Fraoch nodded. “Aye, tis too bad he dinna see what a braw son he had in Magnus, what a good king he would become. Magnus is lucky he had ye in his corner.”
Lady Mairead said, “Thank ye Fraoch, that is verra kind.”
CHAPTER 34 - KAITLYN
The room was empty. I needed something to use as a tool and the only thing I had was the Matchbox car. I spent a second prying the plastic undercarriage from the metal casing of the car and ended up with a small scoop.
The door was thick wood, but I was able to jam the nose of the car between the planks. It pried one of the pieces of wood farther away from the other. I had to be careful though — if the toy car broke, it was literally all I had. I got it jammed in the space, and peeled away a splinter, making the gap wider between the planks, and pried again and again, each time pulling off a long thin splinter, making the gap ever wider. In all this time no one came.
Finally, I had a two-inch gap. I peered out trying to see. There was no one in the hallway.What the fuck was going on?
I had a blister on one hand, a cut on my other, a scrape on my knuckle. I shoved the car in again and pried. I managed to get a wide strip split away, got my hand around the top and levered it down. The wood cracked at the bottom and now the strip was wide enough to get a big bit of my hand through. I was excited so I took some deep breaths and paced around the room. Then I rushed the door, and chiseled down the middle of a plank with the nose of the car. The fender chipped, but it made it sharper, now it was an even better chisel. At the bottom of the plank I had a wide strip, I pulled and plied, and finally, a third of the plank was gone. My full arm was out. I struggled trying to get the handle and then… It was a simple wooden plank in a groove. I lifted it with a groan, then it dropped away.
I pushed the door open and crept down the hall, my footsteps echoing in the day. Where was everyone?
I was all alone.
I made it down to the courtyard and located the back stairs and went down into the dungeons. I prayed while I felt along the wall in the dark.
It was too quiet for there to be anyone living in there, and god I did not want to find James dead. I checked the first cell. “James?”
“Katie? Oh my god, Katie?”
I rushed to the end of the tunnel and peeked through a crack, seeing James’s eye looking back at me. There he was, sitting. “What the fuck, Katie?”
“James! Oh my god, I can’t believe…” I pulled the crossbar from its brace and dragged the heavy door while James pushed from his side.
We hugged. He asked, “What are you doing? Where is everyone? Are we escaping?”
“No, not, everyone has just vanished and we are, yeah, we’re getting out of here.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy to see you in my life.”
I held him at arm’s length. “Same to you, buddy, this was really scary when I was alone.” I held up my fingers. “Look at this shit, I cut myself all up.”
“How?”
“Digging through a door.”
He said, “And no one is here?”
“Not a soul, hopefully just in the castle, maybe the village?”
“I was yelling for help, and my voice echoed back at me, it was pretty fucked up.”
“Yeah, me too. Follow me. “ I led him into the kitchen, finding absolutely nothing, “Should we go up on the walls, or—”
He blew on the dust on the kitchen hearth. “I need water faster than that.”
We went outside the castle walls and down the banks to the river’s edge and drank, scooping handfuls of water into our mouths. I watched James, drinking and groaning with happiness.
“In all this time I haven’t seen a soul besides you.” I gulped and gulped.
Then, a man’s voice behind us, “Dost ye ken where anyone is?”
CHAPTER 35 - KAITLYN
James jumped to his feet. I clambered behind him.
