Utter blackness.
She blinked some more and brushed her hand over her face.Her scarf was still tucked into her neckline, not covering her face, and her hair was still in its braided coronet pinned to the top of her head.
Not a glimmer of light penetrated the Stygian blackness, as if there had never been a torch lit down here.As if she were the only person alive.
She held her breath and listened.
Nothing.
No sound but her own pounding heart.
In addition to Lord Fairfax, there had been two men in the tunnel, one of whom she recognized from the inn in Sidmouth.Was she alone in the cave?What had happened to the other men?
Had they shot and killed Lord Fairfax?
She felt her way along the wall, trying to locate the entrance.Though she thought she’d taken several steps into the cave, her foot caught on rocks almost immediately.She tried stepping up and over them, but the pile grew higher.
The entrance had collapsed?Trapping her in here?
She froze, her back to the chilled rock wall, unable to breathe.Couldn’t even draw breath to scream in horror.
Time seemed to freeze as she stood there, against the cold rock.Cold as the grave.
Was she sealed in her own tomb?
She began to feel lightheaded.
There was still air in here.She willed herself to breathe it in and slowly let it out again.It smelled of damp sea air and ancient rocks, broken apart after millennia, smashed in the cave-in.Theo would know how old and what kind of rock was exposed at this level.Sophia let out a hysterical giggle.Just one.
Theo.Mildred.
Her friends were counting on her.
She would not panic.Panic would not serve her.She held her hand over chest, willing her heart to slow down.It was difficult to think over the sound and feel of its pounding.
Several deep breaths, in through her nose, out through her mouth.Think!
Lord Fairfax knew she was in here.
Lord Fairfax might be dead, shot by the smugglers.Or taken as their captive.
No, no, no!Perhaps he was outside, in the tunnel, trying to free her at this very moment.He had heard her gasp, had looked in her direction.
She cocked her head, hoping to hear the sound of rocks being moved.
Nothing.Not even the faint flutter of bats overhead, for they would have all flown outside at dusk to feed.
Mr.Huntley!He knew she was in here.
Or did he?
She had darted in after Lord Fairfax.Mr.Huntley might not have seen her go into the tunnel.And if she was no longer on the beach, he might think she had gone back up to the house.No one would know until morning that she was missing, let alone trapped, when Mrs.Digby expected her at breakfast before they started work.
She would not panic.Would.Not.
She couldn’t just stand here all night, either, waiting for other people to notice she was missing, to come to her aid.Hoping they would find her.
Well.She’d just have to rescue herself.
