Tanyth laughed.
“Hold it right there.” The man’s voice seemed to come up from the grasses in front of them.
“Oh, goodness,” Gertie said. “Don’t be scarin’ an old lady like that.”
“Shut up.”
“Rude, too. Young man, didn’t your mother teach you any better?” Gertie tsked. “At least stand up here and greet a body properly. Honestly.”
Tanyth reached for Gertie’s arm in warning when the grasses gave way and a scowling man stepped up out of a depression in the soil. “There. Better?” He wore the same black trousers and green shirt that the two in the forest had worn.
“Much, thank you,” Gertie said. She stuck out a hand. “I’m Gertie Pinecrest. This is my friend, Tanyth Fairport. You are?”
“Morris? What are you doin’?” A second, tired-sounding voice came from the grasses.
“We been watchin’ for ya, mum,” the first man said. He reached out and shook Gertie’s hand. Before he let go, he slipped a loop of rope from his wrist onto hers and snugged it down.
“Watchin’ for me?” Gertie said. “With a rope?”
“Malcolm and Arnold came back an hour ago. They had a lot of stories to tell. The boss figgered you two wouldn’t take ‘go away’ for an answer.”
“Well he was certainly right, wasn’t he, Tanyth?”
“Oh, yeah. He was right.”
The man gave Tanyth an odd look. “You the witch with the stick?”
Tanyth looked at her staff. “I never thought of it as a stick, really. More like a walkin’ staff.”
“You’ll have to give that to me, mum.”
“Will I?”
“Yes’m.”
“How’ll I get down the cliff without it? It’s a walking stick. It helps me walk.”
The man looked down the hole behind him and then back at Tanyth. “Who said anythin’ about goin’ down the cliff?”
“Just a guess. Ain’t your boss in the cave down below?”
“How do you know about the cave down below?” The man’s voice all but squeaked in surprise.
“Morris, shut up. If they was guessin’ before, you just told ’em.”
Morris clamped his lips together in an angry line. “Gimme the stick, mum. You won’t need it goin’ down.”
“S’pose your gonna take it from me?”
“No, mum. They will.” His gaze went over Tanyth’s shoulder and she saw three archers with bows drawn standing four yards away.
“Gertie, I think they’ve heard about us,” Tanyth said.
“Yes, dearie. You didn’t hear them coming?” She nodded back at the archers.
“Nope.”
“We’ll have to work on your hearin’ later. Why don’t you give this nice man your staff. We don’t want to hurt him.”
Tanyth released the staff, giving it a nudge so that it fell forward and measured its length on the new grass.
“Thank you, mum. Now if you’d stick out your hand?” He held up the other end of the rope with another loop in it.
“You think that’s going to stop us?” Tanyth asked.
Gertie sighed. “When I said that about the questions earlier? I didn’t mean you should ask so many, Tanyth.”
Tanyth looked to Gertie and saw the grin at the corner of her mouth. “Sorry. I still don’t see the point, but all right.” She stuck out her hand. “There you go. Tie us together.”
“Thank you, mum.” He slipped the loop over her wrist and snugged it down. The knots were tied to offset each other so that if the women tried to pull apart, the knots would grow tighter.
Gertie held her hand palm up and Tanyth gripped the gnarled hand in her own. “It’s your party,” Tanyth said. “Now what?”
“Tanyth.” The warning in Gertie’s tone came through clearly.
Morris closed his eyes and shook his head a couple of times. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
He turned and followed a faint path in the grasses where many feet had apparently worn the old grass away and prevented the new grass from sprouting. He didn’t turn to see if they followed. The archers behind them made sure of that.
They walked along the cliff top toward the river. The roar of falling water grew from a quiet whisper to a dull roar. It made little sound falling over the edge. The roaring came from below, echoing up the cliff walls. Morris led them out to the edge and into a small wooden structure pegged to the rock face. He stepped to the far side of the room and the archers pressed Tanyth and Gertie to follow him.
“Mind the crack,” Morris said, pointing to a line across the floor.
As she stepped over it, Tanyth had a chance to look straight down to the sea below.
