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  She straightened to find Adrien folding his arms. With a quick glance around, she found them still alone in the hall. Odd that even Kenneth had not appeared. Where was he?

  A pang of missing him punched her inside. “Then I must pledge anew to not hurt anyone. I have already asked God for forgiveness, and I promised it won’t happen again. But Rowena has been kidnapped and her babe stolen! She could be dead!”

  Adrien’s expression grew grimmer. Clara bit her lip and swallowed. Was he preparing to punish her? She held her breath, then, unable to sit and wait for her much-deserved punishment, she rushed up to him. “Nay, please don’t throw me in your dungeon again! Who would look for Rowena? If she’s dead, who would give her the one last scrap of respect she deserves and bury her body? Nay, no one! We may not even find her body! I can’t go to the dungeon without trying to find her! I won’t!”

  Adrien’s look darkened. “’Twas Kenneth who threw you in there, not me.”

  “Kenneth was right to toss me down there, for I had endangered too many people. I don’t hold that against him.”

  “What do you hold against him? Why did you come to me and not him?”

  She paused, shocked by the questions. What did he know? Did he know that Kenneth had revealed where Rowena was hidden?

  Or had he? Clara swallowed, feeling the doubt that had lingered out by the smithy’s home return to her.

  “Milord, I accused Kenneth of telling Taurin where I’d hidden Rowena, for he guessed the location. But how could he have told Taurin when he had promised me he’d protect them as he’d protected me? ’Twas not—”

  “Be quiet, woman!” Adrien snapped, his frown deeper now as he rubbed his head.

  A movement by the door caught their attention, and Clara spun. Lady Ediva walked into the hall. Behind her were Harry and Rypan, both hovering close in case their beloved lady felt faint.

  Clara rushed forward, but was passed by Adrien, who took his wife’s hand and led her to her seat. “Was it necessary for you to witness this meeting?” he asked her.

  “The walls of the solar are closing in on me, Adrien. Harry and Rypan helped me down the stairs. I am healing well.” She looked to Clara. “Is it true that Rowena has disappeared?”

  “Aye, mistress,” Clara answered, her voice cracking. “I have failed her. I couldn’t keep her safe from Lord Taurin.”

  “Mayhap ’twas because you were doing it by yourself.”

  Clara frowned. “Nay, Brindi helped me.”

  Ediva waved her hand. “She’s a child. You wouldn’t even allow Kenneth to help you.”

  Clara stiffened. “He wanted to give the babe to Lord Taurin!”

  Ediva turned to her husband. “Is this true? You said to me that you wouldn’t allow that, so why allow Kenneth to think it could happen?”

  Adrien shook his head. “Kenneth would never do so without my authority.” He turned to Harry. “Where is your sergeant, boy? Bring him here.”

  Harry stepped up cautiously, with wide eyes. Rarely had Clara seen him so earnest. He was more a mischief maker and cheeky soul than this. He jerked his head side to side. “Milord, he’s gone.”

  “Where?”

  “To catch up with Lord Taurin.”

  “Alone?”

  Harry nodded. “He said he has lost Clara’s trust and must earn it back.”

  Ediva caught her husband’s arm. Her words echoed Clara’s own fears so very precisely. “Lord Taurin has ten men with him! Kenneth will not survive if he challenges them!”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Clara rushed up to Lord Adrien and, without thinking, grabbed his hands to capture his attention. “I must go after them!”

  “You! You won’t catch them. Taurin left last night.” He looked to Harry. “When did my sergeant leave?”

  “Very early this morning, just before dawn.”

  Clara tightened her grip on Adrien. “I may be able to catch up with Kenneth. Mayhap talk him out of this addle-brained idea!”

  Adrien turned to Harry. “Which horse did he take?”

  Harry looked behind him at Rypan. Then, as if reading the older boy’s thoughts, he said, “The fastest and quietest one. The one with the four white hooves.”

  Adrien nodded, as if knowing which mount it was. “Which way did he head?”

  “Up past the watchtower on the way to Cogshale.” Harry stepped closer. “My lord, he might easily catch them, for Lord Taurin’s horse had one shoe missing and another loose. It won’t run well with that. It may be lame by now.”

