The other man spat on the ground. “Not so, neither. There is not a woman alive I cannot tame.”
Flash merely smiled to himself. Then he considered the problem at hand. It had been sheer good luck that they had spied the earl and countess leaving Wolf Hall this morning. Easier to waylay them somewhere on the road, than to attempt an abduction from within the stout walls of the castle. He narrowed his eyes with speculation. The attending men-at-arms outnumbered them three to one. Only a simpleton would attack with such odds.
Demon tugged at Flash’s sleeve. “They have turned at the stile, and are coming back this way.”
Flash shook his arm free from the other’s grasp. “Make no move, and they will pass us by as they did before. Should the earl spy us, bow your head like a humble peasant, and smile. A cheerful face hides the devil’s own, my da often told me.”
Demon grinned, displaying gaped teeth. “Yer da was a right proper cutpurse in his day.”
Flash didn’t answer. Instead he went very still as the earl’s warhorse thundered past their hiding place. A little brown-and-white dog panted after the riders. He stopped, lifted his nose in the air, then turned toward the spot where the brigands hid.
“Do not move an eyelash,” Flash whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
The dog crept closer, his beady little eyes fixed on Flash. The man drew in his breath. One of their horses stamped the soft ground. The movement distracted the little cur. Just then the notes of a hunting horn sounded over the meadow. The dog froze with one forepaw lifted off the ground. He pricked his ears. The horn called again. With an answering bark, the dog turned, and raced back to the earl and his party. Demon sagged against a tree. Flash released his pent-up breath.
He threw himself into his saddle. “Mount up, Demon. Our hunt continues.”
“How long?” his companion whined, as he pulled himself up onto his rented nag.
Stroking his rough chin, Flash watched their quarry ride down the road. “Until we get her.” He gave his friend a wink. “She will have to take time to relieve herself sooner or later.”
Demon’s chuckle answered him.
Chapter Seventeen
The late-afternoon sun dropped down behind the tips of the tall pines when Thomas and Alicia drew near to the forest that marked the boundary of the Cavendish lands. The pace of the bridal progress had slowed considerably since the stop to consume the picnic lunch. The fresh, clear air, and the steady riding had preserved the company’s appetites, despite all the hospitality they had enjoyed. Full of food and more ale than she usually drank, Alicia found she had a difficult time staying awake.
Thomas caught her when she pitched forward in her saddle for the second time. “Are you ill?” he asked, concern clouding his brilliant eyes.
Smiling, she shook her head. “I must confess that I have grown numb. ‘Tis a weakness I must remedy—but not today.” She covered a yawn with the back of her hand. She hated to show her lack of riding experience in front of all of the men.
Thomas drew their horses to a halt. “The devil take me for a pudding!” He dismounted with an easy grace, then lifted his wife out of her saddle. “The day has been so merry, my mind forgot that you are city-bred, and not used to long hours on horseback. Forgive me.” He gave her a look of genuine sorrow.
Alicia made light of the matter, though she ached in every joint. “‘Tis nothing. I have enjoyed myself—and the company.” She squeezed his hand.
He grinned like a schoolboy. “‘Tis cool and pleasant among these old trees. We will take our ease here awhile.” He made a rueful face. “My own backside has been well used, and could do with a rest.”
Alicia doubted that he felt any discomfort at all, but he was kind to pretend that he did to cover her frailty. Gratefully, she sank down on a springy bed of moss that grew beside the wide trunk of a sweet-smelling spruce. Andrew offered his lord and lady a skin of cool watered wine. The drink tasted like nectar after so many dusty hours in the saddle, and so many mugs of rough ale down their throats. Contentment seeped through her every fiber. With another yawn, she laid her head against the fragrant bark of the sheltering tree. Her eyelids fluttered closed.
Thomas chuckled in her ear. “Do you mean to pass the night here, my lady?”
With her eyes still closed, Alicia rolled her head from side to side. “Not the night, but a century,” she murmured.
He draped his riding cape over her. “A half hour is all I can spare you. We must be home before the moon rises.”
“Home,” she echoed with a contented sigh. She drifted on a gentle current of sleep.
