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Heming’s cage open.
    It
took Brona another few minutes to find the key to unlock the shackles. As soon
as she freed Sir Heming’s ankles, she gave Colin the breeches to put on the
man. Fergus stood ready to catch Sir Heming as she unshackled the man’s wrists.
With the two men helping her, Sir Heming was free and clothed in less time than
it had taken her to find the right keys. Brona gently bathed the man’s battered
face, but it only roused him a little and she was not sure he would understand
what was happening.
    “I
fear one of ye are going to have to carry him,” she said to Colin and Fergus.
    “I
can do it,” said Colin. “Fergus can help Peter. Once we are outside we can make
a litter to carry them.”
    “Ah,
weel, I fear we willnae be going outside the keep for a wee while.”
    “But
ye said ye were freeing us.” Colin hoisted Sir Heming over his shoulder,
faltering a little under the weight of the man before he could steady himself
again.
    “I
am but ye would find yourselves back here quick enough if we try to flee o’er
land, at least right away. I couldnae get us any horses, so we would all be on
foot,” she said as she led them to Peter’s cell. “I dinnae think Hervey and his
men would e’en work up a good sweat in catching us all.”
    “So
where do we go?”
    “This
keep is riddled with hiding places and I have prepared one for us to hide in.”
    “Which
the laird will be able to find, aye?”
    “Nay.
It seems no one ever told Hervey about all of the passageways, tunnels, and
hidden chambers. I think many of them came about in my grandsire’s time.”
    “Ah,
aye, me da once mentioned that, I be thinking. When the old laird decided the
easiest way to thicken the walls of Rosscurrach and add all those fireplaces
was to simply build a new wall around the old ones.” Colin frowned. “Are ye
certain the laird doesnae ken aught about them?”
    Brona
nodded as they paused for Fergus to help a weak, unsteady Peter to his feet.
She noticed that Peter groggily eyed Sir Heming with both fear and wariness,
but he said nothing. Even beaten and unconscious there was something about Sir
Heming that put a person on guard, but Brona was glad no one was going to argue
any more about saving the man.
    “As
sure as I can be,” Brona said as she started to lead the men to the place they
would all hide, at least until Peter and Sir Heming could run for their lives
and defend themselves. “I spent the day slipping in and out of passageways and
taking supplies to the place I chose for us to hide in for a while. There was
no sign of anyone else having used those secret passageways for many years. I
cannae think my cousin or Angus would e’er miss the chance to use passages that
would allow them to spy upon someone in near every room in the keep if they
knew about all Rosscurrach’s secrets.”
    “Nay,
they would be wandering about in there all the time,” agreed Colin. “Yet, he is
the laird and should have kenned about them, aye? Why didnae your da tell the
mon about them?”
    “Hervey
is the laird here only because he is the last male kinsmon in my father’s line.
My father didnae fully trust him and neither did my mother. I may have been
little more than a child when my mother and then my father died, but I do
recall that. Hervey did his best to deceive them about his true nature, but he
failed. Unfortunately, my mother also failed to convince my father that he
should choose another heir. Father felt verra strongly that the heir should be
the closest male kinsmon.”
    “So
will the king be choosing the next laird then?”
    “Weel,
I suppose if Hervey doesnae have a son, aye, something like that will happen.”
    Colin
gave a short, harsh laugh. “Mistress, your cousin willnae be living long enough
to wed and have himself a legal son. This mon’s kinsmen will soon be sending
the laird to his grave. I but pray they dinnae send too many of the rest of us
there as weel.”
    “But
how will they ken