“If you say so, sir.”
“There you go again, Deryn, lad. Get that tongue out of your cheek and ask your charming wife if she could spare a moment to make me a little packet of food to take with me? I don’t know how long I’ll be out, but in case I should feel faint from hunger…”
Deryn didn’t even bother to reply. His eyebrow spoke for him.
“Thank you.” Caleb grinned.
He was still grinning when he emerged from the back door of the Abbey, looking far more like a farmer than the Lord of the Manor.
But this was, for him, an adventure into reality. A chance to actually be a working man, to experience the good and the bad of a life spent tending to the land.
Armed with a carefully wrapped package of bread and cheese, Caleb set off at a brisk pace, his boots squishing through the sodden ground.
It had, by some miracle, actually stopped raining for the time being, but the clouds hung low, and the drips from the trees were every bit as soaking as a shower. He was damp within minutes, and making his way through the woods soaked his hair. But the oilskin coat proved its worth, and kept his shoulders and a good portion of his breeches dry.
For a little while he imagined himself as an explorer, alone in a vast green and wet jungle.
There would be strange creatures here, he thought, something more dangerous than a lion, larger than an elephant, roaring, with huge sharp tusks that would frighten the life out of any unwary traveller…
“Owww.”
“Ooof…” The exclamation was pushed out of his lungs as he collided head-on with another oilskin-wrapped figure. But this one wasn’t as tall as he was, and also more slender. Blonde hair peeped out from beneath an obviously well-worn worker’s hat, and wet blue skirts hid most of the thick boots now moving backwards rapidly in an attempt to attain balance.
Caleb didn’t think twice. He darted forward and caught her before she staggered into what was undoubtedly a wet swamp.
Her screech nearly deafened him, but he managed to keep them both upright while he lurched backward onto slightly more solid ground.
Finding their feet, they drew apart, and he looked into her face to find her blue eyes staring at him. And not, he judged, in a way that might preface her thanking him for saving them both from a mud bath.
“Youidiot. Don’t you know any better than to stride around partially flooded fields? I don’t know where your master is, or where you work, but you certainly need some instruction on how to handle situations like this.” She waved a white hand at the seriously waterlogged ground that lay ahead.
“I…”
“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t give you away, but in the future, for Heaven’s sake, watch where you’re walking. A soaking wet pair of breeches is an annoyance. Finding yourself stuck in thick mud with the water rising is life-threatening.” She huffed out a breath. “Thankfully, I caught you just in time.”
Caleb had had enough. “No. I caughtyou, silly wench. When it comes to striding over flooded fields, doing so in a damn dress is about the height of stupidity, so don’t youdarelecture me.”
Her chin went up. “I am not a silly wench. You are clearly new around here. I am Lady Elinor Molliney, and you’re trespassing on Molliney Park grounds.”
If she expected an elegant bow and apology, thought Caleb, she was in for a shock.
“Personally, I don’t care if you’re the Queen of Sheba, young woman. And I doubt the veracity of your allegation, since I was told that Lady Elinor was a lady of rare grace and great common sense. Neither of which, I should add, you have displayed for one second since you ran into me.” He glared at her. “And you’re obviously some sort of hermit, or you would know that I am Sir Caleb Howell, the owner of Tylwyth Teg Abbey. And that, Lady Elinor, makes you a trespasser.”
She frowned. “No, it doesn’t.”
He frowned back. “Yes, it does.”
But before they could continue the argument, a howl made them both turn their heads toward a deeper pool of water. Something was thrashing in there, howling desperately as it splashed, trying to find its footing.
“Oh God, it’s a dog,” Elinor turned away from Caleb and ran.
“Wait,” Caleb ran after her, the two of them splashing up their own private rainstorm as they raced to the rescue.
It was indeed a dog, and its leg seemed to be caught on something beneath the rising waters.
“Can you hold his head? I don’t know as much about dogs as I’d like.” Elinor glanced at Caleb. “I’d rather get wet than bitten. I will reach under the surface and see if I can free him…”
“Yes, I think so… all right…”
