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She wished she could have just a few moments with him so she could say the things she desperately needed him to know.
She understood now a little of what he had been through on the morning of his own hanging now. Thankfully, she didn’t have a crowd of baying people waiting to watch her slow death.
Her stomach roiled alarmingly at the thought of what might befall her any moment now, but she had to ignore it.
She wanted to scream, but couldn’t.
She glanced around her without moving her head, but it was too dark within the grain barn to see much at all.
Desperate to keep the panic at bay, she closed her eyes so that the mental image of Charlie would come forward again. It was as though he was her guiding light, warning her to stay calm and remain in control of herself, if not the situation around her. Just thinking about him helped her remain in control as much as she was able to.
Unfortunately, with her hands tied behind her back, balanced precariously on tip-toe, with a noose around her neck, there was little she could do but wait – pray – and hope that salvation wouldn’t be too far away.
Charlie raced into the courtyard of the mill and scoured the buildings for any sign of life. His heart pounded heavily in his chest.
His first shout was muffled by the sound of the other horses tearing into the yard behind him. He waited only long enough for them to come to a stop before he called again.
“Hetty?” He watched Wally and Simon race for the house before he turned his attention to the outbuildings.
The stable block and hay barn were both completely empty. The door to the mill itself was locked.
“I’ll get them to bring the key,” Hugo growled as he stalked across the yard.
Charlie tried to look through the narrow windows, but couldn’t see anything except shadows. Frustration clawed at him at the thought that this might be yet another wild goose chase.
“Hetty? Can you hear me?” he called in a voice that was as loud as he could manage.
A muffled shout suddenly broke the silence.
Everyone froze.
Charlie frowned and stared at the empty courtyard. “Did you hear that?” he whispered to nobody in particular.
Another muffled noise sounded from the far corner of the yard. Charlie turned, and saw Simon hurry through the darkness clutching a large circle of keys.
“It’s the grain store,” Wally called.
Another muffle shout confirmed that.
Everyone waited impatiently for Simon to unlock the huge wooden door, but nobody was prepared for the sight that greeted them.
At first they couldn’t see anything because there was no light within the large stone building. Precious moments were lost while they tried to find enough candles to light the area but, when they did, they stared in horror at Hetty’s predicament.
The sight of her, balancing on tip-toes, with wild panic in her eyes as the grain shifted and slid beneath her feet, was something that would remain with everyone for the rest of their lives.
It was going to be damned impossible to get to her without risking hanging her.
“How in the hell did they get her there?” Hugo growled as he studied the distance from where Hetty stood to the narrow planks that ran around the walls.
“Planks,” Hetty gasped quietly. “They slid planks across. The grain has shifted since then.”
“Stay still,” Charlie urged her. “Stay perfectly still.”
“I can’t move. If I do, the grain shifts and the rope gets tighter. I am going to hang myself if I move. There isn’t any more give in the rope, so don’t move me,” Hetty murmured quietly. “Please, Charlie. Don’t move me.”
While she spoke, Simon and Wally gathered the planks they usually used to cross the grain pit but, when they slid them across, it quickly became evident that Meldrew’s men had cut them in half, and they didn’t cover the distance needed.
“Do we climb across the beam, and haul her up that way?” Marcus asked as he studied the heavy oak beams that held the roof up.
