Paladin's War by Peter Greene

Author:Peter Greene [Greene, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-03-02T05:00:00+00:00

At eight in the evening, the Bracknell home was silent. The girls had gone to bed, Lady Bracknell had retired to her bedroom, and the lights were extinguished by the servants before they too returned to their quarters for the evening. Darkness was complete; not even a moon was out. A few stars twinkled through the cloud-veiled sky, and a slight breeze rolled quietly across the lawns.

Through this silent scene, a black-clad figure slowly walked, crouched, past the edge of the Bracknell home and made its way to the stables behind the main house. The hood of the cloak covered the figure’s face almost completely, and black gloves covered its hands. Nothing was discernible, just the dark silhouette of a being moving noiselessly between darker shadows of trees and bushes.

Eventually, the figure reached the stable, opened the door with barely a creak, and then closed it behind. Only the soft sound of hay being stepped upon signaled that the figure was moving into the center of the barn. The door to Lilliput, the young, all-black filly, was opened, and the figure, with some effort, placed a saddle upon the beast, put the bit in the horse’s mouth, and led her to the back door.

Immediately, the Airedales began to bark and whine, not in alarm, but in excitement, as if to say, “We will be going with you, yes?” Unfortunately, if they continued their mule-like baying, the plot would be foiled. The stable master would soon be investigating.

“Hush!” said Delain. “Daisy, shhhh! Daffodil, be quiet!”

The dogs paused for a moment, looked at each other, then returned to their miserable whining.

A muffled voice came from the stable master’s quarters, just off the barn: “You two mutts! Keep it down in there!”

The Airedales continued.

“All right! All right, you can come!” whispered Delain as she slapped her thigh, finally exasperated. “Come on now!”

Happily, the dogs stopped their idiotic rambling and, with a few licks and nibbles at Delain’s hands, they squeezed through the door as it opened and headed into the woods.

“Hopefully they disappear into the mud and gloom, chase some disgusting, furry thing, and leave me alone!” she said under her breath. Mounting the filly, she took a last look at the stable master’s house to make sure she hadn’t been seen, and satisfied, headed into Van Patten Wood and to the Wilders’ estate.

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