by Rebecca King
Sian slipped and slid as she ran through the freshly ploughed field. She was soaked to the skin within minutes but didn’t care. Each time she looked over her shoulder, Cedrick was just that little bit closer. He had managed to climb the stone wall and was now also stumbling his way over the coarse field to try to catch her. Wilhelmina had remained inside the carriage, presumably with the intention of being at Ryan’s house waiting for her when she got there. While she only had Cedrick to contend with, Sian still struggled to contain her panic because she knew that he was far more sinister than she had ever believed possible. She knew that neither Cedrick nor Wilhelmina gave a damn about what they had to do so long as they got what they wanted: Cedrick married to her.
“Well, over my dead body,” Sian promised.
But Sian knew, deep in her heart, that it might just come to that before her nightmare was over.
Ryan eventually had no choice but to fetch his horse and follow the directions of several witnesses who had seen a young woman matching Sian’s description running through the streets.
“God only knows where you are going, Sian,” Ryan growled.
“She was heading back to the village,” Norman shouted when he caught up with him a few minutes later.
“Where is everyone?” Ryan demanded.
“They are going back to the house but on foot so they can look for her. A farmer has seen her out in the fields, heading toward the village. She has gone home, Ryan, but is probably trying to stay hidden,” Norman informed him.
“They are going after her, aren’t they?” Ryan growled because he knew from the fierce look on Norman’s face that there was more bad news on its way.
Norman nodded. “Yes, a carriage pulled by one black horse and one grey was seen heading toward the village as well.”
“Let’s get over there then. Sian has to be heading back to Terrell House.”
“I have sent Isambard to fetch the magistrate. Whatever happens, Ryan, Wilhelmina and Cedrick have kidnapped Sian today and have to be arrested for it.”
Ryan’s face remained grim. “They have to be arrested for failure to pay their debts, fraud, and kidnap.”
Together, the men rode through the countryside toward home.
“No, she hasn’t returned here, sir,” the groundsman reported when Ryan rode into the stable yard nearly an hour later. “Have you lost her again?”
Ryan shook his head and struggled to contain the urge to punch something in sheer frustration. “It’s like trying to catch the damned clouds,” he growled.
“Best marry her then, eh, sir? Then you will know where you left her,” the groomsman retorted.
“Believe me, when I get hold of her, she is not going out ever again,” Ryan bit out. “Meantime, I want you to round up some men. She is on the property somewhere. I want her found. There is a problem, though. We have trespassers, and they are dangerous. The matron is her aunt, but not a nice character. She is travelling with a young fop who is arrogant and cruel. Get them. The magistrate is on his way. They are to go nowhere if they are found. Understand?”
Ryan was still talking when the groomsman sprang into action. He waved at several stable hands who immediately stopped work and sauntered over. Minutes later, Ryan headed out of the yard leaving several of his staff to fan out behind him.
The search was on.
Sian was shivering so badly she was struggling to stop her teeth clattering together. Her fingers were numb, and she had more goose bumps than she cared to count, but she was elated. At some point during the last half hour she had managed to lose Cedrick. The last time she had seen him, he had been struggling to keep his feet beneath him on the muddy field, which seemed determined to suck him into the mire. She, being lighter in stature and therefore faster on her feet, had been able to traverse the muddy gloop a lot faster, and was therefore free of the field relatively easily. Cedrick, meantime had been left cursing bitterly while he glared menacingly after her.
Once on the more even forest floor, and on drier ground, Sian increased the distance between her and her attacker some more, and eventually managed to lose him completely. Now, her concern turned to the weather. The heavy deluge was getting worse by the minute. If she stayed outside any longer than she absolutely had to then she ran the risk of getting struck by one of the frequent streaks of lightning flashing overhead. The thought of using the folly as a refuge sprang to mind, but Sian knew that if she managed to get as far as the folly she would do better going straight to the house.
Before she reached the main house, Sian saw the estate’s church, some quarter of a mile away. Sitting nestled amongst trees, it sat at the far end of its own road, which branched off the main driveway. From where she stood, Sian could see the main house through the trees. Unfortunately, she could also see the hideously familiar carriage Wilhelmina sat in rumble past the end of the lane on its way to the main house.
“I can’t go there while she is waiting.” Sian didn’t have the energy to try to walk all the way around the property and find a side door on the other side of the property.
Consequently, the very last place she should ever seek to take refuge was the only option available to her. Sian turned to the church. Thankfully, seeing as it was in the middle of his estate, Ryan never saw fit to lock it. While the main doors were locked, the side door closest to the stable block remained open and allowed Sian into the sheltered protection of the religious building with relative ease. Sniffing and shivering, Sian rubbed her chilled hands uselessly up and down the bare flesh of her arms. Once inside the hushed confines of the church, she slid the bolt across the door and heaved a sigh of relief.
Now that she was safe, Sian was, for the first time in a long time, able to completely relax. There was no sinister threat, avaricious bride grooms, or worry about unrequited love. For now, she could just rest and wait out the storm, and wait for Wilhelmina to leave.
