Chapter 2
"Barnabas? Barnabas, where are you?" Julia's voice rang out through the Old House.
Barnabas sat in one of the red felt chairs in front of the fireplace located in the sitting room. He looked up from his book in time to see Julia appear through the folding doors that stood on the left side of the mantel. "What is it, Julia?"
Julia stopped at the side of the other chair and grasped the top. Her expression was one of perplexity as she studied the room and the small foyer. "Have you seen Willie?"
He closed the book and shook his head. "Not since last night when he mentioned we were short of firewood. Why?"
"Because his truck is parked out back with the firewood, but I can't find him," she explained.
"I'm sure he's nearby," Barnabas assured her.
Julia held out a flashlight to him. "I'd like to make sure."
Barnabas sighed, but set his book aside and took the torch. "Very well, we will search the grounds, but I am sure he was distracted for a short while and will return soon."
Julia looped her arm through one of his and led him to the paneled doors at the back of the drawing room. "Let's prove that theory, shall we?"
The pair crossed the kitchen and stepped through the back door out into the cold night air. Silence reigned but for the rustling of the leaves along the ground.
Julia shone the beam of her flashlight across the back of Willie's truck with its half-unloaded wood. "Willie? Willie, are you out there?"
"Willie?" Barnabas called.
There was no reply.
Julia turned her attention to Barnabas. "I think something's happened to him."
Barnabas pursed his lips as he scrutinized the area. "I'm starting to think you may be right. Let's go search the woods."
Together the two took off into the trees, but northward toward Collinwood.
A drop of something soft and cold touched his nose. Willie stirred and groaned. His body felt like one giant bruise, and the stones beneath him, though worn soft by countless decades at the bottom of the hole, hardly added to his comfort. He opened his eyes and found himself again staring into the kind face of Sarah. She knelt close beside him.
During his rest the weather had changed, and now snow fell softly through the hole he had created. The white flakes gently settled on his stiff body, but they drifted through the small girl.
He blinked his eyes at Sarah to make sure it wasn't the concussion playing tricks on him. "You're. . .you're back?"
She nodded. "You need me here."
"What I need is to get out of here," Willie countered. He clenched his teeth and made a huge effort to sit up. The wounded young man succeeded and leaned his back against the cold wall, but his breathing came out in harsh gasps. He shut his eyes against the pulsing pain that led deep into his body.
Sarah frowned at him. "I told you not to move."
"I'm fine," he assured her as he looked to his companion. "You know, this isn't any place for a little girl. Even a-" He stopped himself from finishing the sentence.
Sarah bowed her head and shrugged. "I know what you were going to say, but I still want to help you. See?" She slipped her hand into his and smiled at him. "Doesn't that make you feel better?"
Her hand was as cold as ice, but even the touch of a ghost was better than the dampness that surrounded him. Willie tilted his head back and watched the snowflakes fall through the opening. "I gotta get out of here. . ."
"Do you know London Bridge Is Falling Down?" Sarah asked him.
Willie studied the walls that loomed around them, but nodded his head at her question. "Yeah, I know it."
"Do you want to sing it with me?"
Willie shifted and winced. "I don't know if I'm up for it."
She gave a playful tug of his hand. "Please? It will sound so pretty in here."
He managed a smile. "All right, but you have to help me sing it. That way maybe Barnabas or Julia will hear it."
Her face fell. "I don't want Barnabas to hear it."
"Yeah, but it'll help me get out of here," he pointed out.
Sarah's indecision was written across her face. "I want to help, but I don't want Barnabas to see me."
"Then don't let him see ya, but sing real loud for me, okay?" he pleaded.
Sarah nodded. "All right."
They began singing, and the sweet little tune echoed off the stone walls. Their tiny voices were amplified into a chorus befitting a grand cathedral.
London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
Willie shivered and clenched his teeth as the motion set off all the pain of his bruises. Sarah set her hands on his chest and her eyes studied his pale face. "Are you okay?"
He shook his head. "I don't think so. I feel real cold."
Sarah's eyes widened in fright. "Like I felt a long time ago?"
Willie shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. "I hope not, but I don't know what'll happen if I don't get out of here."
Sarah stiffened her jaw and stood over him. "I'll go get help. Trust me."
When Willie opened his eyes he was alone.
Barnabas and Julia were still in the woods having failed to find any trace of Willie along the Collinwood path. The falling snow reflected in the beam of their flashlights as the soft flakes covered the ground, obliterating their tracks.
"Willie!" Julia called to the darkness.
"Willie! Willie, where are you?" Barnabas chimed in. Their reply was silence.
Julia dropped her arms and shook her head. "This is hopeless. We'll never find him in this weather, not when we don't know where to look."
