Chapter Nine #3
“It will do no good,” he said. “I will tell you exactly what William Marshal would tell me – do whatever necessary to remove her from that church. Sanctuary would have no meaning and in the name of William Marshal, I would bring armed men into that church to retrieve her.”
Susanna looked at him, great concern on her face. “You would violate sanctuary, my lord?”
He snorted. “Child’s play,” he said. “Mayhap someday, I will tell you of all the things I did in The Levant, things that surely earn me a place in hell. Violating a church would be nothing.”
Susanna’s great concern seemed to grow. She didn’t want Cadelyn to be dragged out of a church in bindings, but she also didn’t want the woman wandering around an unfamiliar town. Cadelyn had a penchant for getting into trouble and Susanna had always been there to save her.
But not at the moment.
“You have knights at the church, my lord, and I am sure they will send word if Lady Cadelyn is there,” she said.
“Meanwhile, the soldiers saw her come this way. I suggest we spread out and search every house and every garden. I do not see her fleeing to the open road, but mayhap finding a hiding place and waiting for us to give up our search. She may be foolish, but she is not stupid. There are too many dangers on the open road and she knows it.”
That was good enough for Kress. He split up his men, Susanna included, and they all began to search down different paths and with different homes.
Kress took the alley west, following the main path and being attacked by unruly geese at one point.
He had big, fortified gloves that he used to shove them away, but they were mean and tried to bite him.
Eventually, they backed off as he crossed over into another block of homes, nearer to the church.
He simply stood there a moment, looking around, wondering which direction to take.
But it was more than indecision. He wasn’t usually a man of inaction and, at the moment, he felt fairly bewildered. That woman – that bold, unruly woman with a taste for the unconventional – had somehow managed to get under his skin.
Oh, he could admit it now, to himself, but it was a rare moment of weakness for him to do that.
He’d spent the past several days keeping that barrier up between them because he knew if he let it down, any semblance of self-control would leave him.
She was intelligent and interesting, so much more than any other woman he’d ever known.
And she was beautiful to look at; he could look at her all day and never grow weary of it.
But just when he was coming to know her better, he’d put more stones in the wall between them and effectively shut her out.
But it was for the best.
… wasn’t it?
Now, she’d run off, and he had to admit that he felt fear. Fear for her safety above all else. He didn’t even care that The Marshal would be very angry if something happened to the betrothal with Ellesmere. All William cared about was the politics of things.
All Kress cared about was Cadelyn.
There… he admitted it.
He cared about her.
As he stood there and pondered what direction he should take to continue his search, a long-legged dog approached him, wagging his tail.
It was a big dog, and friendly, and it had something in its mouth.
But Kress wasn’t paying attention to the dog; he was looking to his surroundings, looking for the best course to take.
But the dog suddenly jumped up on him, muddy paws and all, and Kress irritably shoved the dog aside.
In doing so, he caught a glimpse of what was in the dog’s mouth.
He’d seen it before.
It was Cadelyn’s purse.
Shocked, he grabbed the dog by the neck and tried to take the purse away, but the dog thought he was playing. He growled and pulled, and Kress pulled, but Kress finally lost his grip and the dog took off running.
Kress went in pursuit.
The dog headed back the way it had come and as it ran, it nearly rammed into Susanna, who was just emerging from a small path in between houses. Kress shouted at her as he ran by.
“That dog has Cadie’s purse!”
Startled, Susanna began to run after him, too, calling to the soldiers who were in the immediate area.
Soon, the dog had several men and one woman chasing after it, and the animal thought it was all great fun.
Kress nearly got hold of him at one point, but the dog was surprisingly fast and pulled away, running as fast as it could with its tail between its legs.
Somehow, the chase had caught the attention of the men that were moving to cover the western end of town, Achilles included.
He was still on horseback, charging into the area where Kress, Susanna, and two dozen soldiers were chasing a big, gray dog.
Kress made him get off the horse so he wouldn’t trample the dog, who had doubled back and was now heading south.
Kress directed Achilles and Susanna and the rest of the men to fan out and flank the dog, cutting off his path to the south should it try to escape.
As everyone fanned out, creating a net of sorts that the dog couldn’t slip through, Kress came to a halt and whistled to the dog to see if he could get it to come to him.
Winded, he walked calmly towards the dog, who had come to an unsteady halt, and whistled between his teeth.
“Good dog,” he said. “No more running. Come to me and let me have the purse, and I’ll give you a fat bone, you stupid, ignorant hound.”
The last four words were spoken with great annoyance, but at least the dog had stopped running.
It was looking at Kress as if it wanted him to give chase again, but Kress was finished chasing.
He was going to try another tactic now. But just as he came close, the dog suddenly disappeared into a hole in a stone wall.
With a growl of frustration, Kress went to the hole, trying to peer through, but there was too much debris to see clearly.
That led him to inspecting the wall itself and he moved along the stone wall, which was about as high as his head, until he came to a wooden gate.
He lifted the latch, but it was evidently bolted from the inside.
Without hesitation, he stood back and lashed out a massive boot, kicking open the gate that splintered right down the middle.
Pushing his way through the demolished gate, he saw the dog standing in the middle of what looked to be a garden. When the dog saw him, it bolted into a small house that the garden was attached to and Kress followed. The animal rushed through an open door and so did Kress.
And that’s when everything went black.