“It is just me and the church,” she whispered, gazing around in awe.
It was the first time she had ever been anywhere near the building, although knew it was still used by Ryan and the staff on Sunday’s. The vicar from the local parish oversaw the services before hurrying across the five miles or so to the village where he conducted his usual services for his local parishioners. It had been that way for centuries and would undoubtedly continue for many more to come.
“It is here that he will marry,” she whispered sadly.
The very thought of it was enough to make her cry. It was hideous to think of having to sit in one of the pews and watch Ryan marry someone else, and was enough to drive her to her knees, and begin to pray that God would, for once, smile kindly upon her.
“She has been this way, sir.”
“How does he do that?” Norman whispered.
The groundsman looked up at him and grinned. “How do you think we catch poachers?”
Ryan shook his head. “How can you be sure?”
The groundsman pointed to the floor. Ryan dismounted and looked at the small footprint in the mud. To prove his point, the groundsman put his booted foot alongside it.
“We haven’t got any children running around these parts, sir. It has to be your lady. Look at these rounded parts. That’s her heel. She has to be heading toward the house.”
“But she isn’t there,” Ryan ground out.
He contemplated the path she would have taken.
“The men are already searching it, sir, and will alert the house staff to keep a look out for her.”
“The only other building is the church, sir,” one of the stable hands reported. “If she is too scared to go to the house right now, might she have gone there?”
“We have men at the stable yard. If she does appear, someone will come and tell us,” the groomsman added.
“You have done a good job,” Ryan assured them all.
“Sir?” Everyone turned to the young lad who appeared at the edge of the woods. “There is a man heading this way. He is angry, sir, and not local.”
/> Norman and Ryan looked at each other. “Cedrick.”
Together, they followed the boy to the edge of the field and watched Cedrick slip and stumble through the gloop toward them. Ryan, now that he knew Sian was on the estate somewhere and her greatest threat was now before him, was able to relax a little. He leaned casually on the stone wall bordering the field and watched Cedrick’s struggle with a grin.
“How many times have I told you to stay off my land, Cedrick?” Ryan mused.
Cedrick jerked to a stop and glared at him. “Where is she?”
“Sian is none of your concern,” Ryan assured him. “She is my betrothed and will marry nobody but me.”
“We are already wed,” Cedrick bit out.
“Really. Well, there is a vicar in town who made it perfectly clear to us that the bride in question left you standing at the altar,” Ryan warned. “I know you are lying. As you have lied to your creditors about your ability to pay them back. As you have lied to Wilhelmina when you convinced her that yours was a fool proof plan. Like you lied to Sian about her father giving you permission to marry her.”
“You know nothing.”
“You are only saying that because you have lied to everyone you have ever met,” Norman snorted. “You are a fraudster. The magistrate is on his way. He wants to speak to you about your unpaid debts. From what I have learnt, you have a penchant of staying in taverns and hotels and leaving without paying your bills. You also have a penchant for gambling and running up debts in gaming houses but not paying those bills either. From what I hear, you owe a lot of people a lot of money and are not just morally bankrupt, you are financially bankrupt too.”
“You are an utter fool if you think I am going to stand here and listen to your web of lies.” Cedrick pierced Ryan with a dark look, even though he was one man standing in a muddy field against many of Ryan’s men who were dry, on firm ground, and heavily armed. “You cannot prove any of this.”
“The magistrate can. He has many witnesses who can identify you,” Ryan informed Cedrick.
“What has she said?”
“Wilhelmina?” Ryan pursed his lips and crossed his arms. “Well, she has lied to everyone around her as well. When she got kicked out of her house for not paying her rent, she decided to take advantage of her brother because he has done his duty to her far more than any man should. She has taken full advantage of his generosity but rather than do the right thing and pay her debts off, Wilhelmina has run up yet more bills she knows she hasn’t got a prayer of paying. With your help, of course, she then concocted a ridiculous plan to try to marry you into the family. That way, you and she could stay at Arthur’s house knowing that Arthur would never allow Sian to become homeless. You could then live their lifestyle without having to do a single thing to earn it. Not only that, but you could hide away from your creditors and live in a village where the bailiffs are less likely to ever be able to find you.”
“And if anybody did turn up demanding you pay them, you would then have dear Arthur to pay them off for you,” Norman added.
“He would have to pay anybody who turned up demanding payment and would risk losing the house if he didn’t,” Ryan added. “When you turned up in the middle of the night, it wasn’t because your house had burnt down at all. You left in the middle of the night so nobody in town would see you sneaking out of the area. When everyone in town woke up it was to find you had vanished without a trace, and your creditors had lost all ability to ever be able to make you pay your debts. It was a courageous scheme but failed miserably because when you arrived at Arthur’s house, you didn’t get the tea and sympathy you expected. Instead, you got told you couldn’t stay for long.”
“I suppose this utter rubbish has come from that silly little creature and her mother.” Cedrick snorted.
“No, actually. It has come from my wife,” Arthur announced.
