Catherine
I feel the cold raindrops falling on my skin and it brings me back to life. Blinking I try to take in my surroundings. It looks like I am alone and Sankey and his friend have left me for dead. A flash of lightning shoots across the sky and illuminates the forest around me and I see no signs of life. I am thankful for the rain and for the lightning; it is the first time tonight that I have been made assured that the two men have indeed left the area. The lightning continues to flash off and on allowing me to better see my environment. As the rain pours down through the tree branches, drops of water fall onto my back and they provide instant relief to the cuts on my back. Wearily I tug against the ropes around my wrists, hoping that now that my body is wet, my hands may slip loose from the rope, however, all of my efforts are in vain because all I am capable of doing is causing the wet ropes to dig further into my skin. Tilting my head back I open my mouth trying to catch some water in my dry mouth. My throat burns from thirst and when the cold drops hit the inside of my mouth, I can’t help but smile. This little act of nature has made me smile. Who would have thought a few water drops from a tree branch could cause so much joy. The rain continues pouring down and soaking my body. At first, the water felt soothing on my raw skin but as the rain continues I am becoming cold. My entire body is shivering and it is exhausted. I didn’t realize that shivering could cause such stress on one’s body. As I try to stop my body from shaking, I find my lips joining in with my body and now every part of my being is giving into the cold.
Henry
I am once again startled awake but this time it is not from a thunderstorm it is instead from a sound that came from downstairs. The sun is beginning to rise and I can see hints of the sun’s rays on the horizon but there is still more darkness than light in the sky. I swiftly grab the rifle that Catherine always keeps next to her bed and tiptoe out of Mary’s old room and listen.
I hear voices coming from downstairs and they are not the voices of a woman. It could be deserters that are raiding the house or worse it could be Charles Sankey. I am torn from my thoughts as the door across the hallway slowly creaks open. Behind the open door is Susanah. I place my finger to my lips and signal for her to stay quiet. The only way to the main floor is the staircase but if I go down the staircase whoever is in the main hall will surely see me coming. I need to figure out another way to get down to the main floor. Without much thought, I quickly decide to climb down from the veranda on the second floor to the porch on the first floor. Walking back into Mary’s room I gently close the door behind me and then swiftly but silently move across the room to the French doors that open onto the second-story veranda. Stepping onto the veranda I am aware of the wetness from the night’s storm but the rain has gone now. Keeping my rifle in my hand I first place my good leg over the banister and then drag my injured leg over. I need to dangle as near to the ground as possible so I will need both hands for this task. Turning I drop the gun to the ground, making sure that I am aiming for the bushes so it will cushion the gun’s fall. Then I kneel down on the small ledge of the veranda floor and swing myself over the edge, now I am dangling from my hands from the second-floor veranda and my feet are hanging down in front of the first-floor porch. I dangle for a moment and then let myself drop to the ground.
My body hits the ground with a great amount of force and my legs are jammed into my spine. A sharp pain shoots up my injured leg, and I immediately reach for my leg with both of my hands. I lay cringing on the ground in silent pain, rocking my body back and forth and gripping onto my leg. Still, in pain, I crawl towards the bushes where I dropped Catherine’s rifle and noiselessly retrieve it from the bush. I cannot go into the main entrance of the house because whoever is in the main hall will spot me before I have a chance. Limping and dragging my injured leg behind me I make my way to the back entrance. Opening the back door I slowly inch into the house. Moving down the hallway I can still hear movement and whispering in the main hall. When I come to the corner of the wall that opens into the main hall I pause for a moment and listen.
“I know it’s in one of these panels. I saw the girl open one when I was staying here” one of the male voices says and instantly I know who is in the main hall. Charles Sankey has returned to the house and he is trying to rob the Cooney’s of what very little valuables they have left. At first, it doesn’t dawn on me but when I begin to make my move into the main hall, I suddenly know where Catherine has been. This cannot be a coincidence that these two men are here at Moher on the same night that Catherine goes missing. My heart begins to race as I realize that Catherine did not stay away from her own power but instead these two men did something to keep her from coming home.
My stomach is in knots and anger is building in the pit of my belly. I see visions of Catherine alone with these two men. I see them doing what they did Susanah to Catherine and I am filled with a fiery rage. I again slide my body to the edge of the wall and peek around the corner; I am able to see both men. They are facing the wall and not in my direction. Both men are feeling along the panels trying to find the one that hides the secret compartment.
“Put your hands over your head or I will shoot you,” I say stepping out from the corner and aiming my gun at one of the men’s back. The men startle and swing around to face me both of them pulling out a gun as they do. I shoot on command and the unknown man falls to the ground. However, Sankey is able to get a few shots off but I duck behind the wall once more as he shoots into the plaster. When there is a pause in his firing I lean out from the wall again and see him holding his gun up ready to shoot once more, I quickly aim for Sankey’s gun hand and pull the trigger. Sankey’s arm jerks back in a violent motion and the gun flies out of his hand and slides to the other side of the room. Knowing that one of the men is dead and Sankey is injured I move from behind the wall keeping my aim locked on Sankey at all times. I move closer to him so that I am within striking distance.
“What have you done to Catherine?” I spit from my mouth.
Sankey stares at me and begins laughing uncontrollably, his insolence enrages me more and I take the butt of my gun and ram it into the side of Sankey’s head causing him to fall backward onto the hardwood floor. Standing over him I press my boot to his neck and keep the rifle aimed at his head.
“What did you do to Catherine?” I say while applying pressure to Sankey’s neck with the sole of my boot. Sankey chokes back a breath and claws at my foot. Applying even more pressure I repeat my question.
“I see the mute has learned how to talk,” Sankey says in a childlike tone.
His ignorance is driving me over the edge, and I am filled with so much anger that I shove the tip of my gun into the newly made bullet wound in his arm. Sankey screams out in pain, letting out a loud throaty groan. I pull the tip of the gun out of his wound and ask him the same question again. Once more Sankey responds with laughter and with this I have had enough. I shove the tip of the gun deep into his arm once more but this time I continue pushing with all of my strength digging the gun further into his wound and then I slowly move the tip of the rifle in a circular motion causing the bullet wound in his arm to bleed more generously. Sankey screams out in pain more horrific than the first. Once more I pull the gun tip out of his wound and ask the same question but this time I add that I know how to torture prisoners and keep them alive to make sure the torture process lasts longer.
“Sankey, you either tell me where Catherine is, or I will make you wish you died when I shot you. I will torture you until you are on the brink of death and then I will let you heal and then I will torture you again until you are on the verge of death and I will keep doing this until you tell me where Catherine is. You can make this all stop by simply answering my question.”
Sankey is crying and holding onto his bleeding arm. He is losing a large amount of blood, and it is beginning to pool on the floor under him.
“So you are still not going to talk. Well, then I guess we can get rid of one of the body parts that you don’t need in order to survive” I point the gun down towards Sankey’s private area.
“You won’t be needing this anymore.” “NO, NO !! STOP! STOP! I’ll tell you where she is.”