Honor Reclaimed (All About Honor) (33 page)

“Master, what about our little
mistress?
 
What has become of
her?”
 
Joan was fighting to be
strong and not to break down when her mistress needed her the most.

“I just do not know.
 
She has been abducted
by armed riders
.
 
For what
purpose I do not know.
 
As soon I
know that your mistress will be all right, I will rejoin the search.
 
I just do not know where to start. The
rain is washing away any hope of following their trail.
 
Everyone will be locked indoors, out of
the elements.
 
The wind is so high
that they would probably not be hear a group of riders passing in the
night.
 
I have never felt so
helpless.”
 
John was beside himself
with worry for his baby girl, but he could do nothing until Eirian regained
consciousness and could be questioned about every detail of the abduction.
 
Maybe there would be some clue that she
had not remembered.

John had just finished stripping
Eirian rain sodden clothes and was toweling her dry when she began to come
around.

“John, where is my baby?
 
Why did they take her?
 
Oh God, please do not let anything
happen to her.
 
Don’t let her be
hurt or suffering.
 
She has to be
so scared.”
 
Eirian’s shoulders
shook from the force of her sobs.

“Eirian, I know how distraught you
are, but I need you to try to focus on what happened.
 
Baby, tell me everything you remember about the
abduction.
 
No detail is too
small.
 
Maybe some little something
they said may hold a clue.”
 
John
was speaking in his calmest voice, which belied the turmoil his heart was
suffering.

Slipping the dry gown over her head
he swept her up in his arms and carried her to the bed that Joan had turned
down in preparation for her.
 
Setting her on the edge of the bed he knelt in front of her holding her
hands
as they lay lifeless in her lap.
 
“It all happened so fast, it is
difficult to remember it all.”
 
Eirian looked terrified and felt in a state of panic.
 
She so desperately wanted to help
recover her child.

John looked her straight in the
eyes, making direct eye contact in hopes of helping her to focus. “Baby, just
take a deep breathe, and try to answer my questions.
 
Take your time and concentrate so that you do not leave out
any little detail that might be useful.”
 
Eirian took a deep breath and gave a slight
nod
as any movement of her head was agony and cause gut wrenching nausea.
 

“When did it happen?” John was
trying to keep his questions as simple as possible so as not to task her brain
any more than necessary.

“Just before sundown.
 
It was still bright in the sunlight,
but starting to get dark in the shade of the wooded areas.”
 
John was encouraged that she was able
to give this much detail.
 
Maybe
she would remember some little gem of information they needed to find Sarah.

“How many of them were there?” he
continued.

“I only saw four.
 
If there were more they were hiding in
the trees.”
 
She was feeling more
confident about being able to recall the incident as she was beginning to calm
down and collect her thoughts.

“Which direction did they come
from?” he continued.

“They were waiting for us to enter
the woods.
 
When we did, they
surrounded us from several directions”, she answered.

“How was it that they got Sarah
instead of you?” he asked.

“They did not want me.
 
They said to hand over the child and no
one else would get injured.
 
They
shot Adams in the head when he challenged him to release the horses.”
 
She paled at the memory of the
incident.
 
She had been so sure he
was dead.
 
“They wanted her, not
me.
 
For what purpose could they
have wanted her?
 
You do not think
they will molest her do you?”
 
Eirian could feel the hysteria building again.

John’s heart sank.
 
Eirian was probably too young to
remember the details of her abduction when she was not much older than
Sarah.
 
He had never been
completely sure that she had not been violated until he took her for the first
time and she was obviously still a virgin.
 
He prayed that God would watch over his little girl and
protect her from harm.
 
He could not
help remembering the other depravities Malcolm had committed.
 
He did not think that he could survive
something like that happening to his baby.
 
He now understood even more fully why Arthur of Vann had
behaved in the barbaric way he had.
 
He had brutally murdered Malcolm for killing and savaging little Maud he
way he had.
 
If someone were to do
that to his daughter he now knew he would be capable of anything.

“Baby, I do no want to speculate in
the direction.
 
I would image that
they plan to hold her for ransom.
 
We will probably receive a ransom note at any moment.
 
I will pay what ever they ask, do not
fear.”
 
John just hoped that it was
that simple.
 
He had to figure out
who would have abducted her.
 
So
far everything thing bad in his life had stemmed from his association with
Malcolm, directly or indirectly.
 
Malcolm kidnapped and attacked both Johane and Eirain.
 
Allyn of Usk attacked Johane as a
result of the lies that Malcolm had told about her.
  
Elle had been kidnapped and raped in retaliation for the
killing of Allyn in defense of Johane.
 
Was it possible that
Sarah had been kidnapped by Sir
William
as well?
 
Would that
be too much of a coincidence?
 
He
thought not.
 
He would wait a few
days to see if there was a ransom demanded, and if not he would find Sir
William and beat he truth out of him.
 
