A True and Perfect Knight
Page 26
“This isn’t fair,” she said tightly, green eyes flashing. “I was way up in line ready to cross. I should have crossed at midday, but Derek kept sending word for me to fall back so the larger, heavier wagons could go. They took my place. Now my wagon is the one to be left behind. That’s not right.”
“You can argue with him later.” Thomas sighed. “I’ve got my orders, and now you’ve got yours. We’re wasting time and there is no time. Now, do you want anything out of your wagon or not?”
She shook her head, eyeing him steadily. After a moment he moved away. She watched as he rode back to the river, guiding Myles’s wagon by the guide rope stretched between the banks and tied to trees.
Hearing running footsteps, she turned to see old Micah. “Miz Marshall,” he called. “Miz Thatcher say for you to come on now. We’s fixin’ to cross.”
Julie walked straight to her own wagon, hoisted herself up, and took the reins in her hands. “So am I.” She smiled down at him. “You and Mrs. Thatcher go right ahead. I’m not leaving my team and my wagon.”
Having heard Julie’s declaration, Elisa Thatcher leaned out of her wagon and called, “Leave her be, Micah. Let her make a fool of herself, if that’s what she wants.”
Julie pretended not to hear. Her grip on the reins was firm, her gaze straight ahead.
When Myles was midway through the river, Micah moved his wagon into the water. It had become quite dark, and Julie had to strain to see the Thatcher wagon. All she had to do, she told herself, was stay close behind Micah.
It seemed hours before Micah’s wagon reached mid-river. When it did, her nerves taut, Julie popped the reins and moved the eager horses forward. They were right behind Micah, and it was so dark that Derek couldn’t see her there. By the time he realized she’d disobeyed his order, she and her wagon would be safely across.
Julie could barely see the gray canvas of the wagon ahead of her as she urged her horses down the gentle slope of the riverbank and into the black, churning river. The horses balked as they felt the icy water, and she snapped the reins again, hard. Wind whipped about her face, making her eyes burn and tear. Blinking furiously, ducking her head against the wind, she gripped the reins tightly and forced her team onward into the water.
Suddenly the wagon gave a sharp lurch to the left, and she realized, terrified, that the mist was descending so quickly that she couldn’t see anything at all. Elisa’s wagon was no longer visible, and she had planned to follow that, because there was no one beside her to grasp the guide rope. But the rope had to be there, she knew that. Wrapping the reins around her left hand, continuing to pop them up and down to force the horses forward, she moved along the rough wooden bench to the right, groping for the rope in the mist. It wasn’t there.
The horses stumbled, this time more sharply, and Julie realized they were floundering. The wagon and the horses were all afloat. She had gotten off the track, into a place where the water was too deep for the wagon wheels to touch bottom. Freezing water flowed across her feet, rising to her calves. Then suddenly she was thrown sideways, the reins torn from her as she groped for the seat, trying frantically to stay in the wagon.
A True and Perfect Knight
Rue Allyn writing as
Susan Charnley
Bitter enemies forced to wed. True love? Ha!
Sir Haven de Sessions was the favored knight of King Edward due to his unfailing loyalty, generous chivalry and impeccable valor. But Genvieve Dreyford knew his bright armor disguised a coal-black heart and vowed to have nothing to do with the traitor. Then the king ordered them to marry.
Bowing to their sovereign’s will, they reluctantly wed. But in consummating their vows, they find a need that scorches with its intensity. Driven to find out the truth of their pasts, Haven and Genvieve have no idea what mysteries they will find…besides a true and perfect love.
This Retro Romance reprint was originally published in December 2001 by Leisure Books.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
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A True and Perfect Knight
Copyright © 2013 by Susan Charnley
ISBN: 978-1-61921-969-4
Edited by Heather Osborn
Cover by Kim Killion
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Original Publication by Leisure Books: December 2001
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: November 2013
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Epilogue
To The Reader
About the Author
Also Available from Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Back Cover Copy
Copyright Page