Percy Davitt grimaced. “Tomorrow, then. It should be mostly dry. The blood, I mean. Now you have something to anticipate.” He did reach out and roughly squeeze Libby’s breast. “A bit small for my tastes, but I can make do. You’ve not been married long. You’ll be nice and tight, good for a quick and forceful romp in any case. I won’t be gentle, this I promise. I shall rut into you before they arrive at the hill. I’ll make certain they hear your screams of pain as they come up. And you will scream, I promise you that. Then you may well die. Even if you don’t and your husband lives, I doubt he will want you after I am finished with you. There won’t be much left to look at, I assure you.”
The man’s lips turned up in a malevolent smile. He seemed to have a great deal of difficulty getting to his feet. He limped and walked quite stiffly.
After the yellow-haired man ducked out of the tent, Libby saw and heard something like a wing flutter above her. She could see a blue and white outline of a being standing over her. The blue and white light changed, merged, and began to take shape, color and form. An Angel manifested fully before her eyes.
Libby knew it must be the Archangel Michael. His large, white and shining wings drew closed. Libby looked upward and gazed at his strong, shining face and into loving, kind blue eyes. She no longer felt afraid.
She tried to move her hand to her cheek, her arm felt heavy and useless. She must stop the bleeding. She could feel blood running down the side of her face. The best she could do was rest the back of her hand against her cheek in hopes the pressure would stop the bleeding. The angel’s hand covered hers.
She closed her eyes. She saw Micah. “Hold on Libby. Owen’s almost there.” He reached for her. The vision faded.
Gentle hands slipped beneath her. Strong arms lifted her up. The coolness of the evening breeze caressed her as she heard the sound of wings unfurling. The last thing she heard was the beautiful voice of the angel.
“Come, dear one. Your brother and husband await your return.”
Owen hid in the obscure shadows of the trees near the well. He watched a yellow-haired man leave the tent.
“That’s Davitt,” Charlie whispered beside him.
Owen turned to Charlie. “I’m going in now. I’ll bring Libby to you. You get her out of here. I’ll hold them off as long as I can. You make damn sure Micah lives, Charlie. I’ll not have her mourning us both.” Owen stood and moved away quickly. He disappeared into the darkness of the trees as he edged along toward the tent.
Charlie realized at that moment Owen would give his life making certain Libby got safely away. “Owen! Get back here! The others will be here soon! You can wait a bit longer.” Charlie hissed as loud as he dared. Owen did not turn around or acknowledge his words. “Bloody Hell!” Charlie cursed under his breath. Rising to his feet, Charlie followed Owen. Nobody was dying this night if he could help it!
Owen ignored Charlie as they stood in the inky darkness while he kept his eyes on the tent near Arthur’s Well.
When Owen witnessed a blinding bluish white light shoot from inside the tent his heart fell. Was there an explosion? A fire? Libby!
The blinding Light grew. It took shape and moved, not unlike a blanket of thick fog. The Light came toward him and Charlie. It engulfed them completely. He watched as a shining white figure of a man drew closer. The form of a tall golden-haired man with large white wings manifested in the center of the Light and appeared before him. In his strong arms, he held the limp body of his sister.
Owen looked upward into the face of the angel. The being was at least two heads taller than he.
“Take her, brother.”
Owen took Libby from the arms of the glowing angel towering over them.
“Thank you,” Owen said, still in awe of the sight. “Michael?” he whispered.
The angel nodded. He smiled. “The Light will surround you until you reach safety. Go.”
Owen turned, cradling Libby in his arms.
“None of the Brown coats on the hill fort top even notice the Light. We’re invisible, Owen,” Charlie whispered in disbelief as he fell into step beside his friend.
“I think you’re right, Charlie. You see him?”
“The angel, Michael? Yes, an incredible sight!”
The Avalon Society members watched in awe as a tall, large angel with enormous wings spread behind him followed Charlie and Owen, who held Libby in his arms, as they made their way down the rugged and rough side of Cadbury Hill. The brilliant Light surrounded their comrades and the angel.
