He knew.
Joshua moved a hair’s breath from the bars, enough to reach through and grab him by the neck.
Snapes backed off beyond his reach, cackling. “An interesting evening I had with her. She put up a good fight. For hours, I toyed with her…kept her alive…her lush body, available to me over and over again, taking delight in my power over her…over you…over every single Rutland. Her last words was, ‘Joshua’ which I found touching. I dipped my letter in her blood as a memento for you.”
Snapes.
Joshua roared, and lunged his arms through the bars. He clawed the air, anything to get his hands on the British captain.
Well out of his grasp, Snapes reclined against the opposite wall, his arms folded in front of him. “To extract my vengeance was worth the effort. I hunted you in the wilderness. Learned you had been at the Hayes’ farm but lost your trail after that. On a fluke, I came upon you here. How convenient to point out your loyalties to the colonel and have you hanged as a spy. You must pay. All the Rutlands will pay if they haven’t already.”
If Joshua’s heart still beat, he didn’t know it. He was aware of one thing. The rage to kill Snapes inhabited every fiber of his being. Abby’s and Nicholas’ abduction. The explosion at Belvoir. All the horrible things that had befallen his family were connected. But how? He hauled in a deep breath. He had to keep a cool head…find out who had attacked the Rutlands. “What do you mean? Who put you up to my demise? Who is involved with the attacks on the Rutlands?”
“Some rich fellow. I took his money but he didn’t have to pay me. The pleasure is mine.”
Ghost said, “I’ll scream your crimes to the world.”
“I, too,” said Two Eagles.
Snapes sneered. “And who is going to take the word of a thieving trapper or Indian who in the morn will have their necks stretched?” His sloping chin jutted from his bulging cheeks. “Juliet’s interest in you is another matter. She will suffer the same fate as your Sarah Thacker. I listened to how she defended you to Colonel Faulkner. Of course, her defense fell on deaf ears given the fact that I reinforced my observations of your spying activities.”
“You touch her and I’ll squeeze the life out of you.”
Arm still crossed, Snapes tapped his chin and laughed. “I thought to myself, why would she defend you so rabidly? Your weeks of journey together…there is more to the matter.” Snapes lifted himself from his repose against the wall and laughing, strode out the door. A new guard entered.
Joshua gripped the bars, his knuckles white, a primal scream stuck in his craw.
Blood pounded in his ears. Juliet was in danger. He had to act. Had to do something. Anything. He couldn’t again fail to protect the one he loved.
The guard unlocked the cell door. Rage pounded through Joshua’s veins.
About to charge the man to get at Snapes, he stopped when the guard held up another key and said, “Hold up your wrists.”
“What?”
“It is me, John. Juliet arranged for me to be on duty tonight.”
Juliet?His father’s tenant unlocked his chains, the massive weight plunked on the floor. He could still feel the chains pressing down on his wrists and ankles where they were bleeding, but it was the movement toward freedom that brought life to him.
John knelt to remove the fetters from Two Eagles, and said over his shoulder, “When I saw you the other day, I was incapable of believing my eyes and did as you requested—to keep silent. I’d do anything for you. I remember how you and your brother, Nicholas helped me rebuild my mother’s home when it burned down. If it weren’t for your family caring for us, we’d have had no place to go. Can’t forget the boxing bouts either. You and your brothers were a force to be reckoned with.”
Another person entered the cell. Joshua recoiled, ready to strike the man, but the cloaked man was so small he could push him over with a feather.
“Joshua,” said Juliet pushing back the hood on her cloak and reached for his hands.
“Juliet! You shouldn’t be here. You’re in danger from Snapes. You must stay under the protection of your cousin.”
John said, “I told you I pay my debts, Lord Rutland. Go over the east wall. I’ve put a sleeping draught in the guard’s drink. Hurry.”
Juliet whipped her head around at the use of his title, but before she could say anything, he took her in his arms, and kissed her soft hair. “Juliet, you must return to your room before you are discovered.”
“I’m going with you.”
He pushed her back. “No, you are not. If caught, you will be hanged for treason.”
“It’s too late for that.”
Two more heads appeared with bundles. Mary and Edmund rushed to Two Eagles. “They are going too.”
