Page 111 of Feathers in the Wind
“Hush,” Penitence said. “You’re at Kinton Lacey. You’re safe now.”
In two strides Luke had joined her. He leaned over Deliverance’s shoulder.
“Can you talk?” he asked.
She nodded and recognition animated her face. “I remember you. You tried to warn ‘em and the Colonel he wouldn’t listen. I thought you had a nice face.” Fresh tears started in her eyes.
“Your name?” Luke sounded cool and in command, compelling a response from the unhappy girl. Her lip trembled. “Lovedie Brown. I am... was... maid at Byton Castle.”
Luke, hearing the past tense, glanced at Deliverance.
“Has Byton fallen?” he asked.
“He said... he said... to tell you... You would be next.” A note of hysteria rose in the girl’s voice and she tried to sit up.
Deliverance placed firm hands on her shoulders, pushing her back down again.
“Sir Richard Farrington?” Deliverance asked in a tight voice.
The girl shook her head. “Not him. The other one.”
“Charles?”
The girl nodded.
“And the garrison?” Luke asked.
Lovedie pushed aside Deliverance’s constraining hand and she sat up, looking around the anxious faces.
She took a shuddering breath and said, “We held out for as long as we could and then the Colonel, he said, we had to surrender. We’d no more food, and the powder were all gone. He spoke with Farrington and came back and said he’d negotiated honourable terms. The garrison marched out unarmed to surrender.” Her lip trembled. “They took the Colonel, said they were taking him to Ludlow Castle and then, then...they tied the others together in pairs...” Her face contorted and her audience held their collective breath, dreading what was to come. “They slit their throats. Every man. They threw the bodies into the ditch.”
Dropping the cloth she held, Penitence’s hands flew to her mouth, and she gave a stifled cry.
“Charles Farrington,” Deliverance said in a low voice. A man who would kick a puppy to death would have no end to his cruelty.
“A man who does not respect the rules of war,” Luke responded. “And the castle?”
Her chin quivered. “They blew it up. My brother...” she sobbed, burying her head in her hands.
Luke squatted down and took the girl’s hands in his own. This was war and he knew the atrocities women could suffer at the hands of a triumphant enemy. “And you, lass? Did they...? Did he...?”
She looked at him and shook her head as she gleaned his meaning. “No...Not that.” She touched her face. “Farrington, he hit me a few times, just to teach me some manners, he said. Then he flung me over the saddle of one of his men with the message I’ve just given to you.”
“So, we’re next?” Luke sounded grim.
“That’s what he said,” the girl replied.
“Enough,” Deliverance snapped. “Pen, take Lovedie to our room and Meg, organise a pallet to be made up for her.”
Penitence put her arm around the girl and led her from the room. Meg followed, carrying the basin.
Luke crossed to stand by the window, looking out over the darkened castle, his shoulders tense and his back ramrod straight. Ned sat down at the table and began tapping his fingers on the table.
Deliverance addressed Luke’s rigid back. “What are you going to do?”
“The first thing I will do,” he said, “is verify the girl’s story for myself.”
“Don’t be a fool, Luke.” Ned rose to his feet. “Byton is an hour’s ride away and Farrington could be anywhere between us and Byton.”
