We were alone once again in our cage in the deathly silence having long run out of things to say.
“Did you hear that?” Tabitha murmured.
“Hear what?” I replied.
But then I heard something too.
It was faint but getting louder.
Then the two Irish-speaking boys appeared at the top of one of the stairwells.
My heart jumped.
I immediately spoke to them in Irish and said –
“Come down and chat to us. We mean you no harm. Where did you learn Irish?”
The two boys looked and muttered to each other. Then slowly they walked down the creaking stairwell towards them.
“What are your names?” I asked.
The eldest boy spoke.
“I am Padraig and this is Sean.”
“How did you get here?”
“Our transport vessel was attacked. My parents were merchants. They were murdered and we were sold as slaves to Barabus.”
The two boys were shaking with tears trickling down their faces.
“This is Tabitha, and my name is Ciarán. You have nothing to fear from us. We see the way that you are treated, it’s not right. If you help us out of this cage we can help you.”
The boys looked at each other. Then Sean went to the top of the room to retrieve the keys and then unlocked the cage.
Tabitha couldn’t but hug the two boys as she left the cage.
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