The Lady Who Sinned

III. The Thief

Once upon a Town...

Poppy and Posy Prewitt looked at those beneath them as people they could use.

Belinda found it ridiculous to hear them plan their foolish empire inside Madam Pearson's School for Young Ladies. 'We would be queens,' they said. Belinda included, of course, for they needed a pretty face.

The Prewitt name had been around for ages. Their family was among the ancient ones in the Town, and they had been from a fine line of impressive titles and wealth. But somewhere along that line, something must have gone wrong, Belinda believed, for the sisters were by far too shallow for such high regard.

'The Prewitts are important,' her mother said. Thus, Amber Carrington made all necessary measures to push pretty little Belinda into their lives.

*****

McKenzie waited outside the tavern beside his horse. Two other Guards were inside, asking questions.

He looked down the road that led straight to Wickhurst. Maybe she was already there. Or was she even going there?

But she had nowhere to go. They knew she never went to anyone in Willowfair, most definitely her father. But there was one person she may go to for safety—her sister. Julia Carrington had married years ago and now lived in Wickhurst.

His thoughts brought him back to that night Belinda Carrington visited him. Why did she not tell him everything?

Would you have believed her if she said she was banished aboveground?

There was only one obvious answer. He would not have believed her. But he might have given her the benefit of the doubt.

His horse nudged his shoulder with its head, and he absently ran his hand over its mane. Perhaps they should rest. They had been traveling for two days in search of Belinda Carrington.

He led his horse across the street, intending to take it inside the stable at the back of the tavern. The horses of the two other Guards were tethered outside the entrance. He would take care of them, too, and then he would tell his companions they might as well stay the night in Marsden.

He stopped to let a man and his horse pass. They were coming from the direction of the stable, a pair of shadows stepping into the light from the lamp overhead. The horse was black; the man was wrapped in a dark cloak from head to foot.

McKenzie waited impatiently. Now that he had decided to stay the night, he was eager to crawl into bed. He guided his horse to step back to make room for the man and his horse. His eyes landed on the ground, then on the pair of muddy shoes that walked past him.

He frowned, trying to remember why they looked familiar. And then he blinked as the smell reached him. It may have been two days, but this was merely the second time he came upon that smell.

His head snapped up, recognizing the cloaked figure who had by now mounted the black horse. Before he could call out, Belinda Carrington was riding away and someone standing outside the tavern door shouted, "Oi! That's my horse!"

And hell broke loose: Men shouted for torches and horses, screaming about a horse thief.

"Bloody tarnation!" McKenzie cursed under his breath, mounting his horse to join the chase.

*****

Belinda knew she could not go to Wickhurst. With people so close to her tail, she could not risk going to her sister now.

The man said there were others coming soon. How many men had they sent after her?

Riding out of Marsden, she realized her stolen horse would eventually get tired. She had no means to feed it. She would have to sell or trade it in the next village. She planned on riding further north, but then she encountered a crossing. If she went straight, it would take days to reach another village. The left would lead her to Wickhurst. The road to the right, if her recollection was correct, would get her to Oakley.