Searching For Treasure - By L.C. Davenport Page 0,19

of it pressed on her. She wanted to believe it was simply one of their castle mates playing a practical joke, a haunted castle trick. But instinct told her differently. She tried to convince herself that the palpable sense of danger she felt radiating from the bottom of the stairs was simply her imagination and she and Josie were going to look and feel very foolish before long. But she couldn't quite manage it. There was something ominous and threatening about the waiting silence below them.

The second step creaked.

When writers of thrillers would refer to the blood freezing in someone's veins, Dana had always believed that it was just a colorful metaphor. Now she knew exactly what they meant. In fact, her whole body felt frozen. The only thing that still seemed to be working was her heart, which was beating as if it expected to be paid time and a half.

The darkness was suffocating; the only relief was the faint glow above them. Dana could feel perspiration dampening the hair around her face. The Nancy Drew adventure had become a nightmare and the excitement had morphed into fear.

Another step, careful, measured, deliberate. Whoever was down there wanted them to be more than just frightened. He or she wanted them totally terrified. The question was why?

Then amazingly, floating down to them from above, a shout of laughter. Of course, there were people outside.

Dana thought about calling for help, but by the time anyone figured out where they were, it could be too late. Too late for what, she refused to examine. There was only one thing they could do, one place they could go. Dana put her mouth to Josie's ear and whispered, "We have to go up." Josie's body was stiff with fright and she wasn't sure her words had registered. But an instant later, she shook her head, a short choppy movement. Keeping it simple, Dana tried again. "Up. People outside. They can help us."

Finally Josie nodded. Dana removed her hand and began heading up the stairs as quickly as she dared. Thankfully, Josie followed her.

The light from above increased rapidly but so did the pace of the footsteps ascending towards them, which soon quickened into a trot. The only consolation was that whoever was down there had even less light than they did. She hoped.

Soon there was enough daylight filtering in to see their way clearly. Taking a deep breath, she yelled, "Run!" The sound of the single shouted word after so many minutes of strained silence was like a body blow. Dana tore up the steps, praying that Josie was following. The sound of her feet pounding the old wood, the sound of her breath in her ears drowned out all other sounds. Their pursuer could've been right behind them or could've given up and gone home. She had no way of knowing.

The door was directly ahead of her, partially open. She could see it and a section of the roof the walk was anchored to. She picked up her pace, desperate to get outside. For some reason the site of their goal so near, instead of reassuring her, kicked her fear up a notch from desperate to panicked. She had to get out into the open air. She had to get to the daylight where it was safe.

Dana flung herself through the door. The walk was narrower than she had imagined and with no room to stop, she slammed into the metal railing. She felt it move under her hands.

Before she could pull back, Josie raced through the doorway a split second behind her, colliding at a dead run into Dana's back. With a bone-chilling shriek of ripping metal, the railing gave way and they pitched forward into empty space.

Dana didn't have time to scream before she felt her body wrench and slap against hard, unforgiving metal. Somehow she had managed to hook her right arm around a curved section of the elaborately designed ironwork, which by some miracle was still stubbornly clinging to the castle at one end. In desperation, Josie had grabbed Dana around the waist as they fell. The railing shuddered and swayed with their weight.

Her mind in shock, Dana couldn't quite grasp that they hadn't fallen the three or so stories to the ground below. Her right arm was bearing the brunt of their weight, her left hand clutching the rail in a death's grip. Her body felt pulled and stretched, and her arms strained with Josie's weight dragging on her.