“Then we’ll have to work on him. Imagine the fun all of us can have with the secret tunnels,” Finn said grinning.
“What I want to know is how my uncle got hold of all this hospital equipment. Did he just take it from the hospital?”Finn asked. Looking around, apart from the drip, there was a heart monitor that was standing unused off to one side, and other hospital pieces dotted round. He wondered if there were supplies in the cupboards as well.
“Yep,” Ezzy replied. “Our need was greater, plus Dad will have everything replaced. Now, Fran, did we tell you, we’re missing some secret passageways and a few priest holes?”
Fran shook his head. “I knew you didn’t know about the basement one, because I was there when Uncle Bernie told us about it. But I didn’t know you were missing more. Honestly, Ez, I thought you and Robbie had found them all.”
“I know, we’re a disappointment as sons,” his cousin replied, grinning. “But think of all the fun we can have looking for the others.”
“Do you know where they are?” Finn asked him.
“All the ones Ez and Rob found, they showed me. Can you imagine having to stay in some of those smaller priest holes? I know people were shorter back then, but even so, you could just about fit a person in one,” Fran told him.
“Before us, were they ever used?” Finn asked.
Ezzy nodded. “They were. There are diaries in the library that record when they were used and by whom and it wasn’t only priests or other religious people that hid in them, but people on the run for crimes they didn’t commit.”
“Or said they didn’t,” Fran added.
Ezzy smiled. “Yep. One of the records mentions that someone died in one of the priest holes.”
“Are they a ghost?” Finn asked, excitedly.
“You mean Robbie didn’t tell you about the castle ghosts?” Ezzy gasped in shock.
“No, he missed that. I think it might have been mentioned by your dad when I first arrived, but I was in too much pain for it to register properly,” Finn said.
“Oh, my dear brother, we have so much to teach you about the ghosts that haunt this castle,” Ezzy said.
“Ghosts?” Emory said, walking in, a file in his hand.
“Emory.” Ezzy sighed, jumping up and running over to his mate.
Emory wrapped his arms around Ezzy and kissed him hello.
Fran looked at Finn and grinned, then started fake coughing, which Finn joined in with.
Ezzy and Emory pulled back with a laugh.
“Payback will be fun,” Emory said.
“No, that’s mean,” Finn fake complained.
“Tough,” Ezzy replied without any sympathy.
Emory walked closer to the bed. “How is he?”
“In pain. Robbie gave him some pain medication which sent him to sleep. But he became restless,” Fran told him.
“He only settled down when Fran touched him,” Finn added. “Hence Fran sitting by the bed holding his hand.”
“Whatever works,” Emory said, opening Jacob’s file and giving it a quick read, Robbie having given it to him on his return home. “Too soon for more painkillers.”
“Yeah, and it took some convincing to get him to have some earlier,” Fran told him.
“Pull up a chair, Uncle Emory, Clairmont brought food,” Finn said, bringing the tray of food over and putting it at the bottom of Jacob’s bed. “Unless you need to get back to the hospital.”
Emory put the record down and smiled. “Not until morning, my shift is over for today.”
