Honor Reclaimed (All About Honor) (32 page)

Chapter
 
17

It was a particularly beautiful spring
day.
 
Daffodils were blooming
everywhere.
 
Eirian knew that no
matter where in the world she was,
be
it London, Paris
or any place else, when she saw daffodils in bloom she would immediately be
transported back to her beautiful little valley here in
Monmouthshire
.

Eirian ordered the open carriage to
carry her to call on the Reverend and Mrs. Collins.
 
The Collins had only one child, a son who was 5 years
old.
 
He was a very quiet and shy
child.
 
Eirian felt sorry for
him
as she understood what it was like to be raised in a
household of adults with no children near your age to play with.
 
She decided she would take Sarah with
her on her call.
 
Sarah was such a
sweet and vivacious
child,
her company would be good
for young Evan.

Harold, the footman, handed Eirian
into the carriage and then effortlessly lifted Sarah up to her mother.
 
Eirian tucked the lap robe securely
around Sarah’s legs.
 
While it was
a beautiful day with the sun shinning brightly, it would be a little chilly
once the carriage began to move.

Sarah was so excited by being
allowed to go visiting with her mother that she could barely contain
herself.
 
In no time she had thrown
off her lap robe and was standing on her knees leaning over the rim of the carriage’s
open top watching the world pass by.

They were warmly greeted by the
Collins who
were
thrilled that Eirian had brought
Sarah with her.
 
Evan was shy at
first, but was soon chasing Sarah and laughing as he tagged her and then ran
away.

All too soon it was time to
depart.
 
The children were having
so much fun that Eirian hated to make them part.
 
The laughter quickly turned to tears when the children were
told that they must part.
 
Promises
were made to visit again soon and finally Eirian and Sarah were once again in
the carriage and headed for home.

It was late afternoon and while the
sunlight was warm and inviting, the shadows were growing long.
 
The shade offered relief from the
intense sunlight, the coolness inviting, but moving in and out of the shadows
took several seconds for their eyes to adjust.

It was due to those few seconds that
the masked riders were able to surprise them, surrounding the carriage almost
before the occupants were aware of their presence.
 
The carriage was blocked from any avenue of escape.

One of the hooded riders grabbed the
bridle of the lead horse, while two more flanked the rest of the team.
 

 
Adams, the driver, stood on his perch, “Unhand those horses
this instance!”

The intruder in the front pulled his
pistol and fired directly at Adams striking him in the head.
 
Adams toppled off his perch and fell to
the ground, lying lifeless on the road.

Eirian screamed and pulled Sarah
tightly against herself.
 
The three
remaining riders crowded around Eirian, “Hand over the child and you will not
be hurt.”

“Please just leave us alone,” Eirian
begged.

“Give me the child,” he replied in a
terribly threatening voice.

“Never!
 
Take me, but leave my child alone.
 
What do you want?” she was terrified.

“We just want the child.
 
If you will just hand her over no one
else will get hurt,” he growled.

Eirian began to scream desperately
for help, hoping somebody, anybody, would hear her and come to their rescue.

The man closest to the carriage made
a grab for Sarah, but Eirian managed to keep herself between them.
 
He tried again, and again she evaded
him.
 
While Eirian was distracted
trying to keep
herself
between Sarah and the man who
was attempting to grab her, one of his hooded companions reached in from behind
and grabbed a hold of the child.
 
He jerked her around the waist trying to lift her away from her
mother.
 
Eirian, who still had her
arms around her daughter, fought him like a tigress.
 
She was kicking and clawing at their attackers.
 
The man who had first attempted to grab
the child was now behind Eirian.
 
He grabbed her from behind pulling her in one direction while the man
standing in front of her still holding the child around the waist pulled in the
other direction, lifting her away from her mother.
 
Eirian clung to her daughter as long as she could physically
endure.
 
Her arms ached from the
force of her effort to protect her child.
 
Her clothes were torn, exposing a large portion of her breast.
 
Her fingernails were torn back into the
quick causing several of them to
bleed,
yet she was
aware of nothing but the instinct to protect her child.
 
The third rider, tiring of the
struggle, rode up beside the carriage and in one swift motion clubbed Eirian
over the head with the butt of his pistol.
 
She crumpled instantly and slid to the floor of the carriage
unconscious.

