Page 9 of The Grey Lady of the Manor

As she peered down at the sluggish water, Letty heard a scraping noise from the bank and turned just in time to see the gander, Cecil, flounce happily into the water.

No! This was a disaster! For wherever he went, the others were sure to follow, and they’d soon be off downstream and headed for freedom.

“Shoo! Shoo!” She clapped and hissed at the gaggle of geese, pushing them back from the banks and onto the roadway.

“Cecil! Come here, you feathered devil. Come back right now!”

Cecil trod water and stared at her with his beady black eyes, then honked loudly, a clarion call to his fellows.

Frantically, she flapped her skirts at the rest of the geese. Oh, why was there no one here when she needed help? There was nothing else for it. She’d have to go into the water and fetch Cecil out herself. How deep was it? If ’twas deep enough to drown a full-grown woman, she ought not to risk it.

But what alternative was there? She glanced around, her heart hammering in her chest. Hah! There was some sorrel—she’d grab a handful and try tempting Cecil out with that. Quickly untying her shoes, she slithered down the bank toward the recalcitrant goose, but when she reached the water’s edge, her feet sank ankle-deep in mud.

Grimacing, she pulled at her feet, but the mud held her tight. Fear skittered up her spine—could one drown in mud? An attempt to loosen the other foot failed, and she sank a few inches deeper.

Now might be a good time to scream for help—this was a well-used highway, and someone would surely be along in a moment.

“Help! I’m stuck. Please help me!”

She heard someone shout in response, and the sound of running feet made her sigh out her relief—until she discovered to whom the feet belonged.

Perkin Merrick leaned over the bridge, grinning down at her.

“Well, well, what have we here? God give you good day, Letty Carter. I see that the Grey Lady’s ghost has you in her clutches. Once she has a hold of you, it will take ten men to pull you out. I rather fear you are doomed.”

Chapter Seven

How he loved to tease this young woman! Her cheeks reddened, and her dark eyes flared—and that look of vulnerability fled. He was clearly good for her—such a pity that his taunting made her hate him. But he had a task to perform, and the successful completion of that mattered more than her good opinion.

“Are you going to get me out of here or not?”

What in heaven had she been thinking, clambering down the steep bank? He’d been joking about the Grey Lady, of course, but not about the cloying mud. He’d seen a cow become stuck in it once and it had, in truth, taken several men to free the bellowing beast.

He unbuckled his belt. Would it be strong enough? Geese hissed and fretted about his ankles, but he waved his stick at them until they backed off.

“I’ll hold on to the wall to steady myself. Can you reach the end of my belt? There’s no point in me coming down there and both of us getting stuck.”

She glanced over her shoulder at a haughty-looking goose treading water in the shallows and gnawed at her lip.

“Is that one of yours?”

She nodded.

“It can wait. We must get you out first.”

“But I’m meant to be taking Cecil to market. And the rest of them. I must get him back.”

“You first, then the geese,” he said, setting his jaw. Mistress Smythe had a kind heart—he hoped—surely, she would understand if one of the geese were lost?

His belt was strained to breaking point as he attempted to pull Letty from the mud. As soon as she had one foot free, she dug her nails into the bank and, with his help, was able to release the other foot and claw her way to level ground. But the effort was such that she lost her balance and collapsed on him, covering him in dripping black mud.

He laughed as he helped her up. “What a sight we must make! Come—yonder is a place where we can get down to the water to clean ourselves up without risking our lives. With the Grey Lady’s permission, of course.” He chuckled.

“But the gander—”

“You can’t go to market looking like a vagrant—no one will buy from you. Be sensible, Woman, and do as I say.”

“Everyone tells me what to do,” she grumbled as he led her along the bank to a shallow, pebbled area.