Page 36 of Beguiled
“’Tis back in place,” she whispered. “You need not worry that I shall scare you.”
“I wasn’t worried about that.” Frustration coursed through me, aimed more at myself than at her. For amidst her accusation, I feared a hint of truth lingered, that I was placing too much emphasis on her appearance. Had I been doing so with all the outcasts?
Look on the heart. I’d believed the purpose of my Testing was to analyze the behaviors and motivations of the people I met. And maybe that was part of it. But perhaps I needed to reevaluate what I was doing, see beyond the exterior and evaluate the worth of a person’s character more than anything else.
Could I do that with Pearl? Place more importance on her character than her blemish?
I swiveled back to her. She was halfway down the alley, racing back the way we’d come. “Wait.”
She didn’t halt or even slow down. Instead she reached the end building, hopped up onto a barrel, leapt for the projecting beam of the second floor, and then hefted herself up until she gripped a windowsill. Before I could make it to the barrel, she was already standing on the sill and reaching for the overhanging roof. She grabbed on to one of the rafters and swung herself until she looped a leg onto the slate tiles.
She made the climb look so effortless, and perhaps it was for a nimble woman of her size. However, I struggled to follow the trail she’d made. By the time I reached the roof, she was lying on her stomach, peering over the top to the other side of the businesses.
“What do you see?” I whispered, as I crawled up next to her as quietly as I could manage. The last thing we needed was for anyone sleeping in the dormer room below us to hear our pattering around and come outside to investigate.
“The women are here.” Her response was quiet, resigned.
I lifted my head cautiously so I could see over to the town green.
“They are bound in the stocks.”
The moonlight illuminated the open area enough to see three planks, bare feet and ankles poking through the crude holes, locking the women in place. Though the stocks rested on the ground and allowed the women to sit with their legs outstretched, the angle was such that no amount of shifting in position would allow even an ounce of comfort.
With heads bowed and shoulders slumped, the three appeared to be resting to some degree. And from what I could assess, they hadn’t been harmed, at least not severely.
Felicity’s white hair was the most obvious, in the middle. One of the other women, who went by the nickname Rose, had a rose-colored splotch on half her face. The older woman everyone called Joan was deaf and mute. The three spent most of their time preparing meals and keeping the camp in order, unlike Pearl, who went everywhere with the men.
“I see half a dozen of the Inquisitor’s guards.” Pearl leaned in, her face near mine. “One on nearly every corner.”
I counted the well-armed guards, including the one who had witnessed our kisses. “The Inquisitor has placed the women in the town green specifically to draw us out into the open to trap us. We won’t be able to get near the women, not without eliciting the attention of the guards.”
Pearl ducked her head down. “Then we shall have to fight them in order to free the women. With only six of them to our six, the clash should be evenly matched.”
I shifted out of sight as well. “No doubt these soldiers are seasoned, skillful, and have superior weapons. We would have a difficult fight ahead.”
“I am ready for the challenge.”
“Rushing out there would bring death to us all.”
“You have no faith in our abilities?”
“I have every faith the Inquisitor has more soldiers nearby who would join their comrades at a moment’s notice, quickly outnumbering us.”
Lying flat and propped up by her elbows, she was a hand’s span away, staring straight ahead at the roof tiles, her forehead wrinkled. “What shall we do?”
“We shall meet Irontooth and the others at the arranged spot and then come up with a plan.” Still, I sensed the futility of the mission. How would we liberate the women without putting everyone else in jeopardy?
“You do not believe we can rescue them, do you?”
I hesitated. I believed in honesty, even when the truth was difficult to abide. But I wanted to reassure Pearl everything would work out so she didn’t charge forward recklessly and end up in the stocks next to the others.
She released a frustrated huff from behind her veil and started to slither backward.
I slipped an arm around her waist, halting her progress.
“Whether you realize it or not, you’re the leader of this expedition.” Her whisper was low and fierce. “And as the leader, if you have no hope, you will convey your hopelessness to the others. Then we shall surely fail.”
Her words gave me pause. Somehow I had ended up the leader. As such, I needed to guide by example. “You’re right. I must put aside my fears and find hope.”