Eirian was unsure of how long she
was unconscious, but it was almost dark when she began to come to her
senses.
 
She felt as though she
were trying to swim to the surface of a deep lake.
 
It took several minutes for her to clear her head and
organize her thoughts.
 
It was not
until she heard moaning coming from the road next to the carriage that it all
started to come back to her.

She struggled to sit
up
as the world seemed to spin around her.
 
Slowly she pulled herself
together.
 
Suddenly the horrendous
events of the kidnapping came rushing back to her.
 
She began to scream and then to cry, begging God to help her
somehow find her child.

Again, she heard a moan coming from
the road beside the carriage.
 
Someone was hurt and needed her help.
 
She had to pull herself together and see who it was.
 
She remembered Adams being shot and
killed,
maybe it was one of Sarah’s abductors.
 
They might be able to tell her where
they had taken her little girl.

With great effort she managed to
pull herself to the door of the carriage and peer out. Her eyes were becoming
adjusted to the waning light enabling her to make out the shape of a man’s
body.
 
She was almost certain that
it was Adams.
 
Thank God, he was
still alive, but he would not be able to help her locate her baby.

She climbed down from the carriage
carefully as the world was spinning around her.
 
Slowly she made her way to Adams and turning him over she
was able to determine that the bullet had just grazed the driver’s forehead.
 
He would be uncomfortable for sometime,
but he would live.
 
For that, she
was very grateful.

“Adams, can you hear me?
 
I cannot lift you.
 
You will need to help me get you to the
carriage.
 
You need a doctor and I
must get help to find Sarah.”

Straining she assisted him to stand,
and then supporting most of his weight, she managed to get him back to the
carriage.
 
“Adams, I can not lift
you.
 
You must help me get you into
the carriage.
 
Hold on here while I
climb in.”
 
She placed his hand on
the upper edge of the door facing while she climbed into the carriage
itself.
 
Leaning down she reached
around under his arms, locking her hands behind him.
 
“Adams, when I count to three, you try to pull yourself up
while I try to lift you.
 
One, two,
three…” using the last of her strength she somehow managed to maneuver Adams
onto the floor of the carriage.
 
She attempted to examine the wound to the best of her limited abilities
in the near dark. She had been
correct,
the bullet had
only grazed the driver’s head, just in front of and above the right ear.
 

“Adams, I must get back to the
manor.
 
You need medical attention
and I must get help for my baby.”
 
Tearing a row of ruffles off her petticoat, Eirian bound his wound.
 
“I can not handle the reins, so I am
going to try to walk the horses back to the manor.
 
You just rest here for a while.”
 
Eirian climbed back down out of the carriage, taking a
minute to lean against its side while another wave of nausea and dizziness
passed.

Walking up to the lead horse, Eirian
stroked his neck and spoke softly to him, “Jack, I need your help ole’
boy.
 
Adams is hurt, and my baby is
missing.” Her voice broke, “You have to cooperate with me and help me with the
others.
 
They will follow your
lead.
 
There is a good boy.”
 
She stroked his silky coat as she
continued to speak softly to him.
 
“Let’s give it a try boy.
 
Come on now…” with that she began to lead him down the road.
 
She felt weak and barely able to put
one foot in front of the other, but she had to keep moving, every step took her
closer to help for daughter and Adams.

Chapter 18

John was met at
the door by William
.
 
“Father I am glad you are home.
 
I did not know what to do.
 
Mother has not returned from her
afternoon call on Reverend Collins and his family.
 
I am worried.
 
She has never been this late before.”

“Thank you son.
 
Ask Hawkins to come see me and then
send someone to have a fresh horse brought around for me.
 
I will be in my office.”
 
John turned and headed straight down
the hall.
 
Once there, he rang the
bell for the maid.
 
“Maud, please
have Joan sent to me right away.”
 
This done he poured himself a drink.
 
Where could she be?
 
It was not like her to be out after dark, and never without sending a
message.
 
The only time she had ever
disappeared before was when Drew… he was not going to let his mind go
there.
 
That was ancient history.

Joan rapped lightly on John’s office
door.
 
“Enter, please,” John
responded.
 
“Oh good, Joan, do you
know where your mistress is?”

“No sir.
 
I am worried.
 
It is not like her to be this late.
 
