Silent Stalker by Richie Tankersley Cusick

Author:Richie Tankersley Cusick
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Open Road Media

14

Jenny wasn’t sure how long she stood there, her forehead pressed against the door, her palms flat upon the wood, feeling sick and empty inside.

Oh, Wit … please … please come back.…

What had she done to upset him so much? Somehow she knew it wasn’t just the slap—somehow she knew it had something to do with the dungeon, with Malcolm—because she could still see that strange look on Wit’s face when she’d told him about it. Something about Malcolm … oh, Wit … what’s going on?

Jenny turned and put her back against the door.

She let her eyes travel slowly around the encircling walls … over the window … across the foot of her bed …

I’m not going to be afraid.… I refuse to be afraid.…

She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath.

But what if I hear the rats again?… What if the ghost comes back?…

But he wasn’t a ghost, she was sure of that now.

He was real.

“So you’ll have to guess which of us is which … and who is doing what.…”

“I don’t believe in ghosts,” Jenny said fiercely. “I believe someone’s trying to scare me, and I’m going to find out why.”

It made her angry to think of it again, and she was glad to feel angry, because then she couldn’t be afraid. Crossing to the fireplace, she stood in front of it and tried to remember exactly where the executioner had stood last night. She could still see the way he’d blended with the shadows … the way he’d pulled himself magically out of the darkness.…

There’s got to be an opening here somewhere.

Jenny slid her hands over the wall, over the roughness of the stones. She leaned into the fireplace and carefully inspected the back of it.

Nothing.

It’s got to be here.… He had to get in some way.…

Straightening up again, Jenny stared at the fireplace and frowned. Just a simple hole in the wall.…

Hole …

With her heart quickening, Jenny crawled into the fireplace once more, only this time she peered upward, into the flue. Yes! He must have come down through the chimney!

Excited now, she reached into the cavity, trying to find a hold so she could boost herself up. Her fingers slid down the sides, and she peered up again in frustration. There must be something … there has to be something.…

She looked around the room and noticed the table beside her bed. After dragging it to the fireplace, she pushed it in, then tested it with her weight, relieved when it seemed sturdy enough. Carefully she climbed on top of it and reached into the chimney. Now she could feel something on both sides—small niches deep enough to hold on to. She ran her hands higher along the flue and found more of the small, uneven ledges … and still more … like a crude ladder carved into the stone. Jenny hoisted herself up and wedged her feet in the first crevice. It was so dark—frighteningly dark—but she knew she couldn’t climb and hold a candle at the same time.

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