Authors: Sara Curran-Ross
She pulled on the reins, as the horse grew restless feeling a cold wind begin to pick up. She walked alongside the wall deliberating her next move, and then she saw it. In between a gap in the wall was a huge gate locked with a padlock.
She laughed remembering how she had jumped it, forcing Raoul to do the same as she rode off down the lane that led into the village. He’d been so angry. She could have been thrown and gotten herself killed he’d chastised. He probably had a point but . . .
If there was going to be away out of the Chateau and Raoul’s life to protect him, jumping over the gate was it. She could be in the village and catching the local train back to Paris within ten minutes. She would find a way back to England. She started to walk the horse backwards in anticipation.
But will he ever forgive me? Does it matter anymore? He wants Cressida more than me, and I have to get used to it.
Feeling more determined to put the hurtful past behind her, she backed the horse right up. She questioned her sanity for a moment. It had been a long time since she’d ridden, and this was dangerous. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, lamenting the reckless nature that yearned for adventure she’d got back in touch with. The new Sabrina was cautious, but the old one begged her to take a chance for Raoul’s sake.
The horse broke into a canter and soared up into the air over the metal gate, clearing it easily to land with a gentle crunch in the snow. Glancing back, Sabrina patted the horse’s neck in reward and laughed. She could still do it. Ahead of her, fields of snow stretched out towards the village. They made her remember the last time she saw them, they were full of sunflowers and lavender, the air was heavenly scented with perfume. It had been so warm that day. Raoul had chased her all the way into the village, and they had laughed over fresh croissants, brioche rolls dusted with sugar and warm café ole when he eventually calmed down.
She felt her heart ache. She would never stop thinking of him, wondering what would have happened if she’d stayed and somehow worked it all out. There was still so much that she didn’t know about her life. Maybe it was wrong to run away, it was wrong to turn her back on her past and her identity. Maybe she should fight for him.
Sabrina looked back at the gate, and before she could change her mind, she backed the animal up again and soared over it. She heard someone clap with gloved hands and turned around quickly. Cressida sat on her horse laughing.
‘Bravo, Sabrina.’
‘What do you want?’
‘I want you to get back over that fence and ride off into the sunset, never to return,’ she said coldly.
‘Sorry, Cressida, no deal. My memory is coming back, and I want to know more. You may have stolen my husband for now, but the war isn’t finished yet. I want my life back, and I want Raoul. You are not taking him from me.’
Cressida rode closer until she stood next to Sabrina.
‘I’m sorry, Sabrina, darling, but I am going to do everything in my power to see that you don’t get it all. This time you aren’t going to get the man. If I were you, I would get over that fence. I told him about you and Luc and your torrid affair.’
‘Bitch. I never had an affair with Luc or anyone, and you know that.’
‘But he doesn’t know that. He’s too blind. He doesn’t see how inferior you really are. He’s too busy trying to let you down gently and get what he needs, a divorce. He can do so much better with me. I will be an asset to his business and social contacts.’
‘You mean you will sleep with them. And probably dump him if a better offer comes along.’
Cressida reached out and tugged her fingers around Sabrina’s coat and pulled her close.
‘You are going to pay for this. If you won’t go voluntarily, then I’ll make you go myself.’
It was too late before Sabrina realised Cressida held a kitchen knife. She struggled with the woman, helplessly watching her reach down to cut the girth of Sabrina’s saddle. She hit the horse’s rump, making it gallop off carrying Sabrina who fought hard to keep in the saddle. It was hopeless, and she felt herself sliding. The whole world seemed to slip in slow motion as she lost contact with the horse and fell to the ground, the saddle falling with her. The last thing she remembered was the horse’s feet tramping across her ankle before she fell unconscious in a bed of icy snow.
* * *
Ten minutes later Sabrina woke up feeling as though icy water was running through her veins. She was still lying in her bed of snow and almost covered by another blanket of white. She looked up into the heavy grey sky and watched the snowflakes fall down upon her prostrate form. The wind was fierce and howling, making the snow fall hard and fast in all directions. She ached all over, but she could move everything without searing pain, apart from a dull ache in her ankle. She remembered the horse trampling over it and slowly sat up frightened that it would be broken. A quick prod told her it wasn’t broken, but it was probably badly bruised.
She shivered uncontrollably and folded her arms around herself, rubbing furiously in a futile attempt to generate warmth in her body. The sky was almost dark, and she was afraid. Memories of the dark room she’d been held in flashed across her mind with lightning speed, making adrenaline pump inside her. It gave her the impetus to rise. Her legs felt like jelly, and it was an effort to stand. With her arms around her she looked around for the horse, but it was nowhere to be seen. She hoped it had made its way back to the house both for safety and to raise the alarm.
She couldn’t make out where she was. The horse had taken her off into the wooded area on the opposite side to where Cressida cut the girth of her saddle. She was disorientated and her ankle throbbed now that she was standing on it. She couldn’t get her bearings. The house wasn’t visible from the bottom of the gardens as they dipped into a valley. If she could just make it out of the woods and to the lake, then all she had to do was follow it, and it would lead her back to the house. Sabrina heard her teeth chatter noisily and felt her body become weak with the cold. If she didn’t get a move on, she would end up with hypothermia.