  “The horse’s shoe was not replaced?”

  “Nay, milord. The smithy didn’t have a fire hot enough before the horse went missing.”

  Clara added, “Aye, and he refused to go to the peat bog because ’twould have been nearly dark when he arrived. The smithy also said he believed that someone was watching him the last time he was there, and—”

  Adrien’s face lit up. “’Twas Rowena, wasn’t it?”

  Clara dropped her gaze but still clung to Adrien. “Aye, ’twas her. He was afraid she was a thief who would attack him and leave him for dead. But all Rowena did was steal his lunch.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I went to the smithy’s house after all of the women met here. The cook had sent Brindi to help his wife with their boys. Kenneth had already led Lord Taurin’s courser down there, and I feared Taurin’s men spotting Brindi or hearing the children use her name. I heard the smithy arguing with one of the Normans. It nearly came to blows.”

  Yanking back his hands, Adrien walked away. “I should throw you in my dungeon myself, woman, for being so reckless after all we did to thwart Taurin’s plans! The Normans could have easily seen a wisp of hair escaping from your wimple, or have seen that your brows are red and deduced that your hair would be also!” Adrien thundered. “Someday you will not only put your life in danger, but others, also. Indeed, haven’t you already done that? All to keep a promise you made to yourself! Aye, you are honorable to a fault, but ’tis a fault with that pride of yours!”

  “I wouldn’t be a good healer without some pledges!” she shouted back, then, realizing her foolhardy temper, clamped her mouth shut and lowered her gaze.

  Ediva caught her husband’s arm as he stepped toward Clara. “Nay, Adrien, her intentions are honorable, but her methods, not so much.” To Clara, she said, “You are much like I was before you came. I had promised to keep my people here safe. ’Twas in part why I did so many foolish things. But I needed to learn that by doing it all by myself, I was pushing away God’s chance to help me. God gave me Adrien. I’ve since learned to trust both my husband and the Lord. I was arrogant in thinking I was the only one who could keep my people safe.”

  Her expression softened. “We sometimes think we’re too important to need others in our lives. Sometimes we even shut out God, thinking our problems are impossible for God to solve, so we must solve them ourselves.”

  Clara sniffed at Ediva’s soft words. “But I can’t sit here and do nothing! ’Tis my folly that has caused all of this danger, especially to Kenneth! How could he simply ride off thinking he could handle this?”

  Ediva stepped down and walked close to Clara. “The same way you thought you could solve the problem by yourself. You hid Rowena, and you hid behind a pledge. Kenneth rode off to earn your trust again without thinking of the consequences. It appears he’s learned that bad habit from you.”

  Clara fought back tears. Aye, he had. “But if he is wounded, he needs me to be there, not here, waiting for him to come home!”

  Lady Ediva opened her mouth, but Lord Adrien spoke first, shooting a look at her. “I know another woman who felt the need to do something rather than wait at home. But I won’t allow you to go alone. I will go with you. Mayhap my influence will convince Taurin to release Rowena and the babe.”

  She sagged. “My thanks, milord. But I need a fast horse to ride.”

  “You can take my mare,” Ediva insisted quickly. “The good one that
the king gave as a wedding gift. I cannot ride her, anyway.”

  Clara nodded. Ladies did not ride, but thankfully, she wasn’t a member of nobility. She could easily handle that mare. “Thank you!”

  She rushed out, not without hearing Ediva say, “You best catch up with her, Adrien, or she’ll leave you behind. She may know that she must trust God, but she still has two fast legs.”

  Clara discovered that Rypan had anticipated her need and was already saddling the mare, the one everyone called the gift mare. She was thankful the beast was of good stock and able to go fast. No sooner had Rypan tightened the last strap than Clara mounted her. She cared not that her cyrtel rode up about her thighs. She wanted to be on her way.

  As she galloped the mare through town, she heard Adrien coming up fast beside her. Refusing to allow him to take the lead, she urged her mount forward, and with the ease of many trips in the saddle, she kept him behind her for a time.

  But not for long. His courser was a powerful beast.

