Page 24 of Highlander’s Fruit of Eden

Damsels in Distress

“ T he longer that I am in here, the crazier I feel myself becoming. I do not even know how long we have been locked up. How long has it been since someone was down here?” asked Amelia.

“Do ye want someone to come down here?” asked Ada.

“No, I just want… I do not know what I want. We need to get out of here before they… what will they do to us down here?”

“What do ye think will happen?” asked Ada.

“I fear that they will kill us down here, but I also fear that will not be the worst thing to happen to us. I thought that you were going to get us out of here.”

“I said that I would try to get us out of here, but so far, I’ve not been able to.

I thought that—I dinnae ken what I thought.

Maybe a guard would come down, and I could seduce him, or he would drop a key by mistake, but only one guard has been in here with food for us, and he left without speaking.

And nay utensils either. If only we had something to work with. ”

“Well, what do we have?” asked Amelia. “We need to get out of here, so let us find a way.” She was trying to remain calm, but her heart was racing inside.

She did not want to think about dying down here or being kept alive for other reasons, but it was all that she could currently think.

Her only light in the darkness was the thought of seeing Jon again, though that thought was slowly fading in her mind.

“If they had given us utensils with our meal, I might’ve been able to do more, but all we have are these metal plates and a crust of bread.”

“There must be something else,” said Amelia. She looked around on the ground but came up empty. Ada did the same, checking around her and moving from the wall as far as the shackle would allow, but there was nothing but brick walls and floor.

“If we had a rock, maybe we could bash open these locks,” said Ada. “Or a piece of metal to try and pick the lock. I havenae done that for a while, but I’m sure that I can.”

“You can pick a lock?” asked Amelia. “Why would you ever need to learn that?”

“Ye have nay idea what life is really like, do ye? Entertainin’ the Laird brings its perks, but there’s nae a lot of money in it.

I thought that if I could marry him, then…

well, let’s just get out of here first. That’s a relationship that is dead and buried, and if he has his way, I’ll be dead and buried too. ”

“We will get out,” said Amelia. She did not know what else to say, and she found herself feeling some pity for this woman—the woman who had tried to have her killed.

There was some truth in what Ada said—Amelia did not really know what life was like.

She had worked hard all her life, but her faither had been a rich merchant, and she had been given a well-paid job in the castle.

She had never had to toil for what she had.

Amelia patted her clothing in the hopes that a key would magically appear on her person. Unfortunately, there was nothing. She rubbed her hand over her face and up through her hair. Her hand stopped, and she let out a gasp.

“What is it?” asked Ada.

“My hairpin,” whispered Amelia, worried that someone was suddenly listening to their conversation. “It is not much to look at, but it is metal. How do I pick a lock with it?”

“Ye dinnae,” said Ada. “It’s nae as easy as that. Ye have to have a feel for it. Toss it over to me, and I’ll see if I can get out of this constraint.”

Amelia took the pin from her hair and held it in her hand.

It did not have much weight, and she would have to make sure that it made it across the prison cell to Ada.

It was only ten feet, but it felt like a hundred.

Amelia took a deep breath and tossed the pin.

It fell short of Ada, clattering to the floor, the noise echoing around the stone room, but it bounced and continued on.

It fell close enough that Ada did not have to reach out to pick it up.

Amelia watched as Ada went to work, bending the end of the pin and sticking it in the lock.

She held her breath, waiting for a click, and it came quickly.

Amelia and Ada froze. The click had not come from the shackle but from the door.

Ada quickly hid the hairpin as the door opened.

A sliver of light added to the dim illumination in the room before it was snuffed out by the door being closed.

The slender man walked slowly into the room, a knife in his hand. It felt as if the air had been sucked from the room.

“Are you here to kill us?” asked Amelia. She already knew the answer to the question.

“Soon,” said the man. He moved the knife from hand to hand, taking his time getting closer to Amelia.

“Dinnae ye dare touch her!” shouted Ada.

“Or what?” asked the man. “Keep quiet, and ye might have a quick death.”

“Why are you doing this?" asked Amelia. Her voice was trembling as she spoke. Her eyes would not leave the knife, and she tensed her free hand, having ideas of taking it from him and using it, knowing that she would not be able to.

“Because I can,” said the man. “One of the perks of the job, I guess.” He had a wicked smile on his face, making him look more like an animal than a man.

Amelia prayed. She did not pray that she would not find death, nor that she would have a quick death. She prayed to see Jon one more time, but she knew that would not be in life. This was to be her end, and she prayed that she would see Jon again in death, but only after he had lived a long life.

“Ye will nae touch her,” said Ada. “If ye lay a finger on her—”

“What!” shouted the man. “Ye’ll stop me? Ye’ll scream? Nay one can hear ye down here; ye must ken that. And nay one is comin’ for ye—only the Laird and I ken that ye are here. So, what do ye think that ye can do?”

Ada did not have a response as the man gazed at her with an evil twinkle in his eye.

“Please, just kill me. That is what you came down here to do, is it not?” asked Amelia. She had thought about playing for a time, but the man was right. No one was coming for them.

“Oh, what fun would that be? The Laird did say to take care of the two of ye, but he did nae mention anythin’ about doing it quickly.

And ye are very beautiful.” The man touched his fingers to Amelia’s chin, lifting her head so that he could look into her eyes.

“I can see why he wanted ye for his wife.”

Amelia had so much that she wanted to say, but nothing that would help her in this situation.

She shut her mouth, closing her eyes too.

Her time with Jon, as short as it was, played before her eyes.

The time by the water when they sat and talked, being with him in the clearing, the horse rides together, holding his hand, gazing into his rich eyes.

He had saved her in the gardens, and he would save her now if he were here, but he was not.

The fingers on her chin moved onto her cheek. She thought about struggling, but that would only delay the inevitable.

Clang!

The fingers were gone from her face. A dull thump echoed out. Amelia opened her eyes to see the man lying on the floor in front of her. Standing above was Ada holding the metal serving plate. She looked as shocked as Amelia was.

“What? But?” stammered Amelia.

“Still got it,” said Ada. She dropped the plate to the ground and rubbed her wrist. “Ye kept him occupied enough for me to finish the job. Thankfully, he was nae interested in me.”

“I cannot thank you enough,” said Amelia. “You saved my life.”

“I also tried to end it,” said Ada.

“We do not need to go there right now. Can you get me out too?”

Ada tentatively bent down to check the man’s body, going through his pockets to try and find some keys, both women hoping that he did not wake, but she came up empty-handed.

“I’ll have to use this,” said Ada, producing the hairpin that she had used to free herself. She could make more noise this time, and there was a subtle click after a few seconds. Amelia rubbed her wrist; the skin was red and raw.

“If he has no keys, how did he get into the room?” asked Amelia.

“I dinnae ken,” said Ada. “Maybe the door is unlocked or is unlocked without a key.

The two women ran to where the door was, not knowing exactly where the exit was located as it looked just like the other walls. They ran their hands over the stone, trying to find something—a handle or a different stone that could be pressed. Perhaps a lever of some sort, but there was nothing.

“Help!” shouted Amelia.

“Dinnae, ye might wake him,” said Ada.

“We are stuck in here with him,” said Amelia. “He is going to wake up eventually. We need to get out of here before he does wake.”

The two women looked at each other before turning back to where the door should be.

“Help!” they shouted together.