“I—I haven’t come looking for you,” Katherine stammered. “I thought you had left the manor.”
From the shadows of the wine racks came another voice. “Aye, he were gone from the manor, but he coom back for the treasure.”
“Brice!” Katherine cried, seeing him move toward her carrying a shovel.
His elongated shadow preceded him over the piles of dirt that edged the shallow holes. “Who did ye coom in search o’ lassie?” he snarled.
An arctic coldness seized her, and her mouth grew dry. Startled by his aggressive tone, fear quivered through her. “Selina.” She whispered, her voice quaking under his baleful stare. “She’s tried to kill me and now my sister.”
“May-Jewel? Is she all right?” Alex demanded, taking a step closer to her.
Katherine looked at him and slowly nodded. His concern sounded sincere. Confusion filled her mind. Could he be innocent after all? She had thought he might be the one who killed Charles. Thought he and Brice were involved. Thought they might be partners in their search for the emeralds. She grew braver and demanded of Brice in her most commanding voice, “Why are you here? No one summoned you to the house. Get back to the stable.”
As Brice shifted his attention fully onto Katherine, Alex suddenly charged at him, yelling, “He’s got my gun! Run!”
Alex’s warning took both Brice and Katherine by surprise, and she was slow to respond. Dropping the shovel, the stableman swung his other hand up and, with the butt of the gun, caught Alex on the jaw. He crumbled to the floor.
But it was too late for Katherine to make an attempt toward the door. Imprisoned by terror, her feet, like stone, remained fixed to the earth as Brice pointed the weapon at her.
“Ye wonna be tellin’ me what to do now.” He glared at her. “Ye be wantin’ to know of Selina? She be me little benefactress. We be sharin’ all the treasure when we find it.” Holding the gun level, he bent and picked up the shovel.
“You and Selina! But why?” She stared at him transfixed by his words.
His laugh chilled her.
“Why? Why be a servant when ye can be the master!”
“But Selina’s mad! She’s trying to kill us!” Her eyes widened in fear as he moved closer to her.
“Aye, mad like a fox! She be the mistress an’ I’ll be the master, once I find those blasted gems!”
Katherine’s eyes moved over to Alex in a silent plea for him to regain consciousness. How wrong she had been about him! It had been Brice all along, Brice and Selina!
Brice, motioning her away from the doorway with the gun, growled, “Mister Fleming canna finish his job o’ diggin’ now, so ye can do it for him. Get over there, an’ dunna think to try to get away. A hunk o’ lead be swifter than yer feet.”
Shaking all over, Katherine received the implement as it was thrown to her. What could she do now? How would she get out of this situation? A glance at Alex told her that help wouldn’t be coming from him. Would David come to her rescue? Would he return and, finding her missing, come looking for her? But what would ever lead him down here? Then she knew that salvation was in her own hands and feverishly sought a means to escape.
“O’er here,” Brice barked, pointing to a patch of earth that hadn’t been dug into yet.
Stepping over the fresh dug holes, Katherine raised the shovel and tried to dig. But due to her fear and having just pulled May-Jewel from the well, her arms had little strength, and she was unable to dig fast enough to satisfy Brice.
“Ye useless creature!” He cursed, shoving her away. He returned the gun to his belt. Keenly watching her, he threatened, “I can draw an’ fire the weapon afore ye can make it past me, so see that ye stay were ye be.”
With his eye on Katherine, the stableman thrust the shovel into the packed dirt. His breathing became labored and the faster he dug, the more desperate Katherine became to think of a way to escape him. But he stood between her and the door.
Then at last a dull thud sounded through the chamber. Brice dropped to his knees and feverishly pried a small bundle from its earthy socket. With his mouth drawn tight and his eyes ablaze with greed, he moved into the lantern light and began to undo the outer covering of his prize.
Katherine watched in abhorrence as Brice unwrapped the moldy cloth. She stifled a small cry as the bundle suddenly fell apart and tiny bones and the miniature skull of an infant fell at his feet.
“Lady Edythe’s baby!” Katherine uttered, trying not to cry from the horror of it.
“Auggghh!” Brice raged and kicked the remains, scattering them back into the unhallowed ground before him. His eyes were wide and seemed to sear through Katherine as he spun around to face her. He grabbed her violently and shoved her beyond the grave to another patch of ground, always further away from the door.
“That Papist,” he snarled, waving the shovel at Alex, “were a wantin’ the emeralds for Rome. I be havin’ no such grand plans.” Brice then pinned his sinister black eyes on Katherine. “But,” he continued, “as Mistress o’ the manor ye know where they be, don’t ye? I’ll not waste a bullet on ye. Show me where they be or I’ll cleave yer head from yer shoulders!”
His words thundered in her ears as he picked up the shovel and twirled it in his hands. Filled with desperation, Katherine sidled toward Alex’s unconscious form and scurried around
