Trail of Fate

Then she yipped happily.

29

Despite our desperate situation, the three of us were so overjoyed to see the dog that we all laughed out loud. Robard in particular was beside himself, whistling and praising her repeatedly. For a moment I wondered if he might have taken too many blows to the head in his struggles with the King’s Guards.

With the knife, I tried unlocking Robard and Maryam’s wrist shackles and leg irons. The locks’ chains were too thick and rusty for me to have any success. It would require a hammer and chisel to release them.

Having no luck with the chains, I tried inserting the knife into the lock on the cell door to see if I could work it open. Slowly, I twisted and turned the knife for several minutes but to no avail. I pounded on the bar nearest me in frustration. How could I get us out of here?

The dog answered with a quiet bark and dug at the base of one of the bars in the window. Not understanding her meaning, I stood there stupidly at first. She barked again and continued digging, whining and growling as she did so.

Then it came to me.

“Robard, Maryam, you’re going to have to boost me up,” I said, crossing to the window. They shuffled over and made a platform for my feet with their hands. I stepped onto it, and they hoisted me up until I was level with the opening.

There was almost no light to work with, as the flame from the torch outside the cell barely reached here. But Angel whined again, digging around the bar, and feeling there with my fingers, I found that the mortar had worked loose. While I attacked it with the knife, she sat back to watch me work.

“Keep an eye out, girl,” I said. “Let me know if anyone comes this way.”

I worked the knife into the soft mortar around the iron bar. It was tough going, but little by little, small chunks fell away. After a few minutes the bar began to twist in my hand, cracking and loosening more mortar. When a big piece came loose at the bottom, I lay down the knife and grabbed it with both hands, pulling and twisting at the bar until the bottom snapped out and I yanked it free. Ha!

Robard and Maryam had adjusted their positions, so I stood on their thighs while they balanced me as best they could with chained hands.

“Quit goofing around, squire,” Robard groused. “You’re heavy!”

If I could loosen one more bar, we might have enough space to wiggle our way to freedom. With large sections of mortar missing from the first bar, I could get better leverage with my knife. I worked the bottom free and pulled until it broke loose in my hand. I wanted to shout but was leery of alerting anyone. Grasping the remaining two bars, I pulled myself up and wiggled through the window. Angel was so happy she nearly attacked me.

“Easy, girl,” I said. On my hands and knees, I poked my head back through the bars, reaching down for Maryam. She took my hand and had just enough give in her shackles to place her foot up on the wall, grasp the bar and lift herself up. She squirmed her way through and lay there on the ground while Angel welcomed her in her own particular fashion.

“Robard, you’re next,” I said as I reached down for him. He took my arm in both hands and dug his boots into the stone wall. It was damp and smooth, and with his feet chained, hard for him to get a toehold.

“Push!” I groaned as he inched his way up the wall.

“Don’t yell at me to push, Templar! You’re the one who got us into this! It’s not easy trying to climb when your feet are chained together!” Robard was still in a temper and I couldn’t blame him. I had gotten us into this mess. But I was doing my best to get us out. Robard kicked and groaned and strained, but finally wormed his way through.

If Angel had been happy to see Maryam and me, she was overjoyed to see Robard. She jumped on his chest and he sat up, scooping her up in his arms and hugging her to his chest. “I missed you too, girl,” he said, chuckling.

We had no time to lose. We were now in the bailey of the castle, hidden in the shadows of the wall. Robard and Maryam could stand and walk in a shuffling step by holding on to the chain connecting their hands and feet.

“What’s our next step?” Maryam asked.

“Escaping? I vote for escaping,” said Robard.

“Yes, but first things first: we have to get those shackles off. I need to check on something though,” I said, spotting the wagon that had carried us here parked nearby.

The bailey, essentially a large courtyard in this castle, was cluttered with other wagons and stacks of barrels and equipment, and in the lengthening shadows, I covertly made my way to the wagon and peeked over the side. Our weapons were gone, as was my satchel. My heart sank. Sir Hugh had likely discovered the Grail by now. He was probably dancing with glee.

My feet felt leaden as I made my way back to the wall.

“Nothing?” Robard said.

“No, everything’s gone,” I said.

“Sir Hugh must have them. I say we find weapons and take our possessions back,” Robard said.

“Robard, we can’t attack a castle full of King’s Guards. They are sworn to defend the Queen Mother to the death. We need to get out of here first. Sir Hugh will leave at some point and we can follow him,” I reasoned.

“Given our history together, I almost hate to ask, but do you have any idea of how to get these chains off of us?” Maryam said.

“Yes. With this many horses they have to have a blacksmith. Let’s find the forge. With a hammer and chisel we can get them off easily. Come on,” I said.

We kept to the wall and made our way along it until we had circled the courtyard. Everything appeared deserted. Angel sniffed the air. “Is anyone there, girl?” I asked as if she could understand me.

Silently she crept ahead of us, her nose constantly working the air. Then she darted into the stables and vanished from sight. We looked at each other, unsure what to do. Seconds later she was back. With a quiet bark she ran toward the door, stopped, and looked at us again, as if imploring us to follow. We hurried over to the door and slipped through to find it empty.

The interior was lit by oil lamps, and it was far bigger even than the one in Acre. At least a dozen stalls were on each side, almost all of them filled with horses. As I had hoped, at the rear wall sat an anvil next to a forge and bench with blacksmith tools. In a few moments I had freed them both.

“I say we each take a horse and ride out of here,” Robard said.

I shook my head. “I’m fairly certain the Queen Mother doesn’t know what Sir Hugh is up to concerning the Grail. There is something else at work here. I need to know what it is.”

Just then we were interrupted by a series of shouts from the courtyard outside. Maryam ran to the door and peeked out. “I think they’ve discovered our escape,” she said. We could hear the sounds of running feet and orders being shouted to the guards and men-at-arms.

“Too bad we don’t have our weapons. With my bow, I’m sure we could make it to the gate at least,” Robard said.

Robard’s idea of taking the horses sounded more appealing. As I tried to decide our next move, Angel rose up on her back feet and pawed at my hip, whining and growling at me. I pushed her away. “Not now, girl,” I told her. She left my side and moved over to the first stall inside the stable door, which was piled high with hay. She pounced on the pile and dug at it furiously, and soon bits of straw were flying all about.

“What is she doing?” Maryam asked.

Angel yanked at something buried under the straw. She growled and finally pulled something free. I recognized it instantly. It was my satchel. Robard ran to the stall and kicked aside a large pile of hay.

There on the floor lay our weapons.