Page 74 of Sins of the Highlander

“Aye,” he whispered back. “We’re close. Ye’re hearing the folk who live inside the castle. The sound comes down through cracks and fissures. I expect it might go up as well, so…” He placed a finger on her lips.

She nodded, and they walked on. The voices grew louder and then faded. Finally, they came to a dead stop.

“What is this? There’s no way out,” she said.

“I was hoping ye’d say that,” he said. “It means the entrance might yet be secret, even if someone made it this far.” He handed her the torch. “Now we go up.”

There was a narrow chimney rising above them. Rob began climbing the walls, placing his hands and feet carefully in finger- and toeholds worn slick from centuries of use. Then he braced himself with one foot on each side of the space and shoved at the seemingly solid roof over his head.

The stone lifted, and he moved it sideways to create an opening wide enough for his shoulders and arms to disappear through.

Faint light showed around him. Then he lifted himself the rest of the way out and disappeared from her sight.

Elspeth was left in the corridor below, holding the torch. The walls seemed to close in on her.

“Rob?”

A rope flopped down before her, and Rob’s face reappeared in the opening overhead.

“Put your foot in the loop, snuff out the torch, and I’ll pull you up,” he said.

She was quick to obey. The thought of remaining in the cave alone a moment longer made her heart pound. The rope bore her up smoothly. When her head cleared the opening, she saw that there was a pulley attached to a very low ceiling. Rob was barely able to sit upright in the short space as he hauled her up.

He tied off the rope and lifted her the rest of the way with a hand under each armpit.

“What is this place?” she whispered.

“We’re in the chapel.” He slid the slab back into position to cover the opening. “Under the altar.”

He peered out through a slit in the altar cloth and then crawled out. Elspeth followed him.

“How could this entrance cause Caisteal Dubh to fall?” she asked. “One man could hold this spot against an army.”

“Aye, he could,” Rob said. “But what if someone was to enter by stealth as we just did, when no one was on guard, and then open the gates?”

“Why not post a guard on the altar all the time?”

“I asked my father the same thing. He said no matter how much ye may trust someone, the human heart is weak and might be corrupted. A secret is best guarded when fewer souls know about it.”

“And no one’s ever found the way by accident?” she said.

“Who would think to look for something no one knows is there?” he said as he lifted her to her feet. “I think there may have been a priest or two who’s been surprised over the years when the laird miraculously appeared under the altar, but never in my lifetime. Or my father’s. Or his father’s. The secret is well hidden.”

“’Tis safe with me,” she assured him.

“And ye are safe with me,” he said. “Welcome to my home. Come now. There are those who will be glad to see us.”

He led her out of the chapel and into the bailey. The sun had set, but the courtyard was lit by countless torches and teemed with life. All his crofters, their bairns, and livestock had been crammed into the space. But instead of quivering in fear over the armed encampment beyond the stout walls, the castle’s inhabitants took for granted that the stronghold, which had never fallen, was indeed impregnable. The atmosphere was more like a makeshift fair.

Folks had set up stalls to barter their goods and make more of them. The Caisteal Dubh ovens were fired up. But the aroma of freshly baked barley bread didn’t quite mask the stench of too many barnyard animals and people in too small an area. Children frisked like colts in a game of tag between the stalls.

The only ominous note was the determined clang of the smith’s hammer. At least one soul seemed to realize a conflict was coming and was making preparations.

“The MacLaren!” someone called out. And the cry was taken up immediately as the people realized their laird was suddenly and miraculously in their midst. Rob was surrounded by his awed people, who knew he’d not come in through the barred main gate or any of the other smaller but heavily fortified ones. Men doffed their caps, and women covered their mouths with their aprons.

And narrowed their eyes with suspicion at Elspeth.

So that’s the Stewart maiden, she could almost hear them thinking. The cause of all this trouble.