The Rewards of Treachery by Rosemary Rowe

Author:Rosemary Rowe
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448310401
Publisher: Severn House
Published: 2022-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

Voices. Several voices – male – and none I recognized. Two of them at least. Calling to each other, as if they were a little way apart. And it was clear, from the scattered phrases I could catch, that they were seeking me.

‘If he’s left the path and got the boy, he must have left a trail. Once we see that, we’ve got him.’ A young and energetic speaker, by the sound of him.

‘Perhaps.’ A deeper, resonating tone. ‘But keep your ears alert. And don’t rush so far ahead. We must coordinate. We don’t want him getting past us, out among the trees, because no one happens to be looking that way at the time.’ There was no mistaking the vigour and authority in the second voice. And they were getting nearer all the time.

I don’t believe I have ever been more frightened in my life. I pressed myself against the tree and tried to hold my breath. Perhaps they would pass by and not find my hiding place. But if they did … I clutched the blade more firmly. I would sell my life – and Carus’s – as dearly as I could.

My pursuers, meanwhile, were making no attempt to disguise that they were there. I could hear the crackle of twigs and dead leaves underfoot and the swish of something – probably a hefty walking staff at least – sweeping through the foliage at the verge. A murmuring of voices – they were not calling now. A muffled laugh. They must be very close – just beyond the trunk where I was sheltering.

And then the noises stopped. Silence. The searchers had evidently paused. Were they listening for movement, just as I had been? I tried to meld still more into the tree, almost afraid that they would hear the thumping of my heart.

If I was spared, I told myself, I’d count to a thousand before I moved a limb – or would it be safer to jump them from behind and hope to kill them both? Surprise might give me an advantage, and – even if I only managed to stick my knife between one pair of ribs – at least the odds against me would be halved. And it would prevent them doubling back, unseen, and jumping me. Supposing that there really were just the two of them. But I dared not inch my head around the trunk to look.

I was wondering how much longer I could stand statue-still like this, when Carus stirred. Only slightly – he was still asleep where I had left him hidden – but it was enough. I had sensed the movement, and I was not the only one.

‘There’s something over there – among the undergrowth. Something white. I saw it move.’ It was the older voice which spoke. ‘It might be just an animal – caught in a snare, perhaps, since it hasn’t run away. Or some female creature that will not leave its young. Either way, we should investigate. But be careful.

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