Chapter 14
“ T hank you for the ride,” said Maggie to the local vendor, getting out of the cart and picking up her travel bag, and putting Emma on the ground and holding her hand. She’d been so upset when she left the castle that she stupidly forgot her basket with everything she needed while working as a midwife. Now she’d have to buy the supplies all over again. With very little money, that would take some time. “Come along, Charles.”
Charles picked up a bundle and got out of the cart as well. The sound of the horse’s hooves clomped on the dirt road as the vendor left them and continued on his way.
“Maggie, why did we get out of the wagon? I don’t like walking,” complained Charles.
“Neither do I, but I need to stop somewhere quickly before we continue,” she told him, noticing that this was the area with the brook where Maggie and Evan had spent intimate time together. She hoped to find her missing crystal pendant necklace here, thinking she might have lost it when they’d made love.
“Stop where? And what for?” asked Charles, looking around.
“If you must know, I lost my necklace when I was on an outing with Sir Evan by the brook. I think I might find it here.”
“I’m tired and hungry,” whined Emma.
“Me too.” Charles sat down at the edge of the road and pulled out a small loaf of bread from under his cloak. “I have bread, Emma, if you want some.”
“I do, I do,” cried the little girl excitedly, releasing Maggie’s hand and running over to Charles.
“We’ll stay here and wait for you,” said Charles, taking Emma onto his lap and making himself comfortable.
“Well, all right,” said Maggie, scanning the area but not seeing anyone coming down the road. “I’ll be quick. But if you hear anyone coming, take cover, in case it is Lord Ashenden.”
“If I see another vendor, I’ll ask him for a ride.” Charles took a big bite of bread and then handed the loaf to Emma.
“Where did you even get that bread?” she asked her brother.
“As we were leaving the kitchen, one of those cute maids slipped it to me,” said Charles proudly. “If I had a little more time, I probably could have gotten some hand-pies or sweetmeats too, but you were in too much of a hurry to leave.”
“It’s not that I wanted to leave, it is just that we had to go.” Maggie walked toward the brook with the travel bag over her shoulder, regretting that she left Saltwood Castle so quickly. They were vulnerable out here on the road, but when they were inside the walls of the castle, they were at least safe. She was sure Evan would never hurt them. He had promised to protect them and she believed that he would. She walked toward the creek lost in deep thought.
Evan had shouted out that he loved her right before she left. It didn’t really sink in, because she’d been frantic and so scared for her family that her fear overtook her, making her want to run. Did he really love her? She wondered. Or was he just saying that because he didn’t want her to leave? Either way, it didn’t matter she supposed. Evan had told Lord Ashenden to his face that he wouldn’t marry Lady Beatrice, so she knew he wasn’t lying about that.
She found the exact spot where she and Evan had made love, dropping her travel bag, taking a moment to remember how she had felt in his arms. It was the best day of her life. She’d never known anyone like Evan. He was protective, smart, handsome, and even funny. Emma had said she wanted Evan as her father, since the little girl liked him so much. Charles admired Evan since he’d been the one to get Charles the job as an apprentice locksmith. He would make a perfect father to Emma, she realized. As well as a good husband for her.
“Oh, what have I done?” moaned Maggie, sitting down in the tall grass. In her haste, she’d made a bad decision. By leaving Evan and Saltwood Castle, she’d only made her family’s life worsen. Charles had just started acting like a man recently, and it was thanks to Evan. Her brother had an interest now in something besides the maids in the kitchen. She wanted more than anything to see him someday become a journeyman locksmith and make a good living. He’d be of marrying age soon. Perhaps he’d even find a nice girl to marry.
Damn, thought Maggie. Even her younger brother would probably be married before her. She’d been holding men at a distance for years now, because she needed to be a mother to both Charles and Emma. Little Emma didn’t deserve such a horrible childhood. She’d just started playing with other children, and Maggie had never seen her so happy. Now, Maggie had taken her away from her happiness.
