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The footsteps stopped. They didn't
move away, Laura noted, they simply- fell silent, leaving only
the sound of her own heart beat loud in her ears.
Cursing herself silently for entering the tunnel at all before
telling Remington about it, Laura realized that she had to continue
forward, look for a way out. Cautiously, she went down the steps,
keeping close to the wall, pausing on each one to listen for any
sign of her pursuer.
At last she reached solid floor - and the wall beside her ended
in a corner. What had Bridget said? That the tunnels met in a
main one? But which way she should go, Laura had no idea.
The footsteps were back again. Coming toward the stairs behind
her. Taking up a position nearby, Laura hefted the candlestick
above her head and held her breath, waiting . . .
*****
"Sorry, your Lordship, I haven't seen Mrs. Steele since this
mornin'," Robby told Remington and Mildred when they reached
the stables. "You're certain she went for a walk?"
"That's what she said she was going to do," Remington
informed the groom.
"I'll go and help y'search," he offered, clearly eager
to be assistance to his new employer.
"Thank you. I think Mildred and I will search near the castle
ruins," Remington said.
"You don't think she's gone there, do you? That place is
dangerous. Why I meself have seen the ghost of Maeve Cleary on
more than one occasion," he said solemnly. "Tis an evil
place, beggin your Lordship's pardon."
"I think we'll be all right," Remington assured him.
"Would you mind letting the rest of the house know that Laura's
missing?"
"Aye, that I will, sir." He turned and loped off toward
the Manor.
*****
Laura waited until the person following her stepped from the stair-
and then swung the candlestick. She heard an angry groan and knew
she'd hit her target, but there was no time to gloat. Her assailant
grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back, pushing her to the
cold, grimy floor. Hands went around Laura's neck, squeezing,
and Laura struggled for a moment before going still.
She felt the murderer move away from her, and heard footsteps
fade down the corridor, thinking that she was dead. Laura waited
a few minutes before getting slowly to her feet, wincing as her
shoulder protested. Feeling of it, she decided it wasn't broken,
just bruised, and she knelt, looking for the candle and matches.
They weren't to be found, so she stood and found the wall again,
moving in the same direction as her attacker had gone, hoping
to find a way out of the tunnels. She could hear footsteps ahead.
There was no reason to be quiet now, she supposed, not when the
person thought she was dead.
*****
"This place gives me the creeps,
Mr. Steele," Mildred said as they looked around the area
of the tower. "Are there really ghosts here, do you think?"
"If there are ghosts anywhere, Mildred, I'd think they would
be here," he answered cryptically. He examined the padlock
on the tower door. "Wouldn't by any chance have a hairpin,
would you, Mildred?" he asked.
"Sorry, Chief," she apologized. "But I do have
this brooch," she said, removing the pin and handing it to
him. "Wouldn't it be easier to just go get the key from the
house?" she asked.
"No time," he said, sticking the end of the pin into
the lock and working it. "Shouldn't be too difficult,"
he told her, smiling as the lock popped open. "There we go."
He returned the pin to Mildred and removed the lock. "You'd
best stay out here, Mildred," he told her, pushing open the
wooden door. "According to Margaret, the place isn't in very
good shape." Yet the hinges on the door hadn't made a single
protest from non use, he thought to himself.
"I'll keep a look out," she agreed.
*****
Laura had found herself following her attacker down another flight
of stairs, and the air became cooler, damper, the walls rougher,
as though hewn out of dirt and rock. She was certain she was in
the lowest part of the tunnels now, the part that would take her
out to the remains of Castle Cleary.
"See anything, Mr. Steele?"
Laura paused. Mildred.
"No," Remington responded. "It's a bit dark in
here," he said. "Ah, that's a bit better."
Laura knew she had to risk her attacker coming back if she was
ever to get out of this place. "Remington!" she called.
"I'm down here!"
Remington almost dropped his lighter when he heard Laura's voice.
His eyes met Mildred's wide gaze. "Laura?" he called.
"I'm down here!" she said again. "In the tunnel!
There has to be a door into it from there!" She moved closer
to his voice, and found a step set of hand and footholds in the
wall, leading upward. She could hear Remington shuffling around
the wooden floor above.
"Where? Keep talking, Laura."
"I'm right below you, I think," she called back. "There
are some hand holds in the wall. . ."
Moving aside the straw that covered the floor, Remington located
the heavy wooden door and lifted it up. "Laura?"
"Thank God," she sighed, seeing his face illuminated
by the flickering flame of his lighter. "Would you mind helping
me get out of this place?"
"Can't you climb up? Are you hurt?"
"My shoulder's pretty sore," she said. "And my
neck feels terrible, but other than that I'll be fine if you just
help me get up there."
Remington lowered himself into the tunnel beside her, pulling
her into his arms. "I was so worried when I couldn't find
you."
"I only meant to explore the tunnel a little, and then go
back to the room. But someone followed me and closed the door
behind me," she told him as he pushed her up the wall into
the tower then followed.
"Are you okay, Mrs. Steele?" Mildred asked as they came
into the patch of light in the tower room. "What happened?"
Remington closed the hatch again, then escorted Laura outside
to get a better look at her. He winced as he saw the bruises already
appearing on her long neck. "Could you tell who did this?"
he asked, his eyes darkening in anger.
"No. I couldn't even tell for certain if it was a man or
a woman. I thought the tunnel would end here," she said.
