by Gay, Gloria
Jared might not fare so well, so he must reach him before they harmed him. Once he freed Jared they would search for Violet together.
He realized now that he loved Violet more than anything in this life, and had he not been a complete fool none of this would have been allowed to happen. Now, even his nephew was in extreme in danger.
Hawk could not believe how utterly stupid he had been, expecting Violet to jump at the chance at being his mistress, when Violet was a better human being than he could ever hope to be. Violet had lived a life of appalling pain and misfortune and like a pure white flower growing in a swamp had withstood danger and temptations, including those coming from him.
And he had callously told Jared that loss of virtue was loss of virtue—even if she had been forced!
He was ashamed of his conduct and of the life he had lived. He was contemptuous of men like Souten yet his own life had been lived in selfish luxury like a Sybarite, absorbed with the pursuit of pleasure. He had expected Violet to become his mistress because that was the environment in which he lived, an environment where he was denied nothing.
His life seemed appalling to him now. He would work toward correcting it. He asked God for forgiveness in a silent prayer.
He dared not imagine what Violet was going through. He only hoped Souten did not harm her before Hawk was able to get to her. He realized that Violet's stunning beauty inspired obsession in men and that Souten, unable to convince her to marry him had resorted to abduction. He could well imagine that Violet, once the vile act had been completed would have no other choice than to become Souten's wife. Hawk was well aware of how Violet loved and revered her father and would never do anything to bring shame on his name. She would sacrifice herself before allowing that to happen.
Why had he worn blinders in the presence of the only woman who had reached his soul? It was incredible to him how stupid he had been.
He saw the streak of dawn breaking above the hills as he and the driver entered the forest but their speed was slowed by the slush on the narrow road and the thick forest undergrowth. The heavy smell of pine stung his nostrils.
A raven shot across his vision with a shriek and rabbits darted out of his path as they cut through the wood at a nerve-racking slow pace.
At a fork where one side turned to the Crow's Nest, where it was about half a mile ahead, the driver motioned to the duke to follow into the other side of the fork, to where Jared had been taken.
* * *
After a few miles in the incipient dawn, Souten and Violet arrived at The Crow's Nest and the carriage came to halt in front of a square, two storied cottage that was made of large stones and almost covered in ivy.
"Come, my dear, down you go. You must be tired and wanting your tea," Souten smiled lovingly at Violet. Violet turned away from him in disgust.
Violet got down and felt her legs almost numb from sitting for so long. She was glad of the exercise and her mind continued to look for a plan to escape and a weapon to use against her abductor.
"See how it is prepared for your arrival, my love?" asked Souten and Violet felt the same revulsion she once felt with Alex Shackel, her mother's lover. She felt like a sheep to slaughter.
What would happen once Souten locked her inside a room in The Crow's Nest?
She must not think about that or it would weaken her resolve. She must keep her mind clear of fears that would keep her from thinking and carrying out a plan. There was no one to help her but herself. She must remind herself of this so that her determination to escape would be strengthened.
"I am an expert at love-making, my dear," said Souten, "You will not regret our little encounter, I assure you."
It was then that Violet was unable to help throwing up on the circular rug that was before the hearth.
"Poor dear," said Souten, mistaking the reason Violet had thrown up. "The movement of the carriage has made you dizzy. Let me get you some water from that pitcher, so that you can rinse your mouth and refresh yourself."
After she rinsed her mouth and as she was sipping her water, Violet glanced around the room. The cottage contained a large room in the first floor with a kitchen in the back and two large bedrooms in the second floor. One of the bedrooms faced to the front of the building and the other one faced the back.
As soon as Souten led Violet into the front bedroom upstairs and locked the door, Violet glanced around the room, desperately trying to find something she could use as a weapon. The only thing she found of metal was an old spoon. She suppressed a tremor of fear that coursed through her. She must be strong or she would be lost. She continued to look around. She opened a drawer on a chest of drawers and saw that it was empty save for a few folded cloths, as were the other three drawers in the chest.
She looked under the bed and found nothing. She examined the window and saw that it was shut tight with a sturdy lock and that the metal hinges as well as the bolt that held the lock would be difficult to dislodge without a hammer. She sat on the bed and looked around, trying to see the objects in the room not as they were but of how they could be turned into weapons or instruments to aid her in her escape.
She glanced up at the ceiling and at the wooden beams. High above the door was a small window with green shutters. Violet got closer and examined it. It was not locked! It had only a loose hook that latched on to a large lower metal hoop.
But the window was high up. How to get to it? Even with the only chair in the room she could not reach it. She knew that if she moved the bed and placed the chair over it she would reach the window. But even if she were able to move the bed without making any noise, how was she to jump down from the window to the ground once she reached the window?
She thought hard about the moment when she had arrived and had glanced at the cottage. She closed her eyes and tried to picture the image of the cottage as she had looked at it. Then she realized that the cottage had a ledge that ran the length of the front and arched over the front door!
