ground, tears of shame and pain stinging his eyes. Brian jumped down beside him. "Nice one, Kenny," he said, taking the rope back.
Donny's face appeared over the top of the wall. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" he demanded.
"And spoil the surprise? No way." Brian jerked on the rope. "Come on, cocksucker. Let's go for a walk."
They clambered up the grassy slope toward the low stub of the ruined castle's east wall. Ziggy stumbled and fell a few times, but there were always hands at the ready to haul him upright. They crossed the wall and they were in the courtyard. The moon slid out from behind a cloud, bathing them in an eerie radiance. "Me and my brother used to love coming here when we were kids," Brian said as he slowed to a stroll. "It was the church that built this castle. Not a king. Did you know that, cocksucker?"
Ziggy shook his head. "I've never been here before."
"You should have. It's great. The mine and the countermine. Two of the greatest siege works anywhere in the world." They were heading toward the north range, the Kitchen Tower to the right of them and the Sea Tower to the left. "It was some place, this. It was a residence, it was a fortress." He turned to face Ziggy, walking backward. "And it was a prison."
"Why are you telling me this?" Ziggy said.
"Because it's interesting. They murdered a cardinal here too. They killed him, then they hung his naked body from the castle walls. I bet you never thought of that, did you, cocksucker?"
"I didn't kill your sister," Ziggy repeated.
By now, they were at the entrance to the Sea Tower. "There are two vaulted chambers in the lower story here," Brian said conversationally, leading the way inside. "The eastern one contains something almost as interesting as the mine and countermine. Do you know what that is?"
Ziggy stood mute. But Kenny answered the question for him. "You're not going to put him down the Bottle Dungeon?"
Brian grinned. "Well done, Kenny. Go to the top of the class." He reached into his pocket and produced a cigarette lighter. "Donny, give me your paper."
Donny produced a copy of the Evening Telegraph from his inside pocket. Brian rolled it tightly and lit one end of it as he walked into the eastern chamber. By the flare of the makeshift torch, Ziggy could see a hole in the floor covered with a heavy iron grille. "They cut a hole in the rock. It's in the shape of a bottle. And it's a long way down."
Donny and Kenny looked at each other. This was growing a bit too serious for their taste. "Hang on, Brian," Donny protested.
"What? You're the ones that said poofters don't count. Come on, give me a hand." He tied the end of Ziggy's rope to the grille. "It'll take the three of us to get this off."
They gripped the grille, hunkering down to the task. They grunted and strained. For a long, happy minute Ziggy thought they weren't going to be able to raise it. But eventually, with a harsh grating of metal on stone, it shifted. They moved it to one side and turned as one to Ziggy.
"You got anything to say to me?" Brian Duff demanded.
"I didn't kill your sister," Ziggy said, desperate now. "Do you really think you can get away with dropping me down a fucking dungeon and leaving me to die?"
"The castle's open at the weekends in the winter. That's only a couple of days away. You willnae die. Well, probably not, anyway." He dug Donny in the ribs and laughed. "OK, boys, bombs away."
They rushed Ziggy in a group and manhandled him toward the narrow opening. He kicked out furiously, twisting in their grasp. But three to one, six hands to none, he never had a chance. In seconds, he was sitting on the edge of the circular hole, his legs dangling into space. "Don't do this," he said. "Please, don't do this. They'll send you to jail for a very long time for this. Don't do it. Please." He sniffed, trying not to give way to the panicked tears that choked his throat. "I'm begging you."
"Just tell me the truth," Brian said. "It's your last chance."
"I never," Ziggy sobbed. "I never."
Brian kicked the small of his back, sending him hurtling down for a few feet, his shoulders bouncing painfully against the stone walls of the narrow funnel. Then he jerked to a