Chapter 24
Edward’s head snapped up. He didn’t hear a scream, but he could feel it. Something was terribly wrong.
He had lost track of time while reading. How much time? He and Penelope checked on each other every half hour to make sure everything was fine. That Henry hadn’t done something to one or the other of them. It was more than a half hour since he checked in with Penelope.
There were enough people inside the house that Edward usually didn’t bother looking anywhere there. He rose and ran to his bedchamber door, down the stairs, and out the front door.
“Penelope,” he called as he ran. “Penelope.” Circle the house, he thought. He did. Nothing. “Penelope.”
He closed his eyes but didn’t hear anything. Think. Which direction. The stables.
“Old Robbie,” he yelled, searching for the stable master. Old Robbie was not old. He was tall, large, red-headed with grey streaks running through his hair. His face was lined with age, but his eyes were vibrant and exhibited a youthful glow. No, there was nothing old about Old Robbie but his greying hair and a face lined with experience, “Has anyone gone for a ride?”
“No, Edward. Are you worried?”
Edward nodded. “About Penelope. I haven’t seen her lately.”
“I’ll send someone into the village to see if she is there. I’ll cover this side of the house. You go around to the other side.” Edward turned his back and ran, hearing Old Robbie’s shrill whistle to call his stable boys to him. There was an understanding amongst those who worked for the Stantons that no one spoke of. All had either seen or heard what Henry was about.
The day was windless and warm, and the sun shone brightly. Maybe she went to the meadow.
Edward ran.
On his way to the meadow, Edward encountered Henry coming toward him, headed for the house.
Edward, frantic, was running as fast as possible while Henry was walking toward him at a leisurely pace.
Edward reached him and stopped, but Henry continued to walk. Edward panted from his run and fell into step with his cousin.
“Where is she?” Edward gritted out.
Henry shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said, his eyes shining with playfulness.
“Have you seen her?”
“No, now leave me, Edward. I didn’t come out here to be bothered by you.”
Edward looked around. “What are you doing out here? There’s nothing here worth seeing or doing.”
Henry whipped around to Edward and looked him in the eye, “What I do and where I go is none of your business. A sixteen-year-old boy will not badger me.
Edward watched Henry walk away. He stood where they were just moments ago and slowly turned in a full circle. Penelope, where might you be? The meadow is the only place you would go. God help me, I hope you didn’t go alone.
Edward ran. When he reached the meadow, the flowers and grasses were so high Edward wouldn’t see her if she was laying in the sun on the ground on her back.
He began to walk the edge of the meadow looking for a narrow opening where footsteps would have displaced the growth.
“Penelope,” he called repeatedly. She and Edward were always alert to Henry’s misdeeds. Penelope would call back to him if she could hear him.
Old Robbie and three of the men working on the estate rode up. “I’ve put some men in a line and told them to check every inch of the land on the east side. We’ll do the same here.
“Any idea where we should look?”
Edward shook his head no. “Henry was walking toward me as I was running here. I think we will find her somewhere in this area.”
Old Robbie spoke louder. “Men, form a line for a search party. We’ll walk the horses in a straight line until we find something.” He turned to Edward, “If I may, My Lord, go back to the house and get the staff searching everywhere inside. She could be unconscious.”
Edward nodded and ran.
The butler, Waters, looked concerned when Edward ran through the door.
“My Lord?”
“Gather the staff. We must search every inch of this house for Penelope. She has been missing for over two hours. Old Robbie’s men are searching the property. Assign rooms to every servant and have them searched. All regular duties are to be abandoned. If there is no dinner tonight, so be it. Do you know where my mother might be?”
“I’ll have a footman find her. Should she meet you in the parlour?”
“Yes, Waters. Thank you, and thank the staff.”
Waters bowed then went about following his orders.
Edward went into the parlour and paced. “Edward, what’s happened? Is it Penelope?”
His face showed his concern with furrowed brows and a downturned mouth. “She’s missing. It’s been over two hours, maybe longer. I’m concerned. There are search parties inside and out.”
Cecilia’s hands moved to her mouth of their own volition. “Do we know where –”
“I bumped into him outside in an area none of us usually go. He was heading back here as I was running there. He was his surly self and no help. I told Old Robbie, and he’s scouring the area.”
Someone brought in tea and refreshments, but Cecilia and Edward didn’t notice.
