by Trudi Jaye
Fee shook her head. “Alberta’s still pretty agile. She does all the work herself.”
“Is there any other way to get into the house?”
She narrowed her eyes at the house, and tried to think. “Front door, back door. Bad idea.” She glanced toward the old barn and a vague notion of Hetty telling her one time that there was some kind of old tunnel. But did it go to the house? And was it still open? She didn’t know. She glanced at Henry.
“Go on, tell me,” he said.
“There’s an old tunnel in the barn...” she started. “It might not go to the house, and it might not still be open; it’s a long while since Geraldine talked about it,” she finished in a rush.
Henry narrowed his eyes toward the old structure. “It’s all we’ve got at the moment. We’ve got more chance of making it to the barn than the front of the house.”
Fee nodded and followed him when he took off at a crouching run toward the outbuilding.
They made it in through the side door, out of view of the house. The barn was dark and damp, and smelled of mice droppings. “I don’t think Alberta uses this building very much,” said Fee.
It was dark, the only light coming in from a high window covered in grime, and neither of them wanted to put on a light.
“Where is it?” whispered Henry.
“Over here somewhere. I don’t know exactly.” Fee walked to the side of the barn, near the old feeding stations, and poked around. She couldn’t see anything, and began to wonder if Geraldine had boarded up the entrance, leaving the tunnel to rot away. Perhaps they wouldn’t be able to find it after all.
Henry followed her over and started searching around as well, turning over barrels, and pulling aside old rotten saddles. “What are we looking for? A hatch? Or a door?” he asked.
“I don’t know. She just mentioned it in passing. I could be wrong about it being here still.” As she poked around the edges of the barn, trying not to be squeamish about the layers of dirt and spider webs, Fee was starting to think she’d misheard Geraldine. They’d have to think of a new way to get into the house. They were closer now; perhaps they could sneak—
“Found it!” said Henry, from where he’d been searching.
Fee grinned and clambered over to where Henry was pulling aside old farm machinery, and lifting bales of hay. While she was busy giving up, he’d been finding what they needed.
“It’s well hidden, but I can see a door in the wooden floor,” said Henry as he hefted a tool box.
Fee peered over his shoulder and down at the floor. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the old trap door opening, with a brass handle. She tried not to get too excited. It could be a storage area with no tunnel at all. But it seemed too coincidental. It had to be what Geraldine had told her about.
Henry pulled on the handle, and with a groan of protest, the door swung up and over. Fee flicked a panicked look to the door of the barn, hoping the noise hadn’t traveled to whomever was occupying the main house.
When she returned her gaze to the door, she saw a set of stairs leading down into darkness. The stairs looked very old, and they were coated in dusty spider webs. She shivered.
“I’ll go first, just in case,” said Henry.
“Wait. Here, take him,” said Fee, and she handed him Bing. “He has a light.”
The little robot obediently lit up the air around them with a dim light.
“He’ll glow brighter, just ask,” said Fee.
A noise outside the barn made them both jump. Someone had heard the creak of the door opening.
“Hurry,” said Henry, and he grabbed her hand, dragging her behind him. He pulled the door back down over their heads and they crouched on the stairs.
“How do you turn the light off,” he whispered. The light went off.
“Do you think they’ll notice the stuff we moved around?” whispered Fee into the darkness. She could feel Henry’s hand tightening around hers, and took comfort from that.
“I hope not. It’s at the back of the barn,” he replied quietly. “We should keep going down.”
“Okay.”
Henry led the way slowly down the steps. Fee’s eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness, and she saw he had one hand on the wooden wall to one side, and put his feet carefully one after the other down the steps.
“I think I’m at the bottom,” he said eventually.
“Tell Bing to make a dim light. I think it’ll be okay now,” said Fee.
As Henry pulled Bing out of his pocket, the tiny bot put out a small light, showing a room filled with old broken barrels and shelves containing empty jars.
“Over there, on the other side.” Fee pointed to where she could see another door hiding behind some barrels and a curtain. “If you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t know it was there.”
Henry pulled her by the hand across the room. They shoved the barrel aside as quietly as they could and exposed a dusty old door in the wall. Creatures scuttled away from Bing’s light, and Fee tried not to think about what might be in the room with them.
There was no handle to this door, so Henry put his fingers along the edge and pulled. It wouldn’t come, and he wasted a few minutes pulling and pushing at different angles along the side of the door.
Fee looked around the edge, trying to find a way in that made sense. Her eyes lit on something in an even darker corner of the room. She left Henry still working on the door, and peered in behind a shelf and another barrel. There was a small circular door close to the ground, this time with a handle. “Henry. Over here. There’s another one.” She pulled open the door, and knelt down on the ground in front of a very narrow tunnel. They would have to crawl through it on their hands and knees, maybe even their stomachs. She hoped this was the right way, because they wouldn’t be able to turn around half way.
Henry came over and crouched down beside her. “Are you sure this is it?” he asked.
“Nope. But it opens, and it’s going in the right direction.” Movement sounded above them in the barn. “And I think we better keep moving, just to make sure.”
