Marysvale (28 page)

Hannah started to protest, but I cut
her off.

“
He’s right, Hannah. If it
will help the greater good, then that’s where it should go. I’m
sure they’ll do their best to help your father.”

Forgetting all pretense of kindness,
Lord Wright replied, “John is right. And he has learned in just a
few minutes what is taking you much too long to grasp—that is
respect and trust. Your father should have been a more competent
teacher for you in that regard.”

Hannah didn’t appear to catch the
change in his voice, nor the hardness in his eyes, but I could
sense the approaching danger. His personal guards did, too. They
now seemed suddenly interested in the exchange, and I even felt
some eagerness from them.
For what?
I asked myself.
The possibility of teaching her that lesson?
Whatever it
was, it would be best left undiscovered.

She took a deep breath, ready to try
again.

I shot her the hardest look I could
muster and screamed in my head,
Hold your tongue,
Hannah.

She didn’t notice. Jane, standing next
to her, did. She slipped her hand into Hannah’s and squeezed so
hard that Hannah nearly cried out in pain, but she got the message
and fell quiet.

Lord Wright glared a moment at Hannah,
to make sure she was finished. Then he barked at another town
guard, “Take the horses to the stable and make sure they are cared
for and watered.”

His use of the words “the horses” and
not “their horses” was not lost on me, and my heart sank. Lord
Wright eyed me with curiosity as I watched them lead Smoke away.
Finally, in his artificially pleasant voice, he said, “Until
tomorrow then. An escort will fetch you when it is
time.”

I nodded. “Very good, my
lord.”

He turned. “Come Lyman, we are finished
here. I am sure Captain Smith is capable of taking care of
things.”

“
I will be along in a
moment,” said Lyman. With his eyes glued on me, he added, “I am not
finished yet.”

“
Yes, you are,” said Lord
Wright firmly.

He glared at his father’s back, who was
already striding up the road with his guards. Then, after a brief
hesitation, he obediently followed, with his friends accompanying
him.

As the group neared an intersection, an
adolescent boy, holding an armload of goods, bolted around the
corner and collided with Lord Wright, his items scattering
everywhere. One of Lord Wright’s guards caught him and kept the
governor from toppling over. Wide-eyed and terrified, the boy
scrambled to his knees and begged the lord’s forgiveness. Wright,
his face red with rage, kicked the boy to the ground, stepped over
him, and continued up the street.

For a moment, I thought that would be
the end of it; but then Lord Wright snapped his fingers. Instantly,
one of his guards hauled the boy to his feet and held him while
another pummeled the boy savagely with his fists.

Instinctively, I took a step forward,
but a hand restrained me.

Jane whispered into my ear, “Please
stop. It won’t do any good. They will still beat the boy and you. I
knew she was right, and felt sick at not being able to do anything.
So, I held my ground.

Lord Wright continued without even
looking back, as did Lyman and the others.

After what felt like an eternity, the
boy went limp and the guards finally let him slump to the ground.
He lay unmoving in the wake of the lord’s retreating
bodyguards.

“
Is he dead?” asked
Hannah.

“
No,” I replied. “But that
doesn’t mean he won’t die.” Seeing Hannah’s face fall, I added,
“However, he’s young, so I believe he has a good chance of
living.”

Once the guards were out of sight,
several villagers scurried out, gently scooped up the boy and his
belongings, and carried him gingerly away.

Hannah’s tone suddenly changed, “Why
did you let them take our food?” she demanded. “Now Father has
nothing to eat! Lord Wright has no plans of giving any of that to
us.”

“
Hannah, we didn’t have a
choice,” said Jane trying to calm her.

“
But he didn’t even try!”
She cried, thrusting her finger at me.

“
There wasn’t anything to
try,” I said, a little irritated that I had to defend myself for
protecting her, “except to keep you from making matters
worse.”

Her face turned red. Captain Smith
stepped in.

“
He’s right. You’ve gotten
away with things in the past, because of your youth; but it looks
like that’s coming to an end. You could have been in a lot of
trouble, and likely even pain now, if John here hadn’t stepped
in—and he only got away with interrupting because he’s
new.”

Hannah started to argue, “Lord Wright…”
but I cut her off. I was angry at her insistence to keep fighting
us, especially in light of what just happened to the
boy.

I said, through gritted teeth, “You’ve
a lot to learn about people and when it’s appropriate to keep
quiet.”

She looked taken aback by my tone and
forcefulness. I saw hurt on her face and realized what she must
have felt, after risking such a dangerous journey, only to return
without food for her father; and I felt sorry for her. I softened
and took her by the hand. She tried to pull away, but I held it
firmly.

“
Hannah,” I said, now
subdued and sympathetic. “I care for you and don’t want to see you
hurt; but you were in danger. Not even his son will dispute him.
He’s a very dangerous man and not to be argued with.”

“
I know that,” she said
softly. “But you don’t have to watch your father starve to death
because he gives all his food to you. It’s worse than starving
ourselves.”

“
Then trust me. You’ll bring
food to your father.”

“
I don’t see how—they
control all the food.”

Leaning forward, I whispered so only
she could hear, “Now would be a good time to take my advice and
keep quiet. If you noticed, the horse I was riding was considerably
lighter.”

She looked confused, but only for a
split second before she grasped my meaning.

“
Oh, the packs,” she
whispered.

I nodded slightly. “I think I can work
at a deal to go and get them, but…”

“
Hey,” growled Captain Smith
in his brusque voice. “What are you two whispering
about?”

