Page 61 of A Land So Wide
“I think it best you get her home,” Hessel said, overriding any suggestion Louise had been about to make. “Under the circumstances, perhaps your family should offer their good wishes in spirit only.”
Louise nodded, face scarlet with embarrassment. “Norah, come with me. Norah,please!”
But the girl was past the point of reasoning, well beyond propriety. She’d dropped to the ground, a dead weight that Louise could not lift. She pitched back and forth with such fervor that not a single person stood to offer assistance, wary of touching such concentrated grief.
“Norah,” Louise tried again, grabbing at her sister’s arms and yanking her from the row.
The young girl was a mess of petticoats and stockings. Several women clucked with disapproval, swatting at their husbands and sons to cover their eyes.
Greer stepped forward and, heedless of her fine wool skirts, knelt beside them.
“Norah, it’s Greer,” she tried, and swerved to avoid being struck by a wayward limb. Norah’s wrist caught her cheek anyway and all of the crowd, even Hessel and the Stewards, gasped at the violence of it. “We’re taking you outside now, but you need to help us, help Louise.”
“No one helped Ellis!” she shrieked, flopping onto her back, her eyes scrunched and streaming.
“Someone get her out of here!” Lachlan exclaimed, annoyance heating his face. “She’s ruining the ceremony.”
“Sorry,” Louise called out again. “I’m so sorry.”
Greer left her bouquet on the floor and struggled to scoop Norah into an upright position. Once the girl’s arms were around both her and Louise’s shoulders, they shuffled into the fading afternoon.
Only once Louise had pulled the door to Steward House firmly shut did Norah straighten, a wicked grin spreading over her face. “Did I do very well?”
Greer hugged the small girl, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “You were magnificent!”
“There’s a bag packed for you along the fence to the Hunting Grounds,” Louise said as they crossed into the side yard. “I tried to think through everything you’d need, but there was so much I didn’t know.”
Greer threw her arms around her friend, imparting her gratitudewith the tight squeeze. “You are a wonder! I knew you’d understand! Thank you!”
“Do you really think you’ll be able to find Ellis?” She murmured her doubt quietly into Greer’s shoulder, keeping her voice too low for Norah to overhear.
“I do,” she promised. “I will. I know he’s still out there.”
Louise looked unconvinced. “Before sunset? I don’t understand…How will you—how didhe?”
The door to Steward House opened and Michael Morag peered out. “Greer, they’re waiting for you. You’ll have to get your sister home yourself, Louise. The ceremony is starting now.”
Greer gripped her best friend’s shoulders, wishing there was a way to say everything she needed to. But there was no time. There was only—
“Now!” Norah shouted, giving away the ruse with an excited cry. “Run now, Greer!”
19
Greer took offin a sprint and raced across the empty field bordering Steward House.
“Hessel!” Michael Morag called, shouting into the building. “She’s running!”
Greer laughed at the sounds of confused commotion as Hessel began issuing orders and Stewards and grooms alike hurried to grab their coats and gloves. They stumbled out of Steward House like a pack of hunting dogs set loose on a fox, baying and howling, hungering for another chase, nearly salivating with cruel excitement.
Greer only dared to glance over her shoulder once, and spotted Louise and Norah cheering her on as the men ran her way. Louise jumped into Lachlan’s path, waylaying him as he tried to duck around her.
At the far edge of the field, Greer slipped into a line of tall grasses and made a sharp turn, hoping her pursuers would be too distracted with the thrill of another hunt to notice her change of direction. She wove through tangled thickets and brambled copses, pulled toward the Hunting Grounds like a fish on a hook.
Louise’s pack was along the perimeter’s fence, mostly obscured by a pile of leaves. The dark canvas bag was full of pockets and straps. Greer pulled it free and hefted it onto her shoulders. It was lighter than she’d hoped, but she had no time to take an inventory of what Louise hadrustled up. She’d sort through it later, once she was over the border, once the sun had set and she was no longer being followed.
For now, she slipped through the gate and headed toward the meadow and the Warding Stone she’d watched Ellis pass yesterday.
The air was filled with the sounds of the Hunters. They spread out, breaking into smaller groups. The woods slowed them down, as they combed through the underbrush, scanned twisting thickets, and peered with discerning eyes into the canopy for branches sturdy enough for a girl to climb.