Henry pulled on the door, and this time it opened. He took a breath and then crawled into the hole. Fee was trembling just watching Henry’s slow progress. She pulled a barrel to hide the door, and then forced herself to follow closely behind Henry, closing the door in the slightly wider entrance area.
It was surprisingly dry inside the tunnel, and regular wooden beams were doing a good job of holding it together. Spiders and other unnamed insects scuttled across her path every now and again, but Fee managed to keep her screams on the inside.
Henry crawled slowly but steadily ahead of her, occasionally glancing back to make sure she was okay. It was hard to tell in their dark little tunnel, but she thought they were heading in the right direction. She wondered what the tunnel was there for. Geraldine had kept it carefully maintained, if its condition was any indication. She’d probably been expecting something from the Witch Hunters.
Fee wished she’d realized how important that was. She’d have made sure it was maintained as well. Maybe widened it out a little.
Eventually Henry stopped. Fee crawled up close behind him, and he turned to look back at her, his eyes golden in the dim light from Bing.
“A door is just up ahead. Any idea where it’s going to put us out?”
“I think it has to be the basement,” whispered Fee. She hoped.
“I’ll go first and check it out. I’ll signal if it’s safe. Don’t come out before then, just in case.”
“Okay.” Fee tried to calm the hammering of her heart as she contemplated going into the house filled with unknown people, all of whom were out to kill her.
***
Henry climbed out of the tunnel, and looked up. Fee had been right; it was a basement, cartons everywhere marking it as a storage locker. It had been too much to expect that they’d put Alberta down here, he supposed.
Still, he’d been hoping.
He stood up an
d looked around, listening for sound over his head. He went to the one exit door he could find and turned the handle. It squeaked as he opened it and he winced. Poking his head out the door, he saw a small landing and then a set of stairs going up. It was all in darkness, so there was probably a door at the top as well. Better for them to hide, if nothing else.
A noise behind him made him spin around, arms up and ready. But it was just Fee, climbing out of the small tunnel.
“I told you to wait there,” he said in a low voice.
“You took too long,” she replied, her eyes daring him to say something.
He didn’t bother. He’d been about to get her anyway. “There’s a set of stairs leading up. Do you know where it goes to?”
“The kitchen,” whispered Fee.
“Is there a particular place they might hold Alberta?”
Fee shook her head. “We don’t even know who’s here, or if they’re holding her.”
Henry knew there was someone here. He’d always relied on his intuition, and it was beating him over the head right now, telling him this wasn’t a safe situation. “Well, let’s assume that we know that. Where do you think might be places they’d hide her. The living room? Her bedroom?”
“Sure, both those places. Maybe we need to split up when we get up there?”
“There’s no way we’re splitting up. It’s too dangerous,” said Henry more sharply than he’d intended. He already felt nervous about being here, and having Fee with him. He didn’t need them splitting up to make it worse. Then he saw the look on her face. “Too dangerous for me,” he added with a grin.
“Come on then. Let’s get this over with,” said Fee.
They crept up the stairs, trying to keep to the outside edge, to avoid the squeaks. At the top, Henry slowly opened the handle and peered out, trying to figure out what he would do if he actually saw someone. They hadn’t even talked about their escape plan. “Clear,” he said softly.
They tiptoed into the kitchen, a bright sunny room, with flowery curtains, and a big table in the middle.
“Which way?” he whispered.
Fee nodded toward a door to the left, and led the way. Without waiting for him, she opened it and looked around the side. Fear spurted to life inside him, and he strode over.
But nothing out in the corridor either.
Fee pointed to another door across a hallway, and then led the way over to it. She pressed her ear to the door, and stiffened. Henry leaned over her and listened as well. He could hear the sound of male voices, speaking rapidly, as though they were arguing.
Fee backed away from the door, and pointed down the hallway. Henry led the way this time, going as quietly as he possibly could. There was a door down from the kitchen, and again Fee put one ear against the wood.
Before Henry could stop her, she opened it, and peered inside.
A noise indicated she’d surprised someone by her entrance. But Fee pushed the door open wider, and went in, pulling Henry along behind her. He closed the door, and turned, hoping he was about to see Alberta. It was a large bedroom, with an old-fashioned bed taking up a large portion of the space. On the bed, two women were tied up, with gags over their mouths. One was an older woman with grey hair, and the other was a few years younger with long dark hair and a sad expression on her face. Both were staring at Fee like she was a ghost.
Fee was staring right back, her face white.
“Fee? What is it?” he asked coming to stand next to her. He glanced at the women. “Is it Alberta? Who’s the other lady?”
“It’s my Mom,” whispered Fee in a stunned voice.
Henry raised his eyebrows in surprise, and looked back at the women. The younger one did look a little like Fee. “Should we help them?” he asked.
His question seemed to spur Fee into action. She raced over to the older lady, and started by pulling off the gag over her mouth, moving onto the ropes that held her hands and feet.
Henry went to untie her mother, but Fee looked up and shook her head. “Leave her. It’s a trap. She’s a Witch Hunter.”
Henry looked into the panicked eyes of the other woman on the bed, and shook his head. “I don’t think so, Fee. Look. She’s terrified.”
“Of us. That we’re going to get her out of here.” Fee’s voice was hard.
