The Untold Story of Mary Seymour

Chapter 19

Once we got to the farm I finally dried off and was tired of being on the back of the horse. Usually horseback riding brought me peace, but today I was just irritated. Paul offered to take my horse to the barn, and I let him without any argument. When I walked into the house I was stopped by Barrett.

"Mary, welcome back. Sam has been waiting for you all day. It seems likes he needs to speak with you, so he is in your room. I didn't want you to be surprised." Barrett's eyes moved to my neck and widened in surprised.

I coughed and nodded, drawing his eyes back to my face. "Thank you for informing me." I felt Barrett's eyes on me as I walked swiftly up the stairs, but that wasn't my concern at the moment. I had to worry about what I was going to say to Sam. I reached my room and took a deep breath before I pushed the door open. Sam was sitting on the bed, looking out the window. He turned to look at me when I shut the door, but he didn't say anything.

I was uncomfortable under his gaze that I eventually snapped. "Sam, quit staring and say something!"

Sam got off the bed and walked over to me. He tilted my head to the side and observed my neck. I was expecting Sam to overreact when he first saw the gruesome bruises but the silence was more unnerving. After another minute Sam spoke. "I will kill Gage."

Sam went back to the other side of the room, but said nothing else. I stood in the center of the room confused because of the lack of yelling that was coming from us. "That is all you have to say?"

Sam laughed and shook his head. "No, Mary it isn't but I am trying my hardest to not be angry with you. I know that you weren't expecting to speak with Gage, but you and Paul both lied to me about the reason for going into the city. You know that I wouldn't have allowed you to return, and you should have taken your dreams as a warning."

"And that is exactly why Paul didn't want to tell you the truth, he knew that you wouldn't let me go if you knew I was going to speak with Margaret. I was terrified when Gage found out I was back in the city, but I never expected for Gage to hurt me like that," I explained. Sam turned towards me, his eyes showing how angry he was, even though he was doing a good job masking it.

"Why are you protecting him?"

"I am not protecting him, I'm protecting you and my brother. I lied to Gage about not knowing what you two are up to, but he saw through my lies and that is how I got these bruises." I watched Sam's reaction, but his face was blank. All he did was look at my bruises again, and even then there wasn't a hint of emotion.

Sam finally blinked and walked towards me once again. He took the coat off me and tossed it onto the bed, and after he pulls me into a hug. I sighed and buried my head into his shoulder. "You shouldn't be the one to protect me. No one would have blamed you if felt the need to share information with Gage, especially if it would have protected yourself."

I groaned and pulled back slightly. Sam narrowed his eyes at me in confusion. "I'm not even going to say what I am thinking because then I would just be repeating myself again."

Sam smiled, and moved my hair so it was behind my shoulders. The smile fell when he looked at my neck. He brought a hand up, but I pulled away, a reflex. Sam looked at me with sorrow. "I promise I won't hurt you, I just want to examine them. Okay?" I bit my lip in thought, but nodded after a minute.

I closed my eyes when I felt Sam's cool fingers trace the ugly purple marks, and I fought back the tears that suddenly appeared. I opened my eyes when I felt Sam pull away, but he was still looking at my neck. He lifted his eyes slowly, and the reflected the sadness that I was feeling. He wiped a tear that slipped from my eye, and left his palm resting on my cheek.