Knight Errant: A Highland Passage Novel by J.L. Jarvis

Author:J.L. Jarvis [Jarvis, J.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bookbinder Press
Published: 2015-05-16T23:00:00+00:00

NOT FORGOTTEN

The priest landed with his back wedged where the base of a branch met the thick trunk of a tree. With his fall partly broken by his now-dead attacker, Robert fell back from the branch as leaves rustled and twigs snapped. He randomly grasped for anything that might stop his descent until a branch caught his doublet and held him suspended. He struggled to breathe before the branch snapped, and he fell to a nearby branch below, where he held on. Secure for the time being, he thought of Violet and steeled himself for the climb down from the tree. Sharp pain shot through his chest to his side, but he forced himself to keep inching his way down the tree. From branch to branch, he proceeded with battered hands and unbearable pain in his ribs. A wrong move could send him to his death and Violet to hers, so by sheer force of will, he kept on, despite the blinding pain. He arrived at the last branch, which was ten feet from the ground. On another day, dropping to the ground would have been nothing, but he had not yet fully recovered from having been poisoned, and now he was sure he had cracked at least one rib. The drop to the ground would be his undoing. But he had to get Violet. So he fixed his mind on what had to be done, and he let himself fall.

He awoke, having passed out from the pain. How long he had been lying on the ground, he couldn’t tell. Slowly, he rose and climbed up to the castle. He took a long way around to avoid the steep slope to the top. He was forced to stop to catch his breath, but breathing hurt more, so he trudged on. It was late afternoon by the time he arrived at the bridge to the castle.

He staggered to the opening of the oubliette. “Violet! Are you all right?”

A soft sob rose, followed by a long silence.

“Answer me, lass. Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m just glad to hear your voice!”

Robert looked about for the rope the others had used earlier. It lay cast aside by the crumbling castle wall. Robert bent to pick it up and cursed, holding his side. Not trusting himself to support her in his injured condition, he looked about for something to which he could secure the end of the rope. There was nothing near enough, so he looped the rope about his hips, well below his injured ribs, and dropped the other end down to her.

She tied it about her waist and called up, “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Lass, can you climb at all?”

“A little. I climbed a rock-climbing wall on a cruise ship.”

He puzzled over what that might mean but gave up. “Good. You climb, and I’ll pull you up with the rope.”

“Okay.”

Robert leaned back, doing his best to use his weight to keep the rope taut. He had enough space behind him to keep backing up, rather than use his upper body to pull, which he could not have done.

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