“Why is this happening?” she asked aloud, hiding her face in her hands. Her life had been going so well since she’d met Evan. She’d found love for the first time ever. And friends. Maggie considered Ladies Martine and Eleanor her friends, even though they were nobles and she was just a commoner. How was she ever going to go on without Evan? Why had she been so stupid to leave him? She’d had the world in her hands and her family was happy for the first time in a long time, and that meant the world to her. Now she’d put them right back into despair, poverty, and sorrow, and that didn’t feel good for any of them. It was all her fault, and she didn’t know how to make it right.
“Oh, Mother, I’ve made a mistake,” she mumbled into her hands. “I miss you so much and wish you were here right now so I could talk to you. This is so hard to go on. I am losing strength quickly. I just left behind a man I love. A man who loves me too. How will he ever forgive me?”
“My day has just gotten a lot better since I found you,” she heard a man say, so deep in her thoughts that she hadn’t even heard anyone approach.
“Evan?” she cried, jumping to her feet, realizing she’d just made another grave mistake. “Lord Ashenden,” she said, her heart lodging in her throat. He was holding the tip of his sword right at her.
“You’re coming with me,” he told her. “To get what you truly deserve.”
Her eyes flashed back up to the road and fear coursed through her once again. She’d left Charles and Emma there by themselves, unprotected.
“Yes, we’ve already got the boy and the little whelp too,” he said, rubbing one hand against his trews. “That little bitch bites!”
Pride filled Maggie’s chest knowing that her daughter had fought back. Then it was replaced by the sinking sensation of doom for her family.
“Let’s go,” growled Ashenden, grabbing her roughly. Maggie struggled with him, but he was too strong for her to be able to break his hold and run. He swore at her and pushed her toward the road.
“You’d better not hurt my brother or daughter, I warn you.”
“And what if I do?” he asked with a chuckle. “What are you three going to do? Your big brave knight isn’t here to protect you anymore.”
When they got to the road, she saw that Charles had his hands tied behind his back and was atop a horse, riding with a guard. Emma’s hands were tied in front of her and she rode with Lady Beatrice.
“Mama!” cried the little girl.
“Emma!” Maggie tried to run to her daughter, but Ashenden held her back. “Tie up her hands and put her on the horse with me,” he sneered. “I’d like to enjoy her curvy warm body pressed up against mine before we execute them.”
“Father, that is disgusting,” said Beatrice with a sniff. “Let’s hurry and get back, because I cannot wait to finally punish someone for letting Mother and my baby brother die.”
“You won’t get away with this,” ground out Charles, struggling atop the horse. The guard just held him tighter.
“Stop struggling or I’ll kill you right here,” warned the guard.
“Charles, do as he says,” warned Maggie, trying to keep her composure. If she didn’t at least pretend to be strong, Charles and Emma would be even more frightened.
The guard tied Maggie’s hands and hoisted her up atop the horse with Lord Ashenden. Maggie once more looked over to the place where she and Evan had made love, and felt like crying. It had been a dream come true but it just turned into a terrible nightmare.
“That’s right, take a good, long, last look,” said Ashenden, blowing his breath in her ear since they were sitting so close. Just the smell of his breath and the fact he was pressed up against her made her want to vomit. “Take a last look, because it’ll be the last thing you ever see.”
“So you say you saw a vendor with a woman, little girl, and a boy in the back of his cart?” Evan asked from atop his horse to two washwomen walking along the road carrying baskets of laundry.
“Aye, my lord,” said the short, plump woman.
“How long ago?” asked Daegel.
“Not long,” said the skinny one.
“Did it seem they were being taken against their will?” asked Evan.
“Nay, my lord,” said the first woman. “They seemed like they wanted to be there.”
“They even waved to us and the little girl called out hello,” said the second.
“Which way did they go?” asked Giles.
“Straight up the road that way.” The plump woman pointed down the road.
“Take a left at the fork in the road,” instructed her friend.
“Thank you,” said Evan, reaching into his pouch and pulling out two coins and tossing the money to them. “You’ve been ever so helpful.”
“Thank you, my lord,” both women called out, dropping their baskets and falling to their knees to pick up the coins.
“Do you think we’ll find them, my lord?” asked Giles, as they continued to ride. “It’ll be getting dark soon.”
