“Although I agree without reservation with your assessment of your guardians, my lady,” Mort started, “I’d venture to say this was their plan all along.”
“To take off and leave us here? Then why take the carriage? That would only slow them down,” Peter said.
Mort’s frown turned into sudden realization. “They believe Brighit is still inside!”
That made sense. They had thought to only be leaving Peter and Mort with nothing. There was no reason for them to believe Brighit was not asleep in her carriage as she was every night. He glanced toward her. Her already fair complexion blanched before his eyes.
“What will they do when they learn she is not?” Mort put to words what they were no doubt all thinking.
They tortured her with their vulgar behavior, instilling her with fear, even offering to sell her. Would they just walk away from her?
“I cannot even venture a guess,” Peter said.
Brighit dropped to the ground, tucking her bare feet beneath her, but said nothing.
“If they hadn’t offered to sell her to our Scottish friends, I would say she was of no value, but clearly they were willing to be rid of her,” Mort said.
Her head snapped up and she glared at Mort but he paid her no heed.
Peter smiled. Her spiritedness was definitely returning.
“If she is not found in the carriage, they may indeed return for her.” Peter said. “No doubt that wouldn’t be until they stopped a safe distance from here. I believe there was a house not far down this road.”
At the road, Mort dropped low to the ground. “Perhaps I can tell which way they’ve taken the carriage.”
“The tracks should be simple enough to find.”
Mort paused then said, “They’re returning the way we just came.”
Peter nodded and placed his hands on his hips. “That’s as I had suspected butwewill not.”
Mort stood and brushed off the knees of his hose.
“It was a ruse that they had missed the turn to the Priory,” Peter said.
Brighit stood and blew a breath. “They were taking me somewhere else?”
The three were quickly moving as one down the dirt road.
“They may have planned on getting you to the Priory eventually,” Mort said.
“Just not before they saw to whatever was the other way first. Can you think of anything else they might be doing beside what they claimed?”
Brighit paused. “They talked constantly to all the people we passed on the road. Some were responsive. Some were hostile. I could never tell what was being said. They seemed to take great care that I would not have an opportunity to be seen or speak to anyone.”
Peter pondered this for a moment. “Did your uncle have any encounters while you were with him?”
“Yes!” Brighit stopped in her tracks. “There was a tall man at the inn by the mouth of the river. My uncle left me with Ivan to meet him. I assumed it was because he didn’t want me to hear them.”
“Do you remember anything else about the man?”
They began to walk again.
Brighit continued, “He and my uncle were arguing. I had been hoping my uncle wouldn’t leave me with Ivan. I thought surely my uncle would want to know what inappropriate remarks the man was making. My uncle cared very little.”
She stopped talking, hesitated mid-step, then continued on.
Peter waited for her to continue until his patience was up. “Is there nothing else?”