Georgie startled her out of her half dream when he suddenly gave a sharp yelp. “What…?” She squinted through her lashes.
“A hare, my lord!” Andrew called. “A fat one, who begs to be the guest of honor at your supper this night.”
Thomas leapt to his feet. “Then let us accept his kind invitation with pleasure. Mary, you stay with Alicia while she rests.”
His sister groaned. “And miss all the fun? I am not tired.”
Alicia gave her new sister a sleepy smile. “Be off with you, poppet, and show your brother who is the better hunter.”
Mary mounted her palfrey without waiting for a hand up. “‘Tis a challenge I accept. To it, Tom! I wager three gold angels that I shoot it before you do.”
He dropped to one knee beside Alicia. “I did not know that my sister possessed such a fortune,” he said with a grin. “Will you give me leave to uphold my honor?” He cast an anxious glance over his shoulder to make sure that Mary did not get a head start.
Alicia reached up to sweep a stray golden lock out of his eyes. “Ride on, Thomas. I am content to stay here, and dream of rabbits, not chase them.”
He caught her hand, and kissed it. “We will return in a short time, I promise. Taverstock will guard you. Stay,” he ordered the little terrier.
Tavie whined, licked his nose, then crawled under the cape and curled his body next to Alicia’s.
She patted the lump beside her. “Methinks I will be the one guarding Taverstock.”
Thomas kissed her hand again. “Methinks you are right, but do not tell him. Sleep well, sweet lady.”
Her heart swelled with love to hear him whisper such tender words to her, and to feel the print of his lips caress her hand. Before she could tell him of her own warm feelings, he left her, and ran for his horse. He jumped into his saddle without his feet touching the stirrups. With a shout that surely frightened any hare within twenty miles, he kicked Silver Charm into a canter. They dashed away through the trees, followed by Mary, Andrew and the men-at-arms. Audrey and Kip, having discovered a mutual interest in each other, wandered out of Alicia’s sight.
She settled herself back against the tree, and pulled up the cape to her chin. “Heaven help the poor hare,” she murmured to Taverstock. Then she drifted into a cozy sleep.
She dreamed of a black cloud that descended upon her, hiding her from sight. The more she fought against it, the heavier the cloud became. It smothered her, blocking out light and air. She called for Thomas, but the cloud filled her mouth and silenced her. She couldn’t breathe. It smelled of onions, sweat and dirty wool. When she tried to thrust it away, something clamped around her throat.
Taverstock barked.
She opened her eyes, and gasped. She wasn’t dreaming but awake, and bound in the folds of a thick, filthy cloak.
A man held her, and swore. “Zounds, the wench is stronger than I thought. The rope, you laggard! Step lively!” he growled, his voice low and raw with anger.
Alicia kicked at him, but her assailant proved to be too agile. She clawed at the foul material that covered her. She felt a face through the cloth. Getting a good grip on him, she squeezed his cheeks and nose together.
He shook her. “Hold, bitch, or I will give you a few bloody teeth,” he snarled. He bent her hand back at the wrist, until the pain forced her to release him.
Alicia tried to roll away from the
ruffian. God in heaven! Where was Thomas? She managed to pull a corner of the cape away from her face.
“Taverstock! Go to Thomas!” she shouted to the little terrier, who danced out of the man’s range. “Bring Thomas here!”
The dog laid back his ears, and snarled, baring his little sharp teeth.
A short, black-haired man drew his dagger. “My tooth is greater than all of yers, cur!”
Alicia kicked and clawed at the taller man, who tried to straddle her. “Run, Tavie! Find Thomas!”
The terrier perked his ears, then turned and raced through the thick underbrush. The short man started to follow the dog.
“Nay!” Alicia’s captor called to him. “Leave off, and bring me the deuced rope, Demon! We will be long gone ere his wee legs can carry him beyond the briars.” He slapped Alicia across the face. “By the devil and his dame, she fights like a Fury crowned with snakes.”
His blow made Alicia’s ears ring. Blue sparks danced before her eyes. Warm salty blood rolled into her mouth from a cut on her lower lip. She glared at the man above her.
