“I know,” Siena replied.
Siena hurried back to the castle to talk to Agatha. She explained to Agatha what she was going to do and persuaded her to switch cloaks as Agatha’s was a dark color and would draw less notice.
Siena ran upstairs to retrieve Michael’s rabbit and then rushed back down.
After assuring Agatha that she would be all right, Siena instructed her to send word to Roderick and tell him what has happened, then she went back to the fairy mound and waited for Barra.
“Are you ready?” Barra asked, in her little girl's voice. The other fairies fluttered around like flies, wishing them well.
“I am,” Siena replied. Barra flew over and sat on Siena’s shoulder. Siena spun around three times. Everything grew black as the air rushed past them and then they were sucked into nothing . . . no sight … no sound … no feeling.
* * *
They landedbehind her father’s castle at the edge of the woods. Siena felt like a feather floating through the air. It would have been the perfect way to escape with Michael, however, Barra had explained that you had to be magical to fly from one place to another and the child wasn’t magical.
The gray walls of Balan Castle loomed ahead of them, and luckily the soldiers were not patrolling the back wall. The small door couldn’t be seen unless you knew where it was located, so Siena didn’t expect any problems.
She looked at Barra, “Will someone see you?”
“Nay. Only children andspecialpeople can see fairies. I’ll go and get two horses and wait for you here in the woods just in case there is a patrol.”
Siena nodded.
“And do be careful, Siena, as theycansee you.”
Siena smiled.It felt good to have someone worry about her, she thought as she turned and headed toward the wall. Once there, she ran her hand across the cold stone until she felt the small knot in the wall. She pressed the knot and the door popped loose. With her fingertips, she pried the door open, leaving it cracked so she could see in the dark tunnel. She entered and reached for the torch and the flints, but the flints were not there. She wondered who had moved them and prayed that maybe she didn’t remember correctly, surely no one knew about this passageway.
Siena clutched her stones, took a deep breath, and blew on the end of the torch and it glowed brightly with orange and yellow flames. Her magic had served her well today. Perhaps she was getting better using her gift. She lit the other torch and left it in the bracket by the outer door, then she closed the door, leaving the outside world behind her.
Carefully, she walked down the stone passageway, ducking spider webs. It was cool and dark. Her breath sounded loud in her ears as she went deeper and deeper in the passageway until she reached the stairs. All her senses were strained, expecting every minute to be discovered. She started to climb the two flights of stairs until she came to the end which opened behind a chest in her old bedroom. She placed the torch in a bracket so they could use it on the way out, then she listened at the door to see if anyone was in her old room.
Nothing.
Slowly she inched the door open, so as not to scare the child. “Michael, pull the chest away from the door.” Luckily the child did as he was told. When she had the door open enough to get in, she slipped into the room, and immediately put her finger over her lips so Michael wouldn’t scream. His eyes were as big as saucers, but thankfully he remained quiet.
Siena knelt down so she’d be at eye level with the child. “Do you remember me, Michael?”
The child nodded. He jumped into her arms. “I want to go home. That mean man said my da didn’t want me anymore.”
“Such nonsense. Your father has been worried sick about you.” She hugged the child tight, trying to reassure him. “I have something for you.” She pulled out his rabbit and handed it to Michael. He latched on to it as if it would protect him from anything.
“I’m here to take you home,” Siena said as she rocked the child back and forth. “But you will have to be very quiet and brave because we don’t want to get caught. If my father comes in before I can get you out, then you must pretend I’m not here. Do you understand?”
Michael pulled back. “He is your da?”
“Unfortunately, he is but he doesn’t love me as your father loves you.”
A spark of hope entered the child’s eyes. “Is my da here?”
“He is not but he will meet us on the way home.” She prayed that what she said was true and Roderick was on his way. “He’ll be so excited to see you. He had no idea where you were all this time, and he feared you were dead.”
Michael smiled. Siena thought it probably had been a long time since the child had done so. Now there was hope in his eyes instead of sadness.
“I want you to sit on the bed with your rabbit. I’ll be right back. I’m going to the kitchen to get some food for our journey home.” She noticed Michael was dressed in a nightshirt. “Put your clothes on so you will be ready to go when I come back from the kitchen but stay under the cover in case someone opens the door to check on you.”
Siena hurried down the corridor, then down the back steps to the kitchen. Peering around the corner, she spotted Elsa, the gray-haired cook, by herself.
“Elsa,” Siena called in a soft voice. “I need your help.”
