“We think he’s run off after Hercules,” Stump told him.
Froggy stared at his feet, and his dejection caught Zach’s attention. He lifted the boy’s chin with gentle fingers. “Look at me, Froggy. What do you know about this?”
Froggy swallowed hard. “He’s been talking for three days that we need to fetch Herc, but you wouldn’t listen, and Miss Patience won’t go. Yesterday he pestered me about the marsh. I—” The lad choked and swallowed again. “I told him my grandda taught me the marsh is a sponge. It soaks up the rain and the floods so folks can move about on the roads.”
“Froggy’s grandda lives on the marshes. Froggy, too, when he’s not at the school,” Stump interjected. “Norb’s been pestering him about it.”
“Roads through the marsh?” Zach asked.
Froggy nodded. “The back way to town from th’Academy. He knew it was there; I told him what grandda taught me. It’s my fault. I told him.” Tears began to flow. “It’s only a track, but it’s usually above the water. It’s my fault; I told him,” he went on through sobs, “Now Mr. Ryman says Miss Patience is going to die if she tries it.”
Zach enveloped the boy in a hug. “Norb’s bad decisions are his own, Froggy. You are never to blame for what someone else does.”
He glanced up and saw Peter coming toward them. “Look after him,” he murmured to the boy, as Ryman walked away shaking his head and waving his arms to give some sort of order to his men. Zach went to Patience.
For a moment, Zach thought he saw relief and hope in her expression, but belligerence quickly supplanted it. “I’m going after him,” she insisted.
“Are you out of your mind?” Fear at her determination drove the words out as anger he didn’t intend. “You have no business riding out into the marshes in this weather.” He gestured through the open archway between the stableyard and the less protected road where rain sputtered in sudden squalls.
“Who else will?” she shouted back. “Norb is my responsibility. I should never have left them. I should never have trusted anyone else with their well-being.”
“He was where he belonged at midnight when I checked on them,” Zach spat back, struggling for a grip on his temper. He breathed in deeply, knowing her own guilt lay behind the unintended insult. He went on softly, “We can’t watch all of them every moment, Patience.” He realized he’d used her Christian name, but had no time to consider or apologize.
She swallowed and put a hand on his arm. “I didn’t mean to blame you, Zach, only Norb is gone and in danger and…” For a horrible moment he thought she might collapse in tears, but Patience Abney was made of sterner stuff.
“I was meant to be watching him. It’s my responsibility. I’ll go after him. You stay here with the boys.”
“I won’t endanger anyone else.” She shouted again, something Zach suspected she rarely did. “I cannot bear having anyone else hurt. And you have passengers. You have your own duties.”
He took her hands in his, and leaned forward until their foreheads almost touched. “Listen to me. The worst of the storm is over. I will find him. He can’t have gone far on foot in this mess.”
“I hope you’re right, but I’m going, Zach,” she said, pulling away. “You can’t stop me.”
He tugged her hands back. “Then we’ll go together. You are not going alone. I won’t permit it.”
Ryman had come up behind them. “Thank God, Mr. Newell. She has no business out at all. Please tell her she can’t take that wagon on them marsh roads.”
Zach nodded. “We’ll need sure-footed mounts with good heart and stamina. My uncle’s draft horses are the best in the stable, but they aren’t mine to endanger. We’ll have to take Algernon, but we need another.”
Ryman shook his head. “Brewster would usually allow you one of ours, but none of the mounts we have that would be up for it are available. Two’re at the smithy for attention and another’s ready to foal.”
Zach’s mind raced. Algernon could carry the two of them, but they had to bring Norb back.If the rogue made it to the school, he’ll have a puppy with him as well.
“What about the dog cart I saw in the carriage house? Light as it is, that is less likely to get mired.”
“If it doesn’t get blown off the road,” Ryman shook his head. “No, best if you ride. Miss Abney can stay here.”
“It is my horse and…” she began.
“She can ride pillion—or I will. The beast can carry both of us. We’ll worry about the boy when we find him.” Thoughts of walking back on muddy roads caused Zach’s stomach to clench in apprehension, but he refused to think about it now.God sends what He sends. We contrive.
The fool woman wouldn’t give up. “But Zach, your passengers! You have…”
“We aren’t going anywhere today, not with the road blocked, and my uncle’s horses are snug and well cared for. Ryman can be trusted to take care of the beasts. Give Peter your instructions for the boys. Look, he’s come down and needs to know.”
She nodded.
“Take a minute to reassure Froggy. He’s blaming himself. I’ll go explain to the majors—they’ll help Peter with the lads when we tell them why we’re leaving. I’ll be back in a trice.”
