There Your Heart Will Be Also (20 page)

Sarra couldn't believe it
.
How dare the scoundrel enter her keep and say he was going to take her land by order of the King!
What right did he have?
Had he worked the land?
Had he loved the people?
T
hief!
That's what he was.
And to believe she'd shared with him her father's most
prized
possession.
Well
,
she would get even.
T
he day he
'd
decided Greenbriar belonged to him
he'd made
the worst mistake of his life.

Shifting to get comfortable on the hard floor, memories of her father crept into her mind.
Revenge never works.
It ruins the
heart
of the one plotting the revenge…

Her thoughts drifted to a
story her father
had once
told
about
a
man who allowed his heart to be ruled by greed.
She could hear her father's voice in her mind as though he was still with her.

There was
a
man named David.
He had everything.
A family, a home, but it wasn't enough. He left it all and went to England.
There he pretended to be something he wasn't.
All the while plotting revenge on his family for an imaginary wrong he believed had been committed against him.

While there
,
a letter arrived from his brother Jasper.
It was to let him know his father had passed on and he needed to come home.
The mark on the letter stated the passing was at least a couple of years
gone
.
David, being an opportunist, decided it was time to go home and claim his inheritance.
He knew his family's financial situation had greatly improved since his earlier departure.
David felt he was entitled to half of all remain
ing
.
He loaded up his valuables, which were small in number, and set out on his journey back home.

Arriving home was a huge disappointment.
The house was in worse shape than it had been when
he'd
left.
He assumed with the money from his father's investments the home place would have received improvements. But
that
was not the case.
The fields were not cultivated and the livestock
was
poor and sickly.
He
had serious doubts about making his presence known, but deserved his half of the inheritance nonetheless.
He walked to the door, and just as he was about to knock, a puny looking woman opened the door and yelled in his face.
Her breath reeked from a mouth full of rotten black teeth and he took a step backward to get away from the stench.

She gave him a sickly smile
.
“Good mornin' to ye.
How can I be helpin' ye?”

David wasn't sure who this lady was, but if she was Jasper's wife then things were
not good
.
Jasper had been a handsome man
,
and women from miles around had come to try and win him, surely this was not his catch?
“I'm looking for Jasper.”

“Oh, Jasper's out back milking the cow.
Come on in and settle down a bit.
I was just fixin' to ring the dinner bell.”

David obliged hesitantly.
He stooped down and entered into the room.
The house was smaller than he remembered.
The main room held a table, some chairs, and a bed.
Off the main room was one other room, which had been his and Jasper's sanctuary.
David tried to ignore the pleasant smells coming from the fireplace.
Although the wife's looks had much to be desired, she seemed to be a decent cook.

“What have you got in the pot?”

“Oh
that
is me laundry boiling.
If ye be seeking food this here is what we have for supper.”
S
he plopped a big slab of meat down in front of him.
It
was
half raw
in appearance
.
And if he wasn't mistaken there were some kind of white worm
s
moving around inside of it.

David stared at the dinner, forcing himself to hold his bile.
“I think I will pass.
I ate on the way here.”

“Nonsense, I say.
When ye enter a person's home ye got to eat.”

He wasn't going to eat anything from this home even if he had to tell her the reason.
“I would just like to see Jasper.”

“Well
,
I dun told ye Jasper is milking the cow and he will be inside in a minute.
Boy, ye sure is impatient.”

“I am in a hurry.
I only want to see my brother and get my half of the inheritance and be on my way.”

T
he woman fell down in the only other remaining chair and began to cackle.
She cackled and shook, till the room felt like it was shaking right along with her.

He remained completely silent, waiting for her to finish so he could find out what was so funny.

Finally she regained her composure and straightened up, looking him right in the eye she said, “Now ye listen here.
I don't want ye to mention no inheritance to Jasper.”

David could feel his blood rising.
Keeping
his temper in check
,
he
asked, “Why ever not?”

The woman sighed.
“Here is how it is.
When your father passed he did have quite a stash of money from some investments ye see, but he also had quite a measure of debt as well.
He owed p
ractically everyone in the area
.
Because
yer
father didna change his lifestyle, nobody knowed he had any treasure about.
But as soon as ye
r
father died, and Jasper found out about the gold, he went and had a fancy coffin built for ye
r
father.
Then he went to tryin' to buy things to fix up the farm and the like.
And well next thing ye know, we had all these creditors at the door with the
ir
hands out saying we owed for this and we owed for that.
T
hen they
up and
took all of it and then a little more.
We had a daughter, only child we was able to have
which
didna die, and we had to sell her to meet one of the debts your father had done built up and left on our heads.
So if ye mention inheritance, then I reckon the one
who
needs to be dishin' out the treasure would be ye and not us.”

She sat back in her chair with a satisfied grin.
David rose up from his chair, tipped his hat, and left the house.
He didn't look back.
He heard Jasper
calling to him
in a friendly manner but he decided it was best left alone.
He kept walking on down the road, forgetting he even had a family.

