Page 154 of Feathers in the Wind
Farrington gestured to two of his men. “Secure him.”
Two men stepped forward and took Luke’s arms twisting them behind him in a secure vice. Luke flinched as they pushed him forward. A choked sob escaped her and for the first time, his gaze slid towards her.
“Say your goodbyes, Deliverance. By sundown your precious Captain will be dead.”
Charles Farrington seized Deliverance's arm, jerking her away from Jack and thrust her at Luke. She fell against Luke's chest and wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest, not caring who saw or what they thought. His body felt hard and reassuring, the beat of his heart steady. If Charles Farrington was to have his way, by nightfall that good heart would be still.
“I'm sorry,” she mumbled. “This is all my fault.”
Luke, bent his head and his lips brushed her hair.
“No, it’s not. Trust me, Deliverance,” he whispered.
Charles Farrington gave a snort. “Enough of this happy reunion. Jack, secure the Felton woman.”
Jack pulled her away from Luke as Charles turned once again to address the woman on the wall. “Now the garrison, Mistress Felton.”
Deliverance looked up. All the men had gone from the castle walls. Only Penitence, resplendent in her red dress, her fair curls tossing lightly in the breeze, remained a sole sentinel by the Gatehouse tower. She looked magnificent.
From within the castle came the slow beat of a drum. Behind Farrington, the besiegers gathered to watch the humiliation of this stubborn little castle and Deliverance heard the murmuring, as if they held their collective breath.
Thrmm... thrmm...
A solitary figure appeared at the castle gate, carrying the Felton standard high above his head and behind him the drummer. They walked forward slowly until they reached the end of the bridge.
“Toby,” Deliverance said under her breath, recognising the standard bearer.
As if on cue, the beat of the drum suddenly changed. Deliverance had lived with soldiers long enough to recognise the call to arms. Above the standard and the drummer, the wall bristled with the gleam of weapons and from the ditch came a bloodcurdling battle cry.
“For Felton!”
At that command, a line of men sprang from the ditch in front of the castle and charged toward the onlookers. Ned Barrett led the charge, bareheaded, looking like a wild warrior from stories of the Celts.
Farrington's men had left their posts and their weapons to enjoy the surrender tableau and were not prepared for any attack, by however pathetic a force. Now shouted orders and the sound of general confusion enveloped her as the royalists scattered to their positions.
A smattering of musket fire came from the royalist lines, but the Kinton Lacey men came onwards unhindered. As they approached a nauseating stench of human and animal excrement wafted towards the royalist lines and Deliverance saw that the men were mired to the waist. She gagged.
Farrington's eyes widened, and he gestured to Deliverance. “Jack, kill her, kill her now...”
Deliverance closed her eyes, steeling herself for the pistol ball. Instead the grip on her arm relaxed.
“I don't think so, Charles,” Jack Farrington said in a quiet voice.
Deliverance caught her breath and opened her eyes as Jack Farrington caught his brother’s neck in his arm and pressed his pistol against his brother's temple.
“What are you doing?” Farrington's eyes bulged with surprise and rage.
“I think I'm turning my cloak,” Jack replied. “Get your men to lay down their weapons. Make no mistake, Charles, I will kill you for what you did at Byton.”
The Kinton Lacey assault came to a halt, their muskets aimed the royalist troops. A pathetically small number against the hundreds of men they faced.
“Do what he says!” Farrington screamed. “Lay down your weapons.”
A mutter ran through the lines of his men and one by one they complied.
“Good. Now release Collyer,” Jack gestured to the two men holding Luke.
Freed, Luke brushed his sleeve as if removing an annoying piece of lint. “Thank you, Jack,” he said and swept Deliverance a bow. “Mistress Felton, shall we return to Kinton Lacey? Captain Farrington, your prisoner will accompany us.”
