There Your Heart Will Be Also (28 page)

“Why is no one at the church?”

The small group moved from side to side.
Charism
eyed
him sheepishly.
She was clothed in a gown of gray wool, hardly the dress a mistress would wear to her wedding.
Cedric's impatience was showing as he
wrung
his hands and waited on an answer.

“Charism, I don't plan on askin' again.
Why are ye not ready for the weddin'?”

Charism straightened her bowed form.
“Cedric
,
I'm afraid there won't be a weddin' today.”

Cedric eyebrow
arched in confusion
.

Sir Henry took over the conversation.
“Maid Sarra has gone missing again.”

“What?”

“We fear Wilt
Hotham
may have returned and carried her away.”

“Ye mean the man from before?”

“Aye.
Shelly
said a man at the party requested a private meeting with the mis…
I mean Sarra.
Sarra went to see him
but
returned to the party
soon afterwards
.
She told no one about the meeting or what transpired.
After going to her room for the night
,
she disappeared.”

Cedric threw up his hands.
Why was this maid so important?
“I think it's obvious the lass has left of her own accord.
Get ready and we will have the weddin'.
We can look for her later.”

The words had been spoken with authority and assurance but inside Cedric felt nothing of the sort.
He couldn't believe what he was setting out to do.
W
as
he
going to marry this
old
woman in front of him just to have land
?
She was too old to give him the children and family he desired.
Maybe
Cedric
should give it all up and return to England.
He could inform the King of his failure and perhaps begin again.
He might even be able to return home to his own family, his own land.
Was
such a
suggest
ion
even possible
?

Cedric paced. Images of Sarra being flung against the stone church flooded his mind. Memories of the kisses they'd shared, memories of quiet moments they shared. Could he honestly even think of marriage while Sarra was out there somewhere in danger?

Intruding
into
his thoughts, Charism said firmly, “I won't marry without maid Sarra.”

Tired and frustrated with the constant
interruption, Cedric said, “What is it with this maid?
Ye all treat her like royalty.”

Sir Henry's eyes narrowed.
His mouth opened, but before words could spill forth, Charism put a hand upon his arm.
“Cedric, Sarra is an important person to this keep and to me.
I won't marry without her.
Find her.”

With those parting words, Charism strode away.
Cedric didn't know what to say.
Looking to the knight, he asked, “What do we do now?
It seems we are on another hunt.
Why does this crazy man want the maid anyway?”

Without a moment's hesitation, Sir Henry said, “The ‘crazy man' as you so elegantly put it, thinks Sarra is the mistress.”

Thinks Sarra is the mistress?

“But why?”

“It doesn't matter.
We have to retrieve the maid.
Gather your men and meet me at the gates.
I have a few ideas where Wilt
Hotham
might have taken her.”

Cedric didn't question the knight.
This was his land, his territory.
Henry was sure to know the layout better than most.

Doing as Sir Henry suggested, Cedric gathered Duncan and the others.
Bringing fresh mounts from the stables
,
they arrived at the gates the same time as a small group of knights.

Sir Henry leaned up in his saddle, addressing the crowd.
“Men, it would seem Wilt
Hotham
has taken Sarra once again.”
There was a groan among
st
the men.

Henry raised a
hand in the air
and
their complaining
ceased
.
“But no matter.
We will protect every citizen of this keep no matter what the cost.
I have assembled you here because you are the finest trackers
and
you know the land better than any other.
When we exit these walls, I would like the Scots to stay to the rear and wait in a group, while my knights scour the perimeter looking for a sign of which way Sarra was taken.”
Without further instructions, Sir Henry raised his arm into the air and bid the group of horsemen to follow.

Cedric and his men stood to the back as the knights
studied
the surrounding tree line.
As Boyd shifted in his seat, Cedric could sense he was unhappy.
He was a tracker in his own clan.
To be sentenced to wait with the helpless bothered him immensely.

“Can't they see it?”

“See what?”

“Cedric I can see the broken limbs from here!
They went straight down
th
at
path.
Looks like they are going the same way they went before.”

“Boyd, are ye sure?”

“Cedric, I'm a born tracker.
I'm sure.”

Cedric trotted his horse forward, receiving a scowl from Sir Henry for disobeying.
When he reached the knight
,
the glowering didn't get any better.

“What are you doing here?
I told you to wait.”

“Pardon
,
but my tracker can see something.”

“And what might that be?” Sir Henry
responded
with disdain.

Cedric scratched his beard.
The animosity had gone on for long enough.
“
Forgive me, but I thought we were on the same side.
I don't know why ye don't like me and right now I'm not too concerned about it.
But I am concerned about
f
inding the lass so I can marry and get what I deserve.”

“Oh, you'll get what you deserve,”
Sir
Henry
whisper
ed
.

Cedric ignored the statement and kept talking.
“Because we are so far back from the edge of the wood, Boyd can see some broken limbs going down
the
path there.
It looks like the same way
Hotham
took Sarra before.
Why don't you have one of ye
r
knights check out the area
?
”

When Cedric finished talking, he didn't wait to see if Sir Henry agreed
. H
e
forced
his horse around and headed back to the Scots.
As the horse trotted
away
from the old knight
,
all Cedric could think about was jumping from a pan into the fire.

