Nine Steps to Sara (13 page)

“If it is, it’s undoubtedly in need of
desperate
repair,” he shrugged.  “But if you’re serious, I could make some inquiries for you to that end,” Will offered.  “You’ve decided to stay on then? 
Make
Darling
Park
your home?”

“I thought everybody knew, we have to stay, it’s part of the terms of the inheritance,” Sara nodded.  “But even if it wasn’t I’d want to stay here, it’s really starting to grow on me.” 
A few quirks aside.
  “I can’t wait to tackle some of the projects inside.”

They chatted about her plans to renovate the main rooms
,
and Sara found Will surprisingly knowledgeable about a number of projects she had in mind; he more than earned the boast of being a Jack of all trades.  Gradually the trees grew
denser
and they had to slow, picking their way through the trees with care.

Joanie trailed behind, hardly offe
ring a word to the conversation;
following with sullen eyes as she pulled at the silver flask.  After a while
,
Sara started to feel like they were excluding her, even though there was plenty of room for them to ride three abreast. 

“
Are y
ou
alright
back there, Joanie?  You’re awful quiet,” Sara commented with a worried look over her shoulder. 

“Is there a destination in mind to this trek or is this as good as it gets?” Joanie asked, sitting a little askew in the saddle from a combination of little used muscles and too much drink. 

“I thought I’d take you the length of the estate and then back again.  There’s a small lake that abuts the rear of the property that’s worth seeing.  Much of the parcel of land is wooded and quite unusable, but affords you a great deal of privacy.  There used to be a small boathouse down by the water, but I’ve no idea if it still stands, I haven’t been down there in years.”

“Maybe we can eat down by the water,” Sara proposed cheerily.  “I suppose it’s still too cold out for a swim.”  Though the first blooms of spring were already in evidence, she could imagine the water would be much too frigid without the full heat of the summer sun.

“
I don’t know, I’m always up for a challenge.”  Urging her horse a little faster, Joanie rode ahead and Will traded looks with Sara, nudging his horse faster to catch up.

“This isn’t a good place to go wandering off,” he cautioned.  Joanie either didn’t hear or didn’t care, the black horse slipping faster through the trees.  Sara didn’t dare try to keep pace with the uneven forest ground, but pushed as fast as she thought she could manage.  The pair pulled farther and farther ahead, until she couldn’t see them; only hear Joanie’s laughter floating back to her. 

“Will?” Sara called out softly, not wanting to let too much panic creep into her voice.  It was ridiculous to worry she wouldn’t catch up to them in just a minute.  The size of the property wasn’t
that
big; if she kept riding straight she’d eventually hit water and then it’d be easier to spot them. 

Eventually. 

Only the longer she kept riding, the more convinced Sara
became
that she was the only person out in the woods.  Strike that, not the only person, the only living creature.  The forest sounds dispersed on the wind, leaving nothing but the clop of Rhiannon’s feet on the loamy earth.  No more birdsong, no more rustle of leaves, no buzzing of insects, only heavy silence that grew oppressive as it stretched longer.  Was she headed in the right direction?  What if she was making it worse?  That thought alone made her rein the horse in to a stop. 

“Will?” Sara tried again, her voice sounding small in the stillness.  Rhiannon pawed at the ground nervously, shifting first to one side and then the other.  A breath of air stirred the leaves, but instead of the natural sound calming her nerves, Sara imagined she heard the wind calling to her in a dry, raspy voice. 

Leave…

“Yep, time to go,” she murmured, nudging Rhiannon forward again.  At that point it didn’t matter what direction she went
,
as long as she didn’t stay in that place.  The horse whickered, eager to be on its way and Sara let her set the pace, just as eager to find her companions. 

Instead she came upon a clearing in the woods, maybe t
hirty
feet across.  At the center stood a circle of nine stones set around an ancient slab of granite.  Had she stumbled across someone’s old campsite?  The stones didn’t look like they could be used as chairs really, and wouldn’t be needed for shade in the wooded area.  The big slab could have been a picnic table, but it was slightly uneven and had a rusty cast to it; not at all what she’d want to set lunch out on.

Rhiannon whickered again, stepping backwards and Sara had to fight to keep her seat for a moment as she tried to keep the horse in place.  “Whoa, calm down girl… there’s nothing to worry about, it’s
just
a pile of old rocks.”  Something about them made her want to get a closer look though, see if she could figure out what it was used for.  It was probably a good a place as any to wait for the others to find her; if only the ground didn’t look so far away… 

Every time she tried to get into position to dismount, the horse
shuffled its feet,
so that she started to think Rhiannon was doing it on purpose.  “Oh
,
would you stand still,” she complained crossly, “I just want to get down!”

“Sara?” Will’s voice echoed through the clearing, sending a flutter of relief through her. 

“I’m over here!” she called out, wondering if he could tell what direction she was in, it all sounded distorted and echoey to her.  Luckily, he didn’t have any trouble finding her, and Will emerged a few moments later, the reigns to Joanie’s horse in his hands. 

“How did you get out here?  You were right behind me,” his brows were drawn together in puzzlement.  Joanie looked a little green around the gills
,
and Sara couldn’t help but wonder if she’d drunk the entire contents of the flask by herself.

