More Secrets and the Horse Race - Book 8 - The Frencolian Chronicles

Chapter 2

Feeling herself lifted with care, Jobyna opened her eyes, remembering past times she was carried.

Comforting thoughts flooded her mind before it struck her —from the stale odor in his tunic —it was Tod who carried her!

As she stiffened with foreboding, he set her down on a wide wooden bench in the hall just inside the door of the cottage. Propping her up, he pressed the spout of a medicine beaker into her mouth, saying, "Drink this; you'll feel better." The drink was sweet with a tang, like honey and herbs. Thirsty and liking the taste, she drank it all. Seconds later, a bitter after-taste made her click her tongue and wish she hadn't swallowed any of it.

"Where are we?" she asked, pushing herself along the bench, away from Tod.

"Just changing horses."

"Already?"

"Do you feel better now?" he asked.

"A bit... I think..."

Folding his arms, Tod looked intently at her in the murky light in the hall. Long curls fell loose on her stained cheeks. Some hair, swept across to the side, hid her forehead. Her large eyes glowed green and looked at him with what to him, was trust —it not only seemed it, but he felt it. It was a hesitant look, but he sensed she presumed that when she arrived at their destination, she would be safe.

Unfamiliar remorse coursed in Tod's veins. The longing to find her parents, to him, seemed to have clouded the reality of any danger to herself. Or, perhaps it was the drugs that Victoria had put in her food and drinks, he wondered, then tried to predict how long it had been that she had been in Frencburg, if it was long enough for her to be 'under-the-spell' as it was said to be —'managable', some said, while others called it, 'controllable'...

"What is it?" she asked, sensing his indecision about something... he had been silent, staring at her so long.

"I'll tell you later... I feel... something; something I've not felt before. Like you need to be warned. I don't want to have you arrive and then regret it much...

"But, I've got things to take care of," he said gruffly, "I want to wash and don a clean tunic —and I'm hungry. You can wait in the stables. I'll show you where; it's over there..."

He walked ahead of her.

"See that bench along there —rest on that. There's a privy out through the annex, halfway along. People... visitors, use it. I'll be back soon." He half hoped she would explore the 'stables' and take a horse and escape.

Jobyna investigated the stables. It was disappointing, dark and smelly —a different smell from horses, a more rancid smell, horrible...

There appeared to be only four horses in residence other than Meatballs and another tethered just outside the back doorway. She stroked the animal, thinking, he's not that hot so he must be a fresh one. It dawned on her —I could take this horse and leave now; ride back to Frencberg, or Chanoine. 

The moon revealed its face and she saw two other horses at the far end of the walkway, two grooms working on them, preparing them for a journey. A thick riding rug was being fixed on one. Perhaps she was to ride with Tod on that one, she wondered. What is it that Tod wants to warn me about? Why did he even say that? He seems afraid of something...

Taking a cresset from the wall, Jobyna held it near the bars to see further into the dim empty stalls. She gasped. These weren't to house horses, but humans. She discerned benches around the walls like the one on which Tod had placed her, wide enough to be slept upon. Straightening her arm, she lifted the cresset high and could see that the outer window bars were close together with cross-bars close enough to keep little children in. Moving the light down the wall, she saw chains behind the benches, all the way to the floor, lying there with a single neck-sized shackle collar on the ends of each of them.