Eadagave a convulsive start and then heartily cursed her own foolishness. She couldnot believe she was so lacking in wits as to fall asleep in the midst of aninvading army. Such idiocy could easily have cost her an opportunity to escape.
Asshe began to ease her head out of the shrubbery in the hope of getting a closerlook at her precarious situation, she suddenly tensed. She felt the approach ofthe horsemen before she heard or saw them. Eada flattened herself against theground and gently pressed a hand over each dog's muzzle. When she saw theriders and they drew near enough to overhear their conversation, Eada grimacedwith distaste and anger.
Hermother was Norman born and had taught all her children how to speak thelanguage. Eada suddenly wished her mother had not educated her so well. Shealso wished that her mother had spared a little time to tell her what a Normansoldier looked like. A little knowledge might have made the men look lessfrightening. When the soldiers paused before her hiding place, Eada got a veryclose look and shivered.
Allfour mounted men wore tunics of mail, two with loose sleeves that reached onlyto their elbows and two with longer, more closely fitted sleeves. Three hadmail leggings. With their mail hoods pulled over their heads and topped by metalhelmets with a strip that jutted down over their noses, they made for anunsettling sight. Eada knew that the padded clothing they wore beneath theirarmor, the stallions they rode, and even the armor itself added a great deal tothe impression of size, but she suspected they were still goodly sized men whenstripped of all those trappings. If William the Bastard had a whole army ofsuch well-armored giants, then Harold had little chance of defeating theNormans.
"Arethere no women in this land?" complained Tancred.
"Welook for food, Tancred," Drogo said, skillfully stilling the suddenlyrestless stallion he rode.
"Mandoes not live by bread alone."
"Whenyou reach my age, a full belly grows more important than a rutting," Serlesaid. "A man will not die from the lack of a woman to plow."
"Thereare times when I think he can, Serle, old man." Tancred sigheddramatically. "My belly is full, and now my staff aches to bestroked."
"Andyet the man sits a horse when in such a condition. Now there is bravery."
Men,Eada thought with disgust as the Normans laughed.If they are not waving asword about, eager to chop off heads, then they can only think of wieldingtheir other weapon. If they cannot pierce a man's flesh with their steel, theyseek to pierce a woman's flesh with their staff. In that, at least, it isevident that Normans do not differ at all from the men they seek to do battlewith.
"Yourmount is most uneasy, Drogo," Tancred said, frowning as Drogo had tosteady his horse again.
"Heis," agreed Drogo. "Either the journey here has made him unusuallyrestless or a dog lurks near at hand."
Eadatensed, her grip on her dogs' muzzles tightening slightly. She briefly wonderedwhy hearing the deep voice of the man called Drogo should cause such an oddsensation to ripple through her. It felt like anticipation, but she toldherself it had to be fear. When the men began to move on, she sighed withrelief. The sigh caught sharply in her throat when she realized the directionthe men were riding in. If the Normans veered neither left nor right, theywould arrive at Old Edith's door.
Fora moment Eada fought back the stomach-knotting panic that rushed over her. OldEdith would never try to fight the Normans, so there was no reason for them toharm her. The woman was also far too old to stir their lusts. Such assurancesonly dimmed Eada's fears a little, however, for she loved Old Edith too much tobe so practical.
Asshe forced herself to be calm and hold onto enough of her wits to remaincautious, Eada slipped from her hiding place. She curtly signaled her dogs tobe quiet as they joined her in following the men. The Normans were nottraveling at any great speed, but Eada found that she had to maintain a steadytrot to keep up with them. She also found it difficult to keep them in sightyet remain hidden from their view. Only once did she fear she had been seen.She quickly sought out a thicker shelter within the trees only to nearly losethe men for her fear of discovery made her very slow to take leave of thatshelter and continue the chase.
"Somethingwrong?" Drogo asked Tancred when the man looked to their rear and lightlygrasped the hilt of his sword. "Did you see something?"
"No,"Tancred replied as he slowly relaxed. "I but had the feeling that we werebeing followed. There is nothing there. I think I have listened too much toSerle's talk of an enemy lurking all around us."
Serlequickly began to defend the wisdom of his warnings, and he and Tancred fellinto an amiable brangle. Drogo could not cast aside his own uneasiness soquickly, and the lingering fretfulness of his mount only added to it. Hecontinued to glance behind them for several moments. When he failed to seeanything he forced his attention back to the route they traveled and hiscompanions, sternly telling himself that he must not allow caution to become anunreasonable fear of every shadow.
Minuteslater, a small, poor cottage came into view. Just as the Normans began to reinin their horses, an old woman hurried out of the cottage. Drogo tried to warnher to stop, but she dashed in front of them, waving her arms and shouting. Hewatched in horror as she fell beneath the hooves of the rearing warhorses despiteall their efforts to calm the beasts. When the horses were finally steadied andDrogo began to dismount, his companions cautiously doing the same, the oldwoman lay still upon the ground. Her limbs were twisted into grotesquepositions, and blood stained her rough gown.
"No,"Eada moaned as she stepped free of her hiding place and watched her friendfall. "No," she repeated but screamed it this time, the small wordbecoming a long wail of grief.
Drogoand his men immediately drew their weapons only to gape at the slender girlrunning straight toward them. An instant later, they had to scramble to controltheir horses again for the two large hounds loping alongside the girlfrightened them. Drogo cursed for neither the girl nor the hounds paid them anyheed, running directly to the old woman's side.
Aftersoftly ordering the young Unwin to firmly secure the skittish horses, Drogocarefully approached the girl and sheathed his sword. He halted, then crouchedwhen the hounds looked his way and bristled slightly. Once certain that thedogs would not attack if he gave them no reason to, he studied the girl, whowept over the dying old woman.
Despitethe smudges of dirt and scratches on her face and the tears in her gown, Drogofound the girl beautiful. Her hair was the color of sweet honey and flowed inthick waves to her slim hips. Full, ripe breasts, heaving gently as she wept,made him painfully aware of how long it had been since he had held a woman. Hervoice was low, husky with grief, and it stirred him although she spoke alanguage he found harsh. He watched in hungry fascination as a tear rolled downthe ivory cheek of her small, heart-shaped face. Drogo had to grit his teeth tosuppress the urge to kiss that tear away.
"Oh,Edith, why did you do something so mad?" Eada hesitated to touch Edith'sbroken body for, although she ached to do something, she was sure she wouldcause the woman untold pain if she tried to move her.
"Itried to stop fate," Edith replied, her voice little more than a hoarse whisper."No, that is not the full truth. I but followed fate's path. This is whatwas meant to happen. I knew today would bring my death. Come, take hold of myhand, child."
"Itwill hurt you.”
"Ifeel nothing. That is strange, is it not? I believe the chill of death stealsaway my pain." She smiled when Eada tentatively took her gnarled handbetween her young, soft ones. "Now, heed me well, child. There is no timefor arguments or explanations."
"Youshould not waste your strength in talking now."
"No?Silly girl. I cannot speak from the grave, can 1? And that is where I go now.Your man is here, Eada of Pevensey. He crouches near at hand and stares atyou."
