There Your Heart Will Be Also (22 page)

When Charism returned to the keep, Ella was fidgeting with worry.

“What is up with ye
,
lass?”

“Mistress Charism—
”

“Not ye too!”

“Oh
Charism
, the mistress
Sarra
is
gone!”

“What?
What's this
ye
say?”

“She came down from the room above and was looking for y
e
.
My lady was
babbling something about Cedric askin' for ye
r
hand. Then she left.
I thought she was goin' to
find
ye.
But then when she didn't come back and ye didn't come, I started to worry.
I sent out James and
t
he
lad
didn't see anything except some furrows in the dirt.
Now h
e thinks someone took her.
Oh, what are we going to do?”

“Where is James now?”

“
B
y the stables where he
found
the footprints.
A couple of others say there was a strange man hanging
about
the keep today.
How many times has Sir Henry requested the gates stay closed?
Now we have a stranger in our midst and
he's taken Sarra
.”

“He's taken who?”

Charism eyes
spread
wide.
In her discussion with the maid
,
she'd failed to notice the entrance of the Scotsman.
How much had he heard?
There was nothing doing.
The truth, or half of it, was her only choice.
If she told the man, then maybe he could help in Sarra's search.

“Cedric, it appears my maid may have been taken.”

“Taken where?”

“
W
e don't know.”

Cedric's brow furrowed.
Anguish seemed to light his eyes.
Like a caged animal, he paced. Hands knotted and twisted at his side as he asked,
“Why would someone want ye
r
maid?”

Charism was unsure what to say.
This was an unusual situation.
Would it be
all
right to tell the young man the truth or continue the ruse?
Especially when the ruse could cost Sarra her life?
Charism hesitated a little too long and Cedric spoke again.

Through clenched teeth, he said,
“
Since she is but a mere maid,
I guess
it
is not ye
r
men's
concern.
We shall get her back. I'll take the Scots with me.
Where should I start?”

Charism could tell Cedric was angry.
The assumption that she didn't care rankled, but t
o explain her feelings for Sarra would only complicate matters more. Right now they needed to find the lass, nothing more.

Ella told Cedric where to find the stable lad and Charism followed him as he stalked to the location.
When he found James, the boy was down on his knees studying the area.

“What have ye found?”

The boy jumped to his feet at the sound of Cedric's
authoritative
voice.
“Not much.
Looks like
she was dragged
.
Then she stood up.
Ye see the firm indentation of feet here.
Then I think
the kidnapper
must have conked her on the head
,
because this looks like her side.
The young mis—maid didn't have a chance.
I think whoever it was took out of here not long ago on a horse.
But that's all I know.
Too many hoof prints directly out of the keep's gate to determine which direction they might have traveled.”

Charism watched Cedric as he ran a hand through his shoulder
-
length brown hair.
The man was extremely handsome and virile.
Sarra could do a whole lot worse.
Too bad the lass hadn't just admitted who she was in the beginning
,
th
e
n this might never have happened.

Now
Cedric was talking and
Charism
tried to pay attention.
“I need to gather everyone
who
was in this area and see if they
saw
or heard anything.
And I need the gate keep
er
.
Perhaps
the man
saw which way they went when they left.
Lad
,
go now and retrieve
him
.”

“Aye,” said James.

“Charism
,
go and retrieve Sir Henry and tell him what has happened.
I'll retrieve Duncan and his friends to see if they can help.”

Charism hurried off.
She was more than happy to have another in charge of this situation.
She only hoped they weren't too late.

****

Her neck hurt.
Her head hurt.
Her bottom hurt.
Sarra was bouncing around.
With every bump her head would loll downward and then snap back up.
Where was she?

Working to peel
sticky
eyelids away from
dirt
-
covered
cheeks,
she
noticed a grove of trees coming straight
toward
her.
She cringed,
for
there was no escape.
But at the last minute, the
ir course changed to weave around the
trees.

With
the
movement, reality began to set in.
Sarra was on the back of a horse with
her
attacker, riding
farther
and
farther
away from home.

The
scream for help had
caused
the stranger
to
send a fist up the side of her face
.
Without a
doubt
that was the cause of
the
thumping
in her head.
In hindsight it might have been prudent to escape first then scream.

The grotesque smell emanating from the figure
sent
bile into
Sarra's
throat.
The sickening feeling was exacerbated by the awkward way the man had of riding his animal.
If they didn't stop soon Sarra feared she would lose
any
contents
resting in
her stomach.

“May we stop
?
”
she
asked, moving her body away from him
as much as possible while sharing a horse
.

In a mocking tone, he repeated her adding, “You are no longer in charge
,
Lady Sarra.”

H
orror
engulfed her
.
Not only did this man know her name but he also knew she was the mistress of Greenbriar.
“What do you want?”

The
maniacal laugh
coming from the stranger
grated her nerves and set her on edge.
“What do I want?
What a question to ask me.
Why
,
I want
every
thing.”

“
Everything
?
W
hy have you taken me from my home?”

“Hmm, good question.
”

“Who are you working for?
Who sent you to take me against my will?”