Henry shook his head. “That makes no sense, Fee,” he said. He remembered what she’d said, that this woman had stood by while her father tried to kill her. That must have left a few scars.
“Leave her,” she said again.
“Oh, my dear, you can’t possibly leave her here. They’ll kill her,” said Alberta, her gag free. “It was her visits here that tipped them off to how she felt about them. That’s why we’re here.”
“What are you talking about?” said Fee, pausing her untying.
“Your mother has been visiting me. I didn’t tell her about you, not at all. But she’s been telling me for a long time how she’s missed you, and that she regrets what happened. They overheard her.”
Fee narrowed her eyes at Alberta. “Did you tell her about me? About our relationship?”
Henry knew why Fee was upset. If Alberta had said anything, then she was the reason the cult had been able to find and target Fee. Instead of being a help, she’d been a terrible hindrance.
But Alberta shook her head emphatically. “Absolutely not. I knew it was too dangerous. But I didn’t realize how suspicious they’d become. They’ve been checking my computer. Watching my emails.”
“How? They don’t use technology.”
“They do when it suits them, my love. I’ve discovered that the hard way. Now let your nice man here untie your mother. We need to get out of here as soon as we can.”
Fee wavered, and Henry could see that it was a tough decision for her. She’d thought of her mother as the bad guy for so long that the idea she might not be so bad was confusing.
She glanced at Henry, but he had no answer for her, other than her mother was scared.
“Okay, untie her legs and take the gag off. But we leave her hands tied.”
Henry went to her mother, and pulled off the gag. She let out a relieved sigh.
“Thank you, Wild Feather,” she said quickly. “I promise you I’m not a spy.”
Fee glanced her way once, quickly, and then ignored her, finishing off Alberta’s legs. Alberta was rubbing her hands and legs, and Henry knew the pain of having the circulation returned would come in a moment or two. He quickly untied Fee’s mother’s legs, and hesitated over her hands.
“Leave it, Henry. Please.” Fee’s voice was tortured, and for that alone, Henry left the bonds over her mother’s hands. She was going to be a hindrance like that, but perhaps once they were in the tunnel he could persuade Fee to change her mind.
He glanced at Fee, and saw the anguish in her face. She was struggling with this whole thing. He needed to get her out of there quickly.
“Okay, we’re going out the same way we came in. Hopefully, they’ll still be in the other room. They sounded like they were arguing, so maybe that will keep them busy.”
“An awful lot of maybes and hopefullys are in that plan,” said Fee’s mother.
“Then you can stay behind,” said Fee sharply. “We didn’t come here to get you.”
“No, thanks. I’ll come with you.”
Henry went first, peering again out the doorway. It was clear, so he waved them all to follow him. They tiptoed along the corridor, and then Henry held open the door to the kitchen, urging them through faster. Just as he was about to shut the door behind him, he heard the growl of a dog, and turned to see a large rottweiler snarling at him from the other end of the corridor.
“It’s their dog. Damn vicious thing it is, too,” said Alberta. “Shut that door!”
Henry slammed it shut just as the dog leaped for him, forgetting the need for silence. He heard shouts from the other side of the living room, and swore. “Everyone down those stairs. Now.”
They didn’t need hi
m to say it twice. Fee led Alberta and her mother down the stairs, as Henry put a chair under the door of the kitchen.
“This isn’t going to get us far, Fee,” said Alberta. “No exit from the basement.”
“Just keep going and let us deal with that,” said Fee.
On the other side of the door, Henry could hear the men thundering down the hallway to the room where their captives had been kept.
“They’re not here!” came the shout, and the efforts to open the kitchen door doubled.
A big body slammed against it, and the door partially cracked down the side. Henry’s eyes widened and he raced after the others through the basement door, grabbing the old key out of the lock on the other side, and managing to get it locked from the inside before he raced down the stairs.
In the basement, he found Fee shoving her mother into the tunnel after Alberta. Up the stairs, the door was being broken down with the same ease that they’d broken down the first door. He locked the second door to the basement, throwing the key to one side. They’d proved that locking a door wasn’t going to hold them up for long. He could hear their shouts as they made it through the top door.
“Hurry,” said Henry. “We don’t have much time.”
Fee pushed her mother through, and Henry piled boxes in front of the tunnel door in an attempt to hide from their pursuers. Fee went through the tunnel entrance and Henry was right behind her, pulling boxes in front to hide it, just as the men started to work on the bottom door.
Henry tried to wait patiently as the older women crawled along the tunnel, but it was difficult. He could hear the angry noises behind him and then the unmistakable crack of a gun going off. His whole body jerked in response. They’d be sitting ducks if they found the trapdoor. He looked around him trying to see if there was a way he could block it off.
The wooden beams were holding it in place, along with a fairly solid support structure. Banging at it would only alert their pursuers to where they were.
He tried to calm his heartbeat, just crawl slowly after the others, and not think about getting a bullet in his back. The crawl along the tunnel seemed much further on the way back, the darkness winding ahead of him. Fee kept glancing back, sometimes looking at him, and sometimes trying to see behind him. Henry preferred not to look behind in case he saw something he didn’t want to.
