SILVER MOON {COMPLETED}

CHAPTER 27

  
  
         Late at night when every creature was asleep, the hooves of horses galloped into Ponti. Christopher and his men had remained in the outskirt of the village till night fall, as soon as the darkness filled the land, they rode in.

Christopher looked at the little houses, they looked so tiny and uncomfortable to live in. Waving a hand to signal his men, the five of them stopped as they saw his raised hands. The first man moved his horse closer to Lord Christopher, he bent his head to listen to what he had to say, "What is the problem my Lord?" He asked quizzically.

Looking at the surrounding, he turned his head both ways, he didn't know why he felt that something was terrible wrong.  Brushing away the dreadful feeling, he whispered into the ear of the man, "I don't have a good feeling about this place Gabriel, I want you all to disperse, it will be more easier to find Lady Charlotte that way and leave here immediately."

Gabriel nodded his head in understanding, "okay my Lord, we'll do just as you've ordered."
Lord Christopher tilted his head, and moved his horse forward, quietly. He listened for movements all around, he couldn't possibly guess where she could be at this time. He looked towards the cheap  building where travellers dwelled after a long trip, one of his men was already  approaching the building, He hoped that she was in there.

....

Charlotte stood up from the scantily dressed bed that she had been pretending to sleep on, she picked her cape and wore it over her head.
Picking up the lantern that was sitting idle on a stool, she found her sandals and wore them quietly.

She opened the door and ventured into the pitch dark night, dimming her lantern flames to draw less attention to her presence she moved stealthy towards Maria's holding cell, just as lord Christopher's soldier reached the building.

On reaching there the guard positioned at the door was sleeping, the loud snore emanating from his nostrils could wake up an entire village, but ironically, she was the only one awake. She put off the flames and dropped the lantern on the ground, moving one foot at a time, Charlotte reached the still sleeping guard.

She saw a set of keys sticking out of his pockets, she stretched a hand to pick it up but the guard rolled to the other side. Biting her lips to help  keep her temper in check, she moved to the opposite direction and saw that the key was almost falling off. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the key and when she finally pulled it and felt the metal lying on her palm, she grinned.

Maria looked at the dark night through the little opening around the cabin, in which she had been kept. It was going to be her last night on earth, she thought of all the events that had taken place in her life, some significant and some, not so significant.

As she thought about Miranda and where she could be, the sound of the door opening brought her thoughts to a halt. Was it time already?  She let out a shaky breath, death was indeed terrifying. The thought shook her to her marrows.

The person standing behind her moved softly, why was the guard moving quietly? Maria thought.
She began to hyperventilate as she thought of all the things that could possibly go wrong, maybe he was here to molest her! Frantically she turned towards the door and the non smiling face of Lady Charlotte came into view.

Charlotte just stood by the already closed door and watched as different emotions played on Maria's face, she indeed had looked terrified, then surprised and now confused. Maria's lips moved as she attempted to say something, but Charlotte placed a slender finger on her lips,indicating that she kept quiet, Maria nodded uncertainly.
    Lady Charlotte produced the bunch of keys, and tried each one on Maria's bounded fists, "Don't consider me your saviour Maria, I'm your worst night mare." Charlotte told her as the lock finally clicked open.
Maria didn't know how to respond so she Just nodded her head in understanding.  
  
"Good, now let's go before the guard wakes up." Lady Charlotte whispered.

Maria and Charlotte ran as fast as they could through the Forest part, the plan was to leave Ponti before dawn. As the two ran, they avoided the road as much as possible not wanting to get caught.
Taking another turn, Maria first heard it, she stopped running as she called lady Charlotte's attention. "My Lady, I hear the sounds of hooves." She whispered.

Charlotte stopped and listened and it was the unmistakable sound of horses approaching, she turned to maria. " Quickly hide!"
Both women ducked behind bushes as the horses kept on approaching at a steady pace. "Do you think they've found out about my disappearance?"
Maria asked in the dark.
"How would I know? You're the wanted one here so keep quiet, I don't want them finding us." Charlotte replied.

Maria nodded even though Charlotte couldn't see her, it was that dark. The horses passed through their hiding place, immediately they were gone, the two women ran out of the bush.

•••
Christopher kept a fair distance away from his men, they had reunited after the search and Lady Charlotte was still nowhere to be found.
As soon as he took a bend, the shape of two women came running and that startled his horse, he quickly jumped down from the horse and picked up the one who had fallen down. As he picked her up, he saw her face and he squeaked in surprise.

"Charlotte!"

"Christopher what are you doing here?" Charlotte asked perplexed.

" I came  to find you, oh thank goodness you're fine." He turned to her companion, "who is she? She's certainly not your daughter."

Charlotte took a side ways glance at her. "Christopher this woman is Maria Gonzalo, and we need to leave Ponti now. Our lives are in danger."

Christopher pushed on, "where's your daughter? Isn't she the reason why you came here?"

"There's no time to answer your questions, I'll answer  them all, once we reach Navaria."
Christopher nodded and whistled for his men.

The group left Ponti quietly, filled with apprehension.

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