Alice was cold but couldn't move to pull up the blanket. Her head ached and she struggled to open her eyes. It was dark and she was not in her bedroom. She slowly realized she was not in a bed at all. It was a hard surface that was propped at a steep angle.
The room was lit by a pair of lanterns to either side of her and she could see it was a cellar. There was a line of cabinets on the far wall with a small table in front of it.
Alice cursed but there was only a muffled sound. She realized there was a gag in her mouth. Alice was not one to panic easily. She started to panic when she realized her clothes were gone and she was held down by heavy leather straps.
The last thing she could remember was climbing down from Old Clancy's cart near Elizabeth House. What could have gone so wrong in the fifty yards from the relative safety of Elizabeth House?
There was a creaking from the ceiling. Footsteps. A creaking door opened and Alice could hear footsteps as someone descended the stairs.
