for the sacking curtain. She could still hear Talbot. He wasn't calling now,
but cursing and muttering as he poked among the cages. The animals snarled,
hurling themselves at their cages to drive away his unsettling light and defend
their own tiny territory.

    Something
brushed lightly over her hand, and she almost yelled out until she realized it
was the piece of sacking. She slid from behind it, keeping herself pressed
against the wall as she edged round in the darkness. Talbot must be at the far
end of the other passage for there was no light from the torch, unless he had
given up and left.

    Without
warning, her shoe, slippery from the mud in the tunnel, shot out from under her
and she crashed back against the wall, sliding down it. She scrabbled to find a
footing, but there was nothing, nothing beneath her feet. She was sliding down
the slope of the floor. She was falling into the hole. She thrashed wildly,
trying to find something to hold on to, but her cold hands encountered only the
smooth wet flagstones. She screamed, her legs kicking into the black empty
space.

    Light
suddenly blinded her and even as she blinked her eyes, she felt a rough hand
grab her wrist and yank her up so hard she cried out again, this time in pain.
But with her other hand she managed to grasp a booted ankle and she hauled
herself into a sitting position. Still holding on to the thick, sturdy legs,
she clung there, shaking with terror.

    Talbot
hauled her to her feet.

    'Another
inch and you'd have been dead, lass,' Talbot said gruffly. He pushed his
misshapen nose close to hers. 'So, what you doing skulking down here?'

    She
could smell his hot, sour breath, but tried not to turn her face away. 'I ... I
was hiding. I didn't want to ... entertain the men.'

    'Is
that so?'

    He
held the blazing torch up so close to her head that she was afraid he was going
to burn her. She still had her back to the hole and dared not wrench herself
away in case she fell again. He peered behind her at the corner of the stairs.
'I reckon Ma's right, you have found a way out of here.'

    It
was on the tip of her tongue to deny it, but then she saw it was useless. 'I
did find a gate, but I couldn't open it. It's too heavy.'

    He
stared at her for several moments and his eyes narrowed. Then he lowered the
torch. 'You seen that boy, Finch?'

    Elena
swallowed. 'He was heading towards the kitchens last time I saw him.' She knew
Luce would have already checked there, but at least it was the opposite
direction to the cellar.

    'Aye,
well, he's not there now,' Talbot growled. 'That bastard'll not be kept waiting
much longer. Ma'll feed us to the beasts if we don't find the brat soon.'

    Elena
left Talbot continuing to search the cellar. She knew he would check the gate
and she prayed with all her strength that Finch would have had the courage to
run before Talbot went down that passage.

    Elena
raced back to the sleeping chamber. She only had one thought in mind. She had
to buy enough time for Finch to get far enough away. If they discovered he was
not here, and Talbot mentioned finding Elena in the cellar, it wouldn't take Ma
a fingersnap to realize what had happened and send Talbot to search the river
bank for him. Elena had to divert them.

    She
stripped off her own muddy kirtle and dashed cold water on her face and arms.
She looked wildly around. An angel's gown still lay across one of the pallets.
It was old and slightly torn, which was why the other women had rejected it.
She pulled it on. It had been made for a woman twice her weight and height. The
front hung loose in a low sweep, exposing most of her breasts.

    She
dared not delay, but ran out and across the garden. To her alarm she saw Talbot
making his way across to Ma from the other side. She had to reach Ma first. She
was half-way across when the young lad she'd abandoned stepped out in front of
her, eyeing her new costume with a mixture of undisguised drooling and the kind
of acute embarrassment that he might feel if his mother caught him with his
hand up a woman's skirt.

    'Are
you . . . did you get some wine?' he finished lamely, evidently not having
given up hope, even after all this time, that she would keep her promise.

    'I'll
be back,' she said, pushing past him, feeling desperately sorry for him as she
heard the snorts of laughter and jeers from the boy's brother and his friends.
But she could do nothing for the lad, except hope that one of the other girls
would take pity on him.

    She
reached Ma just before Talbot. Hugh was sitting in a carved chair beside her.
Ma was evidently trying to keep him occupied by talking, but he had long since
given up any pretence of politely listening. His jaw was set hard, and he
seemed only a breath away from venting his fury at being kept waiting.

    Ma's
yellow-green eyes widened in alarm as Elena, grabbing a flagon from the nearest
table, gave a low curtsy.

    'May
I refill your goblet, sir?' Without waiting to be asked, she bent forward,
deliberately letting the front of her gown fall open inches from his face.
She'd no idea if this would please him, but she'd seen the other girls do it
often enough to know it seemed to excite most men.

    She
straightened up. She could see at once that Hugh was not as easily witched as
the village lads, but all the same she had caught his attention. He was eyeing
her with the same puzzled curiosity as that night when she dressed Finch. Ma
must have seen the look too for as Talbot approached, she quietly signalled to
him to stay back.

    'Well,
now. If it isn't the feisty little black-haired maid . . . Holly. Isn't that
what the lad called you? If I remember rightly you challenged me. Told me I was
frightening the boy.'

    Elena
swallowed hard. 'He was afraid, sir.'

    'And
you? Are you afraid of me? I think you are not, or you wouldn't come marching
up to me, flaunting yourself.'

    He
ran his fingers lightly over her breasts and Elena gave an involuntary shudder,
flinching away. She recovered herself, but she knew Hugh had felt it.