Finn was still alive. She had to find him soon, but where was he?
“Tied like a dog in the rain and cold,” the other man said. “Ach, that’s no way for a fine warrior like Finn to die.”
Margaret flew back down the stairs to where she had noticed the wind whistling beneath the low arched door. When she pushed the door open, she was met by a curtain of rain. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she searched the enclosed courtyard, looking frantically left and right. A single torch outside the door and protected by an overhang provided barely any light at all.
When she did not see Finn, she wanted to scream. Against the far wall, she could make out an upright wooden beam… Her heart went to her throat. A limp form hung from the beam like a stag hung after a hunt.
She slid in the mud as she ran across the courtyard to reach him.
“Finn! It’s me,” she cried, falling to her knees beside him. “I’ve come for ye.”
But Finn did not even lift his head.
What had they done to him? She wanted to wrap her arms around him and weep. Instead, she pressed her ear to his chest. Finn’s heart still beat!Praise God. But how would she ever get him into the castle and up the stairs?
“I’m taking ye home, my love,” she said, holding his head up between her hands. “But I need your help.”
Her tears mingled with the rain pouring down her face as she kissed hm.
Finn’s eyes fluttered open. He looked confused for a moment, then he smiled. “Maggie?Ach, I must be dead or dreaming.”
“Nay, I’m really here,” she said. “But we have to go. We’re in danger.”
“Danger?” He struggled to get up. “O shluagh, ye shouldn’t be here.”
“I have a boat waiting. We must get to the secret tunnel,” she said. “Can ye walk?”
“I’m chained to this damned post,” he said. “I can’t reach the hook, and I can’t pull out the post either. I’ve tried.”
“I’ll find something for ye to climb onto.” She peered into the dark recesses of the courtyard, desperate for something, anything she could use. It was too dark, and they had no time. She dropped to her hands and knees. “Stand on my back.”
“I’m too heavy,” he said.
“For heaven’s sake, I won’t break. Your life’s at stake!” When he still hesitated, she said, “And so is mine.”
Finally, she felt his foot on her back and braced herself to take his full weight.
“What do we have here?” A voice came out of the darkness, sending a chill of ice-cold fear through her veins.
She scrambled to her feet. A few yards away, she could make out the outline of a man. No, there were two.
“I brought a drink for the prisoner,” Margaret said. “I’m on my way back inside now.”
“The chieftain would be angry if we told him,” one of the men said. “No one is supposed to go near this one.”
“Ye wouldn’t want us to tell, now would ye, lass?” the other said.
The men were moving closer. Margaret’s fingers itched to reach for the blade hidden in her boot, but she had to wait. Her only chance would be to surprise them at the last moment and stick it into one of them from up close. That would not help her against the second man, but she could not let herself think of that now.
If she and Finn lived through this, which seemed increasingly unlikely, she would make him teach her how to use her dirk.
When the men attacked, they moved so fast that they were on her before she could reach the blade in her boot. She kicked and bit and scratched at them, but in no time, one of the men had her arms pinned behind her back.
“You first,” he said to the other one.
###
Fury exploded inside Finn, giving him a burst of strength. He pulled on the post and staggered backward when it came free with a loudcrack. As the man closest to him turned toward the sound, Finn swung the heavy beam and crushed the side of his head.
