‘Of course not,’ I said. I flicked him a side glance. He did the same to me.
‘Perhaps we ought to continue with our suicide mission,’ he said.
I grinned. ‘It’s probably safest.’
Although the banter was a pleasant distraction, it didn’t prevent the nauseous churn in my stomach when we edged towards the trapdoor and prepared to enter Culcreuch Castle. This was the perfect moment to swallow down several pills of spider’s silk but I didn’t need drugs to be successful; I knew that to my very core.
I drew in a deep breath of fresh air instead and nodded at Hugo. The teasing twinkle in his deep-blue eyes had been replaced once more by steely determination. Hester flew closer to Otis and reached for her brother’s hand. Suddenly they looked as nervous as I felt.
Hugo tensed his body and lifted up the trapdoor.
A part of me had been expecting to see Athair’s coldly smiling face greet us, so when I saw there was nothing below the trapdoor but an empty room, I sagged with relief. So far so safe. I stepped forward and quickly lowered myself into the building, clambering down a rickety ladder to reach the stone floor. Seconds later, Hugo followed together with the brownies.
The first room contained nothing but an old rickety chair that looked as if it might collapse at any moment. The second room wasn’t much different except for a few old paintings stacked against a wall. I squinted at them though I didn’t dare touch them for fear of disturbing the dust and leaving a trail.They looked pretty enough. I spotted a naval scene with an old gallant warship leaving a stormy harbour, and a still-life oil painting of some drooping flowers. I guessed Athair didn’t much care for art.
I wondered if he truly cared for anything or whether his longevity had sucked the joy out of everything. Soldiers grew inured to violence, medical professionals got used to blood. Maybe Athair had experienced too much of life to appreciate anything anymore. I could almost feel sorry for him. Almost.
Hugo took the lead, walking silently down the next flight of stairs. He opened the door to the third room. I peered past him and glimpsed the large pinboard that he had photographed on his previous visit. The carefully marked map of the British Isles was no longer there.
We exchanged glances before I tiptoed inside. The Billy bookcase was in one corner and the books lined up on its shelves looked untouched. In fact, the entire room appeared the same as it had when Hugo had sneaked in herein every way bar one: the stone floor was littered with scraps of ripped paper.
I bent down, picked one up and smoothed it out. It was from the map. Suddenly I could imagine the scene: as soon as Athair had realised I’d passed over the responsibility for the first treasure hunt to a teenager, he’d thrown a tantrum. He’d stormed in here and ripped up his map. He might be ancient, but maturity was not his strong suit.
Otis flapped around, picking up the bits of paper as if he were on a cleaning mission. I reached out to him and wagged my finger to tell him to stop. He paused, gazed down at the scraps and immediately released them. His face flushed.
‘It’s information about treasure,’ Hester whispered in my ear. ‘New treasure.’
That was not why we were here; it wasn’t treasure I wanted. I shrugged to indicate that to Hester. ‘Gold is gold,’ she muttered.
I shook my head. No, it wasn’t.
I scanned the room again, satisfying myself that there was nothing else of note. When I rejoined Hugo, we continued our descent to the basement of the old tower. My stomach was already tightening in wary anticipation: I knew what was coming next. Or rather who. It was why we were here.
The moment I stepped onto the uneven stone floor of the windowless tower, my claustrophobia stirred back into unwelcome existence. I told myself that I wasn’t trapped; there was a door to my right that led into the rest of Culcreuch Castle and the staircase next to it went up to the top of the tower. There was more than enough space to move around and there was certainly no lack of air. But the dank smell, the miserable atmosphere and the corpse in the hole by my feet were more than enough to encourage my old fears.
Hugo sensed my anxiety almost immediately. He reached for my hand without speaking and gave me a look laden with meaning. I swallowed and nodded to indicate that I was fine; I had things under control. William Hausman, whose dead body lay in that terrible pit, deserved far more than my illogical panic.
I calmed my breathing then turned to Hester and Otis. They were both pale faced and Otis was trembling. I wasn’t going to force them to do this. I mouthed,‘You don’t have to.’
Hester glared and set her chin in a stubborn line whilst Otis lifted his head.‘We do,’he mouthed back. Then without hesitation, and with Hester hot on his heels, he dive-bombed into the oubliette.
I didn’t have a lot of experience with dead bodies – almost none, in fact. There was the Fachan and the fiends I’d killed, but I’d been there when they’d died. This was different.
I had expected more smell, but although the odour in the room was unpleasant and it contained a definite tinge of death it wasn’t overpowering. It didn’t make me gag. William Hausmanhad been dead for such a long time that his body no longer emanated the reek of decomposition. To be honest, there wasn’t much left of the poor man. With any luck, that would make Otis and Hester’s grisly task much easier.
Hugo and I kept away from the edge of the oubliette so as not to block what little light there was. The brownies were already by Hausman’s body and I could clearly see his gold signet ring from where I was. There wasn’t much flesh clinging to his finger so it wouldn’t take long to retrieve it.
I gazed at the ring while the brownies did their best to remove it without disturbing the body. The three tiny lions etched onto the golden surface were exactly the same design as the ones carved onto the statue of King John in the centre of King’s Lynn.Exactlythe same.
‘It’s a perfect match,’ Hugo breathed.
I smiled. ‘Power,’ I whispered.
Unfortunately, that was the exact moment when Gladys buzzed in warning and the door to the tower started to open.
I froze in shock. Although I’d known that Athair was inside the castle, it was a big building and our success at staying unnoticed so far had lulled me into a false sense of security. We’d located Hausman’s ring and I’d let my guard down, a mistake that could well prove fatal.
Beside me, Hugo braced himself and gathered his magic. I reached for Gladys and drew her out. A beat later, I heard Athair’s voice from the other side of the tower. ‘Get a fucking move on, Horace!’
