Page 72 of Never Leave Me
As Will homed in on Marian and the baby standing near the raised garden beds, he strode down the dirt wagon path that connected the outbuildings to the main house. He wore a long colorless padded jacket Marian had referred to as a gambeson, which would provide cushioning for his plate armor when he needed to don it.
“What is this about, Marian?” His brows furrowed together above eyes containing concern.
She tugged her cloak about her more fully to shield her nightgown and robe underneath. “I wanted everyone to be safe from the coming earthquake.”
The servants, who were clustering nearby, paused at Marian’s declaration.
How could Marian possibly explain her ability to know about an earthquake before it struck? Would they consider her a seer? A heretic? A witch?
Ellen remembered reading that the outbreak of the Black Plague earlier in the century had stirred up irrational fear in the people. Of course, they hadn’t known the real cause of the plague. Instead, they’d looked for scapegoats. Many innocent people had been accused of being witches for starting the plague and had been burned at the stake as a result.
If another outbreak of the plague was sweeping through the country, anyone who hinted at being different would become suspect. Should Marian have been more discreet in speaking of the earthquake? Perhaps they should have come up with another plausible reason to have everyone go outside.
“I think perhaps you are still overly tired.” Will spoke in a low tone. “There is no earthquake—”
The moment he spoke the word, a rumbling, like that of a nearby passing freight train, filled the air. The rumbling turned into a loud rattling. Ellen’s body wobbled, with a sense of vertigo she’d never had before.
The ground shook and then shifted, and she felt as though she were standing in a boat that was being rocked by waves.
Screams and cries erupted around them. The servants clutched at one another or knelt on the ground, crossing themselves and praying aloud.
As her dad swayed, flailing his arms to keep his balance, she grabbed on to him. “We need to get down.”
Together they knelt, the ground still shaking. She looked up in time to see the chimney at one end of the manor crack and the stones fall like a stack of blocks that had been knocked over. They hit the roof and rained off in a shower of debris.
After less than thirty seconds, the destruction tapered to a halt,and Ellen sat in stunned silence. Whimpers and the soft cries from the others drifted around her. A glance in Marian’s direction told her that Will had covered both Marian and the baby within the arch of his body and draped an arm over his son. They were all safe.
Ellen surveyed the others. No one was bleeding or injured—at least that she could outwardly see. She shifted to Dad, anxiously taking him in from his disheveled hair down to his shoes. “Are you all right?”
“I’m just fine.” He sat back on his heels, examining the destruction of the house, the stables, and the other outbuildings. “Looks like we got outside without much time to spare.”
“How did you know about the earthquake?” Will pulled away from Marian and assessed her and the baby.
At Will’s question, a strange silence descended upon the servants. Instead of gratitude and appreciation, their faces filled with both fright and wariness.
Their reaction was as Ellen had suspected. Hundreds of years away from the discoveries that would explain natural disasters and diseases, the people still relied mostly upon superstition.
Marian didn’t immediately answer Will but clutched her baby closer as though already feeling the ache of having her child ripped from her arms under the accusations that she was unworthy.
“I told Marian about the earthquake.” Dad’s voice rang out clear and calm amidst the eerie silence.
Ellen turned startled eyes upon her dad. His brown gaze locked with hers for just an instant, but it was long enough to see the gravity there, to know that he’d recognized the truth of the situation just as she and Marian had. Marian was in danger for predicting the earthquake, but instead of letting her come under suspicion, he was shifting the blame to himself.
Dad pushed off the ground with a grunt. “I have studied the pattern of earthquakes in Kent. It would appear that a quake ofthis magnitude happens about one time every century. My careful calculations proved to be true for a quake today.”
Will stood and assisted Marian to her feet, watching Dad’s face, his intense gaze unrelenting in its pursuit of honesty. Dad didn’t back down or look away, and a message seemed to pass between the two men.
“I am grateful for your warning.” Will spoke in a measured voice. “You may have saved lives. At the very least, you have saved many from injury.”
Dad bowed his head slightly. “I’m glad to be of service.”
As the servants began to disperse, they now shot furtive glances toward Dad instead of Marian. Ellen prayed they believed his explanation, that it would suffice to dampen their suspicions. Because the last thing any of them needed was more trouble.
Harrison paced the length of his property behind the greenhouse near the rear gate. “Check the vault multiple times every day. And once a flask of holy water appears, you need to inject it into my body.”
Sybil had propped one boot on a stone bench, her gaze following his every move back and forth. She hadn’t said he was insane, and her expression didn’t betray any emotions. But he sensed that even though she’d witnessed his healing, the possibility of crossing time went beyond the scope of her imagination.
Whatever the case, as long as she was willing to have a go at his plan, that’s all that mattered. “After the holy water is in my system, I should awaken within a few hours. It might take longer. Maybe a day.”