Wistfully, Sarra realized she had to protect her heart
and her faith
.
She didn't want to end up like David from her father's story with naught but the clothes on his back.
Greedy, selfish, unyielding.
E
verything would work out to God's design.

Gnawing at her lip, Sarra knew she had to do something.
There was no way she would sit back and marry a man
who
was only interested in her land.
As her eyes closed, and sleep overtook her, a plan was formulating in her mind.
Everything
was
clear
.
It
would begin tomorrow.

Something wet
poked
her.
With a moan, she tried
to slap it away,
but it was persistent and kept returning. Finally,
Sarra eased her eyelid up to find a large dog licking her
face
.
Startled
by its unexpected presence, Sarra sat up
right
and
back
ed
up against the wall.

As soon as she recognized him, she held
out
a
hand
and
scratch
ed
behind the
dog's
ear.
“Reuben.
How did you get in here?”

“I let him in.”

Sarra
glanced
up to find Cedric staring
.
Jumping to her feet, she became tangled in the cover.
The forward motion of her body
sent
her to
ward
the floor,
and
Cedric stepped in.
His
reached out
his large hands
and
stalled
the direction of descent
.
They rested on her
bare
shoulders, rough but gentle.

“Are ye all right
,
lass?
I didn't mean to startle ye.”

“I'll be fine,” she said through clenched teeth.
“
Would you mind leaving me alone so I may dress?”

“Aye.”
Cedric left, whistling to the dog.
Her faithful companion followed Cedric out the stall door.

“Traitor,” Sarra whispered.

A
fraid Cedric would return at any moment and burst in
, Sarra dressed quickly
.
Upon finishing
,
she combed through
tangled
hair
with
trembling
fingers
.
The wavy locks were
a mess and she expected a rat to fall out any moment.
Turning on her heel to head out of the stall door, Cedric surprised her.

“Ye missed one.”
Between finger and thumb he held up a piece of straw
.

“Thank you,” was all she could
manage
.

As
Cedric
stared
,
his gaze burn
ed
her
with
its
intense heat
.
Sarra felt the air being sucked out of the room.
The need to leave overwhelmed her.
She
had
to start
the
plan now, before she lost
her
nerve.

“Would you still like to meet the mistress?”

Cedric studied
the
ground
as
he
sh
uffled
his feet
back and forth
.
He kept his gaze averted.
“Aye.”

“Very well.
Follow me please.”

Sarra led him in the direction of the keep.
There was no time to prepare anyone for the
deception
being
enact
ed
.
The only hope she had was that Charism would figure out what
was
happening
and pick up on the thread quickly.

Upon entering the keep, Sarra noticed several of the stragglers from the night before had taken their leave.
The great hall was almost completely devoid of persons.
As they walked through the hall, Sarra was looking for Charism.
Where could she be?

When
she spotted
Charism
talking to Cook,
Sarra
lifted her hand
in greeting.
“There you are
, M
istress.”

Cook and Charism raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Sarra allowed herself to relax for a moment.
Perhaps she could pull this off yet.
Charism was used to the role
;
it shouldn't be a stretch to go a little further.

When Sarra and Cedric reached the couple, Sarra
pointed to Cedric
.
“Cedric MacNeil, I would like you to meet the mistress of Greenbriar.
Mistress Charism.”

Cedric's eyebrow rose.
Cook coughed as if he was choking.
Sarra worried about Charism's reaction but she was true to her character.

“Aye.
Cedric MacNeil
,
is it?
Have we met?”

Stuttering out his reply, “Aye.
I helped hold down Sir Gavin while ye treated his wounds.”

“Aye.
I remember.
Than
k ye kindly.”
Cedric seemed to study Charism then he added, “And I believe we met at the birthday party.”

“Aye, perhaps.
I don't remember.”

Sarra cringed.
She'd forgotten about the party.
What would Cedric do?

When he
nodded
, as if accepting Charism's explanation or lack of one, Sarra breathed a sigh of relief.
She
clasped her hands in front of her
with delight
.
Oh, this was going well.
Very well
,
indeed.

Cedric
appeared to
study
the ceiling.
Was he trying to prepare himself?
Sarra wasn't sure.
But in the next moment his hand was placed into his sporran and he pulled out a rolled piece of parchment.
Holding it out in front of him, he handed the paper to Charism.

“What is this
,
lad?”

Cedric pulled his shoulders back and straightened his spine.
“This is a letter from ye
r
King.
It gives me the right to claim Greenbriar as m
e
own as soon as we are wed.”

Cedric choked out the last word and Sarra almost felt sorry for him.

Charism raised an eyebrow
.
“Indeed
?
”

“Aye.”

“Ye are tellin' me ye are here to marry the mistress of the keep and to claim the land.”

“Aye.”

Charism placed a finger to her lips as if pondering this news, all the while s
n
e
a
king glances at Sarra.

Sarra remained as far back as possible.
If she'd been surprised before
;
what happened next,
utterly shocked
her
.