He had to get his baby back both for her mother’s sanity and his as
well.

The days passed in an agony of
expectation.
 
Every rider returning
from the constant on going search brought hopes that either Sarah or the ransom
demand would appear.
 
Neither did.

Eventually, there was no denying the
reality that there would not be a demand.
 
The kidnappers did not plan to return her under any circumstances.
  

John was loath to leave Eirian, but
he had no choice.
 
He had to
confront Sir William face to face and demand the return of his baby.
 
Eirian’s sanity depended on it.
 

Once Eirian began to recover from
her head injury the true pain and anguish set in.
 
Every moment of every waking day was an indescribable agony
for her.
 
She could not remove from
her consciousness the overwhelming desire to regain her child.
 
She took total blame for her abduction.
 
She should have left her safely at
home.
 
She should have died trying
to save her child.
 
She should have
demanded to be taken with her child.
 
No one could reason with her.

She was unable to sleep, and she
would pace the confines of the manor constantly.
 
John had to force her to eat and to drink.
 
She cared nothing for her appearance and
did not want to even be bothered with bathing or properly dressing, preferring
to stay in her nightgown except when propriety forced her to dress.
  
Nights were the worst.
 
She could not remain in bed for more
than a few minutes at a time.
 
John
would try to hold her and comfort her, but she could not accept it.
 

Things finally reached a crisis on
the night of a summer storm similar in ferocity to the night that Sarah was
taken.
 
John had fallen asleep with
Eirian in bed with him.
 
He
awakened with the sound of a deafening roar of thunder and a blinding flash of
lightening.
 
Reaching out to
comfort his wife his hand came to rest on the cool indent of where her body had
been resting when he had drifted off to sleep.
 
He was instantly gripped with fear.
 
He had an overpowering sense of
terror.
 
He had to find Eirian
before she did something to destroy herself.
 
He quickly set light to a torch using the embers in the
fireplace and then set out in search of his wife.
 
Hurrying down the hall, he awakened Galen and Aislinn who
had been there since they were notified of Sarah’s abduction.
 
Next he alerted Thomas and Gwendolynn
who had only recently returned when they gathered from John’s letters that he
feared for his wife’s sanity.
 
They
were concerned that the search for Sarah and the anxiety for Eirian were
putting too much strain on John.
 
They were there to lend whatever help they could, and most especially to
help in caring for Eirian.
  
They began searching through the entire manor fearing what they would
find when they finally located Eirian.
 

It was John who was drawn by some
sixth sense to the roof of the manor.
 
His heart stopped when he saw his wife teetering on the edge of the
four-story building.
 
One false
move and she would plummet to the flagstone entrance below.
 

“Eirian baby, please come here to
me.”
 
John was afraid to approach
her for fear of literally pushing her over the edge.
 
“Do not do this baby.
 
I would not survive loosing you too.
 
I cannot live without you.
 
We need you.
 
The children need their mother.
 
Please, please take a step towards me.”
 
He held his arms out to her, tears pouring down his face
only to be quickly washed away by the rain.
 
One false step on the slick slate tile could send them both
to their deaths.
 
He heard movement
behind him and realized that the others had followed him up here.
 
He only prayed that no one would make a
false move.

“I can not do it John.
 
I cannot stand the pain of not knowing
what has happened to my baby.
 
She
is scared.
 
She misses her mommy
and thinks we have deserted her.
 
I
need to hold her in my arms and comfort her.
 
My arms are so empty, so very empty.
 
It hurts too terribly.
 
I need peace.”
 
She moved a fraction closer to the
edge.
 

“Do not do this.
 
You will be killing me too.
 
I think I have figured out where she is.
 
Come back inside and I will tell you
what I have planned.”
 
John would
have said or done anything at that point to retrieve his wife from the face of
sure death.
 
He felt rather than
heard his cousin and brother in-law move up just behind him, ready to lend
support in anyway they could.
 
The
ladies were clinging to each other for strength wanting to sob out their fear,
but trying not to make a sound that might distract John or push Eirian to
react.

“What is your plan?”
 
John thought he saw perhaps a spark in
his wife’s previously dead eyes as she questioned him.
 
Maybe there was a ray of hope left in
her.

“If you come inside I will tell you
about it.
 
I think I have figured
out who has her and where she is.”
 
At that moment it suddenly did seem crystal clear to him.
 
He knew what he was going to do as soon
as he assured his wife’s safety.

“Please baby, just one step closer
to me.
 
That’s my girl, now
another.”
 
As quick as the flash of
lighting he had been waiting for in hopes that it would distract her, he lunged
forward and grabbed her wrapping his arms around her like steel bands and
holding her close to his heart.
 
Rather than struggling against him, as he had feared, she melted against
him in a dead faint.
 
He swept her
up in his arms and turned to see the terrified faces of their family.
 
Thomas grabbed the torch that John had
dropped and led the way back down to the bedroom John and Eirian shared
below.