He carried tools, wedges, and a coil of rope into the cellar.
Mercy recognized him immediately.
She touched the place where she had once given him the bone button.
“Ruth said you’d come,” she whispered.
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“When did she say that?”
Mercy did not answer at once.
She was listening for the guard.
“Years ago, before they moved her.”
Daniel told her they would leave through the lower passage.
The teenage boy helped the injured man to his feet.
Mercy folded a shawl around the man’s shoulders.
Daniel led them beneath the rotten floor and into the tunnel.
Water reached their ankles.
The ceiling forced them to bend.
For several moments all they could hear was the stream moving past the wheel.
Then a sharp whistle sounded outside.
It was Jonah’s signal.
They emerged into the brush one by one.
The boy stepped into daylight and covered his eyes.
Mercy held his hand until he could walk.
Jonah waited beyond the creek with the wagon hidden behind saplings.
Isaiah helped the injured man aboard.
Daniel had expected relief when the last person climbed out.
Instead he heard Silas shout from the mill.
The guard had returned early.
“Run,” Daniel told Jonah.
The wagon moved forward before the driver could answer.
Daniel and Isaiah remained behind to close the passage.
They fitted the loose panel and scattered wet leaves over the disturbed ground.
Then they returned to the main building by different paths.
Silas caught Daniel entering the workshop.
“Where have you been?”
“Looking for the support beam you ordered.”
“The prisoners are gone.”
Daniel stared toward the trapdoor.
“How?”
Silas seized his collar.
“You tell me.”
Daniel felt the overseer’s grip tighten.
“I was working on the waterwheel.”
The watchman arrived breathless and reported wagon tracks near the creek.
Silas released Daniel and ran outside.
Daniel’s heart pounded, but he forced himself to stay near the tools.
He knew flight would look like confession.
After an hour of searching, Silas returned furious.
He questioned every worker and threatened punishments.
Daniel answered only what he could truthfully say without exposing the fugitives.
He had been repairing the waterwheel.
He had seen the cellar occupants earlier.
He had not watched the wagon depart.
By nightfall Silas had no witness who could place Daniel at the creek.
The overseer sent riders in three directions.
Jonah had already taken a fourth.
At Sarah’s house, Mercy ate warm bread with trembling hands and asked for paper.
