Dark and Bright by Anna Markland

Author:Anna Markland [Markland, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Bleubelle Press
Published: 2012-04-04T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Darkness fell in the main camp. Rhydderch and Rhun paced, scanning the horizon for any sign the two scouts were returning.

“This isn’t good,” they said simultaneously.

Baudoin and Rhys should have returned well before this. Their plan had never been to stay out overnight. The twins couldn’t venture out in the darkness to find them. They would have to wait until the morrow.

Rhun wanted to sound positive. “Perhaps one of the horses has gone lame and this has slowed them down.”

“We should never have let them go off alone,” Rhydderch replied. “Rhys is no warrior; he doesn’t know the terrain like you and I do. And while Baudoin is a warrior, he doesn’t know Wales.”

Neither man slept. At first light they gathered a small party of men and set off in search of their overdue brothers.

“They may be hurt. We need to take rope and bindings. What else can you think of?” Rhun asked his more practical twin.

***

Rhys slowly regained his wits, but opening his eyes hurt. It was dark, but dawn might not be far off. Pain racked his body. Where was he?

Gradually the memory of the terrifying fall came back to him. “Baudoin?” he rasped. This brought on a fit of coughing. He gritted his teeth against the pain that seared through his chest.

He turned his head. As dawn’s first rays filtered onto the rocky ledge on which he lay, he caught sight of Baudoin a few feet away, one leg hanging over the edge of the ledge. He wasn’t moving. Rhys looked up at the thickly wooded steep slopes of the gorge above him, and uttered a prayer of grateful thanks they hadn’t fallen to the very bottom. However, they’d fallen far enough.

How was he going to get out, and how was he going to get Baudoin out—if he still lived? Rhun and Rhydderch would search for them. He had to hang on, but the pain made it difficult to remain alert. He was certain he’d broken his ribs, and there was definitely something wrong with both legs.

Without thinking he reached for his amber beads, but they were gone. He panicked. Had they broken in the fall? Then he remembered. He blinked away tears as his thoughts turned to Annalise and their unborn child. “I may not get to see my son,” he wailed aloud, then clenched his fists.

Courage! You’ll survive this ordeal.

“I don’t intend to make my wife a widow yet,” he determined. “Stay awake, Rhys, help is on the way. Pray for me, Annalise, and pray for Baudoin.”

Baudoin hadn’t moved. Was his chest rising and falling? It was barely perceptible, but it was there. Rhys drifted in and out of sleep and wasn’t sure how long he’d lain there. He was so thirsty! He licked his dry lips as he watched a tiny spider repairing its dew-laden web in a nearby root. He and Baudoin were caught as surely as the spider’s prey.

What was that? A faint sound? Someone calling his name? Yes—he could hear someone calling his name.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.