wasn’t about to just sit in that bedchamber and wait for Lawrence to come and
strangle me at his leisure. The thought of Flynt strangling George made me hurry.
I would make my way to the ground. There was simply no other choice. I stepped
onto the ledge and steadied myself, gripping the open window frame. I took a
deep breath, pressed hard against the stone, and focused my eyes on the narrow
ledge in front of me. “Don’t let yourself get excited by anything, George. What
you hear is just the wind, no banshees or demons from the Black Chamber. It’s
just you and me, and we’re going to get away from here. You just keep yourself
very quiet, all right?”
I heard a soft wuff.
My gloved hands clung tightly to the rough edges of the stone as, inch by inch,
I slid my feet toward the corner. Strange thing was that I was sweating, in this
blistering cold weather, I was sweating.
Where had Caroline climbed back into the Manor?
I gained the corner and pulled myself around it slowly, only to discover that
the ledge ended abruptly. In its place stood the jutting outline of a massive
chimney. To my unbounded relief, the stones were set at angles, and staggered,
protruding so I could fit my hands and feet on them. I didn’t have big hands or
feet; surely I could get a firm grip on the stones so I could climb down. “George,”
I said as I eased him out of my cloak. “I need both hands. You will have to keep
yourself very still. I’m going to stick you inside my breeches and belt you in.”
And that’s what I did. I probably looked like a pregnant woman.
“Hang on, George. We’re off.”
I swung my legs off the ledge, and for one long moment I dangled in midair until
my feet found furrowed edges for support. I felt George stiffen against me. I
hope he was praying as hard as I was.
My climb down was painfully slow. Several times I hung by my hands as I felt
around the stones to find a foothold. Suddenly, as I loosed my grip to find
another hold, the stone crumbled beneath my feet and I went down hard, all the
way to the ground. Thank God it wasn’t all that far, only about six feet. My
legs twisted under me as I fell sprawling on my side. I lay still for a moment
as a stabbing pain shot up my leg. I prayed that my leg wasn’t broken. I rose
slowly, flexed the leg, and discovered that it was fine but that I had wrenched
my ankle. Thank God I hadn’t landed on George. I quickly unbelted George and
pulled him out, I told him he was the most splendid dog in the western world. As
I stood there, sending thanks heavenward that I was still alive, I realized that
Caroline hadn’t climbed from the ledge back through a window into another room.
There weren’t any more chambers between The Blue Room and the chimney. I wasn’t
wrong. Lawrence had told me that Caroline had climbed out the window, walked
along the ledge, and let herself into another room. He had lied. Well, why
should I be so surprised? He had lied about everything else.
“I’m an idiot, George.” And I thought: what really happened to you, Caroline?
I looked up. I had climbed down a good twenty feet. Not badly done.
Tempest snorted, snapped up his hind legs to get my attention. I realized
quickly that I was cold and my ankle hurt, but I was alive, and that was just
fine indeed for the moment. I saw pinpoints of light in the distance. It was a
village. I wondered if I dared risk riding into the village to trade Tempest for
another mount. He was blowing hard again. I didn’t want to kill him. No, I
couldn’t stop. I was still not far enough away from Devbridge Manor, and the
Lyndhurst family was well-known in these parts. Would people recognize John’s
horse? If someone did recognize Tempest, then I could be taken for a thief. It