The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest (27 page)

“Odette, I am sorry you had to see Jorgen kissing that other woman, but perhaps it is for the best.”

Odette took a deep breath to dispel the tears enough so he would not hear them in her voice. When she trusted herself to speak, she said, “I believe Jorgen was telling the truth when he said the woman deliberately tricked him. She must have stolen my mask when I was lying down. Why else would she steal my mask? And her dress was similar to mine. It is understandable that Jorgen would think she was me.” But it still made tears return to her eyes that he had.

Rutger did not say anything for several moments. “I have always thought you wise beyond your years, and I never wanted you to throw yourself away on someone who did not deserve you. But Jorgen Hartman . . . He is only the forester. You could marry any unmarried man in Thornbeck. Think of Mathis Papendorp.
He is a good sort of man. Do you not think so? He would never treat you viciously or deny you anything your heart desired.”

She fought back the tears again to say, “Do you want me to marry Mathis?”

He sighed. “I do not want to tell you who to marry, Odette. But I do believe you would have a good life with Mathis.”

No other guardian—no other father, for that matter—would ever give so much freedom of choice to their ward or daughter. Rutger had been so good to her, and now that she was one and twenty, of course he wanted her to be married and settled.

Why didn’t she marry Mathis? Rutger was right that Mathis would give her whatever her heart desired, to the best of his ability. Besides, people didn’t normally fall in love until after they were married anyway. But Jorgen . . . How could she forget his kiss? How could she ignore the longing, deep in her heart, for him to love her and to love him in return?

But wasn’t that foolish? Once he found out she was the poacher . . . Was she not being childish in wanting something she could never have? Wouldn’t it be kinder to marry Mathis and let Jorgen find someone else?

Another tear flowed down her cheek, and she didn’t bother wiping it away.

Jorgen and the gamekeeper rode just behind the margrave on the hunt the next day, in order to advise him of the best hunting spots. All of his highborn guests who were staying a few days at the castle were along for the hunt. Unfortunately, they were having difficulty finding any deer at all. The margrave was scowling.

Jorgen sat on the brown gelding, searching the undergrowth
for signs of a deer and praying that a deer would jump out of the bushes. If not, he might lose everything.

He had already lost Odette.

A heaviness filled his chest, the same heaviness that had settled there when Odette saw him kissing another girl. If only he could go back. If only he had realized the woman was not Odette. If only he had not kissed her and declared his love for that imposter.

There had to be some sinister reason that woman had stolen Odette’s mask. What it was, he could not fathom, but he had a strange suspicion that Rutger had something to do with it. Could he so object to Odette falling in love with and marrying Jorgen that he would send a woman to trick him? Rutger was the person who had led Odette into that small room near the food and drink. That must have been where Odette had taken off her mask and it had been stolen. That was the last time he had seen her with it.

Rutger must be behind it.

Jorgen was
not
sorry he had kissed Odette. But he supposed it was that kiss that had led him to kiss the other girl. His mind had been clouded by his desire to make Odette love him the way he loved her . . . by desire for Odette. It was at least partially—mostly—his own fault. How could she ever love him now?

I will not give up, God. So do not let her fall in love with anyone else. And raise me up, somehow, in her eyes
.

One of the men in the party lifted a bow and aimed it at the ground, then shot. “Got it!”

“What was it?” someone asked.

“A hare. If we cannot find deer, we can at least kill something.”

Jorgen’s neck burned. He felt responsible for everyone’s dissatisfaction.
I pray, O Lord, let me catch that poacher. Please
.

22

T
HE WIDE-EYED FACES
of the children outside the town wall as they listened to her teach her lesson lifted Odette’s heart a bit from where it had sunk. She kept glancing up, looking for Jorgen, as the lesson progressed. But when the lesson was over and he still had not come, her heart sank to the pit of her stomach again.

She could still close her eyes and feel his lips on hers. But remembering him kissing that other girl dispelled the pleasant sensations and sent a jolt of pain through her chest.