She left early this afternoon to visit Reverend Collins and
his misses.
 
She took little Miss
Sarah with her to visit the Collins boy.
 
I cannot imagine that she would have the child out in the cool damp
night air.
 
You do not think that
something has happened to them do you?”
 
Joan’s voice was strained with worry.

“I am sure that everything is
fine.
 
Maybe there was a problem
with the carriage.
 
We are going to
organize a search for them.
 
If
they return before we find them, I want you to have the signal light in the
tower torched.
 
Try not to worry
too much.
 
I know everything will
be alright.”
 
John sure hoped that
his attempt to reassure Joan was not false promises.
 
Joan had been a loyal servant for many years and he knew
that she was genuinely concerned for Eirian and Sarah.
 
He was too.
 

Joan turned to leave when John
called her back.
 
“Joan, do you
know of any correspondence from the colonies in the last few weeks?”

“No sir.
 
None that I am aware of.”
 
Joan looked at him with a perplexed expression.
 
John could tell that the maid thought
it was a strange trivial question at such a troubling time.

“My cousin is expecting another baby
at anytime.
 
I was just wondering
if they had sent word yet.”
 
It
still seemed like a stupid question.
 
He should quit while he was ahead.
 
As far as he knew, Joan was not aware of the affair between Eirian and
Drew, but somehow servants seemed to know everything that went on in a
household.
 
It was as if the walls
had ears.
 
He did not want to be
the cause of Joan’s speculation.

“I do not believe that there has
been any letters from the colonies in quit sometime.
 
May I be excused now sir?” Joan asked.

“Certainly, if you think of anything
please be sure to notify me immediately,” John requested.

The sound of thunder reverberated
through the room causing Joan to jump and cry out in alarm at the sudden
explosion of light and sound.
 
The
winds, which had picked up dramatically just before John had reached the manor
house, were now wiping branches with their force, and causing shutters to slam
all over the house.
 
They were in
for quit a storm, and Eirian and Sarah were somewhere out there facing the
elements.
 
He desperately hoped
they would be located before it hit with its full impact.

“Father, your horse is ready, and
Mr. Hawkins will be with you in a minute.
 
I told him that Mother was missing and he is rounding up a group of men
for a search party.” William reported to his father.
 
“Father, may I go with you?”

“Son, I would feel better if you
held down the fort here at home.
 
If your mother returns she may need your assistance.
 
I know I can count on you.”
 
John did not want to have to worry
about his son as well as his wife and daughter.

Hawkins reported to John’s office,
“Sir, I have gathered about twenty men to search for Madame Lewis.
 
Where do you want us to begin?”

“She was headed for the Reverend
Collins’ house when she left here.
 
Let us start there.
 
We need
to make sure she had ever arrived there in the first place and, if so, when she
left.
 
My guess is that we will run
into them on the road.
 
They
probably had a break down on the way home.”

“Yes sir, I am sure you are
right.
 
Will you be riding with
us?” the man asked.

“Of course.
 
Let us get started.
 
I hope to locate them before the storm
hits in full force.” They were quickly mounted and on their way.

Eirian was struggling against the
whipping wind and the horses
who
were spooked by the
lightening and crashing thunder.
 
Her head hurt so bad she could barely focus on putting one foot in front
of the other.
 
She was so dizzy
that she could barely stand.

Suddenly there was an intense flash
of light down the
road which
illuminated the entire
darkened lane.
 
Lightening had
struck a tree, causing it to split down the center sending half of the tree
across the road, almost entirely blocking the road.

Eirian stood for a moment or two
staring off into the distance. She knew that she would never get the carriage
past the fallen tree.
 
She slowly
sank to the ground and at last gave into a torrent of tears.

What was she going to do?
 
She could not leave Adams alone in the
carriage.
 
In this storm the horses
were likely to bolt and carry him off to God knows where, if they did not turn
the carriage over in the process.
 
She knew she had no hopes of moving the tree.

There had to be some solution she
just had to find it, her daughter’s life depended on it.
 
Slowly a plan started to
formulate.
 
She could not leave
Adams in the carriage that was hitched to the horses, nor could she move an
unconscious man by herself.
 
She
could however unhitch the horses and try to ride one back to the manor for
help.

Slowly she pulled herself to her
feet, just as the bottom of the cloud dropped out.
 