“Hold onto the rails there,” Morris said, pointing to a rough wooden rail at waist height. “And stand still.”
“What—?” Before Tanyth could finish her question, Morris pulled a lever and the floor dropped out from under them.
Gertie’s laughter bubbled up and Tanyth turned to look at her as soon as she realized they were not falling to their doom.
“What’s so funny?”
“It tickled my belly inside. I’m very ticklish.”
Morris gave the old woman a smile. Tanyth thought it looked genuine. “You really the hermit?” he asked.
“Yeah. Been the hermit for so many winters I’ve lost count.”
Morris looked down at his feet and screwed his mouth shut.
“Think nothin’ of it, Morris,” Gertie said. “I’ve had a good run and it’s almost over.”
Morris glanced out of the corner of his eye but only shook his head.
The platform slowed as it neared the bottom. Tanyth was grateful for the railing. It gave her something to focus on beside the seemingly endless descent straight down.
From below she could look up and see the shelf of rock projecting out, letting the full river flow off the edge and down into the bay below. It pounded the surface with a huge, nearly deafening roar.
Finally, the platform slowed and stopped. More archers met them at the bottom. Morris gripped the loop of rope between them and tugged them off the platform and onto a stone and mortar landing.
The bay extended almost due south, the arms of the bay spreading until the mouth must have been a half-mile wide. Below them a floating dock scrubbed against the sheer rock face; a two-masted sailing vessel lay moored at it. The craft itself looked smaller than the ship Tanyth had ridden from Kleesport, but not by a lot.
Morris tugged on the rope and interrupted her reverie. “Come on, ladies,” he shouted. “The boss is waitin’.”
He led them across the landing and pushed through a wooden door. Two burly men-at-arms, each with a mace and sword, guarded the door and scowled at Morris as he passed between them. Inside, the tool marks left by the miners who must have carved the hole gleamed in flickering torch light. When the door swung closed behind them, the noise from the falling water diminished but was still too loud to speak over. With another tug on the rope, Morris took them deeper into the tunnel and turned right at the first branch. The noise notched back again thanks to the intervening rock, and Tanyth could hear her own footsteps as they trod along this new corridor. Near the end two more guards, both wearing the black and green livery and carrying swords and maces, stood guard outside an iron-bound wooden door.
“This them?” the guard on the left asked, jerking his thumb at Tanyth and Gertie.
“Yeah. They just walked right up and introduced themselves,” Morris said with a glance over his shoulder.
The guards looked at each other and then at the two women, shaking their heads. “Pity,” the first guard said. “Go on in. He’s expectin’ ya.”
Morris grabbed the handle and pushed the door open with his shoulder. “Boss? They’re here,” he called as the door swung open. He led them into a carved-out chamber of rock. A rumpled cot stood in an alcove on the right side of the room and a sturdy wooden desk held pride of place in the middle. On the left side, four sets of chains hung from bolt
s set into the stone of the wall. Tanyth didn’t look at the dark stains on the floor very long before the thought occurred to her that Gertie was more than a bit mad.
A tall man, broad at the shoulder and narrow at the waist, stood and leaned on his knuckles over the desk. “Ah, ladies. So glad you could make it. I wondered if I’d have to hunt you down, but here you are.”
Tanyth stared at the man. His face seemed familiar. The negligent stance and the darkness about his eyes struck a chord in her memory but she couldn’t place where.
“Well, we were in the area. Seemed the least we could do. Stop in and greet our new neighbors,” Gertie said, a bright smile on her face.
“How charming!” the man said and with his words, recognition snapped into place.
“Malloy,” Tanyth breathed.
“How astute of you, mum. And after only one meeting. I’m flattered you should remember me.”
“You made quite an impression,” Tanyth said. “Might work on makin’ it a good one next time.”
His eyelids flickered but his smile never wavered. “I’ll take that under advisement, mum, but tell me. How is it I find you here?”
“You mean in this cave?” Tanyth asked.
“No, I mean alive. I thought you were sailing with that fool, Groves.”
