Dawn at Emberwilde by Sarah E. Ladd

Author:Sarah E. Ladd
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2016-04-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Colin was distracted.

He recognized the panic in Isabel’s eyes. Having once seen it, fear was easily recognizable.

He watched her walk toward Emberwilde. Even though her bonnet was tied around her neck, it hung down her back, bouncing slightly with each step. She walked over the grass, her movements dainty, her figure swaying slightly. Her unforgettably blonde hair—the fairest he had ever seen—blew in wisps about her.

Beautiful.

How distraught she had seemed. She had tears in her eyes. A scratch on her flawless cheek. Her skin had been impossibly pale, making him wonder what exactly had happened to her in the forest. How odd that she should be drawn there. Most people ran from it.

Colin did believe her story. What reason could she have to lie?

Miss Creston was becoming a mystery.

A mystery he wanted to solve.

He turned his attention back to Sampson and patted his neck.

“Well, boy, what do you make of her?”

The dappled horse nudged at his coat, searching for sugar or oats.

He slackened the reins and started walking to Emberwilde’s main gate, where he had planned to meet Henry and McKinney. He arrived first, the sun high above him, vibrant in a clear blue sky.

“You’re late,” Colin exclaimed when the two men finally came into view.

“Sorry, Cousin. Couldn’t get away. Business, you know,” Henry said with a shrug, hopping down from the cart they had used to get there.

Colin looked up at the sky. He wanted to take advantage of the daylight. “At least you are here now. We’d best be moving if we don’t want to be in the forest when the sun starts to go down.”

Once the men were both free from the cart and had secured the animal, Colin began. “This is the plan. We’ve been unsuccessful to this point in our efforts to gain any undeniable evidence, and yet the activity has continued. We will confiscate the casks and crates and take them to the jail for the time being. Either those responsible will retaliate, which I suspect will be the case, or they will abandon the project. Either way, we will make progress. We’ll bring Sampson to help us clear the crates. Come on, we’ve got work to do.”

“What about Ellison? Or the gamekeeper?” Henry adjusted his hat on his head. “I thought they were going to join us.”

Colin looked back toward Emberwilde. Yes, he had thought that Ellison was going to join them as well, but as it turned out, he was nowhere to be found. The scenario was growing more and more odd. For a man so intent on finding the source of the problem, Ellison had been curiously absent. It was unlike the older man to be forgetful or unreliable. But then again, perhaps it was unfair to judge a man in the midst of a financial crisis.

McKinney’s steps were slow as he fell in next to Colin. “I don’t see how I get roped into these things. I told you I wouldn’t step foot in this place.”

“You’re too old to believe in such fairy tales.

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