Ryan jerked and whirled to face Sian’s father. “Arthur.”
A contrite looking Arthur nodded. “I apologise for bringing trouble to your door, and for not listening to you earlier. I shall get them moved on. Wilhelmina and Cedrick that is.”
“I am afraid not,” Norman mused, stepping in front of the man. “This doesn’t require your involvement now, Arthur. The magistrate is involved seeing as these two are fraudsters.”
“Have you already called the magistrate?” Arthur asked.
“He is on his way, if not already waiting for us at the house,” Norman advised.
“Even now, you are prepared to do everything to protect your sister, Arthur, even at the expense of your wife and daughters. Why? Does your family not mean anything to you?” Ryan scowled his disapproval.
“It isn’t that,” Arthur whispered looking pained. He looked helplessly at Ryan but received no sympathy.
“Maybe you should explain yourself because all I see is someone who has turned his back on his family for the sake of a selfish, devious, relation who doesn’t deserve any regard for her welfare or financial status. She has fleeced you, Arthur, and has done so for years. If you had stood up to her and made her curb the way she lived maybe this might not have happened,” Ryan snapped.
“They both have to be arrested for kidnap,” Norman added.
Ryan looked at Arthur, who nodded sadly.
“There is nothing I can do now, Arthur. It is in the magistrate’s hands and rightly so. Now, I must concentrate on finding Sian,” Ryan said.
He turned to the groundsman, accepted a bunch of keys off him, and then disappeared through the trees, leaving Norman to deal with Cedrick, and Arthur staring after him thoughtfully. He didn’t stop to explain himself not least because he had no idea what he was going to do if his suspicions were proven wrong.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Ryan quietly tried the doors to the church only to find they were locked. Even the side door, which was usually left open for the vicar and the cleaning ladies, was bolted. Ryan made his way around the building to the front door, and eventually let himself in using the keys the groundsman had given him. The hushed silence that greeted him was far from reassuring, but he ventured inside anyway.
Ryan cautiously made his way down the aisle. The interior of the calm and silent church lay a contrast to the chaotic day he had just endured, which had probably been one of the worst in his life, but it didn’t soothe him.
“Sian?” Ryan called when he was half-day down the main aisle. He looked at every pew on either side of the small church, but it wasn’t until he reached the front that he found what he was looking for.
The relief that slammed into him almost brought him to his knees. All he could do for a moment was stare at her and wonder how in many more times he would have luck on his side. The warnings in his nightmares would one day come true if he didn’t do something to thwart them, he knew that for definite now.
“Sian?” Ryan edged closer and eyed the sodden material of her dress. As if to tell him of how she had gotten that way, a rumble of thunder rattled through the vaulted ceiling high above their heads. “Sian?”
When she still didn’t respond, Ryan gently shook her shoulder. One touch of her cold flesh was all he needed to feel. Snatching off his great cloak, he draped it over her and knelt beside her while he shook her shoulder once more.
Sian jerked awake when she felt something heavy settle over her. Panic clawed at her when she opened her eyes and found her nose inches from a wooden surface. Shoving away from it, she cried out when she almost fell off whatever it was that she was lying on. It took her a moment to remember what it was, where she was, and what had happened.
“How many times am I going to have to ride to your rescue, eh?” Ryan mused ruefully when her eyes opened.
Sian, still clutching the back of the pew, struggled to sit upright and twist around to see him. Her wide-eyes flew around the church when she remembered where she was.
“Are you alone?” she croaked, forcing herself to shake off the sleep that still clung to her senses.
“Th
e others are still dealing with Cedrick and Wilhelmina. Care to tell me what happened?”
When Sian sat up, Ryan perched on the pew beside her and leaned forward to brace his elbows on his knees. Leaning on his arms stopped him from reaching out to her. He wanted to, more than anything, but desperately needed to talk to her first. He suspected that as soon as he gathered her into a hug, whatever he wanted to discuss would be pushed aside for later, and they would end up being challenged by something else, or someone else. Ryan knew from experience it was imperative they talk now, while they were alone, together, in an isolated church were nobody could interrupt them. He knew they couldn’t because he had locked the main door behind him and had left the key in the lock. From his position on the front pew, Ryan could see that the back door had been bolted, presumably by Sian when she had arrived.
For now, they were safe.
“I want some answers, Sian,” Ryan began.
“About what?”
“Why did you leave this morning?”
“Mother wants to go to Aunt Sophia’s, so I went to town to fetch coaching tickets for us all.”
“You intend to go with your mother and sisters when they leave.” It wasn’t a question.
“I cannot stay if they go. Think of the scandal it would cause. It is bad enough that we are still at your house. People will gossip if you are not careful, and your reputation will be called into question. I think we have inveigled enough on your good nature as it is.”
“Let me guess. That is what Norman said to you last night,” Ryan breathed.
Sian felt her stomach clench with sickening dread. She didn’t want to confirm it and damage his relationship with Norman. Nor did she want Ryan to confirm that he had discussed her leaving with his friend although hadn’t given Norman permission to send her on her way.
