The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

Author:Elizabeth Marie Pope
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2013-07-13T16:00:00+00:00

IX

The People of the Hill

Kate was awakened by a light shining in her eyes. It was so sharp after the long darkness that for an instant all she could see was a wheeling dazzle of fire. Then, as her sight cleared, she became aware that another girl was standing beside her bed with a branch of lighted candles in her hand.

"Is it morning?" Asked Kate drowsily.

The girl stood looking down at her gravely. She was dressed in green like the Lady, and carried herself with the same air of remote, delicate grace.

"We do not go by mornings or evenings here," she said.

Kate blinked and sat up, the room taking shape around her.

The candles did not do much to illuminate it even now; but they gave enough light to show that the place had once been a natural cave of some kind, all brownish-gray rock. The floor and the walls had been squared off and hewn smooth; but above the walls the rock was wholly untouched and the low roof hung in great laps and folds and waves and pendulous bulges of stone.

It was not high enough to suggest the carved arches of a hall or cathedral; rather, it appeared as if the stone were sagging under the pressure of some enormous weight that might bring it down at any moment. Kate took one look at it and then fixed her eyes on the girl's face again.

"My name is Katherine," she said. "Katherine Sutton."

"Oh?" Said the girl, without any particular interest. She stepped back a pace and lifted her branch of candles so that Kate could see beyond her down the length of the cave. "Those are Joan and Betty and Marian," she said.

Set at intervals along the wall were three more couches like Kate's own, each with its carved chest at the head of its coverlet of velvet, brownish-gray velvet, the same color as the rock. Out from under the coverlets shadowy figures were crawling. In the uncertain light she could just make out one of them rummaging vaguely for the lid of her chest, another stooping to shake down her long fair hair. First one and then another began to utter sleepy grunts of complaint as the chill of the air struck them murmurs and squeals that even now sounded extraordinarily like the snorting of animals. Kate drew back. "Who are they?"

She asked sharply.

"The mortal women that we keep in the Hill," said the girl.

"Did not the Lady tell you?"

"Yes, but—" Kate hesitated. "Do they always make noises like that?"

"No," said the girl. "They will be peaceful and content as soon as they have seen the Lady and are fed and warm again."

She set her branch of candles on a ledge in the wall and stooped to pick up Kate's dress, fingering it with a dissatisfied shake of her head. "You cannot wear that here," she said. "This place is too cold for your kind. Put it away. I will give you another."

And opening the chest, she drew out a dark folded garment and laid it at the foot of the couch.

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