Chapter 15
T he door to the dungeon cell clanked closed, and the guard turned the key in the lock leaving Maggie, Charles, and Emma in the dank, smelly, cold cell without even a blanket, water, or food.
“Lucky you, that it’s already night,” the guard said in a sarcastic tone. “Lord Ashenden has decided he’s tired and that you’ll all be hanged in the morning instead.”
“That’s right.” Lady Beatrice appeared behind the guard. Her long cloak swept over the floor as she walked. “Your mother might have escaped four years ago, but mark my words, you three won’t. You’ll die in her place for the death of my mother.”
“Escape?” Maggie couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. She held Emma in her arms, walking closer to the cell door. Emma whimpered, hiding her face against Maggie’s chest. “What do you mean my mother escaped? You killed her.”
“I tried to kill her but someone helped her escape before I could do it,” Lady Beatrice told her. “We’ve been searching for her for years, just like we’ve been looking for you and your whelp.” She shot a nasty glance at Emma, making the little girl cry. “Who would have thought we’d be lucky enough to find you at the castle of my betrothed.”
“Evan is not your betrothed. He loves me,” cried Maggie.
“If he loves you, then where is he now?” Beatrice stuck her nose in the air.
“Evan won’t let us die,” shouted Charles, reaching out and shaking the bars of the cell door. “He cares about us too much. He’ll come save us.”
“I hope he tries,” said Beatrice. “Then he can watch each one of you die in the morning.”
“Nay!” cried Maggie. “Don’t kill my brother and daughter. Take me if you want, but leave them alone. They had nothing to do with this.”
“Nothing to do with this?” asked the woman. “Because of your daughter, my brother died. If your mother hadn’t been helping you birth her, she would have been doing her job and helping my mother instead.”
“Please. Let them go. I’ll stay here and you can do what you want to me, but do not harm them in any way, I beg you. They are my family.”
“Stop your begging, because your little family is going to die right alongside you. Now shut up before I have my guard rough you up.” Beatrice turned and left. The guard followed.
There was only one wall torch lighting the dungeon, and it was flickering and threatening to go out as well. The floor was cold and wet. The smell of urine and rotting flesh filled the air.
“I’m scared, Mama,” said Emma, clinging to Maggie. The little girl reached under her traveling cloak and pulled out Elizabeth’s soggy doll and hugged her.
“Where did that come from?” Maggie asked in surprise, knowing that Lord Ashenden had taken all their things.
“I hid the dolly under my cape so she’d be safe,” said Emma. “I’m going to protect her because she is scared too.”
“Don’t be frightened, Emma. Evan will save us.” Maggie walked to the side of the cell, jumping when a hand came through the bars and someone grabbed her arm.
“You’re a pretty young thing,” came the gravelly voice of the prisoner in the next cell. He was an older man, with rotten teeth and a big scar across his face. “How about a kiss?”
“Leave me alone!” Maggie tried to pull away, but the man’s fingers gripped her arm tightly.
“Let go of my mama!” Emma, still in Maggie’s arms, used Elizabeth’s doll and started beating it against the man’s hand.
“Nay!” cried Charles, rushing across the floor of the cell to help. He grabbed the prisoner’s arm, squeezing tightly while Emma kept beating him with the doll. Finally, the man released Maggie. She hurried to the center of the cell and sat down with Emma on her lap.
“Are you all right, Maggie?” asked her brother.
“I’m fine,” she said, seeing scratch marks on her arm, but thankfully the skin was not broken. She didn’t even have her creams and ointment to help heal them if they got hurt. “Thank you both for coming to my aid.”
“Mama, my dolly broke,” cried Emma, holding out the doll to show her that its head was hanging off, held on only by a wire that ran through the center of the doll.
“Oh, Emma, I am sure we can fix her. Once we get back to the castle, I will sew her up,” she said, trying to make it sound as if they were going to go back to Saltwood instead of to the gallows in the morning.
“Let me see that,” said Charles, taking the doll from Emma.
“Can you fix it, Charlie?” asked Emma, looking up at him with sad eyes.
Charles fiddled with the doll’s head and grinned. “I think I can do something better.” He yanked the doll’s head off in one quick motion, causing Emma to scream out and then cry.
“Charlie killed my doll,” wailed Emma, hiding her head against Maggie’s chest again.
“Charles! Why did you do that?” snapped Maggie, feeling that things were bad enough without her brother ripping apart a little girl’s doll.
“I did it because I need this.” He pulled out a long wire, throwing the doll to the side.
“What on earth?” Emma looked at her brother thinking the boy had gone mad.
“I have an idea of how we can get out of here.”
“With a wire?” asked Maggie.
“Exactly.” Charles stood up, twisting the wire, walking over to the door of the cell. He glanced over to the guard station, and then when he was sure no one was watching, he stuck his hand through the bars, pushing the wire into the padlock, jigging it back and forth.
“What on earth are you doing?” Maggie got up carrying Emma, and walked over to the cell door.