“Oh, yeah. That. I did. A lovely man and a handsome son. My travelin’ companion found the young Mister Groves most attractive.”
“That’s impossible!” Malloy punched the desk for emphasis.
“Oh, I assure you, it’s not. He quite made my heart pitter-pat a few times, I don’t mind sayin’.”
“Tanyth, you minx,” Gertie said. “You never told me about that.”
“We been kinda busy since I got to your place.”
“True.”
Morris cleared his throat and tugged on the rope. “Ladies. The boss is talkin’.”
Storm clouds gathered on Malloy’s face and Tanyth saw him take a deep breath, his mouth caught in a rictus that might have been a smile if it hadn’t looked so strained. “Leave us, Morris. Get back to your post.”
“But, Boss...”
“I think I’m safe from two old ladies, Morris. And I’ve got the boys just outside if I need help.”
Morris bowed his head in acknowledgment and muttered, “Of course, sir.” He turned on his heel and stood the staff up against the wall before going back through the door.
When the heavy wood bumped closed again, Malloy turned his gaze on Tanyth. “You did not sail with Groves.”
“Really?” Tanyth said glancing at Gertie and then back at Malloy. “He said he was Captain Groves. The ship looked very much like Zypheria’s Call. You saw me in his company the night the wind changed.”
“Zypheria’s Call is at the bottom of the Bight.” He bit his words off one at a time before shouting, “How did you get here?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Zypheria’s Call is prob’ly halfway back to Kleesport by now.”
“Halfway back?” His brow beetled even more severely than before. “Halfway back to Kleesport? You mean he’s been and gone already?”
“Of course. Once we found the bomb on board and dismantled it—”
“That’s impossible!”
“You keep sayin’ that, Captain Malloy. It’s not only possible. It’s history.”
“Where’s the device now?”
“I’m sure I don’t know. I believe Captain Groves turned it over to the garrison commandant.”
“Oakhurst has it?”
Ice splashed through Tanyth’s veins. “Is that the commandant?”
“Yes, yes. Tiresome lad. Doesn’t know his station.” Malloy chewed his lips and glowered at the two women. “You? You’re the hermit I keep hearin’ about?”
“Oh, yeah. That’s me. Gertie Pinecrest.” She gave him a smile and a truly vacant stare.
Malloy blinked several times and his head cocked sideways just slightly. “And have you been the hermit long?”
“Mercy sakes, yes. Prob’ly longer than you’ve been a captain. Twenty-five, thirty winters.”
Malloy pursed his lips and nodded slowly up and down one time. “I see. That’s a very long time to live alone in the wilderness. Aren’t you afraid?”
Gertie laughed. “Oh, no. Nothin’ to be afraid of. I have my apple cider and my goats. Every few months somebody pays a visit. It’s quite peaceful.”
Malloy ran one bronzed hand through his hair. The look on his face nearly made Tanyth laugh herself.
He snorted and shook his head. “Never mind that,” he muttered and waved a hand toward the wall with the chains on it. “If you two would be so kind? I need to see a man about a bomb, and I can’t be havin’ you two wanderin’ around loose until I get back.”
Gertie turned toward the chains. “You’re not thinkin’ we’re gonna wait in them chains against that cold wall, are ya?”
Malloy nodded, a look of pained sadness on his face. “I am sorry, ladies. My hospitality is truly shocking, I know, but...” He made a tsking sound between his teeth. “There it is. Unless you’d like to join the men in the mine?”
Gertie turned back at Malloy. She pursed her lips and raised her face to the ceiling. “Very well. Chains it is,” she said and led Tanyth over to the wall by their joined hands.
Malloy’s look of exasperated disbelief was almost worth it, but Tanyth wondered what the old lady had in mind. She was a bit concerned that the answer might well be nothing at all.
Chapter Thirty-three:
Chained
Tanyth looked up at the chain, then over at Gertie. “This is gonna get uncomfortable fast.”
“Would if we were gonna be here long,” she said.
“What? You got more mice in your pocket?”
