She couldn’t take another year in prison.
She couldn’t even think about it.
It had become so loathsome that it was preferable to die than to waste away behind those walls.
So her appeal began, not to the Governor, nor to the warden, but
to the prison undertaker.
The undertaker was responsible for all inmates that died.
He placed them in coffins, sealed coffins, and took them out for the burial.
After some time and female wiles, she was finally able to persuade the man to help her escape.
The plan was simple.
The next time someone died, he would allow her to get into the coffin with the dead body. He would then nail the lid shut, take it out to the graveyard, and bury it.
He will then return under the cover of darkness to open it and free her.
There would be enough oxygen in the coffin for that period of time.
Eventually, the opportunity came when someone died
According to plan, she sneaked into the darkened parlour and crawled into the coffin with the body.
Shortly after that, the lid was nailed down.
She felt the movement of the coffin as it was carried out to the waiting wagon.
There was a rocking motion as it was pulled out of the prison yard.
Through the gates that were locked upon her for so many years.
Beyond the walls that she could never climb.
She felt the wagon stop in the beggars’ graveyard and sensed the downward motion of the coffin as it was lowered into the hole dug for it.
A swelling sense of victory filled her.
The ploy was going to work!
She heard the clunking noise of the earth being shovelled down the grave until at last, she could hear no more.
Now it was only a short wait until the undertaker would return for her.
She couldn’t help the shriek “FREE AT LAST!!!”
Patiently she waited till curiosity beckoned.
So she lit a match to see who had died anyway.
In the brief flare of light, she saw who it was.
It was the……… UNDERTAKER!!!
