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10. the farm

Joseph Bines had tracked the path back the way they'd come, but Anne's body was nowhere to be found.

There were several possible scenarios running through his head. One, Anne was dead. Two, someone had found Anne. Three, Anne had somehow made it to a nearby house or even to town and was regailing the night's events at that moment.

If she did manage to tell her story before he'd set his backup plan in action he'd have to leave town earlier than expected. He'd have to hurry, if he wanted to salvage anything from this mess of a robbery. He could still take the loot, but since the wagon was smashed he'd need to find another means of transporting it. His best chance was to find a nearby house that might have a pony trap or cart.

Perhaps a farm.

Joseph set off down the road, the knife stashed in his belt concealed by his coat.

...

Joseph travelled for a while longer, the rain easing up slightly.

His boots were soaked through and he felt tired throughout. He harboured a simmering anger at his plan going wrong and he directed it at that terrible girl Anne. He was thinking of what he'd do to her. If he did anything serious then she'd be sure to place the blame on him. But a little psychological pain was easily dismissed by onlookers as crazy. He could drive her crazy and nobody would believe a word she said.

That would be more satisfying.

Eventually, he saw a light up ahead and recognised it as a farm. His hand went to the knife, securing it and ensuring it was still in place. It was important nobody found the blade as it was evidence against him.

Joseph crept up and slipped into the barn. He scoured the contents quickly with his eyes and found no cart. There were three horses, and he saw a pony trap. The night was beginning to look up.

He was just about to pull the cart out and loose a horse, when he suddenly thought that Anne was highly likely to be sheltering in the farm. If it was the first house that he happened upon, chance is that she did too. He went around quietly and look through the windows to see if she was there.

There was nobody in the back rooms and the curtains were pulled in three of the upper windows. There was a low window into the kitchen that he carefully peered into. There was a homely-looking woman scrubbing blood off the large kitchen table. On the floor was a pile of bloodied cloths and a shawl. It was Anne's. She must be here!

Joseph snuck around the back and climbed up the beams to the upper window. It was the only high window which wasn't covered. Sure enough, there lay Anne in a small bed! Just before Joseph tried the latch, he saw a dark-haired girl asleep in a chair. He stopped. Then he saw a boy around his age and size sitting on the floor by the bed. The boy looked desperately tired but he sat upright, watchful and determined.

He was guarding Anne.

Joseph climbed down from the beams and cursed under his breath. While Anne was with her friends there was no chance that he could get to her. He'd have to wait till she was alone... As soon as she was, he'd have to act quickly.

...

Diana woke up early next morning and checked on Anne. She was breathing steadily. She looked pale, but it was to be expected, she had lost a lot of blood. Diana went downstairs to get some air, and found Mrs Tilderly sat at the table eating breakfast.

"Good morning." Diana said.

"Morning, lass." Greeted the lady. "Do you feel up to eating?"

Diana nodded. Mrs Tilderly fetched her some porridge and bread and a cup of water. They sat eating in silence for a while before Mrs Tilderly spoke.

"Do you have any parents who will be worrying about you?"

"I do." Diana admitted.

She hadn't given them nearly as much thought as she should have. They were going to be worried sick, waking up to her empty bed. She felt terribly guilty and knew she'd have to hurry home as soon as she could.

"You'll want to be heading home this morning." Advised the lady. "It isn't likely the boy will leave young Anne by herself, especially not in her condition. But you look the sort to have a family who'd call an investigator down from the city just to find you."

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

"You look well off, is what I'm saying." She said. "A higher class than us."

"Well, I suppose you're right. My parents are Mr and Mrs Barry." Diana sighed.

"Goodness. They'll be calling out search parties." Mrs Tilderly looked worried. "As soon as Tom is finished feeding the chickens I'll get him to ride you back to town. You'll have a lot of explaining to do today."

Diana felt the reality of the situation fall down upon her. This was a very awful scenario to have found herself in. Diana was not used to being involved in such discord. She'd never had the courage to do anything so exciting that resolved in trouble. She didn't know how people like Anne coped with always being involved in some type of excitement.

She was going to be in so much trouble.