Page 5 of Shields and Roses

On their arrival at Longbourn, the first thing Viscount Rand noticed was that Bennet greeted them in the first parlor, the room nearest the front door, instead of his study, which was at the far back of the house. The second unusual thing was that he wore the brace binding his injured left arm close to his body, which meant he intended to do something more active than sit in a parlor and talk.

"Is there a problem, Bennet?" he asked after he and Richard had made their greetings. "You do not normally wear the brace unless you must."

"No, I do not. You have heard me complain about it often enough, but it does help prevent even more pain when I must walk long distances or be extremely active. I was on my way out to search for Lizzy when they told me you had arrived. She and her mother had quite a tiff this morning and I am afraid she may have gone off into hiding or gotten herself into more trouble."

"Would that have anything to do with the state of the rose bushes in the side garden? I noticed it looked like a wild animal had gone through there."

"That was certainly a part of it," Bennet said wearily.

Richard spoke up. "I will go find her, Mr. Bennet, while you visit with my father and tell him all about it. My tracking skills should be up to locating a seven-year-old girl."

Bennet's relief was obvious. "You are good lad, Richard. I accept your offer with gratitude. She was last seen heading southwest, in the direction of Oakham Mount, although I doubt that she will have made it that far. She has a number of hiding spots along the hedges, as well as in that coppice of ash trees between here and the Mount."

"Have no fear. I will find her and bring her back." The fourteen-year-old boy clearly looked on his self-appointed assignment as an adventure, but the two men also knew from experience he could be trusted to carry it out successfully.

Bennet offered his hand as he said, "Thank you, Richard. I put my faith in you."

Richard shook hands with his godfather, gave his father a nod, then quickly left the room. Both men smiled as they watched him go.

"Shall we take his advice and head for the study, Rand?" Bennet asked, beginning to work at the first of the buckles on the brace in preparation for removing it, even as he gestured in the direction of the hall with a slight jerk of the head.

"Good idea, Bennet. We can play a game of chess while you tell me what drove Lizzy out into the countryside today."

~o~

Richard first stopped in the rose garden. He wanted to take a closer look at the damage there to see if there were any clues to help him track down Lizzy.

As his father had said, it looked like a wild beast had charged through, scattering blossoms and leaves in its wake. Up close, the damage was less than it appeared from a distance. None of the bushes were truly harmed, although a bit of judicious trimming was probably in order. The litter on the ground seemed composed primarily of petals dropped from fully blown roses, along with their nearly bare stems and older, drying leaves that probably fell when the bushes were disturbed, although there were a few fresher stems and full blossoms among the litter.

Picking up one of the larger stems that still had blooms, Richard examined it. The fraying tip indicated that it had probably been pulled from the bush, not cut or pinched off. Dark stains on the stem suggested the culprit had already paid in blood for the crime.

Nothing here indicated the direction or destination of his quarry, but Richard now knew it was likely she was sporting a pair of sore and possibly bloody hands. Dropping the battered rose, he left the garden, heading around the house to the southwest.

~o~

The search took time and Richard was glad he had been able to spare his godfather the trouble. The path to Oakham Mount was littered with places an inventive seven-year-old could hide. As he went, he kept his eyes open for signs Lizzy had passed by. On the path through the ash coppice, his vigilance was rewarded when he found a smear of drying blood on a tree trunk. The spot was one where someone with shorter legs would have to steady herself as she stepped over some brush that had fallen across the path.

Armed with proof he was on the correct trail, Richard continued to scan for likely hiding spots as he left the trees and followed the hedge between two fields of ripening grain. At the point where the two fields he walked between met with two others was a large pile of stones that had been gathered over the years when the fields were tilled. The sections of hedge did not quite meet at the corner of the four fields but formed a scraggly circle around the stones.

As Richard approached the pile, a pebble flew over one of the low bushes in the circle and a girl's voice said, "Stupid Lady Catherine!"

Smiling, Richard replied, "I agree with the sentiment in general, but what has the old cat done this time to deserve your anger?"

He heard a scrambling noise among the rocks and other litter before a head popped up over the bushes. Lizzy stared at him in surprise, her eyes wide in a dirt and tear-smeared face framed by the tangled wisps of brown curls that had escaped from her braids.

"Richard?" she asked incredulously.

"In the flesh," he answered with a grin and an exaggerated bow. "May I enter your sanctuary?"

Lizzy nodded as she pointed to a break in the circle of bushes that provided a convenient entrance. Still grinning, Richard stepped through, finding a spot where several stones had been arranged to provide a bench of sorts. He took a seat and Lizzy joined him.

"How are your hands?" he asked, spotting a smear of blood on the edge of the bench.

"You know?" she asked.

"I know you had an argument with a rose bush. Or was it with your mother?" he asked lightly.

She grimaced and held out her hands for inspection. "It was both."