She sighed with relief. She would have a place to land if she managed to get to that window.
And where was Souten? It seemed strange that he had locked her in the room and left her there. And although she felt great relief not to be in his presence, she was also wary. What was he doing?
She went to the door, got on her knees and removed the hooked rug by the bed. As she put it aside she heard voices through the planks on the floor. She lay down on the floor and put her ear on one of the cracks, above where Souten was. She heard his voice in what she sensed was a close conference with two other men, the outriders. She closed her eyes and concentrated on what they were saying. She was able to hear one word—Falweir!
Had Lord Falweir followed her here? Her heart leaped with hope. If Jared had followed her there was a chance Hawk also knew she had been abducted!
She heard the men raise their voices a bit more and Violet was able to distinguish a word here and there which she pieced together.
"We'll deal… with him… before…"
"Where did… take him..."
Violet heard footsteps that got nearer her. She got quickly away from the floor, replaced the rug by the bed and went and sat on the chair to mull over the words she had heard. Apparently they had caught Jared and they were going to deal with him before Souten turned his attention to her.
That gave her a little respite in which to make her own escape. She was certain Souten would leave someone there to guard the cottage while he went to deal with Lord Falweir. That gave Violet an opportunity she had not expected. For the first time since she had been abducted she believed that she might be able to escape Souten's clutches.
She calmed her thumping heart that threatened to burst out of her chest and went again to the floorboards and getting down on the floor again pressed her ear to the boards. There was absolute silence now. She waited on the floor, keeping perfectly still so that the boards would not creak as her mind raced with the possibilities of what might or might not be happening. Then she heard a door clo
se shut which made her jump, so startling the noise was in the total silence. It appeared to be the front door to the cottage.
Was it Souten who had left? She hoped so, but how to be sure? She walked carefully to the window and was able to see Souten leaving with another man.
She sighed in relief. So overwhelmed she was by the menace of Souten's presence that his removal gave her a jolt of relief. Now she would only have to deal with whoever had been left guarding the cottage. A lot more different than dealing with three men!
Violet put coasters on the bedposts from the cloths she had found in the drawers. This would muffle the sound as she pushed the bed inch by inch over the wooden floor. She could not risk making a noise that would bring the guard to her bedroom. It would take a longer time to get the bed close to the wall, directly under the small window but it was less risky.
Finally, with her heart thumping in fear she reached the wall and then she took the chair and placed it over the bed. She was glad the bed did not have a soft feather mattress but was rather firm with a down coverlet which she removed.
She got on top of the chair and reached the window, unlatched it and peered down. There was no one in front. The guard was probably in the lower room. This would leave the coast clear for her to do her maneuvers. What tremendous luck! She hoped the others would not return before she was able to run into the woods and make her escape.
Violet squeezed through the small window and gingerly felt for the ledge. She finally had a solid footing and carefully stepped sideways along the catwalk to the edge of the cottage. She wanted to be away from the two front windows before she attempted to get down from the ledge. She looked around. A scented breeze ruffled her hair and the sound of birds in the distance was the only thing breaking the silence of the wooded area.
She realized that even by holding herself from the ledge with her hands the jump down was a good six or seven feet. There, muddy bracken and nettles would muffle her fall, but who knew how good a hearing that guard had and how clean her fall would be?
What if she fell against the side of the cottage? Well, she would just have to make sure she didn't. She could not risk the guard running after her in the woods. He was certain to have longer strides than hers and would catch up with her quickly. And then her careful planning would be to no avail. Better to make certain that she made the least amount of noise and didn't slam against the front of the house when she jumped. There was no room for error when her life was at stake.
Finally, with perspiration streaming down her temples and her heart racing, Violet got to the corner of the cottage, clearing both windows. She looked down and examined the terrain. She then chose the area where the best cushion of nettles and bracken was. She breathed in deeply, counted to three and jumped. Violet landed with a thud and stood in place, grimacing at the stinging hurt on her feet from the high jump. She remained as still as she could, and listened carefully to see if there was any reaction following the noise from her fall.
Once she was certain there was no stirring from the cottage she stood up and carefully walked over the leaves and bracken one step at a time.
Finally she reached the corner of the cottage where there were no windows. Looking carefully right to left to make sure no one was about she ran quickly like a wraith and entered the thickest part of the wood. She continued running, threading through the trees until she was out of breath and could hardly go another step.
She slumped on the forest ground to catch her breath and looked around. Rather than follow the lane she would walk alongside but from a distance in a parallel way, because if she ran down that path she ran the risk of being accosted by Souten when he returned. She also could not stay too far from the lane because she knew that she would become completely disoriented and might wander in circles.
Her heart beat madly and she was perspiring more from fear now than from exercise.
The wood was still save for the sounds of birds fleeting about on the branches of fragrant pine and firs. Thistle, wild anemones and wood sorrel grew profusely as did berries.