“We’ll find them,” Evan replied, trying to stay positive.
“They couldn’t have gone far,” said Daegel.
It wasn’t long before they came across a vendor with his wagon traveling slowly down the road.
“Stop,” called out Evan, riding to the man’s side.
“My lord.” The man stopped his wagon and bowed his head. “Did I do something wrong?” Evan looked to the back of the wagon but there seemed to only be goods the man was selling. Maggie and the others were not there. “Did you give a ride to a blonde woman, a boy, and a little girl?”
“Yes, my lord,” said the man. “I did.”
“Where are they now?”
“I dropped them off back there by the brook,” he told them. “It was where the woman said she wanted to go.”
“Thank you,” said Evan, giving him a coin as well. He rode back to Daegel and Giles.
“Did he see them?” asked Daegel.
“He gave them a ride, but we need to go back. He said he left them at the brook.”
“What brook?” asked Daegel.
“We’ll never find them,” said Giles. “It is wooded and the grass is tall.”
“Nay, I know exactly where they went,” Evan told the others, taking off at breakneck speed down the road. He was sure that for some reason Maggie had gone back to the place where they’d made love. He hoped she was still there, because it would be night soon like Giles said, and he knew how Maggie hated traveling alone at night.
Evan approached the spot where they’d made love, seeing something half hidden in the tall grass. “I found something,” he called out to the others. Jumping off his horse he ran forward, hoping it was not a dead body. He pushed the tall grass aside, seeing a travel bag.
“What is it, my lord?” asked Giles.
“Is it Maggie?” Daegel jumped off his horse and ran over to Evan.
“It’s her travel bag,” he said, not needing to open it to look inside to know. He’d seen her packing it and was sure it was hers.
“So they were here, then,” said Giles.
“Yes. Spread out. See what else you can find,” Evan instructed.
They searched for a while but couldn’t find anyone or anything else.
“Why in the world would they come here?” asked Giles.
Evan walked directly up to the spot where they’d made love. The grass was still tamped down from when they’d laid on it. “This is where we made love,” he said softly.
“Oh. Oooooh,” said Giles, his face reddening. He got off his horse and went over to pick up Maggie’s travel bag.
Looking to the ground, Evan saw something reflect in the light of the setting sun. He bent down and picked it up, realizing it was Maggie’s crystal pendant. She must have lost it the day they’d made love and had come back to look for it.
“What did you find?” asked Daegel, stretching his neck to see.
“Did you find something else?” shouted Giles, running over with the bag to join them. “Oh, that is Maggie’s good luck charm, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” said Evan. “Maggie told me that it used to be her mother’s pendant. Her mother gave it to her when she was pregnant with Emma. It always brought her mother good luck, and her mother wanted her to have good luck too.”
“Well, it doesn’t seem as if she’s going to have good luck without it,” said Daegel, stretching his neck again. “Look over there. I see something else.”
They walked over to inspect what Daegel had pointed out.
“There is a lot of broken brush here,” Giles noticed.
“I see footprints too.” Daegel pointed to the ground. Sure enough there were two sets of footprints. One of them being larger than the other.
“It looks like a man and a woman,” said Evan. “It almost seems as if there was a struggle by the way the footprints intersect and dig down into the soil.”
“Do you think it was Maggie?” asked Giles.
“Maggie and a man she didn’t want to be with, by the looks of this,” said Evan.
“Yes, she could have been abducted, since I highly doubt she’d leave her bag,” said Giles.
“Nay. She wouldn’t leave it,” said Evan. “Not when it’s all she had, and she needs to take care of her family.”
Daegel walked a little farther and found a scrap of torn clothing caught on a branch. He picked it up with two fingers and inspected it. “This is made of wool, but the cloth is not coarse like a commoner’s. It must be from a noble’s cloak,” he said aloud, rubbing the fabric between two fingers. “An odd color choice, though. Nobles don’t usually wear this shade of green.”
“Daegel, we’ve seen that color before, if you don’t remember. That is from the cloak of Lord Ashenden or his daughter, I am sure of it. They are the only ones I’ve ever seen wearing murky moat green. They have abducted Maggie and her family!”