An enraged scream echoed back to them, followed by a steady stream of garbled shouting that Lorna couldn’t make out. “What is she saying?”
“I dinna ken, but it gives me hope. Remember, my Bella is a wily minx.”
Lorna’s spirits rose as well. Bella was a canny child who knew the tunnels better than any of them. She hoped the wee lass had managed to escape. But even if she had, they still needed to flush Murdina out of the walls and confirm Bella’s whereabouts.
They came upon the woman, muttering and backed against the chimney wall with her hand clamped to her shoulder.
“Ye may have won this time, but ye willna win the next,” she said while sidling along the wall.
“There will be no next.” Gunn handed the lantern to Lorna and lunged forward. He grabbed Murdina’s wrist, twisted her arm to the small of her back, and growled, “Where is my daughter?”
The woman’s once beautiful face twisted with an evil grin. “Dead! I threw her in that pit ye passed.”
Lorna fought the urge to run back and look. Murdina had to be lying. Had to be.
“Lift the lantern,” he said. He jerked the woman’s hands behind her back and bound her wrists with a strip of leather he ripped from his coat. He spun her about and clenched her face in one hand. “Where is my daughter?”
“Ye are hurting me!” she cried, trying to twist free. “And I already told ye.”
He released her face, grabbed her by her disheveled mop of hair, and steered her back the way they came.
“Ye mean to throw me into that pit and make me starve to death!” The woman locked her legs and refused to walk.
Gunn shoved her forward with a hard push. “I willna have the stench of yer evil trapped within the walls of my keep. Walk, damn ye, or I will be more than happy to drag ye.”
She spat at him, then turned to spit at Lorna.
Lorna lifted the lantern and shined the beam into the woman’s face. “Get moving and be thankful Gunn is so merciful.”
“Gunn?” Murdina screeched his name like a raven cawing to the winds. “Gunn? Ye wasted no time in worming yer way into his bed, did ye?”
“At least I didna have to drug him to do it.” Lorna couldn’t resist. She still had doubts that Murdina and Gunn had actually completed the act. Especially since deadly nightshade caused such severe muscle weakness. But none of that mattered now. Murdina had lost.
The harpy screeched again and lunged toward her, but Gunn yanked her back and shoved her forward down the tunnel. She twisted and writhed, then went limp and dropped to the ground. True to his word, Gunn dragged her until she cooperated and walked.
After what felt like forever, they reached the dreaded hole where Murdina swore she had cast Bella to her death.
“Shine the light into the pit,” Gunn said, anguish filling his voice.
Praying that Bella was not at the bottom, Lorna aimed the beam downward. She nearly dropped to her knees with relief. The light revealed nothing other than what appeared to be a decomposing rat.
He gave a satisfied snort and forced Murdina around the pit.
Once past it, she struggled and kicked. “Ye canna kill me or ye will never find her. I misspoke when I said it was this pit.” She screeched while trying to twist around, baring her teeth like a wild animal. “’Twas another trap I put her in. Where are ye taking me? What are yer intentions?”
He remained stoic, shoving her toward the exit with a hurried, determined pace.
Lorna ran to keep up. She wondered too what Gunn’s intentions were but remained silent. That was his choice. Especially depending on where and when they found Bella and what her condition was.
When they reached the end of the passage, he activated a floor lever with a hard kick, then squinted as the door swung open wide. His expression turned grim as death as he dragged Murdina into the great hall. When he reached the center of the area between the rows of tables, he threw her to the floor. “Shackle her. Hands and feet. Then throw her into the cell.”
Four of his men rushed forward. They grabbed her by her arms and legs and carried her away. She screeched and howled dark obscenities that even shocked Lorna’s modern sensibilities.
“What isthe cell?” Lorna asked Mrs. Thistlewick, who had rushed in to meet them.
“The lowest point in the dungeon,” the housekeeper said with satisfaction. “The only time prisoners are brought up from there is when it is time for their execution.”
Mrs. Thistlewick reached for the lantern, but Lorna held it back. “No. I have to go back and find Bella. Murdina refused to tell us where she was.” She ached to hug that sweet lass until she squeaked to be let go.
