“That’s the white lady?” Cecily asked in a shaky, hushed voice. “How beautiful she is.”
“She seems to have found her way home. And it’s time we left.” Dragging Cecily with him, he retreated a few steps up the stairway as the ghost floated toward them. When a ray of light from above fell upon her, he could see her clearly. Her elaborately beaded gown had the low square neckline and flowing sleeves of a style worn many centuries ago. The wispy veil attached to her hat wafted about her. But no breeze stirred here in the depths of the castle, only an overpowering smell of dust, stagnant air, and something indefinable but unpleasant. Stifled, Harry dragged in a breath, which didn’t help. He retreated another two steps, taking Cecily with him.
“You have come. Help me.”The strange hollow voice came as before, sending prickles down his spine.
Cecily turned back. “We will. But how?” Her voice shook, but she sounded determined.
“Where is that dashed caretaker?” Harry pulled on her arm. “We need to go, Cecily. Now!”
“If we do, we will always regret it,” Cecily whispered. “Wemusthelp her.”
“We might regret it more if we stay.” Another ghost might make an appearance. The evil blue lady who had murdered her own child. Or worse, a host of them? But apart from the lady in white, the dungeon appeared to be empty, at least for now. “Cecily, we are leaving,” he ordered, clutching her arm. But his legs wouldn’t move.
“Come.” The ghost beckoned. She turned and glided away.
Cecily, as if in a trance, stepped down. Harry gritted his teeth, and his knees shook, but he went with her. What had he got himself into? Could he keep this intrepid girl safe?
“The caretaker must come soon to find us. If there were any danger, they wouldn’t permit us to come down here,” Cecily said, managing to sound reasonable.
That thought comforted him a little. He wouldn’t shut the place up with them still on the premises. But where the devil was the fellow?
Harry caught hold of Cecily’s hand before she disappeared into the gloom. She was intent on aiding this spirit, although he couldn’t think how they might do so. If a ghost couldn’t do whatever it was it wanted, how might they? Ready to demand Cecily give this nonsense up, he found his voice. “What happens when the light goes,” he warned. “Imagine getting caught here in the dark? The caretaker might forget about us.” It seemed unlikely, but the possibility made his belly roil.
The ghost beckoned. They followed her deeper into another large, cavernous room.
“Anyone here?” Harry yelled. Nothing but his own voice, echoed back. “Right, that’s it. We go.” He tugged on Cecily’s hand, but she pulled against him. He considered throwing her over his shoulder and getting out of there. But something compelled him forward, too. They followed the white wraith, their footsteps ringing loudly over the stone floor. No other voices or footsteps reached them. They were utterly alone.
*
Cecily’s heart flutteredlike a frightened bird about to take flight as they pursued the wisp of white along a dim passage. Mysteriously, although there was no source of light, she could plainly see the ghost gliding ahead of them.
Through a doorway, they entered an enormous cavern where rusty implements of torture, manacles and chains attached to the walls by rings, still held an air of menace. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling. The air was thick with the dust of ages and the acrid odor of blood. How could that be after all this time? She glanced at Harry, seeking reassurance, but he seemed as caught up as she was.
At last, the wraith stopped in front of a low, wooden door. Somehow, because she didn’t seem to move, it opened, and the ghost swept through it.
“She wants us to go inside,” Cecily murmured, her breaths shortening as fear warred with fascination and the need to help the white lady. For surely, she wished them to do so.
The ghost held them in thrall. Compelled to follow, they entered a low-ceilinged chamber. It was empty, but at the far end, another small doorway opened through which the spirit passed.
They followed through a series of tunnels, the ceiling gradually lowering. A rank smell of damp earth filled Cecily’s nose, and here and there, roots penetrated the roof above them like a giant spider’s legs.
“We must be close to the outskirts of the castle,” Harry murmured.
After several twists and turns, Cecily feared she would suffocate, that they would never find their way out again. Would they die here, and their bodies never be found? Harry’s hand tightened on hers. He thought as she did.
Cecily shuddered. “I think I walked through a cold spot.”
The white lady hovered before a small arched door, a rusted key in the lock. Without a word, Harry stepped over to open it. He struggled with the key for several minutes before finally, with a groan, the door creaked opened. Beyond it, the floor was earthen, and water seeped down the moss-covered walls. Ivy draped itself over the ceiling. A potent smell of mud, damp, and ancient bones filled the fetid air.
“Where are we? I suppose it’s too much to hope there’s a way out,” Harry muttered. He ducked his head as they entered the low doorway.
They picked their way carefully over the uneven dirt floor strewn with clumps of earth and rocks.
The ghost hovered before a pile of earth. A hand swept down, and a finger pointed.
“Does she want me to dig?” he asked incredulously. Cecily recoiled in horror as he searched around for a tool. Employing a sharp piece of stone, he crouched down and dug in the red Devon soil.
The cavern soon filled with Harry’s labored breath and the scraping noise his stone made as he dragged the stones and earth away. Minutes passed. Then they gasped and recoiled with horror as a skull rolled out at their feet. The body had not been buried deep. Perhaps never buried at all, for only a coating of soil had covered it. Harry continued to work, exposing the bones of a skeleton. On the finger of one skeleton hand was an unusual ring. And entwined in its ribs, a rope of fat pearls, dirty and dull but still remarkable. “The body must have been undisturbed for centuries, for her jewels still to be here.” His low voice echoed eerily around the chamber.