  As he came up beside her, Adrien held out his hand. “You will obey my orders, woman, and not ride ahead. This business is as much mine as it is yours.” He threw her a hard look. “I can stop Taurin. You cannot.”

  “There are so many lives at risk. Rowena’s, the babe’s.” Her voice hitched. “Even Kenneth’s.”

  “All the more need to go safely. You won’t do anyone any good riding recklessly. Though,” he added as they slowed, “for an animal that allows only me on her, she is good under your command, I see. When we return to the keep after this business has settled, I expect you to teach my wife to ride her.”

  As she eased the mare to a slower pace, Clara smiled briefly and nodded.

  * * *

  Kenneth reined in his horse, peering at the ground below as it slipped past him. Several horses had already passed this way, including one large animal with a shoe missing.

  He stopped and dismounted, trying to count the number of horses. There were eleven, and, he noted, one of the courser’s other shoes was loose. ’Twas easy to tell in the soft, damp earth that it was slipping.

  With disgust, Kenneth shook his head. Taurin was a fool to risk his courser’s legs with one shoe missing and another loose.

  Kenneth’s mount snorted. The animal loved to run, he knew, and was anxious to continue. He peered ahead, to where the road dipped into a shallow valley and rose again to penetrate a large, dense forest. He peered hard at the wide, strong trees that edged it. ’Twas the leading edge of Broad Oak Forest, where Taurin had hoped to reach soonest. That cur was making better time than expected.

  He looked down again at the prints Taurin’s horses had made. They’d been galloping, and not too long ago, for the sun had risen and had not yet dried the wet ground.

  Taurin had been pushing his mount hard, which meant he wanted to put as much distance as possible between him and Dunmow Keep. Out of Adrien’s influence, Kenneth assumed.

  But not out of mine. With a tight jaw, Kenneth mounted the horse again and spurred it to a trot. He would do right by Clara. He’d vowed to protect her and though she was safely ensconced in the bog, searching it for Rowena, his vow to her expanded into this mission. Clara’s promise to the young mother was also his, for he’d disappointed Clara before and ’twas her pain and worry and disappointment that wrenched his heart. She’d been so incredibly hurt by what she thought was his betrayal.

  He spurred the horse to a full gallop.

  Half a league into Broad Oak Forest, Kenneth noted his mount sniff the air. When he sensed the horse’s desire to join those of Taurin’s men, he immediately stopped the animal and led him into an open patch beside one of the many oaks. Ivy, so prevalent here in England, had climbed and entwined itself throughout the branches, and even though ’twas early summer, it already hung low from the budding oak leaves and offered a place to tether.

  He soothed his anxious horse with a soft word and a pat on the neck. And over his soothing, Kenneth could hear the sounds of other horses. They were stopped, probably by the stream that meandered to the road’s right.

  A babe’s sharp cry rent the air, along with a shout to shut the child up.

  Tensing, Kenneth led his horse deeper into the sheltered area close to the river so he could drink from the same stream. After refreshing the animal, Kenneth tied its reins to a low branch and began to ease slowly toward the others. Thankfully, the road bent and dipped to follow the stream, allowing Kenneth to come up behind the men. Crouching down behind a cobnut shrub, he spied the group ahead.

  The sight sickened him. Rowena was tied at her ankles to a tree, with only enough of a leather lead to be able to sit and cradle her babe. She bore cuts and scrapes. Blood covered the side of her face.

  She was fussing over her babe, trying to soothe it. But the poor thing was probably sensing his mother’s tension and had begun to cry, further adding to her distress.

  In front of her, several Normans sat, some dozing, some watching the road. But Kenneth’s dun-colored clothing camouflaged him well. Taurin and one other Norman were inspecting his courser’s hooves. As Kenneth had suspected, the mount was feeling the loss of its shoe and twitched and stamped its feet impatiently.

  He eased back out of sight and, as slowly and quietly as possible, slowly drew his sword from its scabbard, all the while praying that the anxious courser in front of him couldn’t hear it. He was a fighting horse, and such a sound would stir him to action, alerting the men around him.

  Abruptly, the babe began to shriek. Kenneth heard Taurin shout at Rowena, demanding to know what was wrong.