The branch of a wide fir bounced back on Violet as she pushed forward through the brush and it scratched her arm. Now she had a bleeding scratch to contend with!
Reaching down, Violet found a soft leaf and pressed it to the cut in her arm as she walked as quickly as she could parallel to the lane, about fifteen feet from it.
CHAPTER 24
Four hundred years before, in Malcom Forest, an underground tunnel that connected to a watch on the other side of the forest had been built as an escape route for when Malcom Hall was attacked by marauders from other counties. Through the centuries, most of the tunnel had filled with mud from countless rains. Yet parts of it had survived as small rooms that could still be reached from hidden entries in the forest bed.
It was in one of these "rooms" that Lord Falweir had been thrown into, his hands and feet tightly bound and with a blindfold and a gag tight on his mouth. His forehead was bleeding from a cut and his shoulder throbbed with pain. As his feet had also been tied, he could hardly move. His leg ached terribly from the fall but he was certain it was neither broken nor sprained, for he had hopped around the small cave-like room to make sure.
He tried to remove the blindfold by rubbing his head against the side of the room and although he had scratched his face in the process he had succeeded in sliding the kerchief away from his eyes.
The place was not completely dark, for there was a slit left uncovered between the ground and the wooden plank held down with large stones. After a long time he was able to loosen the cord that held his feet, but his hands had been tied behind his back and they had been better tied than his feet.
Violet heard horses in the lane and ran as carefully away from the path as she could, a violent fear taking hold of her that Souten had found her missing and had sent someone after her. And as she ran in stealth through the woods she neared the place where Jared was.
Jared yelled out when he heard footsteps above him.
Whoever it was had stopped nearby and he yelled out again as hard as he could for he could not bang out with anything that could be heard above. He feared that the person above would leave before he was able to make his presence known.
But Violet had been on the lookout for either Jared or Hawk and hoping that by some miracle she would find either one.
As she was walking stealthily through the forest, she heard a faint sound and retraced her step. For a few minutes she walked about and when there was the faint sound again she stood still and listened carefully.
Little by little she gained on the sound and realized it was someone calling for help. She followed the sound until she was closer to the voice. And when again the voice called out she recognized it as Jared's voice! Then she called out his name and Jared yelled out again.
Violet was certain that the sound had come from beneath the earth and she looked carefully through the shrubbery and the fallen branches and nettles around her. She got down on her knees and scraped and dirtied her hands as she removed thistle and bracken and pine cones and needles. Jared called out again and she called his name to reassure him, not too loud in case someone was about.
After about half an hour of removing brush from several areas, Violet finally found a trap door. A corner of it was barely visible from under heavy stones covered with branches. The stones, once she removed the branches, seemed to have recently been pushed aside, judging from the indentations on the earth. But she realized the stones holding the trap door down were too big and heavy for her to push aside.
What to do? Could she move them a little using all her strength? She filled her lungs with air, closed her eyes and pushed at the largest of the two. Nothing. The stone hadn't moved a fraction of an inch!
She turned to the smaller stone and repeated her ritual. She breathed in, filled her lungs to capacity, got a good foot hold and pushed with all her might. This time the smaller stone did move, revealing the slit of the trap door but only a few inches
of it. Kneeling down, Violet called out to Jared through the slit that she was trying to move the stones. He answered back to do it only if she wasn't at risk.
It took Violet about five minutes to remove the smaller of the stones and she was now perspiring from head to foot. The upper part of her dress was soaked. She realized that the only way she was going to be able to remove the bigger rock that was holding the plank down was to do it by finding a branch that she could squeeze in the bottom below it, by digging a groove underneath it. Fortunately the large rock had an indentation in its bottom which made it a lot easier to force the large branch underneath it.
Bracing for the work, Violet finally lifted the large rock with the branch. She moved aside as she the rock fell to the side with a big thud.
She called out to Jared that she had removed the rock and was now going to lift the plank. He yelled out for her to run if she saw anyone coming and leave him there. He insisted on that until she agreed.
Finally, Violet took the plank off and revealed the gaping hole.
"Clever girl," said Jared with admiration. "Can you push the smaller rock into the room so I can use it as a stepping stone? My hands are bound, so I can't even try to climb out."
Even after climbing on the stone Jared could not reach the edge of the entrance.
"Jump and grab onto the edge with your elbows, Jared," said Violet, "and I'll grab you as you land on the edge so you won't slide down again."
"I'll try it, Violet", said Jared, "but I don't think you have the strength to hold me. I'll try to jump as far in as I can so that you can latch onto me."
Then seeing that they weren't getting anywhere because Jared would slide back in, Violet put the large branch she had used across the opening. Jared then was able to swing his legs over it when he jumped and held himself over the side of the opening with his elbows. Then he just put his feet over to the side of the opening and Violet helped him to roll over to the side.
