Free Riddle in Stone (The Riddle in Stone Series - Book One) by Robert Evert Page B

and another, each winding its way erratically up in a roughly hewn fissure no more than five feet high.
    Crouching, Edmund began climbing, his bright lantern leading the way.
    Thorax didn’t move.
    “What is it?”
    Thorax looked back the way they came.
    “The troll? I’m sure he’s still out there. They don’t give up easily. He’s probably waiting to see if we can dig our way out.”
    She glanced up the stairs.
    “Oh, I see what you are getting at. I don’t, I don’t think he’ll be waiting for us in the tower. How could he know about this passage, you know what I mean? He couldn’t fit down here. He probably thinks we’re trapped in the tunnel.”
    He put his foot on the next step.
    Thorax’s nose twitched.
    “Come on, girl. I’m exhausted and need sleep. Let’s find the Star and lay down. I’ll even give you half of the salted pork we have left if you don’t dawdle.”
    Hunched forward, Edmund started clambering up the cramped stairs. Hesitantly, Thorax followed.

Chapter Nine
    For over an hour they scaled the narrow stairs, turning constantly upward and to the left in a haphazard spiral. More than once, Edmund banged his head on the low ceiling, his curses reverberating in the damp closeness around them. Then abruptly the steps ended in front of a brick wall.
    Thorax groaned.
    “Not to worry,” Edmund said, rubbing his throbbing back. He tried to straighten it, but couldn’t without cracking his head against the ceiling again. “This is the end. We’ve made it.” He patted the wall blocking their way with a tired hand. “This is the secret door to the room where they probably hid the Star and Iliandor’s other belongings. All we have to do is . . . ” Edmund pushed on the bricks, but nothing happened.
    “All we have to do is . . . ” He pushed again, harder.
    What if some piece of debris is blocking it from the other side? Or the masonry has settled, making the door immovable? After all, it’s been centuries. You’ll be trapped in here!
    There’s a stream exiting the grotto. It might lead out as well. But don’t give up, not yet. Not when we’re so close!
    Setting the lantern on the top step, Edmund threw himself at the brick wall. A crack appeared. Thorax pawed his leg.
    “I know, I know,” he replied, drawing his sword. “I was just about to get it. Thank you very much.”
    Sliding the tip of his sword into the crack, he wiggled the hilt. Inch by inch, the wall yielded, its bottom edge scraping across a wooden floor that emerged at Edmund’s feet. When an opening wide enough to slide through appeared, Edmund stopped.
    “See,” he said, his gasping breaths echoing in the stairwell. “Nothing to it. Easy, easy as falling out of bed. Like I told you. Now onto the completion of our first quest!”
    Fresh air blew into the stairwell.
    Growling, Thorax retreated.
    Edmund leaned against the wall, panting. “Oh, c-c-come on, girl. Don’t be so afraid of everything. It’s, it’s just the air from, from outside. I’m sure there’s a window or something in the tower. Relax. Okay? Just trust me.”
    Taking a deep breath, he picked up his lantern.
    Sniffing the air again, Thorax fled further down the stairs, the hair between her shoulder blades stiffening.
    “What is it?”
    Reaching through the opening, Edmund set his lantern and pack on the other side of the brick door. He poked his head around the corner.
    “Just as I told you,” he said. “There’s nothing here. It’s just an interior room of the t-t-tower. I can’t see everything, but it looks to be a parlor or something.”
    He peered around the open door.
    “There are pieces of rotting furniture and a few skeletons lying about. That’s probably what you smell, the poor knights who died here. There’s also a few dead birds.”
    Thorax growled.
    “I’ll tell you what; we can use the furniture to make a fire. I’ll fry up the last of the pork and have a bit of hot coffee. Okay? Sound good? But first . . . ”
    Lifting