Coming to Greenbriar was supposed to give him peace and comfort.
But now he felt like he'd returned home to his own keep.
The hatred from Sir Henry made him think becoming
Lord
of Greenbriar might not be the best of plans.

When Cedric reached his waiting men, Boyd had a smile upon his face.
“Finally
,
them no
‘
counts discovered it.
Good job.”

Cedric barely
angled
his mount around before they were off again in the direction of the path.
They traveled for quite some time before they noticed a divergence.
Up ahead
,
along the trail, it
appeared
as if a new
pathway
had been made.
Taking the new way led them down an old trail.
The path was covered in brush and undergrowth with briars so high they embedded themselves in the naked legs of the Scots as they passed.
The knights rode ahead seem
ing
to have no problems
as they
plunged forward.

“Why them
lily-
livered—
”

“Boyd, hush.
Do ye see it?”

In front of them sat a cabin.
It was snuggled tightly between
rows
of trees.
The trees appeared to have grown up around the tiny building
,
hemming it in with a protective embrace.

The knights and Scots pulled their reins and slowed to a stop.
Hiding behind the brush, Sir Henry announced his plan.

“I will sneak up to the cabin and search inside.
Everyone else remain here until I return.”

Cedric watched as all the heads nodded.
His was not one of them.
There was no way he would sit back and wait for Sir Henry to tell him of Sarra's condition.

Why if anything had happened to the lass, he would burst
through
the door,
find the man responsible, and slice him into tiny pieces.
Pieces so small a bird could lift them in
its
beak and swallow them in one bite.

With those thoughts running through his mind, Cedric followed Sir Henry
, taking care to keep the knight from becoming aware of his presence
.
The
other
knights left behind on their horses grunted and hummed
,
trying to get Sir Henry's attention until Duncan
sent them
a look
meant to send
fear into their hearts.

Cedric
stifled the chortle under his breath
and continued.
Th
e
men were i
n good hands
as long as Duncan was in charge
.

It didn't take more than a moment for Sir Henry and Cedric to reach the cabin.
Cedric deliberately angled himself to the opposite side of the house.
Finding a window
,
he peered inside.

The ropes binding her wrists were
now
slick with her
blood.
Sarra had moved her hands constantly
,
trying to lo
o
se
n
her bonds but it was no use.
Wilt
might
be crazy but he could tie a good knot.

Sarra had made the mistake of trying to run
a
fter Wilt said they were to be married
.
She
just couldn't take it
and now she was bound
.

She
had known
she was in trouble.
No one knew where she was.
No one at the keep would try to find her.
Why would they?
She was pretending to be the maid.
How could they go after the maid again without it looking suspicious?
Why hadn't she trusted Charism and just told Cedric the truth?
Why?
Why?
Why?

After
Wilt's announcement that they would marry
, Sarra
had
edged around the room
,
planted her feet on the ground
,
and shot for the door.
He had
immediately grasped
her
by the hair and jerked backwards, knocking her already
aching
head against the log wall.
As Sarra dropped
to
bruised
knees
,
the
world spun around her
.
Wilt grasped
her
sore
arms roughly
, pinning them
behind her back
while he
placed a rope around her wrists.

“Try to run
,
will you
?
Very well.
We will fix that.”

He'd tied the ropes so tight the blood flow threatened to stop.
Sarra
had
pleaded until a little slack was given but it wasn't enough to assist
her
escape.

Now as she sat on the dusty, dirty floor, the blood slowly tri
c
kled
down her wrist and mingled with the grime.
Maybe the blood would make the ropes slick and she could slide her hands free.

Struggling slightly against
the
bonds, Sarra kept a strict eye on Wilt.
He was sitting in an opposite corner.
In his hands
, he
cradled a dagger.
His
gaze
focused on a spot on the ceiling
,
but
it was obvious
he wasn't
seeing
it as
he
mumbled
to himself
.
He appeared to be talking to his brother.
The word revenge was repeated more times than Sarra
cared
to
count
.

She
closed her eyes and said a prayer.
No one could help her
,
save God.
This was it.
If she didn't get away Wilt would
force
a wedding and then
likely take
her life. There was no other option for him.
There was no way to reason with him and try to make him understand even if he succeeded in marrying her,
Wilt
would never own Greenbriar.
He was too far gone to realize his actions
would carry consequences
.

After her pray
er
, Sarra opened
her
eyes and gasped
at the face in the window
.
Recovering quickly from her shock
,
she coughed to cover the unexpected sound, hoping Wilt didn't stop his mumblings to see what had scared her so.

When she was sure Wilt was still in a state of
meditation
, Sarra glanced back at the window.
Sure enough
,
there in the
opening
was Cedric
. He'd come
looking
for
her
!

He
laid
a finger
across his lips,
urging
her to be silent.
When she nodded
slightly to let him know she understood, he moved away from the window.

Sarra thanked God.
Surely
Cedric had a plan.