The Faithful Heart (16 page)

Stunned, she turned to wander down the path
to the main road. Jack had only ever spoken of the joys of
Kedleridge, never of the sorrows. She took in a breath and glanced
across the tiny village towards the orchard. No one was idle.
Everyone had a task, a goal. Everyone had a life. If they had
troubles they dealt with them through work and purpose. Pride in
Jack’s people coursed through her. After one week it felt as though
she had lived there her whole life and knew all its secrets.

The sound of galloping hooves echoed towards
her as a rider crested the hill. Jack’s ginger hair stood out in
the sunlight. A smile of relief spread through her and she ran to
greet him.

Jack had never been so happy to be home and
so full of dread at the same time. He felt years older, heavy and
sick, as his horse galloped down the hill into Kedleridge. His
heart seemed to grow too big for his chest at the sight of Madeline
rushing towards him even as it twisted with shame. She was too
smart not to guess everything he’d almost done with Lydia the
second she looked in his eyes.

“Jack! I was so worried about you!” She held
out her arms as if to hug him as he pulled his horse to a stop in
front of the manor and dismounted. “I thought you were planning to
come straight home.”

He fiddled with his horse’s reins, glanced
around for the stable boy who had a sixth sense for when to show up
and take his horse. He sought comfort in the sight of his orchard,
then turned to meet Simon’s eyes as he stepped out of the manor.
Simon nodded. Jack dropped his gaze and finally dragged it up to
meet Madeline’s. There was nothing but joy and welcoming and deep,
innocent love in her eyes.

The semblance of control he had talked
himself into burst apart. “God I missed you!” he groaned, grabbing
her and tugging her into his arms. He hugged her as if his life
depended on it. It did.

“Are you alright, Jack?” her voice was
muffled as he squeezed her.

Not hardly. “I had a lot of moppin’ up to do
after the nobs left,” he sidestepped her question, letting her go.
“An’ Crispin left for his tour of the shire yesterday. Aubrey wants
you to come stay with her at the castle, by the way. Probably best
seein’ as I got to raise an army to clean up the Derbywood.” He’d
intended his words to be lighthearted, but considering his gut felt
like stone he sounded more like Simon than anything.

“You’re going to invade the Derbywood?”
Madeline blinked. She glanced to Simon with a worried frown.

Simon stared right back at her. Jack arched
an eyebrow at the exchange. “Yeah,” he answered with a shrug. She
still had an arm around his waist. It wasn’t right for her to be so
close considering what he’d almost let happen in Derby. He stepped
towards Simon as an excuse to edge away from her. “Sorry to ditch
you again like this, mate.”

“My lord” Simon nodded, his answer betraying
nothing about what he thought.

Their eyes met. Jack coughed and looked away.
Clever Simon knew he’d done something even if Madeline didn’t.

“Right. How ‘bout a quick bite to eat?” He
tried hard to smile and only just managed it.

“Yes, my lord.” Simon nodded and crossed past
him towards the kitchen.

“So tell me about the council.” Madeline took
his arm and walked with him into the house.

He raised his brow at the forward gesture. It
reminded him a little too much of Lydia. “I’m not gonna lie to you,
MP. It was a disaster.”

He sat at the long table and told her as much
as he dared about the fiasco. She listened with tender attention,
her eyes glittering with concern and sympathy as he explained how
hard he’d tried to act the noble and how things had fallen apart.
She was hopeful that the king’s ransom would be collected in time
to deliver to Pennington and after further explanation agreed that
taking an army into the Derbywood to rout Ethan was a good idea. He
said nothing at all about her father.

When Alice brought him stew and bread he
stuffed his face and listened as she recounted her long, dull week
of simple country pleasures at Kedleridge. He knew which week he
would rather have had.

“Let’s go for a walk,” she suggested as he
was finishing. “There’s something I want to show you out by the
apiary.”

A weary smile touched his lips. “Oy, mind if
we ride instead? Only I don’t think I’m up for a long walk.”

She considered, her beautiful face flushing.
“Yes, I think that would work.”

He sent Simon to ready the horses and by the
time they stepped back out into the afternoon sunshine Simon was
walking up from the stable with them.

