Chapter Three: The Escape

Evie expected to find Aunt Abby in a very bad mood when they arrived at the cottage. What she didn’t expect was to find everything much the same as the last time she’d been there. That peculiar boy was, once again, sitting in his carriage. He appeared to be trying his best to ignore the girls altogether. Every once in a while, though, his eyes flickered toward them when he thought she wasn’t looking. The walk back had dried him out somewhat and he looked majestic again, sitting there as calm as a summer’s day. His hair was even repositioned as it had been.

The only difference between now and before was that Elder Banied’s cart was behind the carriage. His brown gelding had its nose in a bag tied to a tree. That made Evie blink, curiously. She realized that she had not even considered how in the world that carriage had gotten there. There were no other horses around. There wasn’t a hitch on the thing anyhow. It had four wheels and a large, covered seating area, but that was all.

Possibilities welled up in Evie’s mind, but she dismissed them with a shake of her head. They were all just plain silly. There had to be a way to attach horses to that carriage, she just couldn’t see it. The horses were off grazing somewhere. That seemed to be the only possible explanation. She didn’t know very much about such things. They had never owned a horse.

Evie wanted to talk to Bridget about her confusion, but Bridget had left her behind when she slowed to examine the carriage. That was just Bridget’s way. When she decided something had to be done, she did it, no matter how unpleasant a task it was. She’d keep right on walking if the land started shaking. She’d just calmly keep going until she planted herself in front of her mother for punishment.

Aunt Abby wasn’t waiting just inside the cottage where they would normally accept guests. Evie heard a muted buzz of voices in the kitchen, but the door stood between her and them and she couldn’t make out what was being said. Bridget stopped when she arrived at the kitchen door, unusually hesitant for her. Both girls jumped backward a bit when the door didn’t open with a push. Someone must have pulled a cabinet over to block the way. How odd. But this was, after all, turning out to be a very odd day.

The push against the door had obviously been noticed because the voices silenced for a moment. The girls heard a scraping sound from inside as someone adjusted the furniture and then Abby poked her head out. “Go outside, I’ll come find you in a bit,” she hissed. When Bridget raised a protest Abby shook a finger at them both of them. Evie always got in trouble with her cousin, even when she didn’t deserve it. “Obey me! I’ll explain when I can.” The last part sounded a bit apologetic and she flickered her eyes from one girl to the other before pulling her head inside. She shut the door firmly, telling the room’s occupants that her daughter “really was a good girl…”

After a few minute’s discussion the girls decided that their best course was to try and talk to the boy in the carriage. He might know what was going on after all. Again, things did not work out as expected. He continued trying hard to ignore them when the girls returned. Bridget walked right over to the door and said, “Sorry about the squirrel. You were laughing at us and that’s why I did it. Perhaps we can agree on a truce.” She said it more like a command then a question and the boy only raised his chin a bit without even looking at her.

Bridget’s eyes narrowed in anger, but she spoke calmly, “We really just wondered who you are. We never have strangers around here, certainly not at our own home…” Silence. This time her anger got the better of her. She shouted, “What’s the matter with you! Are you too stupid to have manners? Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“He’s come for Evie.” All three of them whipped toward the voice coming from the front porch. Bridget’s older brother, Lance, leaned against a pole, throwing an apple up and down in one hand. They had been too busy to notice him come out. His wavy blonde hair caught the afternoon sunlight and his bright blue eyes sparkled. He wore the same type of clothes that his sister had on, but they didn’t look odd on him. They looked dignified and even classy. Evie knew how beautiful Lance was. She actually thought of it quite often. Not that she had any interest in her cousin, gross! But his pretty face came in handy. Other girls sighed and acted dumb whenever he came around and boys seemed intimidated by him. Both Evie and Bridget exploited that fact on a regular basis. Perhaps even the snotty carriage boy would be affected?

Lance casually walked over to the steps while tossing that apple, so smoothly. Evie couldn’t help smiling. Lance was so much fun. He had always been much like a brother to her too. She smiled at his presence and because he seemed to be making some great joke. He was always joking around.

“Oh really.” She laughed, “I suppose this boy is my long-lost brother? There’s an obvious family resemblance. It can’t be the hair, though, his is all wet. Hmmmmm…Perhaps we have the same smirk?” She grinned at her cousin and waited for him to reply with a teasing comment.

To her surprise, Lance looked troubled. His eyes flickered toward the boy, but he seemed to dismiss him. “I don’t know why they want you, Eves. I just sneaked down to listen after that man sent me away.” He said the word “man” in a tone of great disgust. “He started by asking where he might find your mother. When Mom told him she died, he acted like he didn’t believe her until she mentioned that you were staying with us. He seemed surprised, like he knew about your mother, but not you. Then he started asking all kinds of questions about you. Mom answered them okay at first. But now he’s talking like he’s going to take you with him, but Mom says she won’t let him, of course.” Those last two words came as a clear afterthought.

Evie stared in shock. He was serious! How in the world did anyone from outside the village know that her mother existed? In the moment of silence she looked around at the others. Bridget stared wide-eyed from her brother to Evie and the peculiar boy looked at her expectantly.

