Chapter 17
The rope ladder swung every time she or Bertrand took a step. Maggie clutched the hilt of her knife in one hand, leaving herself only two fingers to cling to the rungs. The sound of rushing water drifted up from below.
“Think we’ll find solid ground or just watery death down there?” Maggie’s voice echoed through the black.
“Solid ground I would assume,” Bertrand called back.
The sound of him speaking loud and clear brushed away the fear growing at the edges of Maggie’s mind.
“It would seem incredibly odd to have a ladder reaching down to something one could not stand upon,” Bertrand continued. “If the brethren merely wanted access to the water beneath, I could only imagine two reasons why―to fetch water, in which case a bucket and rope would do just as well. Or to send a pe