"I fear your theory about Willie being in danger is turning out to be true," Barnabas mused.
Julia sighed. "Perhaps we should let the others at Collinwood know he's missing-" A noise made her pause. The sound of a soft flute drifted on the wings of the chill breeze.
Barnabas froze. His mouth fell agape as he swept his eyes over the area. "That sound. . ."
Julia mimicked his movements and her eyes widened. "Is that-"
"Sarah!" Barnabas spun around and scoured the area at their backs with his flashlight. "Sarah!"
"I think it's coming from the Old House," she told him. Barnabas sped down the trail like a madman. "Barnabas! Barnabas, wait!" He didn't even slow down. A growl escaped her lips before she hurried after him.
The two ran along the snow-covered path and arrived at the back of the Old House. Barnabas paused and listened to the music, giving Julia a chance to catch up.
"It sounds like it's coming from the southern path," she suggested.
Barnabas didn't speak, but his agreement was shown in his quick dash down her suggested route. They hurried along until they reached the clearing with the mound. The music abruptly stopped, as did Barnabas.
"Sarah! Sarah!" he called. The darkness returned nothing but his own echoing voice.
Julia walked past him and swept the beam of her flashlight over the area. Her searched found the mound with its hole. "What is this?" she asked Barnabas.
He shook himself from his disappointment and looked at what she mentioned. "It is one of my father's failed wells for the Old House. When the water proved insufficient they boarded it up and dug another."
Julia stopped at the edge of the mound and leaned over. "It's not boarded up now."
Barnabas hurried to her side and knelt one knee on the edge of the embankment. "Willie!"
"Barnabas. . ." came Willie's weak reply up the walls of stone. The pair shone their flashlights down the well. Willie's dirty and wet face blinked against the harsh light, but a relieved smile graced his lips. "Boy, am I glad to see you two."
"Are you badly hurt?" Julia asked him.
He shifted and winced. "I-I don't think so, but I can't get up."
Barnabas climbed to his feet. "I will fetch a rope and we will see if we can pull him up."
"Not if he can't get up himself," Julia argued.
"Do you have a better plan?" he countered.
She nodded. "Yes, I'll go down there and inspect his wounds before we yank him up and cause further damage."
"Very well. I'll be back in a moment."
Barnabas hurried to the Old House and fetched a long stretch of thick hemp rope. He returned to the old well and found that Julia had torn away some snow-covered brush to reveal a large stone. "We can wrap the rope around this for leverage while you lower me down, and then you can drop my flashlight down to me," she told him.
Together the pair wrapped one end of the rope tightly around the stone, and Julia tied the other end around her chest just under her arms. She grasped the rope in both hands and eased herself into the hole. Barnabas held onto the other end and gave her more line.
Julia stuck her shoes into a part of the wall where the stones had fallen out. The existing stones proved to be unreliable as a section of the wall fell away and clattered to the bottom of the well, missing Willie by less than a foot.
"Careful!" he squeaked.
"Sorry!" Julia called down.
Barnabas held the rope taught while he stretched his neck to get a better view of her. "Are you all right, Julia?"
"I'm fine, but these walls could give way at any moment," she surmised. Julia avoided the walls and allowed Barnabas to ease her in midair to the bottom. Her feet touched the ground and she gave a light tug on the rope. "I'm down! Drop my flashlight!"
Barnabas' face appeared in the hole and he held out her flashlight. He dropped the object and Julia caught it before it joined Willie's shattered one on the ground. She knelt beside him and used the light to inspect his person.
"Where does it hurt?" she asked him.
He shifted and clenched his teeth. "Everywhere."
Julia rolled up a sleeve and revealed a row of bruises. The beam of her flashlight traveled down his body as she examined him. "There doesn't appear to be any broken bones. However-" she slipped up his right pant leg and pursed her lips, "-this appears to be a bad sprain. Do you think you can stand up on it?"
"I'll do anything if it means getting out of here," he told her.
"All right. I'll go up again and we'll drop the rope down to you. Just slip it over like I have it on me and we'll lift you up. Do you understand?" Willie nodded. Julia stood and pulled on the rope. "I'm ready to be pulled up!"
Barnabas raised her out of the hole and helped her onto the mound. She leaned over and dropped the rope back down. In a moment there was a rough jerk. Together they grabbed the rope and pulled, drawing Willie out of the depths of his dank imprisonment.
In a few short moments he emerged from the darkness and into the falling snow. His body was a mess of bruises and mud, and he shook from the chill. They eased him onto hard ground and Barnabas draped his Inverness cape over him.
He wrapped the coat tight around himself and gave them a quivering smile. "T-thanks, guys," he whispered.
"Don't thank us yet until we get you home," Barnabas scolded him as they drew his arms over their shoulders and carried him homeward.