Page 127 of Feathers in the Wind
“They're mining,” he interrupted. “The bastards are mining.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“They are digging a tunnel beneath the chapel, Deliverance. They must know the powder is being stored here. What they will do is lay explosives in the tunnel and set them off. That will cause a massive explosion within the castle and we will all be lucky to survive. I need to alert the others.”
Deliverance sat up, hastily retying her bodice laces and trying to restore some order to her hair as Luke rose to his feet, brushing the dust from his clothes. He put out a hand and pulled her to her feet, rearranging her collar and brushing dead leaves from her hair. He kissed her on the forehead and left her, striding out into the daylight.
Deliverance thrust her tangled hair behind her ears, lingering in the silent chapel. He returned within minutes in company with Ned Barratt and Sergeant Hale.
The men lay on the floor listening to the industry below them.
Ned rose to his feet, brushing dust from his breeches. He shook his head. “I don't understand how we've not detected them?” He paused and looked up at Luke. “How on earth did you hear them?”
Luke hesitated for a fraction of a moment before replying, “I bent to retrieve that... he pointed to an empty barrel that had conveniently rolled off the pile.
Sergeant Hale frowned. “How could they have got so far without our knowledge?”
Deliverance cleared her throat. “I think I know.”
The three men looked up at her.
“There is a crypt under the altar and an old tunnel runs from it down to the riverbank,”
Luke's eyes flashed. “And you never thought to mention it?”
Deliverance bridled, “The tunnel caved in years ago.”
“And where does the tunnel come out, Mistress Felton?” Hale asked.
“On the path to the sally port,” Deliverance said.
“Farrington would know about this tunnel?” Luke said.
She nodded and he gave her a reproachful glance. They had discussed the security of that path and she had assured him it posed no risk. She had forgotten the long-forgotten tunnel under the chapel.
ds
“Farringtons have been coming to Kinton Lacey for years. Sir Richard himself as a boy, and then his sons. Jack was a friend of my brother's. They spent hours playing in the hidden corners of the castle.” She swallowed. “I had forgotten about the tunnel. I’m so sorry.”
Luke looked around the group. “We can assume they've cleared the tunnel. We’ve not been keeping a vigilant watch on that wall so it would have been easy to slip in under cover of darkness. They're probably camping in the tunnel and working in the day when we're too busy to notice the noise. Mistress Felton, show me the entrance to this crypt.”
Behind the remaining large stone altar that still stood in the sanctuary of the chapel Deliverance found the flagstone with a heavy ring sunk into it. With a nod from Luke, Hale lifted the stone aside, and they stared down into a dark hole.
“We can't use a light, not with all this powder,” Luke fumed. “I'll just have to trust to the other senses.”
“You’re not going down there?” Deliverance said.
He cast her a scathing glance and went down on his hands and knees, easing his way into the black abyss. He disappeared from view and it seemed an age before he reappeared, his hair covered in cobwebs.
As he dusted himself off, he looked around the little group. “I found the entrance to the tunnel. There's a rock fall just about ten feet in and my guess is they're just behind it. I could hear them quite clearly. That puts them dead centre of the chapel, about where you're standing, Ned. All they need to do is lay their charges and...” he left the last thought unspoken. “Of course, they are not to know that all they have to do is stop now and lay the charges. The fact they are still digging would suggest that they are trying to clear the whole tunnel and by my reckoning they will be through to our side of the tunnel in a couple of hours. Hale, bring me some men and we will prepare a welcoming party for our visitors.”
Chapter 13
With the element of surprise on their side, it had taken little to foil Farrington's plan to blow up the chapel, and at dinner they celebrated their triumph over Farrington’s miners with the last of Sir John's French wine.
As Ned recounted the day’s victory, Luke studied Deliverance’s face, soft and gold in the candlelight. He liked the way her nose wrinkled when she found something amusing and he remembered the feel of her pliant body beneath his hands as they had lain together on the dusty floor of the chapel. He took a hefty gulp of wine and turned his attention back to Ned.
“And we took them by surprise,” Ned continued. “Killed two of them before the others beat a hasty retreat.”
