The Hunt of the Grimalkin (Erresuma Book 1) by Dani Swanson (books to read romance TXT) 📗

heads out the door looking in the opposite directions – the coast was clear. They slowly creped out, not knowing what to do.

“Who let us out?” Thea questioned. Robin shrugged and held her finger to her lips as she motioned for Thea to follow her. They started an adventure to the staircase and went up a floor, where they had never been permitted.

There were lights on. They walked past a few doors that were locked, and then found a small end table that had a key on it.

“But which door?” Robin whispered. One by one the girls started to try the doors, but none of them opened. They descended past their level to the second floor. They went up and down trying the doors until, at the end of the hallway, the key slid in and clicked the lock mechanism on a plain wooden door. The girls had devilish smiles as they slowly turned the knob. They stepped in the room and turned on the light. Both girls gasped as the light shown what was in the room.

There were hundreds of jars with small creatures trapped inside. They were alive. They immediately started to pound on their containers when they saw the girls. Each jar had air holes poked in the top but the lids had some sort of enchantment on them that shocked the girls when they tried to open them. The creatures were pounding, scratching, and running into the glass – trying to get out.

“Who did this to you?” The girls were asking the fairies, wisps, and trolls that were locked in that room, but they were too distracted to answer.

“Sorgin!” one of the fairies finally squeaked out.

“Sorgin?” Thea questioned in a whisper to Robin. The girls attempted opening all of the jars without any success. “I’m sorry, I can’t get you out,” Thea whispered over the top of the jars. The girls continued for a while and then realized that it was getting to be daylight and they had to get back to their rooms before it was noticed that they were missing. “We’ll come back.” Thea promised, as they headed out the door, locking it behind them. She tied the key to the inside drawstring of her pants.

They cautiously went back up the stairs to the third floor and their rooms. As they rounded a corner and started down the hall, they heard footsteps behind them. They picked up their pace and had started a soft jog when they heard: “Where are you supposed to be right now?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The girls turned around to face Sorgin. She was standing in the dim hallway wearing a robe, and as always carried her skull-headed walking cane. Thea could feel her face turning flush. “We thought we heard the Grimalkin outside.” Robin said thinking quickly, “We wanted to make sure that it didn’t destroy your property, Sorgin. But we didn’t see anything from our windows, so we wanted to look out the other side of the house. I apologize for not being in our rooms, we will head back there right now.” She feigned a casual walk backwards, away from Sorgin, and towards the bedroom door.

Sorgin was not buying it. She looked at them with one eyebrow raised over the rim of her glasses. She raised her hand up, and without touching her, held Robin, in the air by her throat. “How did you get out of your room?” She questioned.

“We picked the lock,” Thea chimed in since Robin could not speak. “We didn’t know how else to get ahold of you.”

Sorgin studied her face for a moment before dropping Robin in a gasping heap on the floor. “NEVER do that again,” Sorgin threatened as she shoved past the girls to wait by their bedroom door.

“You alright?” Thea rushed to help Robin. She was rubbing her throat, and gently nodded.

They entered their rooms, with Sorgin locking the doors behind them. There was no breakfast served that morning, and no practice that day.

Dinner came later than usual and were very minimal. Charles dropped the plates on the table in a rush, then quickly retreated out of the room. Thea tried to stop him and asked in a hushed, urgent tone, “Charles? Are you trapped here, or does she pay you to work?” He briefly looked up, making eye contact with Thea.  She could see the sadness there. His eyes nervously flitted up to the portrait on the wall, then to the open door, then scurried out to the hallway without answering or looking back. The click of the lock followed.

“Did you see that Robin? He is being forced to work here against his will. He’s a slave!”

“How do you suppose we are going to get out of here?” Robin questioned, bringing to light their similar predicament.

“And, how are we going to get everyone else out of here?” Thea referenced the other captives.

With no answers forthcoming, the girls sat watching the back yard as they ate their dinner, feeling more trapped than ever. Fig scratched at the door, wanting to go out. He was used to being in the yard during their practices.  “Sorry baby boy, we’re stuck in here.”  Thea laid down a towel for Fig in the bathroom and went back to sitting at the table, reading her books, looking for answers. Robin was pacing the room, and looking out the window. She was deep in thought, trying to figure out an escape.

“Gum,” Thea said, as the thought came to her.

“Huh?” Robin questioned back, clearly not following.

“If we put gum in the latch of the door the next time it’s unlocked; it won’t lock when we are put to bed. That way Charles won’t have to unlock the door for us and we won’t risk getting him in any trouble.”

Robin smiled. “Couldn’t you just throw a fireball through it?”

Thea laughed at Robin. “I tried