Page 96 of Miss Flibbertigibbet and the Barbarian
Addie sighed. “This is just like him. He’ll think this is a great joke. He’ll run a bit, then find somewhere that suits him to hide.”
Nicholas asked, “Will he wait for us there—wherever he stops?”
She nodded. “Most likely. He likes to run and is inordinately curious, but he’s not actually a wanderer.”
Dickie nodded. “He’ll be out there somewhere.”
“Waiting for us to come and fetch him and take him home.” Hearing others approaching, Addie turned to see Devenish, mounted on a very nice black, leading Kirkwood’s and Wisthorpe’s horses and acting as rear guard for the grooms and stablemen who, stern faced, were shepherding Kirkwood and Wisthorpe up the slope.
Wisthorpe was still glowering and shooting daggers at Kirkwood, who looked rather rumpled, having fought Wisthorpe off.
Both men appeared somewhat cowed, but also gave the impression they were each, independently, looking for ways in which to escape any further retribution.
Nicholas regarded the pair, then lifted his gaze and swept the rest of the company. All, including Devenish, were looking to him for direction. He spread his arms and waved. “At this point, The Barbarian could be anywhere. We’ll have to spread out.”
From his perch on his horse’s back, Devenish had also been surveying the ground. “I assume we’ll have to go on foot?” He looked at the Sommervilles.
Dickie grimaced, and Addie nodded. “If we go mounted, he’ll run and expect us to chase him. To him, this is all a game.”
She repeated her assessment that The Barbarian would have run for a short distance, then found a place that suited him to wait.
Nicholas had been studying Kirkwood and Wisthorpe. They didn’t have enough men to leave any guarding the pair. “We’ve an hour, possibly two, of decent light left. We need everyone out searching.” He pointed to Wisthorpe and Kirkwood. “That includes the pair of you. You’ll search with the rest of us, but if you find The Barbarian, don’t think to make off with him. Not unless you want to find the authorities on your trail.”
“Indeed,” Phillip said, ice in his voice. “We haven’t yet finished with you. There are several matters we need to discuss, but we need to find the horse first.”
“And,” Devenish put in, “there’s the not-so-little matter of my deposit. We’ll need to discuss repayment.” He swung down from his saddle and fixed Wisthorpe with a pleasant look that was nevertheless openly intimidatory. “I’ll expect to see you back here, by the church, once we have the horse again in hand. As Cynster and Sommerville intimated, don’t even think of slipping away. If you attempt to do so, I will be only too happy to join with the others in helping the authorities hunt you down.”
Nicholas hid a smile. Devenish, while normally an entirely amenable man, had a reputation for being able to turn on the aggression and menace when it suited him.
Both Kirkwood and Wisthorpe looked suitably cowed, at least for the moment.
“Right, then.” Nicholas turned and pushed through the hedge. “Let’s get to where we left our horses. We’ll be able to see the lie of the land better from the other side of the church.”
Once they were gathered behind the church, Nicholas divided the area spreading outward from the churchyard into pie-like slices and delegated a searcher to each sector. “Make sure you’re thorough and pay particular attention to any dips and hollows. This is a horse that likes to hide. If you find The Barbarian, given he’ll be trailing a rein—or at least we hope he still is—if you feel confident you can catch him, do so and lead him back here. If you don’t like your chances, call for help. None of us should be out of hearing of someone else.”
He looked around the group. “All right. You each have your areas.” He turned to take one last look at the wider view. “After you’ve searched your area, return here. Hopefully, by then”—he glanced around the faces—“one of us will have the horse.”
With determined nods from most, they set out, spreading in every direction. Nicholas helped Adriana over the low stone wall, then she went toward his right, while he walked straight ahead. Dickie headed off on Adriana’s other side, and in concert, they started to scour the fields.
CHAPTER15
Addie had volunteered to search this particular sector because she’d glimpsed the distant canopies of an old orchard. The Barbarian was partial to apples. If he’d sensed the orchard and its bounty, he might have gone that way.
Then again, he could just as easily have gone in the opposite direction. His equine brain was impossible to predict.
She strode over the open fields, scanning to either side as she went. Nicholas was tramping through the fields to her left, while Dickie was rambling on her right.
The farther they went from the churchyard, the wider the area they each had to search and the more separated they became. She duly zigzagged, left to right and back again, making sure she covered every possible dip and fold in the terrain. This was very definitely not flat country. Soon, she’d lost sight of both Nicholas and Dickie.
She came to a stone wall, located and clambered over a stile, and dropped into the next field, only then realizing it was occupied by a flock of black-faced sheep. “At least the livestock around here aren’t cattle.”
After wading through the curious flock, she reached the next wall and the next stile and, once on the other side, found herself among the first trees of the old orchard.
About ten yards from the stone wall, the ground dropped away quite steeply, angling down into a narrow valley. A small stream burbled along the valley’s bottom; as the valley floor was cloaked in deepening shadow, she heard the stream rather than saw it. She peered through the twisted branches of the old trees clinging to the rock-strewn downward slope, trying to see the upper reaches of the valley, which lay some way to her left.
She frowned. “It’s more like a cleft at the end.”
Luckily, the wider opening of the valley lay not far away on her right. By walking in that direction, she was able to reach the valley floor without having to scramble over rocks.