Gabriel and the others realized Owen, Libby and Charlie were rendered invisible by the angel so they could escape unharmed. Once Owen and Charlie reached the bottom of the hill, the Avalon Society turned and made their way back to their horses to head back to Horethorne Hall. There was meant to be no conflict this night. An Archangel decreed it by his actions.
Owen turned when he reached the bottom of Cadbury Hill. He gazed once again upon the Angel.
“Go quickly.” The Angel instructed him.
Owen nodded to him. Charlie brought his horse and held Libby while he mounted. Charlie lifted his friend’s sister to him. Owen gently settled Libby across his lap. He removed his cravat and held it to Libby’s deeply cut and bleeding cheek. Her eyes remained closed. “Thank you, Archangel Michael. Thank you. I owe you,” Owen whispered as relief washed over him.
“The Light must prevail. Remember, brother.” The Archangel’s words carried in the night breeze.
“It will. I shall see to it,” Owen pledged. “We all will. You can count on us. The Light will prevail.” Owen spurred his mount forward. He needed to get Libby back to Horethorne Hall quickly. She was losing a lot of blood.
Owen took the stairs two at a time as he carried his sister to her chamber.
Sophia studied Libby’s wounds. “Her cheek was laid open. I have some very fine thread. I can make some very small stitches so the scar will be less noticeable. We should still send for the doctor, but I will stitch her immediately. I shall need extra light and someone to hold her down. She might wake while I place the stitches. I need hot water and cloths.”
Harry asked Newt to go down and have Cook boil water.
“I’ll hold her.” Owen said. He motioned to Gabriel. “Tell Micah she is safe.”
Gabriel nodded and headed to Micah’s room.
“She is so pale and cold. I think she was drugged. We must keep her warm.” Sophia turned to Charlie. “Start a fire, please. The additional light will help me make the stitches in any case,” she instructed.
Harry followed Gabriel through the connecting door into Micah’s room. He stood behind Gabriel as he checked on Micah.
“He burns. We need to cool him down in a tub again.”
“Wyldhurst! Lachlan! We need to douse Micah in a tub again. He’s burning up,” Harry called downstairs as he removed his coat and prepared to help Gabriel.
Gabriel, Wyldhurst, Lachlan and Harry tended to Micah.
Sophia, Rowena, and Owen tended Libby. Charlie and Matthias held candelabra’s above so Sophia could stitch Libby’s cheek. The others kept watch, for they expected retaliation from the Brown Coats when they realized Libby had disappeared.
Doctor Fuller arrived and examined Libby. He confirmed that she was drugged. “It was likely an overdose of laudanum. My major concern is the bump and bruise on her forehead. I believe she very likely has suffered a concussion.” He roused Libby with smelling salts to talk to her for a few seconds. He instructed them to try and wake her every couple of hours, and if she did not seem coherent he should be called. He commended Sophia on her excellent stitching. He confessed that although Sophia’s stitches were small and the thread fine, he feared Libby would always carry a scar. He mentioned she might experience numbness on that side of her face, possibly for life.
Sophia assured them after the doctor left that she would concoct a cream to keep Libby’s cheek from scarring so badly.
The men left Sophia, Rowena and Owen to remove Libby’s so
iled clothing, wash her and change her into her nightdress.
An hour after his cold bath, Micah opened his eyes. His hand wrapped about Gabriel’s arm. “Libby?”
“She’s safe, Micah” Gabriel sat on the edge of his bed.
“Is she well? Can I see her?”
“She was drugged. She was hit on the head. The Doctor believes she has a concussion. Sophia stitched her cheek. Davitt laid it open as you saw in your dream.”
“Take me to her,” Micah demanded.
“Certainly.” Gabriel motioned to Wyldhurst and Lachlan.
Micah flung back the covers.
“We’ll have to get you into some clothes. The ladies are with Libby,” Harry posed as he noted Micah’s nakedness.
“Drawers in the dresser, second drawer. Nightshirt in the wardrobe.” Micah said. “May I have some water and some broth? Libby needs me. I must get my strength back.” He tried to raise himself up and could not.
“Absolutely.” Harry nodded. “I’ll send someone to fetch it. You wear nightshirts?” The corners of Harry’s mouth turned up in an amused smile.
