Panicking and near suffocating with the gag in her mouth and rolled up in a thick, stinking oiled canvas, Kristina attempted to draw in breath. Oh, dear God! How had Red Holme gotten inside the castle walls?
She had not recognized him at first. When he'd barged into her chamber, he'd looked like the grim reaper in that black cloak, his face covered in soot.
Holme picked her up, flipped her across his shoulder, further knocking the breath from her, and descended steps.
What had he done to Colin? Had he truly been captured by Holme?Please God, let him be all right.
"Help!" she yelled, or attempted to, until her throat was raw, but the sound could not carry far, muffled as it was. She focused on breathing in as much air as possible and combating the lightheadedness. What little air she inhaled smelled dank and mildewed, like a cellar.
Where the devil was he taking her?
Holme turned, bumping her head against a stone wall. The canvas provided very little padding, and a dull pain throbbed through her skull.Ow! Bastard!She wished she could knock him on the head with another rock.
"Scroggie?" he growled low. "Where the hell is he?"
A long moment of silence followed.
Holme strode forward and called his accomplice's name again.
"Coming." The voice was distant, then closer. "I couldn't get the damned door closed."
"Forget it. Is the fire burning?"
"Aye. The whole bed was ablaze." Scroggie chuckled.
"Good."
They were burning Colin's home! Sobs near choked her. She'd wondered what he'd meant earlier about not letting her burn to death.
Please, God, help Colin, Anna, and all the others to escape the flames!She prayed they wouldn't waste time searching for her in the fire.
After walking briskly for what seemed like several hundred yards, Holme placed her roughly on the ground. "Help me open the gate."
Rusty iron screeched.
"Shh. Put some oil on it," Holme grumbled.
After a few moments, she again heard scraping metal, but 'twas much quieter this time.
He dragged her a few feet, then hoisted her again and flung her across his shoulder. "Let's hurry to the river. 'Tis dawn." He trotted with her down a slope, jarring her painfully against the solid bone and muscle of his shoulder.
She was surprised to hear they were already outside the castle walls. She'd heard them say they were going to the laird's chamber. They must have used a secret passage.
Able to see naught but the faintest hint of dawn light through the thick material enshrouding her, she heard water flowing. Holme placed her on something hard that rocked this way and that. A boat, she realized, as the men climbed aboard, their boots clunking against the bottom. Once the boat was untied, it tottered and swayed, making her dizzy as it floated downstream.
Good heavens, how would anyone find her?
***
Colin strode across the bailey at dawn. Because of his conversation with Kristina, he'd gotten little sleep last night and wanted to ride out in search of Holme now. Of course, he would have to wait until the men broke their fast. But he needed to check the armory to see how many arrows they had.
"Fire!" a servant in the bailey yelled and pointed.
Startled, Colin glanced upward in disbelief at the smoke escaping the bedchamber window on the second floor. "Saints!" That was Kristina's chamber. "Nay!" he roared.
Icy fear piercing his gut, he raced up the steps to the great hall, finding many men asleep on the floor. "The second floor is on fire! Bring buckets of water!" He ran up the turnpike steps and along the corridor. "Fire! Everyone out!" he yelled in an effort to wake all his guests at once.
Holding his breath, he shoved open the chamber door to find the room in flames. "Kristina?" Terrified she might already be dead, he hunched low and hurried into the room. "Kristina!" He coughed against the smoke burning his lungs. The bed was completely in flames but he did not see any signs of a person on the bed or in the room.
