Her hand brushed against the haft of the dagger in her belt. If she could cut herself free, at least she could sit on the floor until help came. “Help will come. Gunn will come.” With the cloth held taut, she sliced through, cut it away, and sagged to the floor in a defeated heap. “All I have to do is stay calm.” The lantern’s flame sputtered lower. “Stay calm,” she said louder.
Then the light went out, unleashing the beast of darkness to swallow her whole.
She closed her eyes and hugged her knees to her chest. “Gunn will come.” She repeated the mantra over and over, fighting against the cold sweat and nausea overtaking her. Even with her eyes squeezed tightly shut, she could feel herself getting dizzier by the moment. “Must not panic. Gunn will come.”
The longer she sat there, the louder the demons in her mind whispered she had just been buried alive. She covered her ears, squeezed her eyes tighter shut, and forced herself to think of Gracie, of Lonnie, the shop—anything to get her thoughts off being sealed inside a wall.
Without realizing it, she’d started rocking. “Ye just had to go to that cliff with that fool. None of this wouldha happened if ye had just told him to go to the devil while standing in the shop.”
But then she would never have met Gunn. Or Bella. Or wee Frances and Hesther. Tears squeezed free. She loved them all. And no one had ever touched her heart as Gunn had.
“He will come,” she whispered into the darkness. “He will come and everything will be all right.”
She hugged her knees tighter and pressed her forehead against them. “Please let him come,” she prayed. “Before it is too late.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Da!”
Gunn’s heart lurched at the voice he had feared he would never hear again. He spun about and dropped to his knees with his arms open wide. “Bella!”
She hit his chest at full force. “I got away! But hurry, we can catch her. I know where she is.” She clung to him, her arms wrapped around his neck, squeezing tight as if never letting go.
And he hoped she wouldn’t. Never had he ever been so afraid of losing her. “Are ye all right, my wee one? Whole and unharmed?” He peeled her away and held her out, scanning her for any sign of injury.
“I am fine, Da.” The youngling squared her shoulders and beamed with a proud smile. “I used mysgian-dubhto cut free. The one Jasper gave me last birthday. Cut right through that old cow’s ribbons that she thought would keep me trapped. Ye shouldha heard her screeching when she found me gone. Sounded like the terns when their nests are robbed.”
“I heard her squawking, my braw beastie, and I knew it was ye who caused it.” Relief and so much more filled him that he almost couldn’t breathe. “That is how Lorna and I tracked her to her wicked hidey-hole.” He curled her back into his arms, rocking from side to side as he hugged her tight. “My precious Arabella. Ye dinna ken how worried I was. Lorna was beside herself too.”
Bubbling out a joyous giggle, Bella kissed his cheek, then stretched and looked all around. “Where is Lorna? I want to hug her too.”
Gunn peered about, then stood and turned, scanning the entirety of the hall. “Where is Mistress Lorna?”
“Bless my soul.” Mrs. Thistlewick clapped her hands to her cheeks. “She returned to the tunnels in search of Bella.”
“Alone?” An ominous dread knotted in Gunn’s gut. Had he gotten his precious daughter back only to lose the woman he loved? “How long has she been gone?”
“Not long,” the housekeeper said. She pointed to the hallway housing the entrance they had used to access the tunnels the first time. “I am sure ye can catch up with her with no trouble at all.”
He caught Bella up in another big hug, then set her back to her feet and gave her a stern but loving look. “Stay here whilst I fetch her, aye? She doesna ken the way of the passages.” When he straightened, he spotted something on the floor next to the arch. “By my soul, is that the map?” He charged over and scooped it up, then stared at the open entrance to the tunnels. Fear of the worst within him grew, like a great black stain slowly spreading.
“I am coming with ye, Da.” Bella appeared at his side. “I ken the tunnels better than anyone.”
Tempting as it was, he wanted her safe with Mrs. Thistlewick, not wandering the passages again. “I would rather ye stay in the hall till I return.” He pointed at the open door to the passage. “I feel sure if she went this way, she is retracing the steps we took earlier. I will probably find her where we captured Murdina.”
Bella caught hold of his sleeve as he turned to go, but it was her pained look that stopped him. “If she goes into the priest hole and makes the wall move again, she willna be able to get back out. I fouled the lever to try to trap the witch.”
“Fouled the lever? How?”
“Old Master Grogan showed me when I was a wean, in case enemies stormed the keep. All I had to do was remove one of the shims leveling the corner piece.” She belatedly crossed herself and added, “God rest his soul.”
“Can ye undo it?” Gunn held his breath, praying his daughter would give him the answer he so badly needed.
She shook her head. “I dinna think so. Master Grogan never said anything about putting it back.”
“Fetch the smithy,” Gunn bellowed. “Iron bars. Hammers. Men to man them. Now!” Master Grogan had been the overseer of building Thursa, a kind man who had lost his family to the same fever that took Bella’s mother. He handled his grief by indulging every child in the clan with intricately carved toys and answers to their endless questions.
Bella caught hold of his hand again. “Let me run and see, Da. Mayhap she is merely lost and not trapped at all.”