"I was following whoever it was. I guess they went farther
down." She turned to look in the direction that the tunnel
would lead.
"Where did you find out about the tunnel?" Remington
asked, as they started slowly back toward the Manor.
"Bridget," Laura said, and then began to explain the
series of events that led up to their having found her beneath
the Tower. "Oh, and I got the name of the medicine that she's
taking. Prolemathane. I need you to check it out, Mildred."
"Sure thing, Mrs. Steele."
"So your assailant no doubt believes that you're dead,"
Remington mused. "Or at least unconscious so he or she can
come back and finish the job after the ceremony."
"Apparently," Laura agreed. "The ceremony."
She looked down at her dress. "I can't go looking like this,"
she said, indicating the grime and cobweb streaked dress that
had once been a light blue.
"You won't have to," he assured her. "We'll sneak
you back into the Manor and let you get cleaned up and changed
before going downstairs."
Mildred eyed her employer. "You've got a plan, don't you,
boss?"
"The killer thinks Laura's either dead or trapped in the
tunnel. What do you think he or she will do when a very much ALIVE
Laura appears at the ceremony?" he asked.
"It won't work, Remington," Laura said. "He probably
heard me calling out to you just a minute ago."
"Then we don't have a second to lose," he decided, increasing
his pace, causing Mildred to have to almost run to keep up with
them. "He'll have to return to change as well, no doubt,
so either way, we should be able to decide who it was that tried
to kill you."
Laura gave up. She didn't feel up to arguing with him about this.
"Let's go. I just want to get out of these clothes and into
a nice, hot shower."
"And while you're doing that, Mildred and I will stall the
ceremony until you can make your entrance," Remington said.
"Don't worry, Hon," Mildred said. "It sounds like
a pretty good plan to me."
"At the moment, it would seem to be the only one we've GOT,
wouldn't it?" Laura asked.
*****
Mildred entered the kitchen door first, telling the young maid
who was there that Miss Bridget was looking for her. Once the
maid left, Mildred opened the door and ushered Laura and Remington
inside and to the servant's stair that would take them to the
second floor near their suite. From there, it was an easy matter
to keep from being seen.
"I won't even go into your going off by yourself, Laura,"
Remington said once he closed the bedroom door behind them, while
Mildred went downstairs to tell the others that he would be down
momentarily.
"Believe me," she said, wincing as she tried to lift
her arm to remove her blouse. "Damn. That's going to really
hurt tomorrow. Believe me," she continued, "I didn't
plan on getting trapped in those tunnels with the killer, Remington.
I just wanted to ask Bridget a few questions. She told me about
the tunnels, so I think that eliminates her as the killer."
"Not necessarily. She might have told you about it hoping
you'd go and investigate them. You said that John came into the
room just before you left?"
"Yes. You don't think he could have done this?" she
asked, looking over her shoulder as she turned on the shower.
"John doesn't seem the type to hurt a fly."
"It's always the shy, quiet ones," Remington pointed
out. "They're the ones you have to watch."
"We haven't been able to eliminate ANYONE from this case,"
Laura moaned.
"Except for Margaret," he pointed out. "I somehow
don't see her getting up and down those steps you mentioned quietly."
"That's true." She peeked out of the shower. "Aren't
you going to change?"
He looked down at his dirt streaked suit. "I suppose I should,"
he agreed. "Wouldn't do for the new Lord of Crayston to put
in an appearance looking like a street urchin, now, would it?"
"Might be more appropriate," Laura called back, seeing
him smile before moving back to the bedroom to find a clean suit.
*****
Mildred met Remington as he got to the bottom of the stairs. "They're
all in there, Mr. Steele," she told him, pointing toward
the salon.
"Anyone arrive late?"
She shook her head. "Sorry, boss. No. They were here when
I came in."
"Then we'll just have to hope the element of surprise works,
won't we?" he told her, smiling as they entered the salon.
"There you are," Margaret scolded gently. "Where
is Laura?"
"Still missing," Remington said. "I wanted to keep
looking for her, but Mildred convinced me that Laura would want
me to attend the ceremony. I'm going back out as soon as it's
over," he told them.
"I'm sure she's all right, Cousin," Bridget said softly.
"Probably just lost track of time or such."
"Hmm," Remington nodded. "I hope you're right.
If anything has happened to her . . ."
"Well, the sooner we proceed with the investiture,"
Patrick O'Herlihy said, "the sooner you and everyone can
locate Mrs. Steele," he pointed out.
"I suppose so," Remington agreed, and watched as the
solicitor began to prepare for the ceremony. "Uh, why don't
we have a drink first?" he suggested, glancing at the doorway,
wishing Laura would hurry up. "A toast?"
"It's traditional to wait until after the investiture, Harry,"
Margaret said. "But if you insist, I suppose . . ."
Mildred poured eight glasses of the waiting champagne and handed
them out, meeting Mr. Steele's eyes with a worried look. "What
should we drink to?" Quinn asked.
"How about . . ." Remington paused as Laura came to
the doorway, wearing a high necked blouse and long skirt to hide
the evidence of her encounter with the killer. "How about
to my wife?" He lifted his glass in her direction. "To
Laura Holt-Steele." Placing his drink on a nearby table,
he moved toward her. "There you are, darling. I was becoming
worried about you," he said, taking her hands in his and
lifting them to his lips before turning to examine the faces of
his family . . .
To Be Continued . . .