One by one Sarah watched the women and children come through the door. Their eyes wide with curiosity until they saw her and Frank and Catriona standing in the jail cell. The new prisoners were shoved into one of the other cells. At first Sarah wanted to scream “Run! Run!” but what would be the point? Where would they run to?
Shaun, Saoirse and another of the castle women, Margo, all had rifles. All the compound women had were crying babies and terrified children.
Eventually Sarah covered her ears as the compound women were escorted into the cells. When they resisted, Saoirse or Margo would point a gun at one of their children’s heads. In the end it didn’t take long.
Because Shaun was trusted, every one of the compound people was lured to the dungeon without a struggle.
The four compound men were put in cells along with the soldier Robby and six other compound women—including Nuala, Sophia, and Fiona—and their ten children who were all mostly infants.
No castle women were jailed. Did that mean they were all in on it? Even Ava? Sarah felt sick. Of course Ava was in on it. She was Shaun’s lover. Sarah felt so stupid. She had trusted her. She had trusted them all.
Shaun refused to catch Sarah’s eye. The compound men yelled and made threats but with guns to the heads of their most vulnerable, the threats were empty. Sarah watched Terry, his face dark with shock, as he held his wife Jill and their youngest Darcy between them. She saw the look of disbelief on the face of Nuala in the cell furthest away with her infant in her arms and one hand clutching her older boy Dennis’s shoulder.
Fiona had been shoved into Sarah’s cell and now sat on the floor with Ciara in her lap as she stared numbly at the crying people standing around her. Sarah didn’t bother going to her. There was nothing she could tell her. No way she could comfort her.
“That’s all of you then,” Shaun said. “I’m sorry about this. I wish there’d been another way. You can thank Sarah Donovan for why you’re all here. Margo will be right outside the door so don’t try anything foolish.”
Margo was the short, heavyset woman who’d helped Sarah get across the drawbridge the day they all fled outside in a panic.
The expression on Margo’s round freckled face held no hint of human feeling.
“Why are you doing this?” Sophia screamed. Sarah’s stomach tightened to hear the terror in her voice.
“Have you lost your mind?” Terry bellowed. “Open these cells, ye daft fecker!”
After a quick glance at Sarah, Shaun turned and left the room. Margo walked over to Sarah’s cell and pointed at the square window in the stone wall.
“You’ll notice you have a room with a view,” she said with a sneer. “And you’re welcome to try it but if you do you’ll end up hamburger meat on the rocks below. And hamburger cooks up as easily as anything else.”
Margo turned away, slamming the heavy door that led to the hallway behind her.
“Sarah! What does he mean, you’re the reason?” Sophia called out. “What is happening to us?”
“It’s not Mrs. Donovan’s fault,” Frank said. “Cat and I found evidence that they’re all unnatural buggers.”
“What are ye talking about?” Kevin shouted. He was holding his infant son in his arms and his wife Mary stood next to him holding the hand of their six-year old daughter.
“They’re cannibals,” Catriona said shrilly. “They’ve been eating people who come to the castle. That’s how they’ve survived.”
For a moment it felt as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room at her words. A spasm of stunned silence fell on the group.
“Are ye telling me the crazy bastards intend to eat us?” Tommy said. His mouth hung open in astonishment.
Sarah felt her legs weaken and she leaned against the bars of the cell for a moment to steady herself.
When the scream came from Nuala’s cell, chills shot up Sarah’s back.
“Damian!” Nuala shrieked. “Where is Damian?”
Sarah looked in the cell beside her but couldn’t see him.
Was this an accident? Was Damian hiding somewhere in the castle? Had the bastards rounded up everyone but missed him?
Sarah noticed the door to the hallway was open just enough for her to see Margo standing there. Hearing Nuala’s scream, Margo stuck her head in. There was a malicious grin on her face as she caught Sarah’s eye. Margo winked at Sarah then closed the door as Nuala continued to scream.
It was then Sarah knew. It wasn’t an accident.
They have Damian.