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contacted a projecting rail and he gripped it as
, fg]^ swinging down. Inches from his face was a spinning
etal wheel over which the moving floor somehow rolled,
turning back to run beneath the upper surface. He hung by a
hrace which held this projecting end of the walkway and the
He had no chance then to see what was beneath him, for Aine, fighting
stubbornly to the very end, was at last forcibly cast over the edge. As
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she fell, he reached out with his free hand and caught her by one arm,
her dead weight yanking on him violently, nearly pulling him loose. But
he held on and they both hung there, all their weight on the one hand
desperately gripping the rail.
He looked around. There was nothing around or below but a dull grey
metal surface that funneled down to a round opening some distance
below. It was like the gaping maw of some monstrous beast waiting to
swallow them, and its chill, sour-smelling breath rose up to envelop
them.
Lugh saw no place to put foot or hand, no chance to climb back up, no
place to climb to. And his hand was rapidly loosing its grip on the
brace.
There was only one other choice, and he took it. He let go.
XIV
A COLD RECEPTION
THEY CLUNG TOGETHER as they fell into the round opening and then slid
down a long, sloping tunnel at a breathtaking speed. The slope grew
more gradual as they went, slowing them, until they suddenly whumped
out to find themselves deposited on a second moving pathway.
From another opening above them, a gust of cold air tainted by a bitter
scent blasted their faces as they emerged, instantly chilling them
through. Then they were being carried along, through a large, low-
ceilinged room filled with mounds of objects thickly encrusted by white
frost, sparkling in a hard glare from more of those lighted squares.
108
THE RIDERS OF THE SIDHE
THE MISSION
109
Before they could recover their dazed senses enough to act, the moving
pathway ended, dumping them abruptly onto a chill, stone floor.
The two sat up and looked around them, trying to understand where they
now were. On closer scrutiny, they were able to recognize some of the
things surrounding them. Along one side of the room were rows of
cattle, pig and sheep carcasses, hung by their feet on great hooks,
split and beheaded and pale with their icy coat. There were no more
blasts of the chill air, but the atmosphere was already freezing and
that harsh, biting scent so strong Lugh felt it as something burning in
his nose and throat as he inhaled.
"What is this place?" he asked, his words emerging enveloped in a
thick, white cloud of breath.
"They've captured winter and imprisoned it!" came Cilia's voice.
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They looked up to see him astride a pile of straw baskets. He had one
open and was casually juggling three oddly shaped pink objects.
"Look here!" he said. "It's all hard as stone. Frozen solid!"
"What are those?" Lugh asked.
"Hearts. Sheep, I think. Take a look!"
He tossed one down to Lugh, who had no interest in seeing it more
closely. It fell to the floor at his feet and shattered like a clay
pot, scattering splinters of its blood-red interior across the floor,
flecks bright against the frost-white.
"Clearly it's here they preserve food for those living in the tower,"
Aine said. "But, how do they keep it so cold?"
"Magic it is, surely," Cilia told her. "Great magic, too. More even
than you or your Manannan control, I'd guess, I would that." He
gestured up to another of the openings in the ceiling right above his
head. "There's a draft of chill air comin' from there to put to shame
any winter blizzard I've ever felt."
"I don't see how you can be so cheerful about it, you ridiculous
bufibon," Aine complained, tugging her cape about her more tightly.
"We'll be frozen as solid as those carcasses before long."
She was right. Lugh could feel the sharp cold cutting through his thin
clothing. Damp from the sea, the edges of his tunic and trousers were
already stiffening with ice. And for Aine he knew it must be worse.
"Gilla, we've got to find a way out of here!" he said.
"Well not the way we came in. That's sure," the clown
plied, 'climbing from the stack. "That tunnel we dropped
JTwn was slick as a frozen stream, so it was. No climbing
But they must have a way to get this food out of here," the shivering
Aine pointed out- "Let's look!"
Thev found the way soon, in a solid door set in the center
f one outer wall. It was securely locked, its metal handle
coated thickly with a shiny layer of ice. Lugh wrestled futilely
with it, his hands sticking to the frozen surface. Angrily he
stepped back and kicked at it with no more result.
"I suppose we'll be hanging up like those carcasses soon," Aine said
wearily. She leaned back against the wall, her body sagging Her
shivering stopped. "Or maybe we'll freeze solid standing up and topple
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