Page 108 of Raven's Rise
“Then as a woman, please help me out of this mess. I’ll slip away. Ernald will never find me again.”
Bethany leaned closer. “All right. A deal. I’ll let you escape…if you tell me where the money is.”
Frustration gnawed at Angelet. “I don’t know! I never did anything to the chest, and I was just as surprised as anyone when it broke open and there was no gold in it.”
“You had the key. You must have done something.”
“I swear I know nothing of it. I’d tell you if I did…all I want is to get away from here. I don’t care about any money.”
“That’s what people who’ve always had money say,” Bethany said. “Still, I believe you. I bet it was the knight who took it.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. Please, Bethany. It’s not that long until dark.” Until the time that Ernald threatened to force her to bed with him. Angelet shuddered.
Bethany glanced behind her, then beckoned Angelet closer. In a low voice, she said, “I’ll draw Ulmar away from the door for a moment. Watch and sneak out. Go to the left and hug the side of the hut to hide behind it. Then you’re on your own. Head to the woods for cover. But if you’re caught again, it will be worse than before.”
“Thank you,” Angelet breathed.
“Just go quickly.”
Bethany stepped outside, leaving the door cracked. She chatted with Ulmar, in that flirtatious way she had. The guard laughed at something she said, then the sounds of their conversation drifted away.
Angelet, peeking through the opening, saw her moment. She slipped out and hurried to the back of the hut. She took a moment to get her breath and survey the land. No other buildings were in sight from this side, and the forest lay not far beyond. She could run.
But that left Goswin alone. How could she abandon him? No, she’d have to bring him along somehow. She had a little time. The late afternoon light was still bright, and it was at least an hour until sunset, possibly more. Ulmar would assume she was safely in the hut, so he had no reason to sound the alarm.
Angelet peeked around the other corner of the hut, toward the main farmhouse. Was that where Goswin was?
She then looked toward the stables and saw a familiar figure. Not content with merely kidnapping him, they had put Goswin to work feeding and watering the horses. He was lugging a wooden bucket filled so full that water sloshed over the brim with every step. Then he disappeared into the darkness of the stable building itself.
She waited until she saw another guard walk out the door, heading to the main farmhouse. Seeing nobody else, she picked up her skirts and ran around the perimeter of the open area until she reached the back of the stable building.
There she leaned against the stone wall, trying to catch her breath. She heard no shouts, and it seemed that she had succeeded. She waited several moments more, but the quiet endured. The only sounds were the wind stirring the highest branches, and the twitterings of hidden birds. Angelet moved to where the stone wall of the building gave way to wood. In one spot, a plank was missing.
“Goswin!” she called in a low voice.
“My lady?” Goswin’s voice was excited. “Where were you? They wouldn’t say!”
“In a hut, but I got free. Listen, we can wait until dark, then—”
At that moment, a huge hand clamped down on her shoulder. She turned to see Ulmar standing over her.
“Did you think it would be so easy?” he asked. “One of the men by the house saw you running.”
He dragged her around to the front of the building, and she faltered when she saw Ernald approaching with several others, including Bethany, who regarded her with cold eyes.
“I heard,” Ernald said, “that you were attempting to escape.”
“Should I have just sat there and accepted my fate?”
Ernald just looked at her in confusion, and she realized that was exactly what he expected her to do.
“You were stupid to go to the stable,” he said at last. “The woods would have hidden you.”
“Goswin was in the stable.”
“And you wanted to save him? Silly. You’d have got away if you hadn’t bothered with the boy.”
“I wouldn’t have left without him.”
