“May I borrow the torch?”Mantheria asked, and the footman handed it to her.She held the light close to the ground and saw that it was wet.Someone had been swimming in this very pool and not too long ago.She bent down closer to the stone to follow the trail of wet footsteps until she reached the pool itself.There was something in the water.Her stomach felt rock-hard, and she couldn’t quite process what was happening.
Blinking rapidly, Mantheria reached into the green water and pulled out a soaked black armband, like the one Andrew was wearing as a part of his mourning clothes.The water and the cloth were both warm.Where was he?Surely not at the bottom of this pool.Her father had taught him how to swim at Hampford Castle, and her son had gone swimming in the Mediterranean Sea with his aunts.Surely he wouldn’t have drowned in a little, stagnant pool.She set down the torch and was about to jump into the pool when she felt two strong arms encircling her waist, stopping her.
“Andrew isn’t in there, Mantheria,” Sunny said, and then let go of her with one hand to point to a trail of wet prints on the other side that led to a corridor.“He swam and left.”
She breathed in deeply to calm herself and then exhaled slowly.In her panic, she had stared without seeing, lost her head and let her worries overwhelm her.Mantheria realized that Sunny was still directly behind her, his arm around her waist and his body pressed against her back, and she was shaking.Unlike the comforting embrace from earlier that day, this one felt unsettling.She stiffened and gently removed his arm from her waist.“I suppose we must follow the trail.”
Sunny stooped down and picked up the torch.He held it in the air, and she saw that the left side of the pool went to the wall.There was no passing on that side.The right had only a small ledge, but it was their only choice.With tight shoulders, Mantheria inched slowly around the side of the green pool until they reached a small, angled courtyard.Sunny followed behind her.On one side, there was the door that led back to the Assembly Rooms, and the other seemed to lead to another building entirely.The wet footprints went underneath a set of arches.
They had missed him by minutes.
The slur of curse words that Sunny had said after his arm was injured went through her mind.But swearing wouldn’t help.Mantheria’s shoulders slumped, and she wished to curl up in a ball and cry.
Why had she not come sooner?
Where would Andrew go now?
Where could he sleep so that he would be safe?
She heard a jingle of keys.Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Sunny give both the torch and the master of ceremonies’ set of keys to the footman as well as a tip for his efforts.
“We will continue our search without your help.Please convey my gratitude to Mr.Heaviside for his assistance tonight.”
The footman bowed his head and left them.
Sighing, Sunny pointed.“This leads back to the road, but we dare not leave any stone unturned.”
In the darkness, they went under the stoned arches and followed the footprints.Instead of entering the opposite building, they led to a small, narrow alley passageway out to the road.Mantheria barely squeezed through it, and Sunny’s broad shoulders got stuck.She pinched her lips together.At any other time, she would have been able to see the humor in the situation, but right now, every minute counted.The ground was still wet, and Andrew could be near.Slipping through the rock walls, she went out onto the cobblestone road.
She cupped her hands around her mouth.“Andrew!Andrew, can you hear me?Andrew, it’s your mother.Please answer me.”
Her yells echoed against the stone streets and walls, but there was no response.She’d barely missed him again.Mantheria squeezed back through the dark and narrow passageway to where Sunny was currently stuck.She let out a strangled sob and sank to her knees.
“You.Can.Leave.Me,” he said, his speech punctuated with little breaths.His chest was wedged in tightly between rock and stone.
Breathing in deeply, she was tempted to.But she’d left him this morning only to realize how much she needed her friend’s company and help.“He’s already gone, and it’s dark.There isn’t much else we can do until morning—except to get you out of here, of course.”
“I.Am.So.Sorry.”
Carefully getting back to her feet, Mantheria leaned against his shoulder that was wedged between two stone buildings.It did not budge.She was so frustrated that she could have screamed and thrown a tantrum like a small child.Instead, she huffed and attempted a bit of humor.“Perhaps you should follow Lord Byron’s diet of boiled potatoes and soda water.”
Sunny laughed, and it sounded a bit like he was being strangled.
She pushed all her weight against his shoulders again with little to no success.“There are many other successful slimming methods.Andrew told me that Roman soldiers ate a great deal of legumes and vegetables with different spices.”
“I shall start a Roman slimming diet ...as soon as I am no longer stuck ...between Scylla and Charybdis.”
At least Sunny was now able to speak in short sentences.Perhaps she had actually moved him a little.
Mantheria leaned her back against the cold wall behind her and took a rest from pushing against him.“I take it those two words are similar to being stuck between a rock and a hard place.”
He gave another breathless laugh as if he couldn’t take a deep breath with his torso stuck.“They were two monsters that the Greek hero Odysseus, known to the Romans as Ulysses, had to pass by.He chose to sail by the lesser of two evils, but Scylla still ate several of his men.”
“Where was he going that was so important?”
Sunny was silent for a few moments, and Mantheria wondered if perhaps he didn’t know the full story.
“To the River Styx that leads to the underworld to consult a dead prophet, but ultimately, home to his wife, Penelope.He risked his life over and over to get home to both her and their son.”