“Toad!” She spat out the word. “Ugly and venomous swamp creature!”
He grasped her by her braid, and yanked it hard. “I swear I will cudgel you if you dare to speak to me again.”
She curled her lip. “Aye, I would rather throw my words to the dog. He is better company.” She tried to free her hair from his grasp.
The man drew his free hand back, and dealt her a second blow harder than the first. Tears welled up, though she bit her lips to keep from crying out She refused to give her tormentor any satisfaction. Instead, she shut her eyes, and went limp in his grasp.
“God’s death! Did ye kill her?” the darker one asked.
In answer, the first man gripped her face in his large paw, and wobbled it to and fro. “She breathes still. Fainted, by the look of it.”
Alicia prayed that he would relax his hold. A minute of inattention was all that she needed to make her escape. Instead, he maintained a tight grip around her middle with his thighs. At least, he let go of her hair. Her head fell against a root of the spruce tree with a teeth-rattling crash. She clamped her jaws together, and managed to maintain her subterfuge. The man then threw the stinking cloak back over her face, and tied it down with a thick coil of rope around her neck.
With a grunt, her assailant got off of her. “There is a pretty package for the king,” he said as he bound her hands behind her back.
Demon chuckled. “And a pretty penny for us!”
A well of panic bubbled up inside Alicia’s throat. Sweet Jesu, protect me! Her worse nightmare had come to life. She had been captured by hirelings of her sworn enemy, the Tudor who called himself England’s rightful king. She bit her tongue to keep from crying. Oh, Thomas, will I ever see you again this side of heaven? She took a deep breath through her swollen lips. The seed of her Plantagenet courage grew stronger within her breast. We still have a long way to go before I lodge in the Tower of London, you churls. Do not count on your reward so soon. Besides, I have not yet enjoyed my wedding night.
The taller man scooped her up, and carried her as if she were a sack of wheat. He tossed her over a horse’s back. “She is a tall one!” he remarked as he swung himself into the saddle behind her. “I like my women tiny, like the one who sent us here. Now there is a toothsome piece.”
Alicia remained very still, though her mind grew keener. She could not image why any woman would employ these knaves to do the king’s dirty work. Her captor spurred his mount. Her head hanging down, she bounced and slipped across the pommel as the man’s horse broke into a gallop. Her abductor held her by the rope around her waist. She prayed he had tied the knots tight enough. She preferred to arrive at her destination in one reasonable piece, rather than to be dashed headlong into a ditch.
Thomas reined in his horse. Georgie pawed at a small hole under a rotting stump.
Andrew took off his cap, and mopped the perspiration from his brow. “Our rabbit has gone to ground, my lord. Do you want us to dig her out?”
Mary drew up between them. She wrinkled her nose. “What is the sport in that? ‘Twould be like digging up a turnip. I say spare the poor thing, and let us return home. She has given us good exercise, and deserves the boon of her life.”
Thomas reached out, and chucked his sister under the chin. “Methinks you are too tenderhearted to be a true huntress.”
She pulled herself up in her saddle. “Give me a mighty stag or a stout boar, and I shall show you how ruthless I can be!”
Her brother opened his mouth to make a jesting retort, but instead cocked his ear. Taverstock’s barking resounded through the woods. Georgie ceased to dig at the rabbit hole. He lifted his muzzle, and answered Tavie with a deep bay. The mastiff’s neck hairs bristled.
Andrew jammed his cap back on his head. “How now? What is amiss?”
Thomas wheeled his horse around. “’Tis Tavie’s cry of alarm.”
The terrier burst through the underbrush, dashed up to Silver Charm’s hooves, and circled himself several times. Standing in his stirrups, Thomas peered into the wood behind the dog. More crashing sounds followed the terrier. Thomas drew his sword.
“Prepare yourselves. Mary, behind me!”
Audrey, accompanied by Kip, staggered into the clearing. Their clothing hung half-off their bodies, and many scratches from thorns and twigs scarred their arms and faces. The distraught maid sank to the ground, threw her apron over her head, and wept with loud wails. Kip clutched Silver Charm’s harness.