“Ah, Lady Sarra.
Mistress of Greenbriar.
To only a few.
I'm sorry
,
my lady
,
but the secret is out.
Everyone
in
London knows you have been playing suitors for a fool.
Don't
be deceived,
the King
knows about your plan.
Nay.
One day he will send one
to
you
and you
won't be able to refuse.
That is…
if you live.”

The whites of his eyes
g
lared in
her
direction.
Sweat beaded upon her brow and ran down her neck.
Fear was becoming
a
new
companion
.
Rather than beg and plead for answers, Sarra focused on
the woods
surrounding
them
.
There had to be a landmark of some kind.
Something
familiar
, something
to
tell where she was
.
A marker to
lead her home later.

“Don't bother looking.”

“What?”

“Lady Sarra
,
I know you are aching to discover your whereabouts, but it is pointless.
I
ha
ve
prepared for everything.”

“
W
ho
are you
?”

“The Duke of Ho
tham
.”

“Duke
of where
?”

“Precisely.”

“I don't understand.”

The man stopped the horse
unexpectedly,
d
ismounting
suddenly
from behind
her and
almost causing
her to fall to the ground in his wake.

When his feet were on the ground, he walked to a small flowing stream, bent down and cupped
a
hand
ful
of
water and
brought
it to his lips.
He drank
greedily until he received his fill.

This was her opportunity. Upon the horse by herself she could escape, but as
she
reached for the reins a wave of dizziness washed over her. Stars danced and twinkled before her eyes.

Determined to leave, even if she fell from the horse within a few steps, she picked up the reins again. That was w
hen
the man
finished
.
H
is head
came
up
from the cool water
gasping for air.

Twisting
,
he shook the water free from his face.
The sight of him caused her to pause.
While his eyes were still beady and his features small
,
the man wasn't quite as hideous as Sarra originally thought.
In fact, if
his
clothing wasn't torn, and
he
combed his hair then he might almost be attractive.
In a way
the stranger
reminded her of… a gasp escaped her mouth as he stood and
stared
directly at her.

“It can't be!”

Cedric found Duncan outside the walls. “Rally your men.
Sarra has been taken.”

“Who?”

“Sarra
,
the maid.”

Duncan rolled his eyes but he didn't move.

“Duncan, I want ye
r
men to help me. Here is my plan.”

“Now Cedric
,
when I agreed to come here and fake the sheep raid so ye could save ye
r
mistress from us rowdy Scots, I didn't think
ye
was goin'
to
forget ye
r
plan and go chasin' after some maid.
Let the lass go.”

“Nay.
Ye don't know Sarra.
She wouldn't just run away.”

“So ye do know her
?
”

“Aye.
I do.
And she is the mistress' favorite.
Charism won't get married without the lass.
I have to retrieve her.”

Duncan
was
skeptical but listened as Cedric related what Duncan was to do.
When
t
he details
were explained
, Cedric ran to his
lodgings
.
Grabbing
his c
laymore
and placing it
on his back
,
he
hurried
to
the
stable
s
.
There he
saddled a
stallion
named
Windchaser
.

Since his last experience of riding one of the keep's horses, Cedric had inquired as to a more appropriate beast for the future.
This horse
held a reputation
in
the village of
tak
ing
the lea
d and fly
ing
like the wind.
Th
erefore it seemed
more fitting to his task.
Cedric was
certain he could follow the tracks of Sarra and her captor.
Upon reaching the
gate, Sir Henry stopped him.

“Where do you think you're going?”

“I'm going to rescue Sarra.”

The knight
appeared
to have
something to say, but bit back his words.
Charism came and stood beside him
, s
queezing his arm in a reassuring
manner
.
“God go with ye
,
Cedric MacNeil.
And may ye bring back my maid in one piece.”

With words of farewell and good luck wishes, Cedric exited the gates.
On his way out, he told the gate keeper to close the gates after Duncan and his men made their
own
departure.
T
he tracks of horses
w
ere
spotted
immediately.
But which one belonged to Sarra's captor?

If one used logic, it was evident
any
horse
leaving the keep
would need water
.
Cedric remembered on his initial walk to the estate passing several watering holes
which
might suffice.
He headed for one such place.
His pulse quickened.
So little to go on, but it was all they had.

Cedric feared greatly for Sarra's safety.
He
prayed Duncan would be ready and following behind him soon.
Not knowing whether
her
captor was indeed on his own or if a whole army waited to assist him, Duncan could be a crucial asset. And e
ven though he wasn't as knowledgeable about the faith
she
had
spoke
n of
, he knew pray
er
worked wonders.

Cedric
traveled all afternoon.
As
the horse walked
, h
e began to notice
a single set of hoof prints
.
Since
the area was an unknown to him
, there was no way for him to decipher where Sarra was being taken.
The only option open was to follow and see where they led him.

As the sun rose above the mount
ain
and dawn became a reality, Cedric prayed he wasn't too late.
If Sarra was gone
,
he would have lost more than just the chance to marry the mistress and gain his land.
T
he opportunity to experience
true
love
would be lost
as well
.