What had she been thinking to allow him to kiss her? But what she really longed to know was, would he ever kiss her again?

Odette gave out the usual hugs to those children who always seemed to crave her attention and affection. But her thoughts were on Jorgen. Would he avoid her now?

“You sent for me, Lord Thornbeck?” Jorgen joined the margrave in the banqueting hall of Thornbeck Castle.

“Sit down, Jorgen.” The margrave had a tense look on his face, which made the boulder in Jorgen’s chest even heavier. “I am sure you remember how disastrous our hunt was yesterday. Even the
dogs were unable to scent a deer.” He leaned forward. “I need you to find out who is poaching the king’s deer. If you cannot do this one task, I will be forced to find someone who can.”

The margrave sank back in his chair. “I have sent for someone who is excellent at tracking. He should arrive next week. In the meantime . . .” He fixed him with a hard stare. “This poacher would shoot you if he thought he could get away with it, I have no doubt. It is time to put him and his black market out of business. I want you to find this poacher, and I want you to have no qualms about shooting him.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The next morning Odette was awakened by Heinke coming into her room. “Mistress Odette. There is a little boy named Hanns here to see you.”

“Hanns?” Odette raised herself to sitting, forcing her eyes open.

“Yes. He is crying and begging to see you.”

Odette grabbed a roomy underdress, pulled it over her head, and scrambled out of bed. She hurried down to find little Hanns standing at the back door and wiping his face on his ragged sleeve.

“Hanns, what is wrong?”

“Mama is sick. She says she thinks she’s dying.” Another tear slipped down his dirty face. “She has not gotten out of bed in two days, not even to go to the privy.” His hands were trembling, and his cheeks were pale and sunken.

“When was the last time you ate? Come to the kitchen and I will get you something.” She led him into the stone room and picked him up and sat him on a stool at Cook’s counter.

Cook brought him some bread and butter, cheese, and cold
pork. He started stuffing the food in his mouth faster than he could chew it.

“Not too fast or you’ll choke.” Odette brought him a cup of water, but he ignored it as he continued to pick up the food and push more into his already overstuffed cheeks.

Tears pricked her eyes. “When was the last time you ate some of my deer meat, Hanns?”

He chewed and chewed and finally swallowed. “The last time you brought it to our house.”

“But that was weeks ago!”

He looked at her with wide eyes, stuffing his mouth again.

“Have the boys been bringing anyone else any meat?”

Hanns shook his head. “We thought you ceased hunting.”

Her heart stopped.

“I came to ask,” Hanns said, after swallowing noisily, “if you could give me some money to get the doctor to come and save my mother.” Tears welled up in his eyes again.

“Of course I will.” Odette asked Cook to pack up some food for Hanns to take with him while she ran upstairs to fetch some money. As she hurried, she noticed the fine tapestry that hung at the top of the stairs was no longer there. When had it been taken down?

Heinke was passing through the corridor, and Odette stopped her. “Heinke, what happened to the tapestry that was here?”

Her eyes grew round as fear flickered across her face. She shrugged. “I do not know.”

“And what about the Oriental vase that was always downstairs?”

Heinke shook her head. “Perhaps Master Rutger knows.” She dropped a tiny curtsy and hastened down the corridor.

A feeling of dread ripped through Odette as she hurried the rest of the way to her room. She fetched the small purse of coins that she kept hidden in a secret compartment in her trunk. Thank
goodness it was still there. She poured out enough money for a doctor and a little extra, put her purse back in its hiding place, and ran back down the stairs. Next she called their servant Sigfried and asked him to go with Hanns to fetch the doctor.

Odette hugged Hanns tightly, then sent him on his way with a promise to check on him and bring some venison as soon as she was able.

As she watched him hurry off, she whispered, “Oh, God, what is happening here?” Was someone stealing valuable items from their home? The venison she was shooting? She had to find out what was going on.

As Jorgen stood beside the fountain in the town square, his friend, Dieter, walked toward him with a big smile on his face.