“I don’t know, I followed after you, but when you took off like that…”  Sara couldn’t disguise the relief in her voice when he dismounted and reached up to help her off
the
horse, more than ready for a break from being in the saddle.  Willingly she let him pull her off the horse, hands resting on his arms as she slid down beside him. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to give you a fright, love,” his voice was soft as he searched her face for signs of distress.

“I’m okay.  I admit it was a little spooky out here when you guys took off like that, but I’m fine,” Sara smiled, more than a little aware of the casual endearment and the fact that his hands still rested comfortably on her hips.  “Um, what is this place?” she dragged her gaze away from his to look back to the circle. 

Will’s hands fell away as he turned to inspect the standing stones.  “Lots of old places have these stone circles.  No one really knows what they were used for, but people say they were part of rituals performed by the Druids.”

“Really?”  Somehow she could almost imagine it; a group of ancient mystics draped in flowing
,
white robes, chanting words as old as the stones themselves. 

“He’s screwing with you, Sara,” Joanie snorted.  “God, you can be so gullible.  They probably built this place for the tourists when they gave tours of the property.  They used to do that, right?  Charge the public to take a look at how the other half lives?”

Will leveled a flat, unfriendly look in Joanie’s direction, and Sara wondered if there had been
a
confrontation with them when he’d
chased her down
.  “The house was opened to the public at one time, but no fees were ever charged.  It was considered an honor to share the family’s great works of art with the community.”

“
Yeah right.  More likely it was a good way for the Lord of the manor to scout out some fresh tail among the locals.”
The black horse reared suddenly, Joanie’s mouth forming a perfect ‘O’ as she tipped over backwards, landing hard in the brush. 

“Joanie!  Are you alright?” Sara rushed over to where Joanie lay still, her face ashen.

“That horse hates me,” she groaned, pushing herself up on her elbows before a wince of pain made her think better of it and she fell back against the dead leaves.

“Lie still, get your legs back under you before you try to get up,” Will ordered, crouching on
her
other side.  “Now, where does it hurt?”

“My hip and shoulder are sore on the side I hit, and I think I bit the inside of my cheek,” she blinked, looking straight up at the sky.

“Did you hit your head at all?” Sara asked, checking her over for any bleeding, but she seemed to be in one piece. 

“No, I don’t think so.  I may have conked it a little, but I didn’t land on it, thank God, or I could have ended up with a broken neck.”

“Would’ve saved us the trouble…” Will muttered, busy examining her arm, moving it slowly.  Joanie winced again, but didn’t cry out in pain while he moved it one way or the other.  “I don’t think your arm’s out the socket, now try to move your leg slowly.”  After some hesitant testing, Joanie seemed to be sore, but mostly alright, and they helped her to her feet without too much fuss. 

“The horse is gone,” Sara
frowned;
there was no sign of the black animal anywhere. 

“Joanie, you take Sara’s mare, she’ll be a gentle ride back.  Sara, you ride with me,” Will said decisively and it made sense, his horse was the only logical choice to carry two. 

“No way I’m getting back on a horse again,” Joanie backed away, her hands coming up as if to ward it off.  “No way.”

“Come on, Joanie, it’ll take forever to walk back, especially with your sore hip.  Rhiannon’s really sweet, she won’t throw you,” Sara tried to persuade her, but Rhiannon didn’t help by shying away when she tried to lead her to Joanie.

“I’d rather take my chances on the ground,” Joanie shook her head.

“Right, suit yourself.  We’ll see you back at the house then, shall we?” Will replied with an innocent smile, and Joanie’s face paled again. 

“Wait, you’re gonna leave me out here by myself?”

“No, of course we won’t,” Sara sighed, “we’ll all walk back together.”

“Maybe, if I rode with you…” Joanie cozied up to Will’s side, “then I wouldn’t have to be so worried about the horse getting away from me.”

Sara could see it was all a ploy to try and warm up to Will again; couldn’t she take the hint?  It was obvious to Will too, but after a moment’s hesitation, he produced a reasonable facsimile of a smile.  “Alright, we’d best be on our way then, the sooner we get back, the sooner you can rest.  Let me help you up.” 

While they were monkeying around with getting her up onto his horse, Sara looked for a way to hop onto hers without any help, spotting a fallen log she thought would do very nicely.  By the time she got into the saddle, Will was up behind Joanie, doing his best to take control of the reins while keeping his distance from her.  They headed back at a slow pace, the conversation practically non-existent; everyone in the mood to get it over with, except for maybe Joanie who didn’t seem to mind her perch next to Will. 

When they arrived, Joanie waved off the offer of a doctor, asking for a hot bath and a bottle of brandy.  Will left to see to the horses in none too good of a mood
,
and Sara hardly had a chance to do more than wave goodbye.  Searching for Jack to see if he wanted to join her for a picnic lunch on the patio outside, Katie told her he was in the library, already bored with throwing horseshoes. 

Sara heard him talking to someone as she approached, stopping to tie her shoe just outside the door.

“Want to play again?” Jack asked
,
and an unfamiliar woman replied.