Page 32 of A Fearless Heart
“Because it collapsed in several years ago. It’s too dangerous to use now. The collapse also damaged the airways that carried the hot air further. We continued to use the stove for the closer glasshouses, but after my father died, I lost so many servants that I couldn’t spare anyone for this work. Luckily the winter was mild.” She rapped her knuckles on the coal stove, and a dull clang reverberated through the space. “I’m worried there’s more damage than I can see. So if you could do anything toward restoring the system, it would be a great help.”
“How did you get the coal in here?” Gabe asked, looking around.
“Through a chute above the pile. Above ground, there’s a small brick structure that looks like an odd little Roman ruin.”
“I’ve seen it.”
“It’s completely fake, of course. There was a passion for false ruins a while ago. But this structure hides a trap door. The coal was carted up to the structure and then just tossed into the chute, and it ends up here.”
“Ingenious.”
“My grandfather’s idea,” Cady said proudly.
“How bad is the collapse?” he asked, gesturing to the other door.
“Bad. And it may have got worse. It’s been a long time since I’ve been down there.” Walking to the door, Cady put a key into the lock, but it wouldn’t even turn.
So Gabe simply grabbed the mostly rotted door. “Step back,” he warned.
* * * *
Cady did as he asked, and he put all his strength into pulling the door out from its damaged frame. After a moment of seeming failure, the door came off in a flurry of splinters and a cloud of dust.
Cady darted back, and Gabe stumbled as he worked to maintain his balance. Once stable, he tossed most of the door into a corner. “That was more spectacular than I thought it would be.”
She started to step into the dark, dusty space. As she did, she accidentally kicked a piece of the door forward into the shadows.
There was a loud squeak and two rats dashed out of cover toward them, and passed by.
Cady stifled a scream, and Gabe saw her whole demeanor change.
“I can’t go in there,” she whispered.
“That’s where you wanted to go.”
“I did want to, but now I can’t. I just can’t.”
“Rats are one of the things you’re afraid of,” he said.
“Yes! Who wouldn’t be?”
“Um…me?”
“How?” Cady looked at him as if he were some mystical creature. “How can you just stand there and not mind?”
“They’ve already run away, my lady. The rats don’t want to have anything to do with you.”
“These rats didn’t. But what if they’d been rabid?”
Oh, that’s the real fear, he guessed. It wasn’t the animal itself, but the possibility it represented—the slight but real chance of a bite and a subsequent terrible death. She kept looking all around, from one corner to the next to the next. She had taken hold of the loose skirts of her gown, as if prepared to jump to avoid more rats should they appear.
“Had they been rabid, they’d have acted quite differently,” Gabe said, hoping to calm her. “You’d notice straightaway and you’d be very careful to not let them close enough to hurt you,” he said. “They’re gone, my lady. Truly.”
“You don’t know that.” Cady’s chest rose and fell in a quick, shallow way.
“I do, but I’m guessing that we’re not going to get much done in this room today. Shall we leave? Try again another time?”
Cady looked to the long, shadowed hall and shook her head, eyes wide.
