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.So this child is his?”“Of course.They love each other.That is all that is necessary.”“But he didn’t seem to have all his bread in one basket, if you will pardon the expression.He seemed more like a child than anything else.”“That’s what I like about him.He is innocent.”“How innocent can he be, Nicole? Besides, from what I understand, this man who is missing is not your father at all, but more like your brother.”“I don’t care.” She smiled at him.“I can pretend, can’t I? Besides, he loves me, too…”Lucio stopped again, and she tugged on his arm.“Not like that, silly,” she laughed.“He loves me like a… like a sister.Yes, that’s it.Like an older sister.Luke had his father in King Ramsay.John Paul had his papa, and now I have my own version.Leave me alone.”“Santa Maria!” Lucio shook his head.Chapter Fifteen of SeventeenTake ye the spoil of silver, take the spoil of gold:for there is none end of the store and glory“Whattar ye doin’?!” Mark Andrew put one hand on his hip and the other on his forehead as he surveyed the terrified faces of the cook, the maid, the gardener, the smithy and the three boys who tended the flocks of sheep and geese.The unlikely ‘staff’ of the Ramsay Estate looked at him in stunned silence.He stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking back at them in consternation as they huddled behind the barrels and crates piled in the basement.“They are hiding, John,” Lily told him as she swept down the stairs behind him.“And if you know what is good for you, you will hush up now and be still until the danger is passed.”Mark caught her arm and turned her to face him.“Tell me what you are hiding from, Lily?” He asked more calmly as he realized the depth of her fear.“Does… Mark know there is danger here?”“I haven’t told him… nay.” She looked away from him.“Why not?” He shook her slightly.“He has enough troubles, John,” she said.“I don’t want to be a burden to him.We just hide here until they come and go and then Sean and Richard will go out and gather the sheep and geese from the forest.They only take a few things.It’s become a sort of routine with us.When we get wind of them headed this way, we pack everything off to the woods and hide down here.It will be all right.”“That is not an answer and you really don’t expect me to hide in the cellar… do you?” He lowered his head and looked at her from under his dark brows.Lily sighed and shook her head no.“Now tell me what I’m facing, and I’ll see to this… I promise,” he smiled.“The Clanahans,” she said shortly as if the name explained everything.“The Clanahans?” He asked and leaned closer to her.“They’re bully boys!” Sean offered his opinion and was followed quickly by Richard.“They’re oafs!”“They’re thieves and liars!” Clyde called from his corner behind a bag of beans.“And cutthroats!” Molly, the cook, stood up and shook a frying pan at him to emphasize her words.“They scared me out o’ me wits!” Added the maid, a young lass no more than fourteen or fifteen.“I thought me loife was ovar, sirrah!”“And ’ow many o’ these… bully boys air we facin’?” He asked with some trepidation.He touched the hilt of the sword so recently taken from its disgruntled master.“Three!” A chorus of voices answered him.“Three?” He frowned and then shook his head.“Aye! Three o’ th’ warst scoundrels t’ evar mount a nag, sair,” old Clyde told him with conviction.“Three,” Mark Andrew repeated the word.“And wot, pray tell, does this ‘hoard’ do when they come a’ collin’?”“They tear all over the house, John,” Lily nodded solemnly.“They don’t take much because they don’t have any use for the fineries, but they make a mess, usually in the kitchen, taking the food off the stove and such.Then they chase the chickens and take a few hens or a rooster if they can catch him and all the eggs.They must have a taste for eggs.And sometimes, I learned that it helps if we leave out a keg or a bottle or two.They seem to leave quicker if we leave them a bit to drink.”“I see,” Mark nodded.“And sometoimes they take th’ linens off th’ lines, sair,” the maid added.“And if one o’ th’ sheep stick their noses out, they’ll take thot, too,” Sean said with obvious disgust.“All right, then.” Mark looked back up the stairs and then squinted in the relatively dim light provided by the one oil lamp Lily held in her hands.She looked quite lovely, though terribly distressed.“I’ll go up and see what I can do.I’ll be back.”Lily looked skeptical and the old gardener and young shepherds shook their heads sadly as if they thought never to see him again.Mark drew a deep breath and felt a surge of excitement course up his spine.A fight! A good clean brawl.That was what he needed to clear his sinuses.He set his jaw as he heard the sound of breaking glass from overhead.“They’re here!” Molly hissed and disappeared behind a heavy wooden shelf full of jellies and jams.“Be careful, John,” Lily told him as he started up the stairs.“What would be their given names?” He asked over his shoulder.“Martin, Gerald and Percy,” Robert called after him.“Gud, I loike t’ keep me enemies guessin’.” He smiled to himself and put one hand on the inside of the cellar door.((((((((((((()))))))))))))Abaddon opened his eyes again.At first, he could see nothing, feel nothing.He opened the second pair of eyelids and the flickering glow of firelight settled into his brain slowly.Finding himself alive was a surprise indeed.He remembered hoping mightily the dragon would devour him before he had time to recover his senses, and he wouldn’t have to worry about the pain which would inevitably accompany the double amputation he had performed on himself in his desperation.The pain came quickly this time, and he could not help but moan as he struggled to sit up.The rock beneath him was smooth and cool and he felt the dampness of a fine mist on his fevered brow.The mist emanated from a gentle water fall on his immediate right.A crystal pool was only inches from his right hand where it rested on the ground.The water fell from an interminable height, spreading into a thin veil of mist before touching the surface of the pool.Shimmery silver light seemed to ricochet from the sides of the steep shaft above his head as the crystalline rocks reflected moonlight back and forth from various angles bathing him in a roughly circular spotlight of sorts [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]