Sick with horror, I stepped past her dragging feet towards the next cell.
The mad woman let go of Edna’s throat, sprang to the bars and reached for me. I pulled my gun and beat down her hands with it.
She jumped back, howling.
Even with that horror so close to me, I could now only think of Miss Wonderly.
She was in there. She lay flat on the cot, her eyes closed, her hair like spilt honey on the coarse pillow.
I unlocked the cell, stepped in.
The mad woman’s fingers grabbed my arm. Half-crazy with fear, revolted, I struck her between the eyes with my gun butt.
Her eyes rolled back and she dropped.
Shuddering, I snatched up Miss Wonderly and blundered from the cell.
The raddled old woman began to scream.