Chapter Two #2
There was a definite current around them as they drew closer to the dry land, sweeping past them, washing away into the dark night.
It was quite unnerving but the men kept their heads, knowing they had no choice if they were going to live through this.
Chad, in particular, kept his head. The man had nerves of steel as Alessandria, in his lap, simply closed her eyes and held on.
She couldn’t swim and the water swirling around them was terrifying her, but she kept her composure.
But the eyes stayed closed; it was better for them all if she couldn’t see what was going on.
Suddenly, Chad’s horse seemed to come into contact with firm ground beneath the water and the horse, eager to be free of the muck, jumped to get out of it and onto the firmer soil ahead.
Chad was semi-prepared for the horse’s movements but Alessandria, only holding on by the horn of the saddle, lost her grip.
Chad was trying to keep his seat as his horse jumped not once, but twice, and on the second jump, he lost his grip on Alessandria and she went flying off of the horse and into the dark, swirling water around them.
Immediately, she was swept downstream and she screamed in terror, her head barely above the water. Without a second thought, Chad jumped in after her.
Unfortunately, he was in all of his heavy clothing – chain mail, leather breeches, boots, and at least three tunics.
It was weighty, worse still with the water, and even as strong as he was, he couldn’t swim very well in all of that gear.
He also couldn’t take the time to remove it because he saw Alessandria’s head go under the water and then bob back up again.
She was screaming at the top of her lungs.
So he struggled after her, realizing that the water wasn’t all that deep but it was moving swiftly.
Therefore, he began to half-run and half-swim, using the current to his advantage, closing the gap between him and the lady who was being swept just out of his reach.
He reached out, almost managed to grab her, when her head went under again.
Blindly, he began grabbing at anything he could in the water, hoping to come across an arm or a head.
He ended up grabbing her hair and with a big yank, pulled her up to the surface.
Alessandria was sputtering and weeping, absolutely terrified, as Chad literally reeled her against him using her hair. When she came close, a big arm went around her.
“I have you, lass,” he assured her in a steady, calm voice. “Do not fear. I have you now.”
She didn’t really answer him other than to throw her arms around his neck, sputtering and gasping for air. She had him so tightly that he was starting to gasp for air so he was forced to shift her arms as he struggled to make his way out of the churning water.
Fortunately, it was only at his knees at this point and he was able to climb up on the bank, carrying the lady.
But his men were far away, over on the road to the northeast, and the pinprick torches were getting closer.
He didn’t want his men to be caught in a skirmish.
With Alessandria still in his arms, he bellowed to his men and hoped they could hear him.
“Go on!” he yelled. “Get to Canterbury!”
He hoped they would listen. He didn’t want them to try and make their way to him in this swampy land where a misstep would break a horse’s leg or sink them into mud they couldn’t get out of.
When one of the knights, Stefan he thought, tried to do just that – make his way over to him – Chad yelled at him again and de Russe blocked Stefan off from going after his brother.
They would have to trust Chad to take care of the lady while they would lead the men pursuing them away from her, which was presumably the target.
They could only assume that Henry’s men had somehow caught up to them.
As Chad’s knights took off towards Canterbury, which at this point was a very short distance away, Chad carried Alessandria back towards a heavy grove of trees, silhouetted black against the night sky. There, they would hide.
He prayed it would be enough shelter to keep Henry’s men away from them.
*
Sweet Jesus… she’d never been so cold.
Wet and muddy, Alessandria was wrapped in very heavy wool, soaked through with the sludge from the swollen creek.
She was shivering uncontrollably, huddled down in a heavy thicket of bushes, while Chad lingered over near the edge of the trees, watching the road in the distance.
The pinpricks of light were torches, growing closer and closer, but she didn’t much care.
The only thing she was aware of at that point was her misery.
So she rolled herself into a ball, her face against her knees, trying desperately to warm herself even though it was impossible with her soaking clothing.
It was August and although the temperatures were relatively mild, the nights could be cool and they’d had rather cool weather over the past several days which included the rain storms that had caused the creek to overflow.