“No. Grandfather gives me one every year at Christmas. He has for the last twenty years.” Micah said hoarsely.
Rowena pulled the covers back allowing Wyldhurst and Lachlan to slide Micah into bed beside Libby.
Micah remained partially upright, resting his weight on one elbow while he reverently touched his wife’s face. He took in the long, jagged scar and the bruised cut on her forehead. She was so pale and still. Please let her live, let her be well again! Anger burned inside him at the thought of the abuse his sweet Libby, his love, suffered at the hands of Davitt and the Brown Coats. “Davitt is a dead man!” he growled through gritted teeth.
Libby stirred. She rolled onto her side and snuggled against Micah.
“I’m staying here with Libby,” Micah announced as he put his arm about his wife and held her tightly to him.
“It will be good for you both to be together,” Owen said. He helped Micah to lie back against the pillows. Before long, Micah closed his eyes.
“I will sit with them tonight,” Owen stated.
“I will join Owen,” Charlie volunteered.
“I’ll come in the morning, at dawn. We’ll need to start getting some broth down Libby if she holds her water tonight,” Gabriel said. “It’s doubtful they fed her. Harry said she was not fully recovered from her first ordeal.”
“Sophia, since Lyon is gone you should sleep in Micah’s bed in his chamber. There is a connecting door to this room and there will always be a guard here. You’ll feel safer that way,” Harry suggested.
“Yes, I will do that. Thank you, Harry. Please, you may call on me if I’m needed during the night,” Sophia said to Owen and Charlie.
“Very good, Lady Amesbury. Thank you.” Owen acknowledged her offer.
“Wyldhurst and Lachlan, if Micah’s fever rises, we’ll wake you,” Charlie informed the two largest men of their party. “Mrs. Clarke said there are enough buckets of water waiting in the kitchen for a bath for Micah if he should need one. That way we don’t have to go out and haul water in ourselves like we did last night.”
They nodded.
“In the meantime, I’m going downstairs, having a brandy and going to sleep. I fully expect another attack during the night,” Wyldhurst said.
Harry agreed with a nod. “We should all get some sleep. And I’m sleeping in my trousers tonight and leaving my weapons loaded and ready. I suggest you all do the same. Newt and Jack are on watch in the hallway upstairs. Cleve is in charge of downstairs and the outside watch is taken by Gabriel’s men until two. Anyone who was in the other wing has been moved to this one. We’re all here together now. It’s safer that way. Call me at once if you need help with Micah or Libby or if I am needed for anything else.”
Owen and Charlie nodded.
Rowena leaned down and kissed both the sleeping Micah and Libby on their foreheads. “Feel better you two.”
“I will just get my nightclothes and retire to Micah’s chamber,” Sophia offered.
“Let us know when you are safely in the chamber, Lady Amesbury,” Owen said.
She smiled and nodded.
“Rowena, I’ll be back up in a bit. I’m going to check on everything.” Harry escorted his wife to their bedchamber then made his way downstairs.
Gabriel, Wyldhurst, Lachlan, and Matthias joined Harry in the library for a brandy.
“You saw the Angel?” Harry asked.
“We all did. He followed Owen, Libby and Charlie all the way down the hill. Since Owen carried Libby with him, we left. We guessed since Archangel Michael brought Libby to us, we were not meant to attack,” Lachlan said.
Harry nodded. “That’s how I would have perceived the situation. No one saw Percy Davitt?”
“Only Owen and Charlie saw him. We saw nothing but the Angel and the Light,” Gabriel said. “And the strange thing was, Harry, none of their men saw the Light or us. It seemed we were invisible, even protected. None of them, not even their watch on the hillside noticed the Light, which was huge and brilliant, radiating all around. It was the strangest thing.”
“I’m just glad Archangel Michael is on our side,” Harry sighed then produced a half-hearted smile.
The others agreed with smiles and nods.
“They’ll come back with a vengeance,” Gabriel commented.
