A Hanging Moon (Leopard's Bane Book 3) by Phill Featherstone

Author:Phill Featherstone [Featherstone , Phill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781739350741
Publisher: Opitus Books
Published: 2023-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

17

ESCAPE 2

Getting Yalka out of Verlam tower was a firm promise and Eylese was determined to keep it, but she had no idea how. She went slowly down the stairs and sat on the bottom step where she could think.

She considered the possibilities. The door to the room where Yalka was being kept looked and felt very solid. So did the lock. Were there any tools that she could use to force them? She went to the kitchen and examined what was in the cupboards. She found pots, dishes, a hefty-looking frying pan, and a rolling pin. The last two could be useful weapons but she doubted they would make much impression on the door. Was there another key? Possibly, but where might it be? A search of the drawers and hooks yielded nothing. She tried in the storeroom but found only old boxes and broken furniture. Her schemes grew wilder. Fetch Meshi and get him to shin up the outside of the building with a rope? Set the place on fire so that Yalka could be rescued in the confusion? On her way to the tower she’d seen people hanging around on the roadside. Could she get their help to raid the place? None of these haphazard schemes made sense; she had to be the one to do the job, and on her own.

Then she had an idea. It wasn’t a complete thought, just a tiny spark on the very fringe of her thinking. She went back to the top of the stairs and knocked on the door.

‘Yalka?’

There was a pause before she heard movement on the other side and a muffled answer.

‘Yalka, I’ve got an idea. Tell me what happens here.’

‘What do you mean, what happens here? Nothing. I’m locked in, I have nothing to do, I’m bored senseless, and it’s driving me mad.’

‘I know. I think we can get you out but I need to know the routine. Is every day the same? Who brings your food? When do they come? Start from the morning and go through the day.’

‘All right. Well, I wake up early. Maybe as early as the fifth bell, but I’ve no way of telling the time so I don’t know. Woman and the maid don’t sleep here, so there’s only me. I do some warm-ups, run on the spot, do sit-ups, press-ups, and a few more things. Then I wait. I hear a noise downstairs which I think must be Woman arriving, because she keeps all the keys. The maid must get here soon after because a bit later they both come up here together. Woman opens the door and stands just inside it. She’s always got a knife with her, a big carving knife, and she stands and watches while the maid puts my breakfast on the table. The maid then goes downstairs to get water, and she carries it up to the washroom. She comes back down with the chamber pot and takes that below so she can empty it.’

‘And does this person you call Woman stay with you while all this goes on?’

‘Yes.

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