Alessandria could hear the knight in the bushes, watching the road in the distance.
Chad, they had called him. He had admitted to being from the House of de Lohr, so she could only assume that was his full name – Chad de Lohr.
She hadn’t gotten a good look at the man as he’d pulled her from the priory but what she could see had been intense – eyes the color of a hot summer sky had gazed back at her, scorching, and she could see blond tufts of hair peeking out from beneath his helm.
Beyond that, she could see nothing else and the truth was that she didn’t care one way or the other.
She wasn’t the least bit curious about him, this man who had extracted her from her home under the guise of trying to save her from the king.
She didn’t care for him or his alleged mission.
She simply wanted to be warm again, and without fear, because, at the moment, she was fairly wretched.
But she kept her face buried in her cold clothing because it was all she had, keeping her eyes closed and hoping she might be able to fall asleep that way.
At least she wouldn’t be aware of the cold if she could sleep a little.
But the problem was that she was far too on-edge for sleep and, ears at attention, she could hear the ground give when he took a step or two, moving about in their hiding place.
She was aware of his every movement, like the prey aware of the hunter.
She felt very much like prey.
“Did you hurt yourself when you fell?”
His deep voice, quite raspy, was very quiet in the darkness. Still, the sound startled her. Alessandria shook her head.
“I did not,” she muttered against the cold clothing.
He fell silent for a moment but he was moving and it was too late when Alessandria realized he had moved close to her.
In fact, his big body was right next to her by the time she realized it and she startled, trying to move away from him but tipping over in the process.
He reached out, politely, to keep her from falling into a bush with thorns in it but Alessandria didn’t realize that.
She didn’t take kindly to being grabbed and, resisting him, fell into the thorny bush in spite of his efforts to prevent it. She yelped.
“I was trying to prevent you from poking holes in yourself,” he told her in that low, hoarse tone. “There are sharp things on that bush beside you.”
Alessandria rubbed her left arm, trying not to appear too foolish. “You… you startled me,” she said. It was the truth. “Did those men who were following us go away?”
He turned his head in the darkness, looking in the direction of the road. “They continued on after my men,” he said, “but not without two of them becoming stuck in the mud. They are still out there, trying to pull one of the horses free.”
That had Alessandria’s interest somewhat. She craned her neck, trying to see what he was looking at. “So we must stay here?”
He nodded. Then, he turned to look at her.
“For a short time, at least until I can figure out what those two fools are doing,” he said.
He studied her for a moment in the darkness.
“Forgive me for my bad manners, but we were not formally introduced because there was not time. I am Sir Chadwick de Lohr. I am the eldest son of the Earl of Canterbury.”
For some reason, the formal introduction made her feel a bit better, as if she hadn’t been abducted by some nameless, terrible ruffian. At least the man had the trappings of nobility.
“De Lohr,” she repeated. “I have heard the name.”
He shrugged, turning his attention to the road once more. He was quite interested in what Henry’s men were doing in the distance. “Most people in England have,” he said without arrogance. It was simply the truth. “And you are Lady Alessandria de Shera, sister of Aurelius de Shera.”
“I am.”
“You and I are distantly related. Did you know that?”
She shook her head, intrigued. “How?”
He turned to look at her again. “It is only by marriage, but we are related nonetheless,” he said. “Your cousins are Gallus, Maximus, and Tiberius de Shera.”
“Aye.”
He continued. “Their mother, Honey de Shera, was the youngest daughter of my grand-uncle, Christopher de Lohr,” he explained. “I realize family trees can be quite confusing, but Honey married Antoninus de Shera, who….”
She cut him off. “Uncle Antoninus,” she said. “He was my father’s brother.”
“Exactly.”
Indeed, she felt more than a little better about their association now.
But she also wanted answers to the situation.
“I heard what you told the Mother Prioress,” she said.
“Henry would really hold me hostage against my cousins and my brother’s surrender?
But I do not understand. I am nothing of importance to anyone, not even my brother.
He will not care if Henry holds me hostage or not. ”