Chapter 45
Daniel, Jonathan, and Sarah waited until dark before leaving the relative safety of the cottage.
As they skirted through fields and coppices, Daniel wrestled with the nagging fear that Sarah may have been leading him into a trap.
Instinctively, his hand tightened on the hilt of Kit’s sword, the reassuring weight of a loaded pistol tucked into his belt and the press of his knife secreted in his boot.
The security the weapons gave him was illusory. The fact remained he would still be only one man against a troop of soldiers.
Daniel needed his knife to cut through the tangled brambles that grew in what would have once been the moat.
Sarah chafed in impatience behind him. The rasping of the knife sounded like a saw through wood in the silent night, but no movement came from the walls above.
Pushing the sharp, straggling fronds aside, they reached the wall.
Even in the gloom, Sarah led him straight to a small wooden door set low in the wall. It gave with only the slightest push from Daniel’s shoulder, the rotten wood making barely a noise. Daniel had to almost bend double to duck under the door and into a low-ceilinged passage.
The dark of the old, noisome space closed in on him and he had to stop for a moment, fighting the constricting band that closed around his chest.
‘Are you all right?’ Sarah whispered in the dark.
She had collected candles and a tinderbox from the cottage before she had left, and he heard the soft scrape of tinder being struck. Focusing on the tiny light of the candle, the band slowly released its grip and he could breathe again.
Sarah glanced at him and pointed into the velvet darkness beyond.
‘This way,’ she said.
He grunted an assent, and feeling their way along the slimy walls with their fingers, they edged upwards into the bowels of the old castle.
The corridor brought them out into a large space, crowded with broken furniture and old boxes.
‘The cellars,’ Sarah whispered. ‘My brothers and I used to play down here as children — that’s how I know about the old entrance. I’m going to have to snuff the light or they’ll see it. Give me your hand.’
Daniel had no choice but to do as she said, and her work-hardened fingers closed around his, leading him on through the maze.
‘You’re cold as ice,’ she said in the dark.
She couldn’t see the sweat that gathered on his brow and ran down his face as once again the vice closed on his chest.
When she stopped he almost ran into her. She placed a finger on his mouth.
‘Shh … they’re just beyond there.’
A faint light illuminated a dogleg in the corridor and Daniel inched forward, peering around the corner. He could see a wide corridor lit by a solitary lantern twenty yards or so ahead of him. One of several doors stood ajar, a soldier standing beside it, his back to Daniel.
Daniel pulled back into the shadows and gripped the girl’s arm.
‘Wait for me,’ he whispered. ‘If this goes wrong, get back to Thornton and tell him.’
Pulling the pistol from his belt, he checked the priming.
The guard would have known nothing. The years on the French privateer had taught Daniel some useful skills, including the ability to immobilise a man quickly and silently with the right pressure on a certain point in the neck.
As he lowered the unconscious man to the floor, the unease that had dogged him since entering the castle doubled.
Ashby may as well have left the front door open.
I am walking into a trap, he thought.
Trap or not, what choice did he have?
He flattened himself against the wall beside the door, peering through the gap into the room beyond.
A lantern on the floor beside Kit did little to dispel the gloom, and it took a moment or two before he could make out the shadowy forms of two women crouched down beside a crumpled form that could only be Peg Truscott.
He swore under his breath as he recognized Leah Turner, but there was nothing for it. He gently pushed the door open wide enough to admit him.
The squeal of unoiled hinges betrayed him and the two women spun around, rising swiftly to their feet.
‘Daniel!’
The light fell on Agnes’s face, streaked with dirt and ghostly in the lantern light. He thought he had never wanted to kiss a woman so much as he did at that moment.
‘You!’ Leah Turner stepped into the circle of light thrown by the lantern. Daniel gave her a cursory bow.
‘Mistress Turner, how fortunate to find you here. This pistol is primed and I would advise you to keep your peace. Agnes, is there anything in here we can use to keep Mistress Turner quiet?’
Agnes nodded. ‘Some bandages,’ she said.
Leah lunged for the door, only to be brought up short by Daniel’s arm around her waist.
‘I don’t think so,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘Agnes, can you deal with this good lady?’
With Daniel’s pistol pointed at her head, Leah made no protest as Agnes gagged and bound her.
From the woman’s grunts, her bindings may have been a little tighter than was needed.
Daniel pushed her down to the floor beside Kit and tied her ankles.
Behind the gag, she mumbled something that did not sound particularly flattering.
He turned to his brother. In the dim light of the lantern, Kit looked terrible, his face drawn and his eyes sunk in dark recesses, but his voice sounded strong enough as he said, ‘No time for pleasantries — I fear they have set a trap for you, little brother.’
Daniel held out his hand. ‘Can you get up?’
Kit’s fingers tightened on Daniel’s and he hauled himself to his feet. Daniel slid an arm around his brother’s waist, securing his good arm across his shoulders. Kit slumped against him. They were not going to get far with him in this condition, Daniel thought grimly.
He turned to Agnes. ‘Hurry.’
‘I can’t leave Peg,’ she said.
Daniel glanced at the old woman, who lay huddled on the floor, curled in a ball, gibbering to herself.
‘We can’t take her,’ he said.
‘But … ’ Agnes protested.
‘No time.’
They turned for the door, only to be brought up short by a large, bulky figure.
‘You see I was right, Turner. They are sentimental fools.’
Tobias Ashby stood aside to admit Septimus Turner and two armed soldiers, both with horse pistols drawn and ready.
‘Only one of you?’ Ashby enquired and he scowled. ‘That’s annoying.’
Daniel released his grip on Kit, hoping he would keep his feet. He hauled Leah up and pushed her forward, the pistol to her head. She tottered and would have fallen if he had not had a good grip on her arm.
Behind Ashby, Septimus Turner lunged forward, only to be prevented from further movement by his commander’s hand.
Ashby let out a deep sigh. ‘What are you doing here, Leah? I gave express instructions … What is your name young man? Not Lucas, I assume.’
‘Lovell,’ Daniel said.
‘Ah … you must be that annoying youth I recall from Eveleigh.’ He gestured at Kit. ‘His brother, I presume. Where was I … oh yes … if you should happen to harm my dear Leah, my two men here will have no hesitation in cutting down the lovely Agnes.’
The pistols of both soldiers moved obediently to point at Agnes. In the space, they could hardly miss.
‘Now I suggest you throw your weapons onto the table there, Lovell.’
When Daniel hesitated, Agnes clutched his arm. ‘Daniel, please. He will do as he threatens. You, above all, know it.’
Daniel tossed his pistol and sword onto the table.
‘God rot you, Ashby,’ he said with feeling, pushing Leah forward into the arms of her brother, who removed the gag from her mouth.
‘Kill them!’ Leah screamed.
‘My dear, it’s not quite that easy to just kill people these days,’ Ashby said. ‘There is also the little question of my property that I want returned. Search him.’
The two soldiers did a quick and efficient job of liberating Daniel of his knife.
‘It was a good plan of mine to use your friends as bait, Lovell. Now I shall leave you to consider your position. I think we could all do with a good night’s sleep. This time you will find the door locked and two of my best men on the other side of it.’
The door slammed shut, leaving Daniel, Agnes, and Kit standing in the middle of the room.