Sixteen
“Henry, please! I cannot go on! I feel violently sick,” she turned and vomited. It wasn’t hard to pretend because the smell and sight of him made her ill. She retched up the contents of her stomach on the booted foot of a soldier.
“Damn it! Ye bitch!” he said and pushed her down on the floor.
She kept retching. She wanted to give Connor more time to find her. She needed to make them go slower.
“I need water, Henry,” she moaned. “Henry, please!” she looked up pleadingly into his eyes. It was her best performance to date. She didn’t even know how far they had traveled or where they were. He retrieved his pouch and he leaned down to give it to Maddie.
“Drink, Madeleine.”
She drank greedily.
“Thank ye, Henry,” she said panting. She was on her hands and knees trying to catch her breath. Maddie tried to get up and pretended weakness as she fell again on the floor. She started to cry.
“I’m so weak. My head is spinning,” she said forcefully.
“You best not be feigning this, Madeleine,” Binouix said harshly.
She shook her head and moaned. “Nay! I don’t know what’s wrong, Henry. It feels as if I’m going to die,” she whispered.
“We need to be moving, milord,” a soldier said impatiently.
Maddie wrapped one arm around her middle as she remained propped up on her knees and other arm.
“My God! My God!!” she said in feigned agony.
“Madeleine, I have never known you take the Lord’s name in such a way,” Henry said, studying her closely. His eyes widened.
It worked. She almost laughed at that. She thanked God for always having the will to never take His name in vain.
Maddie looked up at him, her face red and sweaty. “I know. I’m in so much pain, Henry!” She said coughing. “I don’t think I can stand the movement on a horse.” She began to gag again and rolled to her side. “Air. I need air! I feel like I’m choking!”
Henry looked to his commanding officer.
“We shall stay awhile longer until she gets a little better.”
“But milord-” the soldier she vomited on, protested.
“Not another word, for if we do ride, she’ll ride with ye!” The soldier kept his mouth quiet. The remainder of the men stared at Maddie.
She hoped this would give Connor sufficient time. If not, she wouldn’t be needing to fake her tears anymore.
*****
“Katie is no where to be found. Neither is Maddie!” Connor turned around and yelled. His heart was in his throat.
“Let’s search over here,” Kiel said.
“This is verra far off of the path to the castle,” Connor said.
They stopped, hearing a noise.
“Over there,” Iain said pointing.
They all strode towards the sound.
“Who is that?” Iain asked, squinting. They were yards away from the movement in the grass.
“Oh, no!” Kiel said and sprinted over to the moving body. They followed Kiel towards the person.
“Katie! Katie, are ye alright,” Kiel said kneeling next to her.
Katie had dragged herself the whole distance. She was sweating and panting from both exertion and pain. Her face was tight and red. Her dress was torn and muddied.
“Connor! She’s gone!” Katie was coughing because of her horribly dry throat.
“What do ye mean, Katie?” Connor asked as he felt the world close in on him.
“Henry. That man took her. When she escaped from his grasp and ran, he took me instead. When she saw he had me, she took my place! She sacrificed herself for me. Then a soldier wanted me, too, and he and two others chased me. When I ran, I injured my ankle,” she said in frustrated tears. She continued to speak through clenched teeth, “I couldn’t get here fast enough, Connor! Damn my ankle! Who knows where they are now!”
“Where did they go, Katie?” Panic almost immobilized him. Nay, it wasn’t panic, but fear bordering on terror. He didn’t want to think what Binouix would do to her.
“That way,” she said pointing through the trees. “That’s where I saw them before I started running.”
“Kiel, carry Katie inside and get mother. Run and warn Hugh to stand in command. Bring with ye more warriors,” Connor ordered.
“Where are ye going, Connor?” Iain asked, looking at Connor heading towards the castle.
“I’m going to get a bigger sword.”
*****
“Do ye hear that?”
“Aye, it’s coming from over there,” the other man said.
They slowly moved forward.
“It’s her, Athyn. Some English soldiers have her!”
“Let’s wait here until the moment presents itself,” Athyn whispered.
“And then what?”
“We’ll grab her back and ransom her.”
“What if Ram comes looking for her?”
Athyn thought about it for awhile.
“If that occurs, we’ll consider the situation again. Until then, we proceed as planned.”
*****
“Calm down, Connor! Ye canna think clearly when ye’re like this.” Iain tried to calm his older brother down, but Connor was beyond listening. The tension and fury emanating from Connor was unlike anything he’d ever seen before from him.
Connor looked at Iain. Night had fallen and only the moonlight lit their path.
“If something happened to her, I doona know what I’ll do!” Connor said tightly.
Kiel motioned for them to stop talking and listen. They were already off Ramsay land and in Menzies territory. The men crept up and saw the English soldiers.
A few seconds later, they saw Maddie. She was on the ground, pleading.
*****
“I can’t go on, Henry!”
“You’ve been like this for hours, Madeleine,” Henry said coldly and impatiently. His top lip curled and his eyebrows scrunched over his eyes.
Maddie felt his animosity and anger, and made the mistake of looking up at him. He saw something more present in her eyes.
“You’ve been feigning it, haven’t you!”
She started coughing again. “Nay! I’m in pain!”
“Liar!” he hurriedly stalked over to her, bended down, and grabbed her by the throat. He lifted her up in the air and pushed her back until she thudded against the tree trunk. She let out a groan of pain as the back of her head made impact with the tree again. His hand still held her by the throat, suspending her inches off the ground. She struggled to breathe.