My Lady Wayward by Lael St. James

Author:Lael St. James [St. James, Lael]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2010-04-20T04:00:00+00:00

10

Snow fell all the day, with blinding fury, stinging Meg’s face and hands, biting through her cloak and kirtle with teeth that chewed her flesh numb. When at midafter-noon they came upon a village, Meg took heart; surely they could rest awhile, if not pass the night.

She and Gresham had not exchanged many words, mainly because it was difficult to make oneself heard over the fiendish and incessant howl of the wind. Now, Meg turned toward him, expecting to see in him the same profound relief she felt.

Instead, his eyes were narrowed, and his expression grim. The sheriff raised a hand to halt the small party, apparently sharing Gresham’s obvious misgivings.

Prigg gave over the reins of Gresham’s gelding to one of his men and reined in his own horse, now grown skittish and fitful. Meg had no doubt that the animals suffered as bitterly from the cold as did their masters, mayhap more so, for the burdens they bore. She patted Enoch on the neck, frowning as the sheriff and one member of his company slogged through the deep snow toward the little cluster of huts.

She realized then what had troubled the sheriff and Gresham; there was no sound, no movement. No barking of dogs, no curious children peering at them from the sides of the path, no smoke curling above the thatched roofs.

The place was utterly, ominously still.

Gresham leaned toward Meg to speak, and though he did not raise his voice, neither did he try to keep the others from hearing. “None of your recklessness, my lady. Much is amiss here.”

A fierce quickening sensation struck Meg in the pit of the stomach; she stood in her stirrups to peer through the ever thickening snow. “Where,” she murmured, expecting no reply, “are the people?”

“Where indeed?” Gresham said, fidgeting in his bonds. He had been working at them for some time, but of course Meg had ignored the process as best she could, lest the sheriff’s attention be drawn.

Prigg and his chosen companion disappeared, still mounted, into the heart of the small village.

Only moments later, they came out again, spurring their exhausted horses to haste.

“Plague!” bellowed the sheriff’s man. “Saints and angels, there be plague in this place, and corpses all about!”

Meg felt her gorge rise. Enoch, taking his lead from the nervous horses, began to nicker and fret, and the three men left to guard Gresham looked as though they would bolt and scatter in all directions, with no thought, one for the other.

“We must burn the huts,” the sheriff said, upon reaching the anxious knot of people and horses in the middle of the field, “and the bodies with them. Else others will surely stumble upon the place, and fall sick.”

The men began babbling and shaking their heads, uttering a torrent of protests and excuses, but Gresham nudged the gelding’s sides with the heels of his boots, urging it forward, its reins trailing in the snow. Meg followed, though belatedly, for Enoch balked at venturing any closer to the silent village.

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.