Niccolo moaned and shook his head. I pinched him hard. Luciana picked up her skirts, ran towards the steps of the upper crypt and throwing her head back, looked up at the wooden trapdoor. The knocking continued, becoming louder and louder and more frenzied. I could no longer see Luciana and, slowly released my hand from Niccolo's mouth, motioned to him to be quiet and his eyes welled up with tears as he nodded, not making a sound. I placed my finger to my lips and Niccolo slowly bowed his head. I stooped over to avoid the low hanging ceiling and sprang up the stone steps, slipping slightly on the wet lichen. Luciana had her ear almost up against the iron and wood of the trap door. I grabbed her skirts and pulled her back with a sharp tug.
"Luciana", I hissed. "Whoever is up there could be infected. We must keep our distance and we need weapons", I hesitated, unsure for an instant. "Go grab the lances. Go now, make haste!"
Luciana moved away from the trapdoor, her eyes wide, staring, and she quickly crossed herself. I crossed myself too. Luciana picked up her skirts and she carefully picked her way down into the upper crypt.
Soft low moans then the sound of...what was it? Weeping. This was not Niccolo - it was coming from above, from behind the trap door. Sudden silence. The knocking had ceased and then the silence was broken with loud, heartrending, uncontrolled sobbing.
The sobbing then stopped and the knocking resumed. I stood still, barely breathing. The knocking continued, harder, louder, hammering, pummeling. The trapdoor began to shake.
"Here, take this!", Luciana's voice was behind me. I turned slightly. Luciana was holding a lance in each hand and a dagger was deftly held between her teeth. I snatched the lance from her left hand and carefully removed the dagger. Luciana grimaced and we both stood stock still. The knocking had stopped and so had the heartrending sobs.
