Free Hexes and X's (Z&C Mysteries, #3) by Zoey Kane, Claire Kane Page A

my feet until they were in front of me. It was difficult over my rear, for obvious reasons. I am still limber and got the hands over my bent knees and feet. But my hands are arthritic and I couldn’t get the knot undone.”
    Zo worked to undo the rope’s knots from off of Matilda’s wrists as the woman gushed forth more of her traumatic experience. “So, I pulled on the chain. I heard the overhead entrance close. There was no light. I couldn’t see anything, and then there was a whoosh and a draft of another opening.”
    Tears began to roll again. Matilda asked, “Are we ever going to get out of here?”
    “Yes. Yes, we will,” Claire coaxed, even though she hadn’t a clue. Zo was almost done freeing her wrists.
    “So I helped Jack by letting him lean against me. We struggled a lot because of his injury until we went through another door, struggled some more till we got here, when suddenly something slammed down against the floor behind me. I felt for it, discovering it was a gate of bars. You two better be careful,” she lowered her voice. “You are our only hope to get out alive.”
    “Jack, aren’t you going to roll over here?” Claire asked, wondering what the holdup was.
    “Too sick,” came the whisper of a hoarse, stressed voice. “I think… I think I broke,” a hard swallow interrupted his words, “… broke my leg at the thigh.”
    Zo, Claire and Matilda looked him over with the help of the flashlight. Blood was soaking out his pant leg and there was a deep stench of urine from a stain down his trousers.
    “He has been kidnapped awhile before me.” Matilda looked, compassionately. Claire could feel the tears start to sting her own eyes. She blinked them away and said, “Okay, Matilda. Get the sack off his head, if you can, and untie him. Maybe you will have better luck with your hands free. See if the bleeding has stopped. Do what you can. We are going to go on through this maze and try to get us all out of here.”
    Just then, there was a loud mechanical clicking sound and the ceiling in the cell fell a few inches. “Oh, good Lord, help us all!” Matilda prayed. “I heard that same sound two other times before.”
    Claire said, “Matilda hasn’t been seen for three hours or so by now. So that means this ceiling is moving down maybe three inches per hour.”
    Zo calculated, “That means it drops a foot in four hours and that gives us eight hours until tomorrow morning by the looks of the height now to get through this murderous labyrinth. “Mother may I …” She recalled the message on the entrance. “…Mother may I move across seven more X’s to freedom? The map only showed five X’s, correct?”
    “Yes, I’m certain of it.”
    “The sign said there were seven more, and if you count the X on the attic’s hatch, that makes eight total. We are missing a piece of the puzzle.”
    “It appears that’s so,” Zo mused.
    “We just have to go forward, and find out later.” Claire paused a second with an icy look to her eyes. “Now!”
    “Yes, but grab Millicent just in case she means something in the game.” Zo grabbed the walking stick as the two of them headed for the narrow passage. “And push Millicent ahead of us, Claire. She will be the first to go if there is a booby-trap. Now our game is timed and we have to hurry.”

     
     
    ELEVEN
     
    The path was narrow, barely leaving room for the three of them. The walking stick pressed against Millicent’s back, moving her well ahead of themselves. Their flashlight soon showed another opening, this time with big rubber edges like that of windshield wipers. Red letters above the strange doorway said, “Keep ’em high.” Knowing they had to somehow squeeze through, the seamstress form went first.
    “I don’t hear any falling or crashing, Mom.”
    “Nope, and no screaming from Millicent, so I think we can go ahead through.”
    The Kanes felt like they had been squeegeed by the time they got to the other side. There was only