I decided now was as good a time as any
to put the information I had gathered from him to the
test.

“
You look a little hungry,”
I replied.

“
Aren’t we all?”

“
I have a proposition for
you.”

He laughed, “And what can you offer
me?”

“
Food,” I replied
simply.

His smile faded, as he tried to figure
out if this was a joke. “Go on then.”

“
How well can you trust your
men?” I asked.

He glanced up at the guards, now gazing
out into the woods, and replied, “I can arrange for the right men
to be on duty at the next shift; but that depends on what you’re
asking them to do.”

“
I’m asking them to do
nothing but keep their mouths shut.” I explained about the packs of
food I had cut loose.

“
Now that I know about
them,” he said thoughtfully, “what’s to keep me from just getting
them myself?”

I studied him for a moment. He shifted
his weight, uncomfortable with my gaze.

“
Well?” he asked
again.

“
I suppose nothing; except
you don’t know where they are.”

“
I watched you come in. I’m
sure I could find them.”

“
Yes, but don’t you think it
would be a little suspicious to have a group of your men searching
the field? It’s bound to raise questions. I suppose you could do it
yourself, but the grass is long enough that it’d take time, and
you’d be out there alone without any protection from your
men.”

He pondered that.

I pressed on, “What’s more, if
something happens to me, then there would be no loss to you and few
explanations.”

He muttered something unintelligible,
as if debating.

“
This is a pointless
exchange,” I said. “You aren’t going to cheat us; you’re a better
man than that.”

He grumbled, “You would be surprised at
what I’m capable of.”

“
I’m sure you’ve been forced
to do terrible things, but you wouldn’t have done them if you’d had
a choice…like you do now.”

He pondered this and became lost in
thought, perhaps remembering some deed he’d been forced to
do.

“
Sun’s almost set,” he said,
coming back to the present. “The guards will be changing here soon.
Go up to that tower and wait for me.” He pointed to the one closest
to the gate. “Be quick, before you’re noticed.”

We scampered up the stone steps, along
the top of the wall, through a weathered wooden door, and into the
vacant tower. The inside was sparse: there were a few rickety
chairs and a wobbly table that held a candle. On the table lay a
parchment covered in writings, a quill, and a bottle of ink. The
wall facing the forest was nonexistent from about mid-waist to the
roof, giving the occupants a clear view of the woods. A small
bookcase stood in the corner, opposite the opening, with a few
muskets leaning against it. Its shelves contained pouches of
ammunition and balls.

Tired and sore from our journey, we
sagged in the chairs and stared out at the empty woods. I longed to
go back to Sarah’s. I missed the smell of her cooking and the quiet
evenings sipping tea on the porch. I felt anxiety, wondering if she
was hurt...or worse.

I forced the panic out of my mind and
concentrated on a plan to get us out of there.

I looked at Jane and Hannah; both were
unusually quiet.

“
What’s wrong?” I
asked.

“
It’s this place,” said
Hannah. “I hate it. It’s so depressing.”

“
And we are worried about
Sarah,” added Jane.

I sympathized.

“
Then let’s vow to leave
Marysvale as quickly as possible,” I suggested, and they
agreed.

We lapsed back into silence for the
remainder of our wait.

Finally, the door flew open and Captain
Smith entered the tower carrying a large sack. He closed the door,
opened the sack, and pulled out a long rope. I looked at it,
already knowing its purpose.

“
I can’t very well open the
gate and let you through; the hinges are too loud and will draw
attention,” he said in that gruff voice of his.

I shrugged. “Going down a rope is fine
with me.”

He continued, “Men we can trust will be
here soon; the guards are changing now. We’ll have to wait a little
for the retiring watch to clear off and the new ones to settle
down. It’ll be dark then. I hope you know where it is because I
don’t know how you’re going to see. You’ll be seen if you carry any
type of light.”

“
It won’t be a problem,” I
assured him.

He walked to the table and lit the
candle. It cast a dim, yellow light in the stark, stone-cold
tower.

“
Well, what do you think of
our little town?” he asked, sitting in a chair that looked like it
was only one more sit-down away from becoming kindling for a
fire.

“
Lovely,” I said
blandly.

He laughed, “Don’t worry, it only gets
worse.”

“
I don’t plan on staying
long enough to find out.”

“
Really? Well, I think
you’ll have a difficult time leaving.”

“
Why?”

“
I wouldn’t plan on getting
your horses back.”

“
That’s not fair!” exclaimed
Hannah. “They aren’t theirs; they can’t just steal
them!”

“
Oh yes they can, missy.
Since when has right and wrong ever mattered to them?”

I tried to reassure Hannah. “Don’t
worry. I knew what they were doing when they led the horses away.
Besides, I’m not bothering to ask for them back.”

“
But you can’t just leave
them; we’ll need them.”

“
I didn’t say I was going to
leave them,” I said, trusting that Captain Smith wouldn’t tell of
my plan.

Comprehending, she exclaimed,
“Oh!”

“
You still have another
problem,” said Captain Smith. “These walls are built just as well
to keep people in as they are to keep things out; and we have
standing orders not to let anyone out.”

“
Good thing I know the
captain of the guard,” I tried.

“
You’re not worth losing my
life over,” he grunted.

“
But Jane got out on a horse
before.”

“
I had different orders
then, and they knew she was coming back. Times have
changed.”

“
You just let them out a few
days ago.”

“
No, I didn’t. They found
another way out. It’s not that difficult to go over the wall on
foot.”