“Now what?” she asked.
“Let’s find the stairway. I’d like to see how the girl is secured.”
We stopped in the study on the way and she showed me the bowl and its skull. The bowl was indeed the real thing. I’d seen it many times before. Neither the icon nor the ring lay in such plain sight, however, and I hadn’t the time to try my skills on drawers. We returned to our search for a stair.
It was located along the west wall. We mounted it, and Graymalk led me to Lynette’s room. The door was closed, but it did not seem necessary that it be locked, with her chained up.
I tried the door trick again and it worked the first time. I’d have to see whether Larry had any other good ones. . . .
As we entered, Lynette’s eyes widened, and she said, “Oh.”
“I’ll go rub up against her and let her pet me,” Graymalk said. “That makes people happy. You can be looking at the chain while I do that.”
It was actually the locks in which I was most interested. But even as I advanced to do that I heard the distant clopping of a horse’s hoofs, approaching at a very rapid pace.
“Uh-oh,” Graymalk said amid purrings, as the girl stroked her and told her how pretty she was. “Tekela must have seen us come in, flew off and given alarm.”
I went through with my inspection. The chain was heavy enough to do its job, and the lock that secured it to the bed frame was impressively heavy. The one which fastened it to Lynette’s ankle was smaller, but still hardly a thing to be dealt with in a moment.
“I know enough,” I said, as the hoofbeats came up beside the house, turned the corner, and I heard a horse blowing heavily.
“Race you home!” Graymalk said, leaping to the floor and running for the stair.
The rider was dismounting as we bounded to the first floor. A second or two later I heard the back door open, then slam.
“Bad,” Graymalk said. Then, “I can occupy the vicar.”
“The hell with him! I’m going to take out the study window!”
I reached the corner just as the nasty little man came around the other corner, a riding crop in his hand. I had to slow to turn into the room and he brought it down across my back. Before he could strike a second time, though, Graymalk had leaped into his face, all of her claws extended.
I bounded across the room, a scream rising at my back, and leaped at the window, closing my eyes as I hit. I took the thing with me, mullions and all. Turning then, I sought Graymalk.
She was nowhere in sight but I heard her yowl from within. Two bounds and a leap brought me back into the room. He was holding her high by her hind legs and swinging the crop. When it connected she screamed and he let her fall, for he had not expected me to return, let alone be coming at him low off the floor with my ears flat and a roar in my throat straight from my recent refresher with Growler.
He swung the crop but I came in beneath it. If Graymalk were dead, I was going to kill him. But I heard her call out, “I’m leaving!” as I struck against his chest, knocking him over backward.
My jaws were open and his throat had been my target. But I heard her going out the window, and I turned my head and bit hard, hearing cartilage crunch as I drew my teeth along through his right ear. Then I was off of him, across the room, and following Graymalk outside to the sounds of his screams.
“Want to ride on my back?” I called to her.
“No! Just keep going!”
We ran all the way home.
As we lay there in the front yard, me panting and her licking herself, I said, “Sorry I got you into that, Gray.”
“I knew what I was doing,” she said. “What did you do to him there at the end?”