“I am. I trust you. Still, if you recall, I didn’t waste any time joining the two of you.”
“If that’s what brought you outside, then I’m glad I kissed him. It was a brother-sister kiss any—” She stopped abruptly, interrupted by the urgent ringing of the folly’s meal bell. “It can’t be Martha calling us for dinner, surely.”
Brandon was already turning his mount around. Without asking Shannon’s permission, he simply pulled her onto the saddle in front of him and gave his stallion a sharp kick.
“Brandon!” Shannon understood why she was riding with him now. She knew that she could not have kept her seat on Anthem once Brandon gave his mount his head. But she did not understand what prompted this breakneck speed.
“It’s an emergency call,” he said tightly. “Something’s wrong.”
Shannon didn’t ask any more questions. It would have been nearly impossible given the jolting, breathless ride back to the folly. The tail of her jet hair flew in the wind, and her fingers found purchase on Brandon’s dark blue jacket. It seemed as if the entire household had gathered on the verandah, and Martha did not stop her energetic ringing until Brandon came abreast of the porch. Cody extended his hand to Shannon and helped her dismount onto the flagstones. Brandon remained in the saddle.
“What’s happened?” Brandon asked tersely.
“It’s Rory,” Cody answered. “I think she’s had an accident. Pilgrim came back to the stable without her.”
“How long ago?”
“Not long. I had Martha ring the bell as soon as the grooms alerted me.”
“All right. We’ll begin a search. You take the north fields; I’ll travel the riverbank.” He pointed to the grooms. “Henry. Sam. You take to the woods. Aaron and Jacob, the road.” When everyone hesitated, Brandon looked at his brother curiously. “Is there something else wrong? Something I don’t know?”
“It’s Pilgrim’s girth strap,” said Cody. “You can see it for yourself in the stable. It’s a miracle he came back saddled at all.”
“It snapped?”
“It had some help, Bran. It was deliberately weakened to the point of fraying.” He released a deep breath. “Someone cut that strap.”
“Who saddled Pilgrim?” Brandon demanded of the grooms.
“Miz Rory did it herself,” offered Aaron. “Complained I was too slow and too clumsy to satisfy her. She was in a hurry when she set out. It’s no surprise she never noticed the strap. I can tell you there was nothing wrong with it yesterday. Oiled all the tack myself. Weren’t no cuts in it then. This thing’s been done since last night.”
“Dear God,” Shannon said softly. “Someone tried…She could be hurt, even—” Shannon did not complete her thought, not wanting to put into words what the others were clearly thinking. She raised her ashen face to Brandon. “Please. Please find her.”
He leaned over and touched her cheek with the tip of his fingers. “I will. She’ll be all right. Aurora knows how to take a fall from a horse. She’s probably walking toward the folly now.”
Shannon saw that he wanted to believe it. She tried to smile and show that she believed it also, but the attempt fell short. The fear that clawed at her vitals reached her eyes and she turned away, hoping Brandon had not seen it. She gratefully accepted Martha’s supportive arm as Brandon, Cody, and the grooms set off in different directions to begin the search.
“I knew that she’d cause grief,” Martha muttered as she poured Shannon a drink in the library. “Ain’t no wonder she come to grief herself. Here, you just knock this back. It’ll put some color in your cheeks.”
Shannon accepted the tumbler because it gave her something to steady her hands on. Instead of drinking the Scotch, she simply stared at it, resisting Martha’s attempts to raise the glass to her lips by pushing on the bottom of it. “I really don’t want it,” she said, moving out of Martha’s reach. “I wish you wouldn’t talk about Aurora coming to grief. We don’t know what’s happened yet.”
Martha shrugged. “Can’t help the way I feel. That chile’s nothin’ but a misery. Been a thorn in Master Bran’s side since he laid eyes on her.”
“Martha! You’re not saying that Brandon—”
“No! Raised that boy myself! I ain’t saying nothin’. Ain’t my place to point a finger.” She left the library, talking to herself under her breath. “Still, I wouldn’t blame him if he did take a knife to that strap. A pure misery, that’s what she is. Always bringing trouble.”
When she was alone Shannon set her drink aside and moved to the window, trying to shake Martha’s words from her mind. She could not dwell on the possibility that Aurora was anything but safe. The alternative was not to be borne.
She had no idea how long she stayed at the window, staring out at the deserted road, the empty expanse of fields, and praying for Aurora’s return. It was the gunshot that jerked her from self-imposed numbness. Shannon ran into the hallway and met Martha hurrying down the corridor toward her.
Martha skidded to a halt on the polished floor. “They found her!” she said, taking Shannon by the hand and pulling her toward the verandah. “That shot means someone found Miz Rory!”
“Where’s Clara?” Shannon asked. “I don’t want her alarmed.”
Martha shook her head, torn between satisfaction for Shannon’s well-placed concern and impatience to find out what was happening. “Addie put her down for a nap before this started. She don’t know nothin’.”
Relieved, Shannon matched Martha’s quick stride and joined the rest of the interested, excited household staff on the porch. Her presence put an end to the hushed speculation that was passing for conversation among the servants. To Shannon’s way of thinking, it was a quiet eternity before Emily, standing in front of the crowd at the edge of the flagstones, began shouting that she saw the riders coming.
