Free Lady Emma's Campaign by Jennifer Moore

gingerly pulled at the strips, not wanting to touch Lieutenant Trenchard’s wrists and certainly not his ankles. She might be trapped in a dirty prison, but she was still a lady.
    Serena gave her another look of exasperation, blowing out her breath and flipping her hair out of her face.
    The sounds of battle continued outside the fort, and soldiers ran down the passageway sporadically. Emma tried not to think about what would happen when someone discovered what they had done.
    Serena took the keys, handed Emma the warden’s jacket and hat, then carefully opened the door and peered outside.
    Emma rolled the jacket into a bundle and nervously watched Lieutenant Trenchard for any signs that he might awaken.
    Finally, Serena darted out of the door, pulling Emma behind her. She turned the key in the lock and, without releasing Emma’s hand, walked quickly down the passageway.
    When they emerged into the courtyard, chaos surrounded them. Soldiers fired weapons from the battlements above while more men ran to the gates with muskets or led horses from the stables near the main entrance. A few groups operated cannons, and Emma nearly collapsed in terror when the massive weapons fired.
    Serena continued to pull her through the smoke and confusion toward the archway that led to the below-ground dungeon she’d been taken to when she’d first arrived.
    Emma’s mind began to clear, and she focused on the task that had brought her to this terrible place: rescuing Sidney.
    Once they reached the gate, Serena shoved a key into the lock, wiggling, twisting, and finally pulling it out and trying another.
    Emma looked around, hoping they were not attracting any attention, but the fighting caused enough of a distraction that nobody seemed to notice the two women.
    The gate finally opened on squeaking hinges. Emma grabbed the lantern and the tinderbox next to it before following Serena through the opening.
    Serena closed and locked the gate while Emma set about lighting the lantern. She had only ever seen servants and men use a tinderbox, but she didn’t think it could be too difficult. Holding the u-shaped steel over the box, she struck it repeatedly with the flint. Nothing happened.
    Serena joined her, and they moved away from the gate into the semidarkness of the stairwell.
    Emma continued to strike the steel and was eventually rewarded with a spark or two, but she was unable to direct them into the chamber to ignite the tinder. Frustrated, she handed the tinderbox to Serena, whose efforts were equally unproductive.
    The women looked at each other for a moment.
    Serena glanced behind them at the dark stairway. She pressed her lips together, “I have not been in the dungeon. You can find Captain Fletcher in the dark?”
    Emma nodded then shook her head. “I do not know.”
    Serena’s eyes held Emma’s, her brows were knit together anxiously, but after a moment, her expression softened. She smiled encouragingly and took Emma’s hand again, but this time, it felt like a gesture of support rather than exasperation.
    Emma led the way down the steep staircase, deeper into the darkness. Before long, she moved the bundle of the warden’s jacket into the crook of the arm that held Serena’s hand and began feeling her way, with her fingers upon the rough wall. Once they reached the pitch dark of the passageway, Emma walked blindly, testing the space before her with sliding feet. She wished she had remembered the passage more clearly, but the way had been shadowed and she’d been so anxious to find Sidney and bask in his gratitude for her rescue that she had not paid close attention to the number of doors they’d passed. Both girls jumped when something scurried across their feet, and Serena pressed closer to her.
    “I think it is just a bit farther. I do not remember which door,” Emma whispered.
    “We must hurry.” Serena’s voice shook slightly, betraying her anxiety.
    Emma didn’t know what would happen if they were caught. The