There was a mist gathering as she walked, and the frosty wind blew hard against her face. She dragged her ankle, tears of pain gathering in her eyes as her body grew colder and weaker. After a while she realised that she was going around in circles and was totally lost. She sank down on the snow exhausted and then tried to pull herself up again. It was like trying to lug a heavy weight around. She took a few steps and then sank down again feeling her concussion get the better of her. It seemed like an eternity before she heard her name being called.
Sabrina tried to call out, but her voice was hoarse and no sound came. So she drew on every ounce of strength she had left and began to walk in the direction of the voice. She crunched along in the snow feeling her feet slide precariously over its surface and then stopped abruptly, hearing another set of feet pad behind her. She turned around quickly feeling her body tense with apprehension.
‘Who’s there? Raoul?’ she cried out in a small voice.
The bare wood was silent apart from the wind. All she could hear was a bird fluttering its wings on a nearby branch and the howl of the ferocious wind. She turned around and made her movement faster than before. The footsteps were closing in on her. She gave a cry feeling someone near. It was the same feeling that night in the study and in the dark dungeon she’d been locked away in from the world. The presence surrounded and suffocated her with horrible fleeting memories that disorientated her further and blocked her progress. The voice was growing distant. She gave a sob and cried out as loud as she could, but her strangled voice was no match for the wind.
There was silence and then the voice sounded again, stronger this time, growing near. She managed to make a desperate cry in response. Just as she felt the man come behind her and lunge for her body, knocking to the ground. He turned her over, and she struggled for her life. Sabrina tried to see his face as he pinned her to the ground, but it was covered.
There were more footsteps, and the man looked up to see Raoul running for him at speed shouting at him in French. The man jumped off Sabrina and defended himself as Raoul tackled him using every technique she’d last seen in her kickboxing class at the University. But the man broke free and ran off through the trees. Raoul hesitated wanting to go after him, but he was reluctant to leave Sabrina in her present state. He let the man go and bent down to look at her as she tried to stand.
He touched her face with his fingertips.
‘You are so cold, Sabrina, and you are shivering uncontrollably. We need to get you warm.’
He helped her to her feet.
‘Sabrina, you can hardly walk. What’s wrong with your leg?’
‘It’s my ankle. The horse trampled on it when I fell.’
The wind blew harshly against their bodies nearly knocking Sabrina off balance. He caught her as she swayed.
She stood before him, her teeth chattering wildly, snow falling heavily on her wet hair covering her in a blanket of white. He knew that if he didn’t do something quick, she would become hypothermic. His heart leapt as she gave him that familiar rebellious look when she knew he was about to do something she couldn’t stop. It was a stark determined look breached only by a trace of apprehension she fought hard to hide from him in her eyes. She hadn’t given him that look once since her return, and there had been plenty of opportunity. So her memory had returned, and she was keeping it quiet.
He watched her back away, but he was too fast, and he was lifting her up over his shoulder and carrying her to his horse through the trees. He held her tightly against him hoping the heat from his own body would generate warmth in her own to prevent hypothermia. She struggled at first making it difficult, insisting she could walk.
Always so damn stubborn, Sabrina.
Raoul’s response was to hold her tighter until she cried out quashing her desire to test his strength again. He moved as fast as he could through the snow aware that all of a sudden her body was becoming still and her consciousness was beginning to slip. Determined to keep her alert he began talking to her and demanded answers about what had happened.
‘Sabrina, Sabrina, wake up,’ he snapped shaking her legs. ‘Why did you leave and come out here on your own? No, Sabrina, you must stay awake.’
‘I’m so tired, I just want to close my eyes just for a minute.’
‘No, answer me.’
‘I couldn’t stand the games you were playing with Cressida. It felt as though you were playing us off each other.’
He shook his head and growled.
‘I was trying to make her get the message. I was sick of her games and what she’d done to you. I wanted to teach her a lesson. But I should have been more careful. I’m sorry, Sabrina. Sabrina, stay awake.’
‘You don’t care. You want a divorce, she told me. You’re trying to let me down gently.’
‘Sabrina, I do not want a divorce. What do you mean she told you? Was she out here with you?’
Sabrina’s eyes closed, and Raoul felt his legs grow heavy. He could see the horse now. His eyes darted around looking for any sign of the man who had attacked Sabrina. He could hardly see anything. The mist was growing thicker, but the wind was beginning to die. They would both be easy targets. He hoped Maxim would find them soon, he shouldn’t be far away.
‘Sabrina, wake up you can’t sleep. You need to keep awake, Sabrina.’
‘Why won’t you let me sleep, Raoul? Why won’t you let me go? You don’t want me, she told me.’
‘Sabrina, you know that isn’t true. I love you and only you.’
‘She had a knife. She cut my saddle and made the horse bolt.’
Maybe you got her to do it. I can’t believe that. I won’t. . . But who do I trust? Can I really trust you? So much is happening . . . I want to trust you . . . I do . . .
Sabrina closed her eyes heeding the call for sleep to claim her but felt her eyes fly open wide in a panic when Raoul shouted at her.
‘Sabrina, don’t fall asleep. I need you
awake
. We’ve nearly reached the horse.’
She nodded but her eyelids closed once more desperate to seek the comfort of sleep.
‘Ok. I’ll try, just one minute to sleep.’
‘Sabrina, why did Cressida hurt you?’
‘She wants you. She said you want to be together,’ Sabrina answered drowsily. ‘And if I wouldn’t go voluntarily, she would make me. She said she would tell you I had an affair with Luc, but I never did.’