Chapter 19
When Esme rematerialised in the bottom of the Merle Fountain, Daniel’s concerned face was hovering inches away from her own. She surfaced to hear Lillian’s frantic voice.
‘Esme! Are you all right? What happened?’
The last rosy streaks of dawn were fading over the horizon. Blood streamed from Esme’s leg into the water, clouding the surface of the fountain. She answered in an unsteady voice.
‘I found the chamber … and the stygians.’
Daniel and Lillian helped her out of the fountain and over to a wooden bench. Black dots crowded Esme’s vision as she gazed down at her leg, uncomprehending. The flesh around it had already taken on a greenish tinge.
‘Oh, Esme,’ said Lillian, her face white.
Daniel took a spare shirt from his bag, tore strips from it, bound the wound, and tied i