“Two men,” the boy gasped. “They have taken Lady Alicia, and—”
A blind rage filled Thomas. “What?” The forest echoed his roar. He leaned down, and collared the white-faced lad. “Why did you not protect her?” He shook the frightened youth like a doll made of rags.
Kip’s teeth chattered. “We did not hear them until ‘twas too late, my lord. They were evil-looking brutes, and well armed.”
Thomas tightened his grip. “And you let them take her? Did they…harm her?” He glared at the cowering lickspit.
Tears shone in the boy’s frightened eyes. “No harm, my lord. I swear upon my soul. She fainted, and they tied her up, and rode away.”
Thomas released the lad, who dropped to the ground as if his legs could no longer support him. “They were on horseback?” he muttered under his breath. “Then they were no ordinary thieves.” He shuddered to think of his precious wife in their company.
Taverstock barked with an impatient air. He skittered back and forth at the edge of the clearing. His dark eyes glowed.
Thomas sheathed his sword. “Cullum,” he shouted to one of the men-at-arms. “Take my sister and these two servants back to the castle, then call out the guard.” He turned again to the kitchen boy. “Did you happen to see the direction they were headed?”
Kip nodded. “Away from the sun, my lord.”
“Perchance to York?” Andrew suggested.
Kip nodded again.
Thomas ground his teeth together. The blood lust boiled in his veins. “To hell itself! Taverstock! Find Alicia! Go!”
Without a backward glance, the little dog streaked into the underbrush. His feet did not appear to touch the ground. Georgie flashed after him, howling as if all the furies of damnation pursued him. Spurring Silver Charm into a gallop, Thomas leaned low over his charger’s neck. Rider and horse melded into one. They flew through the forest after the dogs. Thomas heard Andrew and the men-at-arms thudding behind him.
Brambles tore at his cape, and slapped against his horse’s flanks. Thomas urged his courageous steed to an even faster pace. His mount responded. They galloped into the gathering twilight, following Tavie’s blur of white, and the deep howling that Georgie hurled to the purpling sky.
One thought burned in Thomas’s brain. I never told her that I loved her.
* * *
Alicia had no idea how long they had been riding, except she knew they were not on a well-traveled road. Her hands
had grown cold and numb from the ropes that bound them. Her stomach ached where the ridge of the saddle pressed into it.
“Flash, hold!” the darker man shouted above the sounds of their horses. “A word, I crave ye!”
Flash pulled on the reins. His horse skipped sideways before coming to a halt. Alicia held her breath as she started to slip downward. Flash gripped the rope, and tugged her back into place.
“A pox on you, Demon! Has your nag thrown a shoe?”
Demon rode his horse so close to the other that the animal bumped against Alicia’s head. Under the concealing cloak, she strained to hear their conference.
“Nay, ‘tis the woman I speak of,” Demon replied.
Flash tightened his grip on the rope that held her. “Which one?”
Demon chuckled “Aye, there is the rub. Two fine ladies in one night, if we be lucky.”
“There will be nothing for us if we do not deliver her as we were ordered,” Flash replied.
“We nipped her in the bag so quick, I could not tell if this wench had any jewelry about her,” his partner complained.
Alicia thought of her too-large wedding ring, her necklace of gold chains and freshwater pearls, and most of all, her father’s ruby and pearl brooch. That jewel alone would incite these knaves to cold-blooded murder. She swallowed back the sour bile taste on her tongue.
Flash did not speak for a long moment, then he asked, “What do you have in mind?”
Demon chortled again. The sound grated against Alicia’s nerves.
“We have traveled a goodly distance, and ‘tis growing too dark for anyone to track us. Let us unwrap our pretty prize, and see what she’s wearing. The lady said we could,” he added with a whine in his voice.
Alicia licked her bruised lips. What lady?
Demon continued his plea. “If we wait until we get to the inn, ‘twill be no time to search her at our leisure, if ye catch my meaning, eh, Flash?” His laughter rang with an ominous tone.
Alicia truly did feel faint. They meant to use her body before delivering her up to her unknown enemy. She squeezed her eyes shut at the horrible prospect Come soon, Thomas, before ‘tis too late for me.
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