Trouble at the Scholar's Inn

Part 4

"Damn, I gotta take a wicked piss!" one of the men said, putting down Kat's lute.

Morgan didn't take his eyes off of his cards. "Don't be long."

He hurried off into the washroom and closed the door behind him.

Panic rose in Janelle's gut as the man reached for the women's privy door handle. He looked at the picture on the door of a woman in a dress, chuckled, and reached for the men's privy door. Janelle sighed with relief. She slowly made her way along the rafter until she had a good view of his back.

"Ah," he said as he began to relieve himself.

Janelle winced at the thought of what could happen. She pulled out her knife and swung her legs out, changing from a crawling position to a sitting one. She held her breath. She had to hit him just right. Counting to three, she slid off the rafter. The man stumbled forward as she crashed down onto his back. Quickly, Janelle covered his mouth with her left hand and drew the dagger across his throat. Blood and urine sprayed all over the privy wall as the man thrashed. Janelle held on, but she dropped her knife. As luck would have it, it landed in the hole on the small wooden bench. Finally, he expired.

"Damnit!" she said, looking down the dark hole. Sticking her hand down there was completely out of the question. She looked down at her shirt, which was stained in various places with blood. She stepped up on the bench, jumped, and grabbed a rafter and pulled herself back up. Four down.

"Three more games and it will be time to ask if they've reconsidered. If not, we kill another hostage," Morgan said.

Janelle strapped on her quarterstaff and searched for the man not at the table. She found him washing his hands in the men's bath. She quickly scooted so she was right over him. This was going to be risky, but she was quickly running out of time.

She grabbed the wooden beam, swung down, and kicked him with both feet as hard as she could. Fortunately, she caught him off balance and he landed face first in the tub with her on top. As fast as lightning, Janelle grabbed her quarterstaff and began smashing it on the back of his head. After the fourth hit he quit thrashing.

Janelle climbed out of the bathtub. Her leather pants and the bottom half of her shirt were soaked. She quickly removed both of her boots and emptied the water out of them. After putting them back on, she wrung out her blood-soaked shirt the best she could. She strapped on her quarterstaff, climbed on a bathtub, and pulled herself back up into the rafters. She quickly scooted across the beam and made her way back to the kitchen. She jumped down, startling Will.

Holle stared at the blood on her shirt. "I be guessin' that ye got one?"

"I got two. There are only five left. They are about to kill another one of us, so it is time to end this. Kat, how do you close the flue on the chimney in the common room?"

"Pull the latch on the side up and it will close. Oh, if you are going to fill the room with smoke, you'll need something." Kat picked up two clean rags, dunked them in the water basin, wrung them out, and handed them to the girls.

Janelle nodded, tied the wet cloth in a knot behind her head, and pulled the front up over her nose and mouth. "Okay, Holle, last time."

Holle boosted Janelle up into the rafters. She quickly made her way across the inn until she was next to the chimney. Pulling out the sewing thread, she made a loop at the end. She unrolled the thread from the spool and lowered the small loop. Sweat drops began to fall from her forehead as she tried to control the thread. Finally, she got it on the lever.