Pity filled him as he took a last look then bent to open the locket the woman wore, wanting a brief look at what she kept there. He stared at the small portraits inside. The man stood tall, well-dressed and smiling, on one side and the woman was on the other smiling sweetly down at the babe in her arms. They truly were a handsome couple and much too young to see the end of their lives.
“Jesu,” he whispered, and scrambled out of the grave still clutching the locket. “She had a bairn, Matthew.” He showed his brother the pictures.
They all looked to the cabin and Matthew sighed. “We dinnae ken how old that picture is. The child may well have died long ago.”
Closing the locket, Iain shook his head. “True enough but I have to look. I have to.” He glanced down at the bodies. “Take the rings, too, Matthew. They are the kind one would pass on to a child.” He turned to Robbie. “Did ye hear or see anything when ye were putting out the fire?”
Robbie shook his head. “Nay, but I was just looking for what needed water thrown on it. Keeping a watch on the fire took all my attention.”
“We have to look.” He stuck the locket in his shirt and started toward the house.
“They would have taken the bairn when they tried to flee,” said Matthew as he followed his brother.
“There was no child with them.”
“It isnae a big cabin. We can look close before we finish the burying.”
Smoke and ash still tainted the air inside the cabin and all three men covered their noses and mouths with their bandanas. It was clear the fire had been meant to drive the couple out of the back and they had run right into the arms of their killers. There was a sort of viciousness to this attack that he had not seen in a long time. Painful memories he resented were being stirred up.
Lost in ugly recollections he did not watch where he was stepping. Suddenly there was nothing beneath his right foot. He stumbled back but as he put his foot down more of the floor gave way. As he fell, he twisted around in time to grab at the edge of the hole that had opened up beneath him. A heartbeat later Robbie and Matthew each grabbed him by the wrists and pulled him up. Cautiously, he looked down.
“A storm cellar?” Robbie asked.
“Nay.” Iain noticed the crude steps heading down and heavy burlap bags set against the dirt wall. “Looks as if it was for cold storage or the like. Just a place to store the harvest, I think. Wonder why the people ran outside instead of down here? They might have been able to survive if they had hidden down here.”
Cautiously testing each step before putting his full weight on it, Iain went down. He could hear Robbie coming down behind him, Matthew standing watch above. Once on the ground he discovered it was not a large place. A pile of empty bags waited for more of the harvest to come in.
“No child down here,” said Robbie as he looked into the full bags leaning against the walls. “Taters and apples though. Shall we take them?”
“Aye. No sense in leaving it all here to rot.”
“Thinking we should take the empty bags, too.”
“Good thought. They can be used to collect up anything else useful, like the harvest.”
“Iain, why are ye staring at them like this? And thinking. I can hear you thinking.”
Laughing softly, Iain shook his head. “I dinnae ken. Just, weel, something about them looks wrong.”
“They are not in a tidy pile, that is certain.” Robbie stepped over to them and started shifting them. “Hey, there is a wee bit of blood on some of them and”—he yanked a couple away from the wall—“some got stuck in this hole in the wall.”
Moving to help Robbie pull all the bags aside, Iain cursed when they uncovered the hole. As they cleared away the last of the bags Iain saw more faint signs of blood. Someone had fled the house. If the men who had burned the place had taken but a little time to look around, they would have found the one who had escaped. If it was the child from the locket picture, Iain could not be sure it was still alive. Men who would torture two people as had been done to that young couple would probably not hesitate to kill a child.
“A tunnel. Whatever went down it was leaking a wee bit,” he said.
“We best follow then.”
Iain knew Robbie was right. There was a child out there, one hurt, scared, and in danger. He could not allow an old fear to rule him when a child’s life might matter. Iain struggled to use that good sense to push back the fear curdling his stomach. He knew it was not an easy fear to push back or even to control for a while.
“Ye go in first, Robbie,” he said. “I will follow. And if I falter, ye just come and drag me along. I cannae let my distaste for such places stop me from trying to help a child.”
“Then, aye, I will go first,” Robbie said even as he started to crawl inside the tunnel. “Need a light.”
Iain quickly searched the room and found an old lantern with a thick candle inside. He handed it to Robbie after he lit it and the light it cast eased the growing knot in his stomach. After taking a deep breath he followed Robbie as his younger brother crawled forward. Drops of blood led the way. The acrid smell of smoke still thickened the air they breathed. Iain fought the memories that invoked. If he let them come, fell back into the terrifying horror of crawling through a similar tight spot to save his brother, he knew he would panic. He could not allow that and he forced himself to think only of the child they might save.
Sweat pooled in the small of his back and dripped down his face. He could feel panic gnawing at his insides. He had nightmares about being stuck in small places while fire licked at his heels. It was hard to push such images away each time he found himself in a confined space. He had nearly died the last time he had been in one, had been burned badly and still carried some scars. Iain just kept reminding himself that he had survived and he had saved the life of his brother Geordie.
When they reached the small ladder that led out, Iain clenched his fists to fight his urge to run over Robbie and climb out as fast as possible. Robbie hefted the door at the top open and Iain took in a deep, soothing breath of the fresh air pouring in. When Robbie climbed out then turned to offer a hand, Iain gritted his teeth to fight the urge to race out of the tunnel like a rat escaping a flooded warren. From the way Robbie winced though, he knew he had gripped his brother’s hand harder than needed. He climbed out then stood staring at the ground as he fought to calm the turmoil inside of him.