Gertie turned her face toward Tanyth. The small black eyes in her hair stared out. “What good would mice be?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe scamper over to Malloy’s desk and get the keys for the manacles.” She rattled the chain for emphasis.
“Don’t be silly, dearie. The keys would be much too heavy for a mouse to carry.” She looked up at her own chains. “At least I convinced him that one arm would be enough.”
“It’s that one arm that’s already gettin’ sore.”
“Oh, for Lady’s sake. Hold on. I wanna give ‘im a chance to get underway before we do anythin’ rash.”
“Rash? Like escape?”
“Yeah. I can only do this once, and if he comes back because he forgot a change of underwear or something, that wouldn’t be good.”
Tanyth blinked and looked down at her companion. “You mean you have a plan?”
Gertie shrugged. “Not a plan, as such. No.”
“Then what?”
“Can you untie our rope?”
“Sure. Reach up so I can get the knot.”
Gertie lifted her arm up. Tanyth pulled the slip knot loose from her wrist, then did the same for Gertie, dropping the rope to the floor. “We’re still chained on the opposite hands.”
“Grab your staff.” Gertie nodded to where Morris had left it standing beside the door.
Gertie lifted her chained hand as high as it would go. “Use the slack in the chain.”
Tanyth traced the loop of chain up, through the eye bolt in the rock and down. She edged away from Gertie and spun so that her free arm could reach the familiar oak shaft. Her fingers were just an inch too short.
“Tug the chain a bit,” Gertie said. “See if you can get another link through the eye bolt. I’ll stand on tiptoe.”
Tanyth tugged but the chain wouldn’t budge. “You’re just too short, Gertie.”
“Well, yer gonna be that way about it, come over here an’ scootch down.”
“What good’s that gonna do?”
“Tanyth, I swear on the Lady’s lacy knickers that if you keep givin’ me grief I’m gonna leave ya here to rot.” Her eyes blazed and she stamped her foot.
Tanyth took a deep breath and blew it out. “Sorry, Ge
rtie. I’ve been workin’ alone a long time. It’s hard to adjust.”
Gertie smiled and gave a shrug. “Same here, but if we’re gonna get out of this, you need to trust me.”
Tanyth scuttled back along the wall. “What? Hands and knees?”
“That’ll work,” Gertie said.
Tanyth got down so Gertie could step onto her shoulders. “Sorry about this.” In a moment she stood on Tanyth’s back, her boots bruising Tanyth’s shoulder blades for a moment. Then the pressure was gone. “Quick. Move.”
Tanyth slipped out and looked up.
Gertie hung from the eye bolt by her hands. “Pull the chain. Quick. I don’t know how long I can hold this.”
Tanyth pulled and the chain ran freely through the eye. She reached the staff easily and returned quickly. “Now what?”
“Use the staff. Push some slack back through the eye so I can let go without pullin’ my arm out of its socket.”
Tanyth used the stout oak as a lever, and in moments Gertie stood beside her once more.
Gertie shook her arms and hands out. “Don’t wanna do that again any time soon.”
“Me, either, but what do we do with this?” Tanyth held up the staff.
“What you do is use the iron shoe, and what I want you to do is get a good swing and hammer right on the end of the eye bolt. Can you do that?”
“You want me to drive the bolt in farther?”
“Even a fraction of an inch will do it. Yeah.”
Tanyth opened her mouth to ask why, but thought better of it. “Right on the end?”
“Yeah. Hit it with the iron, not the wood.”
“All right.” Tanyth flipped the staff and held it like a bat. She placed the iron shoe against the tip of the eye bolt and pulled back. She put all her focus on the eye bolt and swung with all her might.
The iron missed the eye bolt altogether and cracked against the stone just above it. The shock rattled the staff out of Tanyth’s hands and it dropped to the stone floor with a loud clatter.
“What was that?” The guard’s voice from outside the door.
His partner gave a muffled reply. Tanyth scrambled to pick up the staff as the door swung inward. When her fingers wrapped around it, she stood and thrust it behind her, pinning it against the wall with her back. Feeling the very top of it behind her head, she leaned back and lifted both arms to hang on the chain.