She strode off down the trail, not waiting for the others. They caught up with her in a few strides, Deryn walking on one side of her, Darla on the other. Her friend reached out and took Maddy’s hand with a squeeze.
That small gesture nearly broke her. She choked back a sob, forced down the tears that threatened to fall, and squeezed her friend’s hand in return.
They found Craig standing on the porch of their cottage, looking anxiously for their return. There was blood crusted in his hair, and he was holding one arm gingerly against his side. At the sight of her husband, Darla broke from the others and went running over, throwing her arms around him and burying her face in his shoulder. The door to the cottage burst open and Lily and Sean came hurtling out, both in tears, both throwing their arms around their parents’ legs.
Darla bent down and spoke to them both. “Hush now. All will be well. These good men have come to help us. We’ll soon have Rory back with us, ye’ll see.”
The two children stared at Callum and Cian and the rest of the Order warriors who’d ranged out around the croft and were keeping watch.
“Come now,” Darla continued. “Off to bed with ye. I’ll come tell ye a story.” She took their hands, and with a last look at Maddy and Deryn, led the children inside.
Craig stood before the door protectively, his huge frame blocking the way. He nodded to Callum and Cian. “Who are they?”
“Friends,” Deryn replied. “They can be trusted.”
Craig blinked, rubbed his chin, and his shoulders sagged. “Damn it, Deryn, I never thought to see such things again. This valley was our sanctuary. Then those bastards came and—”
“I know, friend,” Deryn said softly. “I know. It will be made right. Tell us everything that happened.”
“Come inside.”
Maddy followed them into the cottage. The others took seats around the open fire, but Maddy couldn’t sit still. Instead, she paced up and down by the window, filled with nervous energy. Craig passed around cups of whisky and Maddy downed hers in one go then held it out for a refill. The fiery drink calmed her a little, making it easier to think.
Callum Sutherland leaned forward and fixed Craig with a hard stare. “Tell us what happened.”
Craig looked from one face to the other then nodded. In a slow, halting voice, he explained how the riders had found the children playing in the woods and had chased them home, he told of how he’d done his best to fight them off but failed. Of how the riders had paid no attention to Lily and Sean, wanting onlyRory. How one of them had hoisted the screaming boy onto his saddle and then rode away back the way they’d come.
He fell silent, staring into his whisky cup. “I dinna know how they found us,” he said at last.
“Someone from the spring festival perhaps?” Deryn said. “But however he found us, it doesnae matter. What matters is that we get the lad back. We know he’ll be taken back to Torryn Keep, so that’s where we have to go.”
“Ye think Rodric MacKay will hand the boy over if we ride up to the gates and ask nicely?” Cian asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Who said anything about asking? I say we break into Torryn Keep and bring Rory out.”
“Not possible,” Cian replied. “Have ye seen the walls and gates of Torryn Keep? It was built for defense. Even if the entire Order laid siege to the place, I doubt we could find a way in.”
“There has to be a way!” Deryn growled.
“There is,” Maddy said suddenly.
She handed her whisky cup to Craig and took a vacant stool. “I studied medieval architecture during my second year at university. It was this knowledge I used when I tried to find a way out of the keep the first time I was there. Every castle has to have drains, doesn’t it? And I know where there is a disused privy with a drain to the outside in Torryn Keep. At the back of the kitchen. I found it when I was mapping the place in my head. If I remember my training correctly, they are usually wide enough for people to climb up.”
Cian frowned. “And blocked at each end by a metal grille in case of just such an eventuality. If we could find where this drain empties outside the walls, we could likely get the outer grille off to give us access from the outside, but what about the one inside the castle? It will be locked with the only access being from within.”
Maddy thought about this. “That’s true. The one I found in the kitchen had been blocked off with a metal gate. But you’ll just need someone inside the castle ready to let you in, won’t you? And that somebody is me.”
“What?” Deryn cried. “No way, Madeleine.”
She turned to him. “It’s the only way. If I go to Torryn Keep alone, knock on the gates and ask to be let in, do you really think he’ll turn me away? No, he’ll let me in, you know he will.”
“And likely throw ye in a cell! Nay, Madeleine, I canna let ye do this. It’s too dangerous.”
She reached out and squeezed his hand. “I have to. I’ll do whatever it takes to free my son.”
“Dinna ask this of me,” he whispered. “I canna lose the both of ye. Not again.”
Her heart twisted at the pain in his voice. “You’re not going to lose us,” she said. “I promise. But we have to do this.”
