The Siege of Crowford Castle (The Ghosts of Crowford Book 10) by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross [Cross, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackwych Books Ltd
Published: 2021-09-06T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

1648...

“What's happening out there?” Winifred asked, as she stood behind Henry Carlyle and waited for him to explain. “Can I see?”

“They always do this in the mornings,” he muttered darkly, watching through the window as more loud thuds shook the castle. “They're hoping to goad us into a response so they can pick a couple more of us off. That's how they got Bannington a while back, and they know that this method will work eventually. All we can hope is that we hold out long enough to survive until reinforcements arrive.”

“The castle fell,” Winifred said, thinking back to the history books she'd studied. “They waited for help, but help never came.”

Carlyle turned and glared at her.

“It's true,” she continued, although she was starting to wonder whether she should instead keep her mouth shut. Now that she'd accepted she was in the year 1648, she worried about the consequences of her every move. Had she already changed history simply by being at the castle, or was her presence always part of the castle's story? “I mean...”

“I would advise you to mind your words,” he said firmly, as several other men pushed past in the narrow corridor. “If you say that we are doomed, that is tantamount to calling us ungodly traitors, and we do not take kindly to that.”

“I only -”

“We will win this war,” he added. “The Lord is on our side, and will rescue the king and all his forces. There can be no other outcome in a just and decent world.”

“Of course,” Winifred said meekly, worried about angering him. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you.”

“Something seems different this morning,” he continued, looking out the window again. “Whenever they launch these attacks, I feel as if they are merely going through the motions. They don't seriously expect to break into the castle and flush us out, they prefer to play their little games. This time, however, they seem even less determined than usual. I cannot help but wonder whether they know something that we do not.”

“Well, eventually the -”

Winifred caught herself just in time.

Carlyle turned to her.

“Nothing,” she said, preferring to not mention the fact that the siege had eventually ended after the Parliamentary forces were reinforced by several hundred more soldiers. “I would not wish to interfere. I merely wondered whether there was any possibility that the opposing army might have grown during the night. Is it likely that they might be the ones who received reinforcements?”

After glaring at her for a moment, Carlyle turned and stormed away.

“I must check the defenses,” he said firmly. “Next time I see you, woman, I hope very much that you will have learned to mind your manners!”

Sighing, Winifred realized that Carlyle seemed not to be the type of man who was open to any form of criticism. She was trying to think back to everything she remembered about the siege, to all the little details of the final battle, although in truth she'd always been more interested in the personalities of the era rather than the minutiae of troop movements.

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