The climb up the ladder felt like it took even longer than the descent, and when they reached the hatch door and climbed into the well, Samuel’s lantern began sputtering. Johnathan took a fresh candle from his pocket and lit it, replacing the lantern’s spent one so that they didn’t lose their light.
‘Erin!’ he bellowed. ‘Erin, can you hear us?’ There was no response. ‘Maybe she went back into the house?’
‘What for?’ Samuel asked. ‘We already checked everything in there. It’s as bare as a newborn’s—’
‘She might have needed the bathroom,’ Johnathan said mildly, deliberately cutting him off.
‘In that toilet? Please, even if she was desperate, she would have found somewhere else to go rather than use that.’
‘Then she might have fallen asleep. We’re all tired; the only reason I’m still awa
