Unspoken

Chapter 7 Fires in the night

The horse’s hooves clattered softly against the hard forest ground as the carriage it was pulling gently shook back and forth as it hit random tree roots.

The young man inside watched the landscape rush by with a dull expression on his face.

He had seen this forest so many times before that he knew it by heart. Just a few more miles and he’d be home.

Suddenly the carriage pulled to a stop and he was almost thrown off his seat.

Gasping for breath, he leaned out of the doorframe to look at his driver. “What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”

The driver, a man old enough to be his father,  leaned back to look at his lord. “A body, m’lord, at the side of the road.”

The young man opened the door and jumped out.

“Lord Blackwood,” the driver said startled, “you should not get so close.”

Daniel Blackwood waved him off and kneeled down to get a closer look. The body was a  young girl. She appeared to have fallen down the hill.

Daniel sighed as he looked up the slope. She had made quite a fall and it seemed as if she had hit her head.

He took a better look. She was actually quite pretty.

“Careful, m’lord,” Henry, the coach driver, said, “it’s one of ‘em gypsies. If there’s one of ‘em, the others can’t be far. They don’t wander alone.”

“She’s hurt,” Daniel said, “she needs help.”

“Let her people take care of her,” Henry said, unpleased by the prospect of having anything to do with gypsies.

“Her people are not here,” Daniel stated while gently lifting the girl in his arms,  “open the carriage door and help me place her inside.”

Henry’s eyes went wide, but he had no choice in the matter. The young lord of Blackwood Manor was his employer after all and jobs were hard to get by these days, especially ones that paid so well as his.

He watched as Daniel gently laid down the girl and climbed in after her. “Home, Henry,” Daniel ordered, “make haste.”

The carriage was set in motion again, but this time, Daniel’s eyes weren’t on the landscape outside, but on a tanned face with long dark curls.

***

Daria cried when she stumbled on Vali and Dorin. She almost tripped when she hurried towards them, to safety.

“Darusha,” Milosh said while joining them, “what has happened? Why are you alone?”

Daria heaved a sob and wiped at her eyes.

“Steady Daria,” Vali comforted her, “take a breath.”

“Where is Lenka?” Dorin inquired.

Daria turned to him with a horrified expression. “She has not returned to the camp?” There was panic in her voice.

“Where is she?!” Dorin demanded.

“Dorin, calm yourself,” Milosh ordered. He looked at Daria. “Where are your sisters?”

Daria sobbed. “I do not know. We hid Tsura in a tree and then we separated to confuse the dogs. Tsura… Tsura was screaming…” She started crying again.

Milosh waved at Dorin. “Take her to the camp.” He nodded at Vali and the two men headed deeper into the forest, their expressions grim.

Dorin turned to the crying girl in front of him. His eyes were hard. “Come,” he said curtly.