Cecilia went to the window. Edward thought his mother might hope to see Penelope coming back from a long walk. Cecilia turned to Edward, “He’s done it this time, hasn’t he?”
Edward nodded. “Yes, I’m certain he’s behind it. I can’t believe I wasn’t watching her. It’s all my fault.”
Edward put his hands on his face while Cecilia rubbed his back up and down like she used to do when he was a child.
“You are guilty of nothing. He would have found a way to get to her no matter how closely you watched her. She’s a fourteen-year-old girl. She didn’t understand the true danger she was in.”
Edward’s voice was shaky. He was trying not to cry. “Mother, I hope she comes through the door after an enjoyable time in the village.”
Cecilia sat and hugged a pillow. “That menace not only makes our lives miserable but puts our lives in danger.”
She was looking into the empty fireplace when the door opened. She stood. “Avery, have you heard any news?”
He shook his head and put on a fake smile. “No, Cecilia. I have not. I just wanted to check on you and Edward. I can’t imagine the angst you are going through, but I will do everything I can to help.
“I understand all our men are searching the property, and the servants are searching the house. Is there anything else, anything at all I can do for you?”
Cecilia closed her eyes to stem the tears. “No, thank you, Avery. Your staff is wonderful, and they have put my mind at ease with all they are doing.”
Edward cleared his throat, “I hope you don’t mind, Uncle, but in my haste to search for Penelope, I asked your servants to help without first coming to you. I apologize.”
“No need, Edward. Anyone would have done the same thing in your situation.
“I also wanted you to know that I talked to Henry to see if he knew anything. He mentioned bumping into you near the meadow. He knows nothing either and is also panicked by the accident.”
Cecilia raised her head, “Accident? She has been in an accident? What do you know Avery?”
Avery quickly backtracked, “I didn’t mean to say she was in an accident. It is just one of the theories running through my head when I wonder what could have happened to her. I am sorry to alarm you. I meant nothing by it.”
Cecilia and Edward exchanged glances.
“Well, I will leave you. I’ll check in soon to update you on any progress I might hear. Dear Cecilia, I am hopeful for a good outcome. You need to be too.”
Edward sat and stared at the ceiling. “Why did Uncle say she was in an accident?”
With tears running down her face, Cecilia choked out, “Because Henry might have done something to her.”
Edward was sixteen, and he thought he was too old to cry, but tears streamed down his face. “Yes. He is capable of anything.”
Cecilia sobbed. She thought so too. And he would get away with it. Her brother was already covering Henry’s tracks. She was in an ‘accident.’
Cecilia and Edward sat in silence, the only sound in the room the tick of the clock. Edward wanted to throw it out the window. It was a reminder of how much time had passed since Penelope went missing.
Cecilia and Edward didn’t speak; they didn’t eat. Every hour, Edward went out to talk with Waters. He knew Waters would come to him immediately if there was something to tell, but he felt the need to go anyway. After the initial flurry of news about the village and the inside of the house – she was not in either location – news only trickled in.
Edward had to tell himself they were being very thorough and that’s why the wait was so long. He had to tell himself that repeatedly.
After over six hours since Edward realized she was gone, Cecilia and Edward heard the urgent voices of several men. They quickly looked at each other and ran to the door.
In the hallway, Penelope was unconscious and bleeding heavily from her head, in the arms of Old Robbie. He ran up the stairs two at a time and kicked in Penelope’s bedchamber door. He gently laid her on her bed.
Cecilia and Edward were right behind him. They knelt by her side. She was white and laboured to breathe. Cecilia looked at Edward. “She is close to death,” she whispered.
Edward went to Old Robbie.
He put a hand on Edward’s shoulder. “I sent a man into the village for the healer. She’ll be here soon.”
Edward closed the door and took Old Robbie to a corner of the room, all the time watching Penelope. “Is she going to make it?”
Old Robbie shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s bad. We’ll see what the healer says.”
Edward choked, “What happened?”
Old Robbie told Edward about how and where he found her. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Old Robbie’s eyes were wet.
The healer, Cara, burst in carrying two large bags of her potions. She asked who knew what happened, and Old Robbie told her what he knew.
Cecilia wailed then buried her head in Penelope’s neck when she heard. The healer rubbed her back.