“Shhh, I need to listen,” he told her, twisting the wire in the lock until she heard a small click. Then he looked back at her and smiled, giving the door a slight nudge. To her utter astonishment, it opened.
“Charles, you are brilliant!” she whispered, continuously looking back at the guard station so they wouldn’t be spotted.
“I learned a few tricks, being a locksmith’s apprentice,” Charles boasted.
“I suppose you did.”
“What’s all that noise about in there?” shouted the guard, sticking his head out from the guard’s station. “Go to sleep or I’ll knock you out to make you do it.”
“Can you do that again?” Maggie whispered to her brother.
“I’m sure I can. Why?”
“Close the door,” she told him. “We’ll wait until the guard falls asleep and then we’ll move forward with our plan to escape.”
“Why are we coming back to the castle instead of going to Ashenden?” asked Daegel, as they rode through the gates just as the sun set.
“Because, there is someone I need to speak to first,” said Evan.
Evan got off his horse, handing the reins to the stableboy and hightailing it to the great hall. Daegel and Giles were right behind him.
“My lord, I don’t understand,” said Giles. “Aren’t we going to find and save Maggie?”
“Of course we are, but there is something I need to know first.”
Evan entered the great hall just as the meal was taking place. His father, mother, and the other nobles were up at the dais table where the nobles ate. Even Martine and Eleanor were eating there today. Everyone else was seated below the salt.
“Evan, Evan!” Eleanor waved to him, calling him over. The men went to the dais. “Did you find Maggie and the others?” asked his sister.
“Nay, not yet. But I know where they are.”
“Where?” asked his mother, overhearing them.
“We found her travel bag at the creek,” said Daegel.
“That’s right,” said Evan. “Along with this.” He dug into his bag and held up her crystal.
“Her lucky necklace,” gasped Martine. “She should have it with her. That’s not good.”
Evan slipped the necklace back into his pouch. “We also found evidence that tells me that Maggie and her brother and daughter have been abducted by Lord Ashenden.”
“And so the battle has begun,” said his father under his breath.
“Father, this has nothing to do with me breaking the betrothal,” Evan told him.
“Doesn’t it?” asked Garrett.
“Nay,” said Evan, becoming very frustrated that his father would even say that. “It is because of what happened in Maggie’s past.”
“Sir Evan, did you find my daughter?” Margaret ran up, with her friends right behind her.
“Margaret, I believe she’s been abducted with the others and that Lord Ashenden has her,” Evan told the woman.
“Nay!” cried Margaret. “He will kill them! Oh, this is all my fault. I never should have escaped.”
“Speaking of that, I need to know exactly how you were able to escape the dungeon of Ashenden Castle,” said Evan.
“My friends helped me.” Margaret looked over to Gertrude and Harold.
“There is a secret entrance to the dungeon that is not guarded,” explained Gertrude. “My father helped build it long ago. Not many know about it since it isn’t used anymore.”
“Where exactly is it?” asked Evan. “I need to get in there and quickly.”
“You’ll need keys to the cell if you’re going to release Maggie and her family,” stated Harold. “Four years ago, I lifted the ring of keys from a guard when he fell asleep. But since Margaret’s escape, Lord Ashenden makes certain there are always at least two guards so that won’t happen again. There is always a guard awake to watch the prisoners now.”
“Don’t worry. Just help me get in there and I’ll figure out a way,” said Evan, feeling like he was wasting time and every minute counted. For all he knew, Maggie and her family could already be dead. “Explain to me where to find this secret entrance.”
“We’ll do better than that,” said Gertrude. “We’ll come with you and show you.”
“Yes,” cried Margaret. “Me too. I’d do anything to help my family.”
“I know you would, but none of you will be coming with me,” Evan told them. “There are already enough lives at stake and I won’t have you risk yours. Daegel and Giles and I will handle this by ourselves.”
“Garrett, you should go with them,” said Evan’s mother.
“I would, but you know I can’t,” his father answered. “If I show up, it will definitely be considered an act of war. Besides, we leave first thing in the morning for Richard’s coronation. I have to be there, Echo. Evan is a knight now. He will be able to figure this out by himself. I have every bit of confidence in him, so stop worrying.”
“Father is right,” Evan told his mother. “This is something that I am meant to do.”
Daegel cleared his throat. “ We are meant to do,” he told Evan. “After all, I can’t let you get all the credit.” He flashed Evan a smile.
“Thank you,” said Evan softly, knowing his cousin was his true friend.
“Evan,” said Garrett as Evan turned to leave. “I hope you find Maggie and her family alive. I really mean that.”
“I hope so more than anyone, Father.”
“I may not be able to go there personally, but I will send messenger pigeons at once to the rest of your uncles. Mayhap they can help.”
“Thank you, but it’s not necessary,” said Evan, figuring that was not going to do a bit of good. After all, by the time his uncles even got the missives, Maggie could be dead. Not to mention, his Uncle Storm MacKeefe was a Scot and lived over the border. “Let’s talk,” Evan told Harold and Gertrude. “I need to know everything about Ashenden Castle, because I am going to go in and save Maggie and her family tonight or die trying.”