17

Sucat rose from bed at the news that his father-in-law was dead. He was appropriately sad and distraught when given the message. He dressed, taking his time. The Margrave was not going anywhere so he did not need to hurry. He smiled to himself while he was alone. All he needed now was to get rid of his wife and everything the Margrave had would be his. He could let the Margrave’s wife live with his mother. That might be fun to watch.

Today was the day when Captain Kennard would bring the others back, he could feel it. Just a few more hours of pretending to be the sad mourner for the Margrave and then he could have fun getting rid of the others if Captain Kennard did not do it for him.

Sucat went downstairs to find people standing around and not knowing what to do. He ordered the Margrave’s body taken to the chapel to be cleaned and placed for viewing. Once the body was removed, he had a light meal prepared so his guests could eat, then pay their respects to the margrave’s body and then be on their way.

He could not wait for them all to be gone. He said words of sympathy and understanding, talk about how much he would miss the Margrave and worried about how he would break the tragic news to Ranee. He said he was sure this would be too much for her on top of everything else that had happened to her.

When the meal was over the men packed their belongings together and placed them outside so they could be put on their horses which waited calmly in the front yard. The men walked silently over to the chapel for a short memorial service. They stood in the chapel as the priest said prayers for the repose of the Margrave’s soul.

After the brief ceremony, the men went to their horses, mounted and rode out. Sucat let out a sigh and smile. He turned to go back in his hall. Jyll stood in the doorway watching him. She saw everything and Sucat did not like that. There was always one more problem he had to deal with but this problem would need to wait.

Now he just needed for Captain Kennard to get back with his prisoners. The messenger Sucat had sent out yesterday came back just before the injured Margrave was brought in. The message told Sucat that Captain Kennard was in the caves looking for Hyd, Eadward, John, Stephan and Ranee. The messenger did not know more than that. Sucat decided to take a nap since he had gotten up so early.

Captain Kennard had spent the night traveling through the tunnels with his men. They had reached the room where Hyd, Eadward, John, Stephan and Ranee had spent their time but they had found the room empty. It took a little time for Captain Kennard to find the way the five had escaped.

When Hyd had heard the sounds coming from the tunnel system, they grabbed their gear and weapons and put out the candles. Hyd had taken Ranee by the hand. They moved around the wooden cases stacked on one wall and into another tunnel that took them in the opposite direction of the noises they had heard.

They had to move in the dark so that they were not seen. They had not often gone in this tunnel. It was their escape tunnel just in case they other direction was blocked. The last time they had gone this way had been more than a year ago so they had to go slow.

Once Captain Kennard found the other tunnel they moved after the escaping group quickly. His group was able to go faster because they had light. He wanted to catch up to them soon. He had enough of these dark damp places. He thought he heard the five up ahead of him. He went faster, his men moving right behind him, keeping up with him.

He saw the light from the tunnel’s exit highlight the five escapees ahead of him. He dropped his torch and ran after them. His men followed close behind. Just before they reached the tunnel’s exit, Ranee stumbled and fell.