“Thanks, mate.” Jack nodded, still not quite
able to meet his man’s eyes.

He looked away, up to the hills and farms
beyond the village. A flicker of movement on the crest of the hill
caught his eye. A lone figure crouched near a cluster of bushes. As
soon as Jack stepped forward the figure darted behind the shrubs.
“Oy! That’s not … that’s Tom!” The surge of joy at the sight of his
brother bowled him over.

Simon turned to follow Jack’s gaze, eyes
darkening. “My lord?”

“Tom’s up there,” Jack continued to shout,
walking faster towards the hill. “Tom. My brother! Oy! Tom! Where
does he think he’s going?”

“Maybe he’s come to see you?” Madeline
suggested.

Tom reemerged on the other side of the shrub,
mounted. He looked back down to the village again before turning
and starting off.

“Oy! Come back!” Jack’s heart sank. He
whirled around and ran to mount his horse. “Come on, Simon! Mount
up! We’ve got to catch him!”

“My lord,” Simon argued, “As much as I am
flattered to be considered, I do not have time -”

“I need you.” He met the man’s eyes with more
pleading than he wanted to think about.

Simon pursed his lips and stared up at the
hill and Tom’s retreating form. It was a quick glance to Madeline
that decided him. He let out a breath and rushed to mount the
second horse.

“Good man.” Jack nodded to him, a trace of a
smile coming back to his eyes. He turned to Madeline. “Sorry about
the walk. We can go later?”

“No problem,” she smiled. “Bring Tom home for
tea.”

Tom and Madeline at home with him for tea.
The idea filled him with hope where he thought there was none left.
He nodded to her with a broad grin and kicked his horse forward,
Simon right behind him.

They galloped along the road that lead out of
the village and up to the hills past the orchard and the outlying
farms. He couldn’t help but feel the stirrings of pride as he
glanced back over his shoulder at Kedleridge from a distance. He
liked the place, he really did. Tom would like it to. Forget Ethan
and that mess, he would catch Tom and force him to come home with
him. Fool that it made him, he missed his brother.

“Over there, my lord.” Simon pulled his horse
to a halt at the crest of the hill. From that vantage point he
could look down into the valley that separated Kedleridge from the
outlying hills of Windale. He sat higher in his saddle and pointed
across a slope further along the road. Jack reined in his horse
beside his steward and followed the line of his eyes. He spotted
Tom galloping hard towards the forest.

Jack kicked his mount into a gallop shouting,
“Oy! Tom! Wait up!” as if his brother could hear him. Simon surged
after him.

They raced on but Tom only seemed to pick up
his pace when he saw that he was being chased. The fleeting thought
crossed Jack’s mind that he should stop and think about what he was
doing. Tom pushed forward over the hills, turning a few corners in
an attempt to lose them.

The chase took them all the way into the
cool, dim forest. Like day to night, the dark branches of the trees
closed in around them. Jack pulled on the reins to slow down, the
old creeping feeling of anxiety coming back. Simon darted ahead,
then pulled his own horse to a stop, turning to meet his master as
he rode up to his side, glancing up at the branches and leaves.

“Have you changed your mind, my lord?” he
asked, out of breath and face shining from the exhilaration of the
chase.

Jack shook his head. His eyes searched the
shadows, scanning every tree and dark corner that he could find.
“No, I haven’t changed my mind.” He forced himself to relax and
meet Simon’s eyes. His steward was watching him with very little
outward emotion but his eyes were sparkling and shrewd. “I wanna
talk to my brother,” he went on with a firmer tone, shifting in his
saddle to sit up straighter in unconscious imitation of Simon. “Be
careful though. I’ve seen some spooky things in these woods.”

“Yes, my lord,” Simon nodded, turning his
horse and walking after his master as they rode deeper into the
forest.

Tom ducked to avoid a low branch as he pulled
his horse to a stop beside the communal corral at the edge of the
forest camp. He dismounted and spun, panting, to search back the
way he’d come. Jack and his man were just barely discernable as
flickers of movement through the trees.

He was an idiot for going to his brother’s
manor, an idiot for being concerned about a man who had forgotten
all about him. But when that woman Lydia had sidled back into the
forest after the Council of Nobles laughing over how big a fool
Jack had made of himself he couldn’t help but worry. Worry had lead
to fear and fear had lead him to leave the forest to check on Jack.
He’d just wanted to make sure his brother was alright. He’d never
thought the pillock would chase after him.