The rain was coming down in blinding force. Within minutes
she was soaked to the skin.
 
Leading the frightened horses off the road, she maneuvered the carriage
as much as possible under the awning of trees.
 
Removing her already rain soaked cape, she attempted to
fashion a tent of sorts over Adams in an attempt to protect him from the
driving rain.
 
She then made sure
that the brake on the carriage was set before she tried to figure out how to
unhitch the team of horses.
 
Once
she had the team freed from the carriage she led the team to the trees where
she tied three of the four horses.
 
With great effort she finally managed to remove the harness from
Jack.
 
She left the bridle in
place, but then she had to figure out what to do with the ridiculously long
rains.
 
She led Jack to the side of
the carriage where she used the steps to mount the huge horse.
 

She had never ridden astride before,
but there was no option.
 
The
inside of her thighs burned with the effort to straddle the carriage
horse’s
wide back.
 
                

She did find it easier to guide the
horse than she had feared.
 
With
minimal effort, she had him back on the road and headed towards the downed
tree.
 
Eirian maneuvered Jack
around he downed tree and headed towards home and help.
 
Traveling in the dark and the pouring
rain, she made very slow progress.
 
Lightening flashed just often enough to illuminate the road enough for
her to navigate down the lane.
 

She was approaching a curve in the
road she heard the sound of several riders approaching from the opposite
direction.

Her first reaction was to hope that
it was the kidnappers returning to get her.
 
If they took her to Sarah, she would somehow find a way for
them to escape.
 
She then realized
that it could be a party from the Priory searching for her.
 

The group of riders was about to
pass her by when she finally made her self heard over to noise of the
storm.
 
In the dark and pouring
rain they had not seen her off to the side of the road.

John quickly wiped his horse around
and raced to her side.
 
“Baby,
where have you been and where are Sarah and the carriage?”

Eirian leaned forward and reached
out for John to take her in his arms.
 
John swept her off her mount and held her securely in his arm while she
was draped across his lap.
 
“John
they took her.
 
I do not know where
she is or who has her.”
 
She was on
the verge of hysteria.

“Who took her?
 
When did they take her?”
 
John was trying to make sense of what
she was saying.

“I do not know, I just do not know.”
With that finally statement she fainted in his arms.

“Hawkins, you take the men and
continue down the lane.
 
The
carriage must have broken down since my wife was on one of the carriage
horses.
 
Keep an eye out for
Adams.
 
He must be injured or dead
if Eirian was coming for help.
 
This damned rain is going to wash away any tracks and probably any sign
of the kidnappers escape route, but keep your eyes open just in case.
 
I am taking my wife back to the
manor.
 
Please send one to the men
to fetch the doctor for her and if you would let the vicar and his wife know
what has happened.
 
My wife may
need his support until we find my daughter.”

“Sir, do you think they are holding
her for ransom?” Hawkins asked.

“I only hope so.
 
I would pay any amount to get her
safely back into her mother’s arms.
 
If they have taken her for another purpose, I just can not bare to think
of it.”
 
John’s mind flashed back
to the horrendous atrocities perpetrated by Malcolm.
 
God forbid a pervert had taken her.
 
He did not think he would survive that
and he knew it would destroy her mother.

Holding Eirian close in his arms and
protecting her as much as possible from the elements, John headed for home.

He pulled up at the front entrance
to the manor and was assisted by a footman who had been stationed to watch for
their return.
 
John handed Eirian
down into the servant’s outstretched arms and then dismounted himself.
 
By then the front portal was opened and
William, Joan and several of the servants were gathered hoping to hear that all
was well.
 

John took Eirian from the footman’s
arms and carried her inside, across the foyer, and up the stairs.
 
He took the stairs two and three at a
time in his haste to get her to their rooms and into dry clothes.
 
Her lips had taken on a bluish hue and
she was shivering uncontrollably.
 

He set her on a stool, which had
been placed in front of the fire, and began to remove her rain sodden
clothing.
 

Joan rushed into the room intent on
helping her master get Eirian warm and dry.
 
John turned to her, “Joan, I can handle this. Please go
prepare the warming stones for the bed and ask that some warm soup be brought
to your mistress.
 
She is chilled
to the bone and in shock.
 
I do not
want her coming down with the ague.”