“’Twas Garrick himself,” Maudya replied with a shake of her head. “Janie was there and said Bayard made some remark that Garrick did not like. The master attacked Bayard like a wild boar, and ’twas the excuse for all hell to break loose. Everyone joined in.”
“Bayard and Garrick are now enemies then?”
“Nay, Garrick made amends. ’Tis the way with a friendly brawl.”
“Humph! What was it Bayard said to rile Garrick? Did Janie say?”
“Nay.” Maudya sighed, smoothing troublesome hair away with the back of her hand.
“Did you have a rough night of it?” Brenna asked sympathetically.
Maudya grinned. “’Twas not so bad.”
“And Janie?”
“She was lucky this time. Perrin took her away and no one was the wiser.”
Brenna could not understand Perrin. Garrick was supposed to be his closest friend, yet Perrin was afraid to approach him on a matter so important as Janie. Was Garrick really so forbidding, even to his friends?
“Well, have you a loaf of bread to spare, Maudya? I’m famished, but I feel like riding for a while to ease my pain first.”
“What pain?”
“You did not hear Garrick upbraid me harshly in front of all his friends?”
Maudya looked shocked. “He did that to you?”
“He did.”
Maudya clucked. She got a fresh loaf from the fire and wrapped it in a clean cloth. “You go ahead then, lass.”
“If Garrick asks for me, do not tell him how his words have wounded me. Just say I felt like a brisk ride and will be back shortly.”
“As you wish, Brenna. But if you ask me, he should know.”
A grin curled Brenna’s lips as she headed for the stables. Maudya would tell Garrick everything she had said, for Maudya was that way. He would assume hurt pride was keeping her from the hall so long. Later, when he finally realized she had run away, he would think his harsh words were the reason for it.
But that was only the half of it, Brenna admitted truthfully. She could no longer trust herself to be near Garrick, not after last night. In his hands she turned to clay, to be molded anyway he wished. His kiss drove away her resistance, her will. She could not tolerate that. She was a woman accustomed to having complete control over her reactions. Yet when Garrick touched her she became a puppet. She had to get away from him—far, far away.
Erin was not in the front of the stable when she entered and went straight to Willow. She saddled the mare quickly, praying Erin was sleeping or absent. She did not like lying to Maudya, but to Erin it would be even worse, for she had come to care for the old man a great deal. Fortunately, he was not about.
Brenna took two large sacks of oats for Willow and tied them across the mare’s flanks, then filled four water skins from the water bin. She was ready.
She urged Willow down the path behind the stable, but stopped when Dog came running after her, yelping and raising an alarming commotion.
“Go back!” she snapped at him, fearing he had alerted someone. “Go on, Dog.”
She rode on, but still he followed. “Go back, I say! You cannot come with me.” He bent his head curiously and wagged his tail. Brenna sighed. “Very well, if you are set on adventure, come along. We three will make a strange trio. A dog, a horse, and a runaway slave.”
She raced out into the open field, with Dog trailing close behind. She had no idea where she was going, but she was free, and answerable to no one.
Brenna stopped at the edge of the forest and looked back at the stone house on the cliff. “Farewell, Garrick Haardrad of Norway—Garrick the Hardhearted. I will remember you, no doubt forever.”
Again she felt that choking lump in her throat. “You should be happy, Brenna,” she chided herself aloud. “You are free now.”
The coast could offer her little game, and she knew nothing of fishing. The south, which was the most desirable direction, was cut off by the fjord. The east, which she would have preferred, was where Garrick would search for her, for he would never dream she would go north, where the winds would blow even colder than here. So north it was.
“Can we survive up there till spring, Dog? By then I will have many furs and we can find another settlement near water. We will buy passage on a ship bound for home, or at least away from your homeland. What do you think?”
