He went straight to the hole in the wall.
Thomas hunkered down for a moment, listening for cries or shouts from those inside the ruins, but there was relative silence. Certainly nothing that could be construed as an alarm, so it stood to reason that perhaps they didn’t even know their hostages has escaped.
Carefully, Thomas peered through the hole, seeing trees and foliage on the other side, but he also saw movement. Straining to make it clear, he could just see Maitland being yanked to her feet by a big, dirty man. That was all it took for Thomas to remove his crossbow and fire off a red-tagged arrow, up into the air and back in the direction from where he’d come. It was a low shot, and a long one, hoping it could be seen against the storm and rain. He was alerting the army to charge, praying they saw the signal because he didn’t intend to send off another.
That second arrow was reserved for the bastard who had just put his hands on Maitland.
It was about to get ugly.
*
Hobelar had herby the wrist, digging his dirty fingers into her flesh.
“I hope ye’ve had enough sleep, woman,” he said. “Ye are goin’ tae complete a task for me today.”
Maitland let him pull her away from the blanket. The less he saw of what it was covering, the better. “I did not sleep at all, if you must know,” she said unhappily. “What do you want of me?”
Hobelar wouldn’t let go of her wrist. “It is time we discuss my plan,” he said as the rain pounded down on them. “Ye’re off tae Wark today.”
Maitland tried to yank her arm free. “Let me go,” she snapped. “You are hurting me.”
Hobelar tightened his grip and twisted her arm so that she gasped. “Shut yer lips, woman,” he hissed. “If ye dunna want the children harmed, then ye’ll shut yer mouth and do as ye’re told. Are ye listenin’?”
Maitland stopped struggling against him because he was genuinely hurting her. “I am listening,” she said with contempt. “What do you want from me?”
Hobelar plastered on a feigned smile. “Good lass,” he said. “Do ye know where Wark is?”
Maitland lifted her shoulders. “I do not even know whereweare.”
Hobelar indicated the direction behind him. “Wark is that way,” he said. “If ye take the road tae the south, it will take ye straight tae Wark.”
“And what do you want me to do when I get there?”
Hobelar eyed her for a moment before wiping the water from his face. “Tell de Wolfe he must come with ye,” he said. “Tell him I want tae speak tae him, and if he willna come, tell him I’ll kill the children and dump them at his gatehouse.”
Maitland felt fear shoot through her even though she knew that the longer she stood there and talked to Hobelar, the less chance the man had to get his hands on the children as they fled into the storm.
Run, children, run!
“I will tell him,” she said steadily. “But he will bring his army when he comes.”
Hobelar frowned. “Tell him the bairns will die if he does,” he said. “Ye dunna seem tae understand, woman. Explain tae de Wolfe that he must come alone. Anythin’ else and I’ll kill the children right in front of ye.”
Maitland shook her head at the man, that slow and wagging gesture suggesting utter disgust.
“Who has been so cruel to you your entire life that you believe hurting children is acceptable?” she asked. “Did your mother beat you senseless? Did your father whip you until you screamed? What makes you think that behaving this way is the right and civilized thing to do? Those children have never done anything to you. They cannot hurt you in any way. They have never had anyone love them and I am trying very hard to raise them to be productive people. I am teaching them skills and a trade. Why would you take all of that away from them just for your foolish notions of revenge?”
Hobelar suddenly grabbed Maitland around the neck and she gasped, her hands going to his as he held her around the throat. “Ye have no idea what I’ve done, woman,” he growled. “If ye knew the men I’ve killed and the women I’ve cut tae pieces, ye wouldna speak tae me so. For now, I’ll forgive ye, but do it again, and I’ll kill ye.”
Maitland could feel the blood pulsing in her face. “Kill me and you’ll have no one to accomplish your terrible scheme.”
He squeezed tighter and Maitland knew if she didn’t fight back, he might very well kill her, so she brought a foot up, kicking him right between the legs. Hobelar loosened his grip as he doubled over, but he didn’t let go of her completely. As she tried to whirl away from him, he grabbed hold of her hair and yanked hard. Maitland fell to her knees as Hobelar stood over her, mad enough to kill.
“That’ll cost ye, woman,” he said. “I hope ye enjoy pain.”
Before he could collect the dagger in the sheath on his belt, a high-pitched whistling sound filled the air and something solid hit Hobelar squarely in the chest. He staggered back and fell onto his buttocks as Maitland ripped her hair from his grasp. Terrified and startled, she turned in time to see an arrow protruding out of Hobelar’s chest.
An arrow with a bright red flag attached to it.
