Chapter 26 #2
We galloped into the courtyard and were met by the butler and several servants. Jack Apsley joined the ranks, as did Lady Paxton. Their solemn expressions filled me with dread.
Apsley dismounted and took to his mother’s side. “Have they found her?”
She shook her head, her fluttering lashes dripping with rain and, likely, tears. “She’s still missing. Oh, Rus. What if…what if…”
She sobbed, and Apsley pulled her into an embrace. He whispered what I assumed to be words of comfort, although nothing in his own expression displayed confidence that the situation would face a positive resolution.
I turned, making my address to one of the footmen. “What part of the grounds have been searched?”
The man winced. “All of it, sir.”
“Is it possible she hunkered down somewhere to wait out the storm?”
The footman turned pensive for a moment. “She could have, but surely she would have responded to us shouting her name were that the case.”
“Were all the buildings searched?”
“The orangery and The Towers were searched thoroughly. We even checked the gatehouse and garden shed. Her horse is still in the stables, so she was not out riding.”
My mind raced. “What of her friend? A Mrs. Wilcot, I believe. Did anyone think to check there?”
“I went personally,” said Apsley, releasing his mother. “Margaret has not seen her today.”
Blast. Lightning shifted beneath me, sensing my frustration. “And the ruins? During my stay, Annette frequented them. She told me herself it was her favorite place to think.”
“Checked them as best we were able, sir,” said the footman.
“Best you were able? What do you mean?”
“Just that, sir. Seems part of the ruins collapsed due to the weather. Didn’t feel it was safe to comb them over completely. We called for her but never heard a sound.”
My gaze darted to Apsley, and he seemed to share the same thought I did. If Annette had been there when the ruins collapsed…
I clicked my tongue and spurred Lightning into motion.
Behind me, Apsley shouted instructions to the servants.
I could only assume he would follow my lead, but there was no time to wait for him.
Racing out of the courtyard and following the path leading behind the house, my pulse thrummed with anxious energy.
How many times had Annette gone to the ruins alone while I was staying here? Likely dozens, and if ever there was a time she needed space to collect her thoughts, it was today. The ruins were a place of comfort to her, but even Annette had acknowledged that comfort did not imply safety.
My heart pounded in my ears, drowning the sound of Lightning’s heavy stomps on the mud-ridden path.
We sped through the arched gate of The Towers, and the ruins came into view, the crumbling walls foreboding, nestled as they were against the backdrop of a darkening sky.
Lightning climbed the shallow incline leading into the dilapidated structure.
I yanked on the reins, pulling him to a stop just outside it.
In one sharp movement, I dismounted and hastily tethered him to the nearest tree.
Hoofbeats sounded in the distance, but I raced inside the ruins. Apsley would catch up. With both of us—or perhaps several if he brought some of the servants along—we could survey the building much faster. We would find her.
I refused to believe otherwise.
“Annette!” I called, weaving my way between the damp walls. I had been here before, but with night fast approaching and no sunlight to guide me, there was no familiarity to be had as I wandered the labyrinth of broken bulwarks and crumbling interior passages.
An image of a bench and a large open room flashed in my mind. This is my favorite spot in the ruins.
I rounded a corner only to find a dead end. My next attempt proved just as much a failure, and I swore under my breath, cursing the maze I found myself in. Where had that blasted space been?
Breathing heavily, I jogged along a narrow corridor, the walls tall enough to prevent me from seeing over them.
Voices echoed from elsewhere in the ruins, calling Annette’s name.
I turned another corner, this time coming face to face with a pile of stone.
The fragments were jagged and rough, indicative that the pieces had recently fallen from the ceiling above.
I climbed over them to the small hole near the top and peered inside.
Evening filled much of the space with shadows, but the area where the ceiling no longer provided coverage offered the tiniest hint of light. Crawling past the rubble, my gaze landed on a dark form at the base. Waves of red hair fanned out around it, and my heart lurched into my throat. “Annette!”
Stone shifted beneath my feet as I slid down the pile to the floor, careful to avoid dislodging any pieces that might fall onto her. My knees touched the ground, and I immediately reached for her neck to feel for a pulse. It was there, though certainly not as strong as it should have been.
I cradled her head in my lap and brushed the water-logged strands of hair from her face. Her skin felt like ice.
“Annette?” My voice caught with emotion. “Come, love. Open your eyes.”
Her brows furrowed, and a muted moan rumbled from her throat.
I stroked her cheek, my eyes stinging with both relief and concern. “That’s it. Come back to me.”
“Edward?” she croaked out my name, and a surge of emotion swept through me, but her eyes remained closed. I needed to get her warm.
I slid an arm under her knees to hoist her in my arms, but at the first movement, Annette cried out in pain. I ceased my efforts, searching her for any sign of injury, only to find her ankle pinned between two large stones. She was trapped. That was why she hadn’t returned to the house.
“Hold on, love,” I whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head before settling her against the floor.
I moved to her feet and began removing the debris first on top of the stones pinning her before gripping the edges of the larger.
The massive chunk of ceiling weighed too much for me to lift.
Instead, I resorted to wiggling it back and forth, straining my muscles to shift it.
After several eternal minutes, Annette’s ankle was free.
I lifted her into my arms, and she winced with a soft whimper. Holding her tight against me, I glanced around the space for an alternative exit. Climbing over the rubble with her in my arms was out of the question. Panic seized me until I spotted an opening in the shadows.
We started forward, and Annette gripped my coat, pain evident in her features. I focused on my footing as I picked my way through the ruins. Dropping her would not help the situation.
The outer wall came into view, and I wound through the remaining pathway to the open courtyard where Lightning waited. Apsley, who had been scaling one of the walls, called to me, and by the time I reached my horse, he was running across the muddy ground.
“You found her. Is she all right?” His words were breathy, and his chest rose and fell in heavy gasps.
“Her pulse is weak. Her ankle was pinned and is, at the very least, swollen. It may be broken, but I did not check. I thought it prudent to get her back to the house.”
Apsley placed his hand on her forehead, then checked her pulse, as if needing to know for himself she was alive.
“Take her,” I said. “Once I’ve mounted my horse, you can hand her up to me.”
He met my gaze, his expression one of defiance. “I’m her brother. If anyone is—”
“I realize you have lost your trust in me, but now is not the time for this argument. She requires a doctor. As I do not know where he lives and would wager that you do, it is left for me to take her. Unless there is a servant nearby who can—”
“Very well,” Apsley growled. “I will hand her up to you.”
With a bit of maneuvering, Annette rested in my arms, both of us positioned atop my horse. Apsley mounted his own steed. “Get her home and tell Mother I’ve gone to bring the doctor.”
He was off before I could respond. I tightened my hold on Annette, who was clinging to my damp waistcoat once again.
I doubted my body was providing her with much warmth at this point, given how chilled I felt, so I could only assume she nuzzled into me out of desperation for even the smallest bit of heat.
She shivered in my arms, digging her face into the folds of my coat. I nudged Lightning with my heels, and the horse cantered forward. Hold on, Annette. Just a little longer.