“Stop! The ceiling is caving in!”
“Lorna!” He dropped to his knees and pressed his face to the opening. It was a crack as wide as three of his fingers. “Lorna, speak to me. Are ye hurt?”
Her pale fingers appeared, wiggling as she sobbed. “I canna bear this, Gunn. I canna. Please save me.”
“Are ye hurt, m’love?” He pressed a kiss to her fingertips, wishing he could pick up the damnable stone and toss it out of the way. “Breathe, love, and tell me. Are ye injured? I am right here and willna leave ye. I swear it.”
“I am not hurt,” she said in a pitiful whisper. “But the roof fell at one end and trapped me in a wee space almost too small for one of Bella’s dogs.” Her quiet sobbing tore his heart in two. “I canna bear this much longer. My heart. The pounding of it. No air. I canna breathe. Gunn, please—dinna let me die.”
“Lorna! Listen to me.” He had to make her focus on him. “Ye can breathe. Feel the fresh air coming into the space. Put yer nose to this crack and breathe it in. Feel it?”
An ominous grinding shifted again and more dust filtered down.
“It is going to crush me. It’s slowly falling more.” She wiggled her fingers while almost choking on her sobs. “I love ye, Gunn. I am so sorry I didna wait for ye to come and search for Bella with me.”
“Ye will not die,” he growled. “I refuse to allow it.” He turned to Jasper. “Hand me an iron thick enough for her to wedge in there and keep the stone from falling more.”
Jasper shot him a look of disbelief and mouthed, “We have none that strong.”
“Do it,” Gunn ordered him through clenched teeth.
One by one, he fed three of the shorter iron pry bars in through the crack. “Wedge them, my brave wee mousie. Ye can do it. Wedge them against the stones.” He prayed she would do it and it would give her a wee bit of comfort. Even though he knew nothing would hold that block, should it decide to give. He needed her calm so he could save her. Somehow.
“This willna work.” Her desolate tone made him afraid. She was giving up.
“Lorna. Listen to me.” He shoved his fingers through the crack, reaching as far as he could. “Place the bars as best ye can, aye? When ye are ready, ye will take my fingers. The men will force the door the rest of the way and I will pull ye free, m’love. I swear it.”
“It willna work,” she said in a teary whisper. “The stone will fall before the opening is big enough.”
He feared the same but refused to accept it. Twisting around, he waved Bella forward. “Think, my wee one. What would Master Grogan do?”
Her tears glistening in the lantern light, Bella slowly shook her head. “I dinna ken, Da. The roof stone should not have come down like that.”
Gunn bowed his head. “I will not lose another loved one.” He repositioned himself at the opening and shoved his fingers back through the crack again. “Have ye wedged the irons, dear one?”
“No.”
The quietness of Lorna’s answer shook him to his soul. She might as well shout her decision to give up and die. “Lorna! Do as I told ye, ye ken?”
“If I do, will ye promise me something?”
“Aye. Anything.”
“Promise ye willna be afraid to find someone to love. This is not some curse. It’s my stupid fate because I rushed in without thinking.” The softness of her sad laugh trickled into the passage, tearing at his heart. “I have always done that, ye know? That’s how I found ye, remember?”
“I remember.” He curled his fingers around hers, his heart breaking. “Now do as I ask, love. Ye never know when fate might change her mind because of my sheer stubbornness.”
She blew out a resigned sigh that made him smile. “Give me a minute, aye?”
“I will give ye anything ye wish, my love—except permission to die and leave me.”
She sighed again but didn’t comment. Instead, she scuffled around in her small space, clanking the irons and muttering curse words.
He pressed his forehead to the stone and silently prayed,Dinna take this courageous woman from me. She is mine, ye hear? Ye have stolen enough from me to last a thousand lifetimes. Torture me no more!
“My skirt is caught again,” Lorna said, sounding despondent.
“Take it off. Strip down to yer shift,” he said. “Ye will slip through the opening faster.”