“What are you doing skulking around with the
horses?” Roderick’s question was as pointed as the long dagger he
carried. “Looking for a date?”

“Shut up, Roderick,” he snapped, pulse
thudding. He glanced over his shoulder to where he thought Jack and
his man were then marched past Roderick, hoping to distract the
creepy bugger.

His plan backfired.

“What’s over there that you don’t want me to
see?” Roderick started towards the road.

“Nothing.”

“I doubt that.” He picked up his pace. Tom
followed. He panicked the moment Roderick saw the movement, saw
Jack and his man. Before he could do anything Roderick gave a
shrill whistle.

Half a dozen of his thug friends stepped out
from behind trees or dropped what they were doing nearby. “What’s
up?” one of them asked, a troublemaker with a crooked nose named
Connor. Tom’s panic shot through the roof.

“Intruders in the forest.” Roderick told
him.

“They’re nobody,” Tom fumbled. If Connor was
involved someone might get killed. “Just leave them be.”

Roderick ignored him. “Take them prisoner,”
he ordered Connor.

“No, don’t!” Tom jumped after them, but they
were too quick. “Jack!”

Roderick lashed out, slicing his shoulder
with the knife to stop him. Tom jumped to defend himself but he was
unarmed, helpless.

“Let them do their work, Tanner,” he
smirked.

“They don’t mean any harm,” he panted,
checking his wound. It was nothing more than a scratch.

He couldn’t say the same for what he heard
from the road. A series of shouts was followed by a volley of
thumps. A horse whinnied. Jack shouted something that was cut
short.

Tom glared at Roderick before turning and
sprinting towards the conflict. Roderick followed. They reached the
side of the road as one of Roderick’s friends wrenched Jack to his
knees and kicked him in the gut. Jack spilled to the ground, his
face freshly bloodied. His man didn’t look much better.

Roderick pulled up short at the sight of
Jack’s man, his face going pale and splotchy.

The steward’s eyes narrowed at Roderick. “I
should have known.”

“Tie their hands,” Roderick directed the
thugs with frantic energy. “And gag them. Now! We’ll hand them over
to Ethan. He’ll reward me for this little gift.”

“What the hell?” Jack managed half a curse
before one of the thugs shoved a handkerchief in his mouth. Another
produced a rope and yanked his arms to his back to tie them. Jack
shouted in pain through the gag and Tom thought he might be sick.
He could do nothing. He might as well have been the one bound and
gagged.

“Come on,” Roderick snapped, his full
attention on the steward.

Jack and his man were wrenched to their feet
and shoved off of the road into the trees as two of the thugs took
their horses. Tom scrambled to catch up to Roderick at the front of
the procession.

“You can’t treat them like this,” he
hissed.

“Why not? They’re my prisoners,” Roderick
sneered, sharing a laugh with Connor.

Tom swallowed and held back half a step,
shifting his glance to his brother. Jack’s eyes were wide and his
face red, but whether from anger or fear Tom couldn’t tell. The
moment his brother’s gaze met his he glanced away.

Bringing prisoners into the center of the
camp caused a stir. Half of the forest people were already dropping
their work and rushing to the space in front of Ethan’s tent as
they marched across the common area. Toby stood from the bench in
front of the tent where he had been mending a shirt, expression
panicked as he saw who Roderick’s men had captured.

“My lord!” he cried, turning towards the
tent. “Ethan! Oh dear God!”

Ethan burst out of the tent, his shirt
untucked and his hair disheveled. “What? What is it?”

“We found intruders in the forest, my lord,”
Roderick announced with a sharp grin. They stopped in the clearing
in front of the tent. The thugs holding Jack and his man forced
them to their knees in front of Ethan. With his hands tied behind
his back Jack lost his balance and fell against Connor. Connor
kicked him and he grunted under his gag before forcing himself to
balance. Tom teetered on the edge of helping his brother, looking
to Ethan.

Ethan schooled his expression into fierceness
but something behind his eyes betrayed shock. “Where are their
weapons?”