No one responded.
“Maybe the female servants have already been alerted,” Turner said, his voice at Samantha’s right shoulder.
“I’m not taking any chances.”She stepped back, then tried to kick the door in, but it didn’t give way.If only she had her trusty hairpins, but they’d been removed and set aside when she’d readied for bed.
“Let’s see if we can force the door open together,” Samantha suggested.
“Unlikely, considering it’s been bolted shut for as long as I can remember.”
“Bolted shut?”The dread of what this implied turned Samantha’s stomach.She shook her head.“Why would that be necessary?”
“Because a key wasn’t enough to keep Mark, a previous footman, away from Emma.”Turner angled his shoulder toward the door.“Let’s give it a go all the same, shall we?”
Despite his discouraging words, Samantha nodded.She positioned herself as he had, then counted to three.The door shuddered beneath the impact of their combined force.But held.
“Again,” Samantha told him.
They made another attempt but still failed to breach the barrier.
Samantha retreated a step, considered their options, then looked at Turner.“I’m ordering you to leave.”
“I only answer to Croft,” he replied, his voice firm.
She rounded, ready to lash out at him for being so damn loyal, when a faint voice caught her ear.A brief pause to listen, and then she was heading back to the door.She pressed her ear to it while asking, “Is someone there?”
“Mrs.Croft?”Sarah’s voice.
Samantha drew a shuddering breath.“The house is on fire, Sarah.Can you open this door?”
“It’s locked,” Sarah said.“There’s no key.”
Uneasiness slid down Samantha’s spine.How was this possible?
A problem to focus on later.For now…
“If there’s anyone else with you,” Samantha yelled, “tell them what’s happened, and then get out of the building.”
“We already tried,” Sarah replied, “but the smoke forced us back up the stairs.”
Samantha closed her eyes on an anxious sigh.In the few short minutes it had taken her to arrive here, the fire had swept through the left side of the building, toward the back.The stairs leading to the female servants’ quarters were now cut off, the door that would lead Sarah and whoever was with her to safety, impenetrable.
A hand settled over Samantha’s shoulder.“You must go.”
Turner’s voice – the finality in it – brought tears to Samantha’s eyes.She shook her head.No.She would not leave her loyal servants so they could perish while she lived on.
“Your daughter needs her mother,” Turner said, his hand attempting to draw Samantha away from the door.Toward the stairs located behind her.
“We’ll try again,” Samantha responded before telling Sarah, “Stand clear of the door.”
“Mrs.Croft—”
“Shut up and help me,” Samantha shouted, already preparing to slam her full bodyweight into the door.
Turner made an exasperated sound which she chose to ignore, and took his position beside her.
“On three,” she told him, then counted off the numbers and rammed her shoulder back into the door together with Turner.
The solid wood held as it had no doubt been intended to do.