Just then they heard a panting from the direction of the wood. Wondering what else could be happening, Evie turned to see what caused the noise. She didn’t think it would surprise her at all. Elder Banied came tripping from between two trees. He supported the weight of a round, motherly looking woman with sweat pouring down her red face. Evie didn’t know this woman, but why should that surprise her? Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the boy look startled for the first time, but he stayed silent, waiting for something.

“We…have to…go, NOW.” Elder Banied panted the sentence, but managed to nearly shout the last word. It seemed directed at everyone standing there, but then he turned to Evie. “Evie…listen to me.” He stopped to help the woman lever herself onto a tree stump and catch his breath. “The man in there is going to try and take you away. We need to get out of here before he knows you are gone. We will not be able to stop him otherwise.”

Evie took a step away from Elder Banied. She wasn’t sure what was going on here, but it had to be a mistake. And even if it were true, was going away with the stranger any worse than running off with a crazy old man? He truly didn’t seem to be in his right mind. Her mother could not have foreseen this when she told her to listen to Elder Banied. She needed time. She had to think this out.

Before she had a chance to decide her next move, the boy in the carriage slammed the door open, leaped out and pointed a finger dangerously at the Elder. His other hand rested on his sword hilt. Bridget sighed as if to say, “not again.” Evie flashed her a look to show she knew how the girl felt.

But it was the boy who spoke, “I do not know what in the world my father would want with this silly little girl, but I am sure that if he wants her she must go with him. You must not try to prevent it, loyalist!” He glanced uneasily at the old woman, but stood his ground.

The woman gulped one more breath of air before looking up to the boy. Her round cheeks still held that rosy look from her run, but her eyes held tears of desperation. She gasped in a hoarse voice, “Trevor, I know you love your father. But the order to get this girl away from him comes from your mother. You should come too. I know your mother would be pleased.”

Trevor’s arms dropped to his sides as he stumbled several steps backward, “No!” It was stern, but quiet. Almost hoarsely he added, “My mother is dead.”

The woman looked pained. She seemed to want to run to the boy, but she also looked very weak. She whispered, “He told you that? She was imprisoned three months ago on your father’s orders.”

The boy got some of his spirit back at her words. He started to move toward her again, his hand resting on his sword hilt much the way it had when he walked out of the pond. Evie felt a sudden stab of relief that he didn’t walk toward her this time. Almost immediately, it was followed by a feeling of guilt for the relief. “How dare you make such accusations against my father? He is a good man. He loved my mother. I will go get him this moment and have you all punished.”

As he turned toward the house the woman said desperately, “Trevor, if your mother is dead, where am I?”

Something seemed to break in Trevor. He fell to his knees, hands over his face. The woman slowly pushed herself up and moved toward him. Sitting down on the porch steps, she pulled the boy to her. He clutched her skirt and buried his head in her lap. Evie realized her mouth was hanging open. What was all that about?

Elder Banied didn’t waste time. He looked straight at Lance and asked quickly, “Does the man know that Evie is here.”

Lance didn’t miss a beat, “He knows she lives here, sir. He doesn’t know where she is this minute. Bridget came bounding into the kitchen a few moments ago, but there was no way to tell that Evie was with her.”

The Elder nodded, “Good.” He turned his attention to Bridget, “When they come out, tell them you were playing in the meadow past the pond. Tell them Evie was hiding and you came home because you could not find her. A search of the woods should give us a little time to escape, if they believe you. Be convincing, girl. It is Evie’s life at stake.”

Before Evie could voice her objections, Bridget cut in, “I’m going too! Lance can say what needs to be said. He can tell them I went…”

“Do not be foolish child!” the Elder cut in with a vicious wave of his hand, “We cannot have more people than necessary. It is going to be hard enough to get away as things are.”

Evie took a few steps back. She was close enough to notice an intense conversation between the old woman and Trevor. She held his head in her hands, talking furiously.

Lance walked over to Elder Banied and the two seemed to be looking at Evie as they talked and gestured. Everything was happening so fast. The events of the past hour swam in her head and she tried to shake it off. She didn’t know what she should do. For some reason Elder Banied’s glances seemed ominous and she knew she didn’t want to go with him.

Suddenly she did know what she wanted, and it made her stomach hurt. She wanted to talk to her mother. Her mother would know what was going on. She supposed the next best thing would be her aunt. That was the only option; she needed to talk to Aunt Abby.

As soon as she took a few steps toward the house, however, Elder Banied moved toward her muttering, “I am sorry, but we simply do not have time for childishness. Do not think you have any idea what is going on here. You must trust me.” With that, he scooped her up over his shoulder and began walking toward his cart. Evie wouldn’t have expected him to be so strong. Bridget ran over to Lance and Trevor trudged toward the cart holding the old woman’s hand.

Evie never even had time to think. Within moments she was watching backwards as her home disappeared. Trevor had noticed all the movement, however. As soon as the cottage was out of sight he started to panic. Jumping up, he turned to the old woman and said, “I am sorry, Anna, but I must know for sure.” With that, he jumped out of the cart and began running back to the cottage. Elder Banied glanced back for a second and then spurred the horse to a gallop.