“So will Micah when he’s better. That’s a nasty scar Davitt left Libby with,” Wyldhurst said pointedly. “You all know Micah is a gentle man, unless you mess with one of his, a woman, or a child. At those times he can become as nasty as me or Trevan! Davitt harmed his woman.”
Lachlan added, “Wyldhurst and I could hardly keep Micah down with both of us holding him while the Brown Coats held his wife. Together we are damn near invincible.”
“I saw it. He fought me some too,” Gabriel agreed.
Harry rubbed his unshaven jaw. “I doubt Micah will go after Davitt on his own. Since Libby’s back, he won’t want to leave her side, I’m thinking, or should I say hoping. Besides, he can’t even walk on his own at present. We won’t have to worry about him for a few days at least.”
He sighed and continued, “Be prepared for an attack tonight. At dawn, we’ll watch them on Cadbury with the spyglass. We’ll have a pretty good idea of what we’re facing when we know what they are doing. If they surround us and still watch us, we’ll try the night raiding parties again. They worked in Cornwall, and we took out ten in a very short amount of time the night Micah was shot. If they leave Cadbury Hill, we can’t just go back to normal again. They’ll come back. We should hear from Lyon as early as tomorrow and Sir John in at least two days time. We’ll have a better idea of how far reaching this is. As soon as Micah is feeling better, we can see if he has ever heard of this Knights of the Brown Order. If anyone of us has knowledge of such a group, he will.”
Harry rose. “Wake me before dawn. Be at the ready. Since we took Libby from under their noses they will hit us harder next time. Until further notice, the ladies shall stay in the room with Micah and Libby with a guard during the day. The safe room is right there if we are attacked.”
Matthias nodded. “I have watch from two till six. I’ll come for you at five.” He rose also. “Lachlan, wake me at two, which is just two hours away.” Matthias shook his head. He sighed wearily.
Lachlan and Wyldhurst settled in for the remainder of their watch.
Chapter Fourteen
Sophia was summoned to help with Micah during the night. His fever rose, but not dangerously so. He was partially lucid. Micah would fret when Libby stirred. Libby’s stomach was unsettled; whether from the laudanum or the concussion they did not know. Owen held his sister while she retched. Charlie held Micah down while Libby was ill. Sophia would try and keep Micah calm, and sponge him with cool water to help his fever break.
Once Owen returned Libby to the bed, Micah would calm down the moment he held his lady in his arms.
&nb
sp; It went on like that the entire night.
Harry checked on them at five. He promised others would relieve them at dawn.
Rowena, Gabriel and Jack sat with Micah and Libby until noon, when Owen and Charlie came back to relieve the gentlemen.
“Both quiet,” Owen noted with a hopeful smile, as he took the chair close to Libby’s side of the bed. His fingers lightly traced the large scar on his sister’s cheek.
“Both quiet for the last several hours. I applied some of Sophia’s salve to Libby’s cheek. She said it would help it heal, in addition to guarding it against infection.”
Owen nodded. “Thank you, Lady Glaston.”
Rowena felt Micah’s forehead. “He’s had no fever in three hours. A good sign.”
“A very good sign.” Owen let go a relieved sigh. “Charlie, take the chaise. Have a nap. You can sit with Libby while I rest in a couple of hours,” Owen suggested.
Charlie happily obliged and plopped himself upon the chaise.
“I can stay with you the entire day, Owen,” Rowena said. “I sent for Cook to heat some broth and tea for them. It will be easier if Micah woke and took it on his own, rather than having it forced down him.”
“Micah is awake. He will take his broth on his own,” Micah croaked. He opened his eyes. “Are you implying Micah is not a good patient, Rowena?” The corners of his mouth turned up.
“Yes, Micah. For it took four men at times to hold you down, two of them being Lachlan and Wyldhurst! You were forever trying to get up from your bed. You were constantly pulling your stitches. Sophia re-stitched your wounds four different times, you know.”
“I won’t be trying to go anywhere now that Libby is back, Rowena. I promise. Thank you for bringing Libby back, Owen.” Micah turned his head and looked to Owen.
“I did not do much, Micah. You’ve an angel to thank for her being returned to you.”
“Michael?” Micah asked. He smiled weakly.
Lords of Honor Page 23
