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Teresa got to her feet, wiping the tears from her eyes. “You won’t get in trouble with the High Sheriff for this, will you?” she asked.
“Don’t worry about him. I’ll take care of everything. Now hurry. You have a sick child waiting.”
“Aye, my lady. And thank you ever so much.”
Maira looked at the little boy in her arms who was wiping his eyes with his fist.
“Well, Ricker. I think we’ll go to the woods for our first outing.”
* * *
Jacob foundit hard to concentrate on preparing the villagers for the attack. Every time he heard a squirrel scamper through the underbrush, he spun around hoping it was Maira. It was already late afternoon and still she hadn’t showed. That concerned him greatly.
“My lord?” Will waved his hand in front of Jacob’s face. “Did you want me to train the men myself, or were you planning on jumping in and helping out at all?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Will.” Jacob turned to see a dozen men all staring at him, waiting for his direction in their training. “I’ve just been a little distracted, that’s all. Everyone take a five-minute break and then we’ll resume the training.”
“A break?” complained Roger. “We’re here to learn to fight, not to rest.”
“That’s right,” agreed Gerald. “Some of the men still feel uncomfortable with real weapons in their hands.”
“That’s true,” said Will. “Most of their training through the years has been with the makeshift weapons.”
“Then, I suggest we get back to training right away, since there is no time to lose,” said a female voice from behind Jacob.
He spun around to find Maira riding through the woods atop her horse.
“Maira, you came!” he exclaimed. But as she rode closer, he realized she wasn’t alone. Held protectively in front of her in the saddle was a toddler. “What the hell! Please don’t tell me you brought a child here?”
“I did,” she said, stopping her horse and dismounting. She lifted the child off the horse and held him in her arms. “This is Ricker,” she told him.
“Ricker? God’s eyes, don’t tell me you brought the High Sheriff’s son with you? What were you thinking?”
“There’s no need to be upset. The High Sheriff is gone for a few days to collect the Bishop of Durham. And Ricker won’t say a word because the boy hasn’t talked since his mother died.”
“Really.” Jacob was leery of the situation but decided it was a risk well worth taking. Maira was here, and that meant she was going to be his, and not Sir Gregory’s bride after all.
“Really,” she told him. “Now, I’m here to help. So shall we get started?”
“We shall,” he said, pleased by what he was hearing. “Why don’t you put the boy down and I’ll introduce you to the others?”
“All right.” She put the boy down but he started crying and clinging to her. She picked him up and he stopped crying.
“This isn’t going to work,” he told her. “I don’t feel good about the child being here. His crying is going to alert someone that we’re here.”
“There was no one else to watch him,” she told Jacob. “And I promised Sir Gregory I’d look after the boy while he was gone. However, it seems like he starts crying unless he’s held.”
“Here, let me try,” he said, reaching out for the boy. The child clung to Maira even tighter, not wanting to go to Jacob. “What’s the matter with him?” asked Jacob. “I’m not going to hurt the boy.”
“Aye, but he doesn’t know that,” said Maira. Then she leaned over and whispered to him. “The High Sheriff is not very nice to him and often punishes him and sends him to bed with no food just because of his crying.”
“No food?” This angered Jacob and made him hate Sir Gregory even more. “Mayhap, the boy is hungry. Will, get me some bread,” commanded Jacob.
“Aye, my lord.” Will walked over and handed him a loaf of bread.
“Not an entire loaf. He’s just a child,” scoffed Jacob, breaking off a piece and holding it out to the boy. “Here you are, Son,” he said, not sure why he’d used that endearment. It just sort of floated off his tongue before he could stop it.
Ricker peeked out, still holding tightly to Maira, having had his head buried against her chest.