“Everyone but Lady Balfour out. Get Penelope’s maid, tell the kitchen to boil water and bring empty basins as well as basins full of hot water. Tell her maid to bring fabric we can cut into strips. Now out with you. That means you too, Lord Balfour. No men.”
He nodded. “I’ll be on a chair outside the door. I’ll get anything you need.”
*****
Old Robbie put up his arm and turned. He was only able to stop his horse because he was going so slowly while he searched.
“Hold up, hold up,” he yelled.
He got down from his horse and tied him to a low branch close by.
The other three in his search party did the same. They all leaned over the ledge. Some gasped while others groaned. No one was silent. “We need to find a way to get down there now,” Old Robbie said.
The cliff dropped off twenty feet and didn’t have a gently rolling slope in sight. Even the boulders that sat grouped and gradually cascading from the top weren’t of any use.
The men looked side-to-side thinking the cliff would even out around the bend.
“We need to follow this cliff to the sides to see if it gets any easier to traverse,” Old Robbie said.
“You’re right,” Jamie said. “Two us to the left, two to the right. Let’s find a way.”
They walked until they could walk no longer. A wall of boulders stood in their way.
“What about a rope? Jamie asked as they walked at a brisk pace back to where old Robbie was inspecting the other end of the cliff.
“Does anyone have one in their saddlebag? I don’t,” Will said.
They caught up with old Robbie and Ned on the other end, inspecting a dangerous drop onto boulders that would lower someone down deep, smooth steps. Possible? But then they would have to manoeuvre up them again with an unconscious or dead girl, climbing those same boulders.
“A rope?” Jamie asked old Robbie, watching the man look at the boulders from every angle.
Old Robbie didn’t look up. “Ned, go to my saddlebag and get me the rope.”
He turned to Jamie and Will, shaking his head. “The rope won’t be long enough. We might need to go back for a longer one.”
“She’s already been down there too long.”
Jamie looked up into the sky. “I want to be the one to wring his neck. I want to watch the life drain from his eyes as I squeeze tighter.”
Ned came back and handed the rope to old Robbie. He wrapped an end part around his hand and then threw the other end over the cliff. The four men leaned over.
Jamie said, “It’ll work.” The others nodded. The rope was short of the ground but by only five feet.
Old Robbie turned around. “I need something to strap her onto my back.”
They all went through their saddlebags but came up with nothing.
Jamie sighed then took off his belt and his plaid, handing them to Old Robbie. The others did the same.
Old Robbie looked around. “Just what we need, three naked clansmen pulling a rope. I’ll take yours Jamie, and give me one more belt then get dressed.”
Old Robbie made a sling out of Jamie’s plaid and tucked the two extra belts in his own. The three men held the rope, and Old Robbie backed down the cliff of rocks just above Penelope’s body.
He hopped down to the ground and rushed to Penelope to check for a pulse. He had to check three times before he found it; her pulse was so weak.
“She’s alive,” he yelled. The others remained subdued. Old Robbie had started moving her to carry her on his back, and when he picked her up, the men saw puddles of blood.
Jamie whispered, “If she were here all night, there would be nothing left to her when the wolves were through.”
Old Robbie could hear what Jamie said. Sound bounced off the rocks without being distorted. As he belted Penelope in, he thought, Hell, they wouldn’t even have to wait until after dark.
Old Robbie had to balance Penelope on his back so that she didn’t flip to the left or the right and take him with her. He had to tie part of Jamie’s plaid around his waist and anchor her before he could begin.
Unconscious people are dead weight, he decided. He knew she didn’t weigh nearly as much as it felt like she did.
The climb was slow. Grabbing rope, uphill, with one hundred pounds on your back is hard. More than once, he looked at the palms of his hands to see strips of blood with fragments of rope sticking out.
“I’m up far enough you can pull on the rope, not just anchor it. Help me along.”
Ned, Jamie, and Will started stepping backwards as they pulled.
“Slow down, slow down,” Old Robbie said. They stopped, and Old Robbie told them to pull, just slower.
Jamie saw Old Robbie’s head coming up over the cliff. “Keep holding. I’m going to see if I can help him over the edge.”
Jamie knelt at the edge and grabbed one of Old Robbie’s hands.
Once over the edge, Old Robbie rested on his hands and knees, breathing as if he just ran ten miles. Jamie and Ned unwrapped Penelope from his back. Will ran to Old Robbie’s saddlebag to grab his flask of whisky.