“See that you do.”
Thomas and Hector grinned at each other for a moment before Hector turned back to his army, making sure the men were hunkered down, while Thomas turned to his brothers and nephew. All of them were ready to go, soaking wet, with water running down over their faces and into their eyes as the stormraged. Thomas joined them, looking at everyone, making sure they were prepared. They were on a slight rise, facing southwest, looking through a dip between two hills. Through it, there was a flat plain beyond, with knee-high grass, a line of trees, and then the landscape dipped down into another flat plain.
“Let us not delay,” he said, pointing southwest. “See that line of trees in the distance? That is the River Till and Castle Heton is beyond that. We leave the horses at those trees and go the rest of the way on foot. When we arrive, it will be our priority to scout out the location of the reivers before we start looking for Mae and the children. We must know where our enemy is stationed before we move.”
The brothers nodded in agreement. “Once we find Mae and the children?” Desmond asked. “Then what?”
Thomas looked at him. He wanted so badly to be the one to save Maitland, but he knew Desmond wanted to get to his sister as well. Truthfully, it didn’t matter how she was saved, only that she was.
“Then we slip in, unnoticed, and get to them,” he said. “Grab the first child you come to, or if it happens to be Mae, grab her first. I do not care who grabs whom, only that they are all removed. Once you have a warm body, stay out of sight and go straight to your horse. Head back to the waiting Northwood army as fast as you can.”
It was a sound plan. Everyone started to mount their horses but Troy hung back. He went to Thomas, putting his hand on the man’s shoulder.
“You are fearless, Tommy,” he muttered. “Let us prove it.”
Thomas looked at the man, a smile on his lips. It brought him a moment of reflection. “I wish…” he started, then stopped. His smile turned somewhat sad. “I wish Papa was with us. I told him once that I know there were times when I have disappointed him, and I had hoped that, someday, he might see me in actionand be proud of me for it. I wanted him to see theDhiib aleasifaas he was always meant to be.”
Troy put his hand on the man’s wet head in an affectionate gesture. “The StormWolfe,” he murmured. Then, he looked up to the sky. “The elements are with you, Brother. A storm has arisen in your honor and it is time to release that cunning warrior inside of you. As for Papa, mayhap you do not quite understand this because you do not have children yet, but there is nothing you have to prove to him. He was proud of you the moment you were born. We’veallbeen proud of you since the moment you were born. There is nothing you need to prove to any of us.”
With that, he kissed his brother’s wet forehead and headed off to his own horse.
Feeling fortified and determined, Thomas leapt onto his war horse, his gaze focused on the trees in the distance. Beyond that, he could only pray that Maitland and the children were waiting. He couldn’t stomach the alternative. They hadn’t come this far only to fail. For Maitland, and for the children, he had to succeed.
The StormWolfe was unleashed.
*
It was ahorrible, miserable day.
The ruins of the great castle had a large barrel vault where the majority of the reivers were taking shelter on this morning, leaving Maitland and the children out in the rain. They were beneath a cluster of birch trees, and the heavy canopy provided a measure of shelter, but not enough. There was still water dripping down on them and as Maitland protected the twins, Artus tried to protect Marybelle, and Phin tried to protect Nora.
All of them were huddled together, cold and hungry and exhausted. Hobelar hadn’t spoken to Maitland since yesterday,which had been a blessing, but the trade-off was that they’d basically been neglected. They’d been given one old horse blanket to warm them, but there was no fire, and the only food the reivers had given them was the scraps of a boar they’d killed.
The animal had fed thirty or more men but when it came to the hostages, they received a bone with some meat scraps on it, which Maitland fed to the starving children as a mother bird would feed her hatchlings. There were six open mouths and Maitland picked every sliver of meat from the bone, everyone receiving a piece in turn, until there was nothing left. Then, she gave the bone over to Artus, who broke it open so they could eat the marrow.
And that was all they’d had.
Now, with morning dawning, the children were hungry again and Roland was starting to sniffle. Maitland was terrified that she was going to have sick children on her hands, but she was so thankful that Hobelar had left them alone that she didn’t want to catch the man’s attention by asking for food or shelter.
In fact, Hobelar had them corralled over by the eastern end of the ruins, by a wall that had long had holes knocked in it, and just beyond the holes and the trees that were providing them with some shelter was a wide-open field to freedom. Maitland had seen it last night and this morning, her gaze lingered on it. But she knew they’d never make it through without being seen; at least, notallof them would make it.
But perhaps one would.
At this time of the morning, the men in the half-ruined barrel vault were starting to awaken. In this heavy rain, they were starting fires inside the vault because Maitland could see and smell the smoke that was billowing out of the vault opening. She could hear men coughing inside. Leaning over the twins, who were both dozing on her lap, she tapped Artus on the head. When the boy looked up, she put her finger to her lips.
“There is a hole in the wall behind me,” she hissed. “Can you see it?”
Artus looked over her shoulder before nodding his head. “Aye.”
“Can you get to it and escape?”
Artus’ eyes lit up. He looked around, seeing men stirring at this early hour, but they weren’t being watched. Yesterday, they’d had two men watching them all day and into the night, but this morning, there didn’t seem to be anyone around. He returned his attention to Maitland and nodded eagerly.
“Aye,” he said, pushing Marybelle off his lap and crawling towards Maitland. “I’ll get through.”
Maitland grasped his arm before he could get away. “Run to the nearest village,” she whispered. “I do not know where we are, but find the nearest village and tell them to take you to Sir Thomas at Wark Castle. He will come and help us.”
Artus nodded. “Aye!”