  “I don’t know! He’s upset over something. He must be hungry.”

  “Then feed him!” he shouted back over the screams.

  “I’m trying!”

  Abruptly, a sharp slap sounded, and Rowena’s cry followed. “Don’t talk to me like that, woman, or you won’t see the end of this day!”

  Kenneth used the infuriating noises to mask the sound of his sword finishing its release. The screech nearly matched the child’s. He looked forward again. One of the horses sidestepped and neighed loudly, having been the only one in the crowd to recognize the different sound.

  The nearest soldier reached out and patted the horse’s head. “The babe is upsetting the horses, milord. Mayhap we should ride. It could soothe the child to sleep.”

  Taurin turned. “And have it screech even louder when we stop next? Nay, she needs to feed the brat now, so ’twill have a full belly when we get home. I have a healthy wet nurse ready there to feed it.” He returned his attention to his horse.

  The soldier shrugged before heading into the forest to Kenneth’s right, obviously for some privacy. Kenneth clenched his jaw, hating how the numbers were against him. But, as if to remind him what was at stake, the babe let out an even more pitiful cry, followed by Rowena’s soft, defeated whimper. He had to do something. The farther they traveled into this thick forest, the greater the chance that they would kill and discard Rowena.

  She stroked her babe’s head, revealing a crop of wild black curls, like his father’s. This child resembled Taurin so strongly, ’twas as if the boy bore no part of his fair and delicate mother at all.

  Kenneth stood and gripped his blade even more tightly as he spied the soldier facing a tree. The pommel at the end of the hilt could knock a man unconscious quite easily. Time to practice it.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  One sharp blow, barely heard over another round of the child’s anguished cries, and the soldier who’d disappeared into the woods dropped to the ground in front of Kenneth.

  He needed to even the odds more, but ’twas a good beginning. If he could injure several before they knew what was happening, he would have a fighting chance to win.

  A scuffle grew in the open area where Taurin was inspecting his horse’s hooves. A long neigh from the mount now rent the air, and Kenneth scrambled down to peer through the trees.

  Taurin was berating his courser filthily, all the while rubbing his thi
gh. It seemed the horse had kicked him. When the animal again turned to put his rump to Taurin, a sure sign another kick was to follow, the baron drew back and unsheathed his sword.

  With another curse, as the horse’s back leg floundered in open air, Taurin lashed out with his sword. The blade met the side of the animal, slicing it ruthlessly.

  Kenneth flinched. No baron worth his salt would treat his mount so! The man must be insane.

  The horse bolted away, disappearing around the road’s next bend. Taurin blasted out orders to find it, and two of the men leaped onto their mounts to obey.

  Thank You, Lord. For Taurin’s cruel behavior had resulted in two men and three horses leaving.

  The odds were better. More so if he acted quickly. He lunged forward, slicing a deep cut into the arm and shoulder of the one man lounging to his left. He then spun, kicking one of the other soldiers who leaped toward him. His well-placed boot drove the air from the man’s lungs in one hard swoosh. He spun again, his blade arcing out to catch one soldier’s knuckles as the man reached for his sword. On the follow-through, his blade caught another’s knees.

  Another soldier let out a growl and drew his sword from his scabbard, but Kenneth thrust forward. Norman mail was good, but ’twas no match for a sword’s point. The man fell. Taurin raced across the road behind the falling soldier to grab Rowena.

  Kenneth spun, preparing to intercept Taurin before he could use the girl as a shield.

  But his rear flank was exposed. Two more soldiers lunged for Kenneth from the left. Their blades already free, they prepared to end this skirmish quickly.

  * * *

  Clara itched to leave Lord Adrien in her dust and push the big mare faster. She sensed the horse had the will and ability, not to mention the bloodline, to pass the heavier courser with ease.

  She shot a furtive glance at Lord Adrien, but his thoughts remained his own. He was most likely upset with his sergeant for running off without orders.

  What had she caused? Kenneth was so determined to prove his innocence, he’d ignored his responsibilities to Lord Adrien and the keep. Did that mean he truly hadn’t told Lord Taurin where Rowena was?