by Anna Macy
“What are you reading?” Elizabeth said, brushing past Juliet to find a place on the chair beside her and placing a delicate piece of nearly complete embroidery on the table.
“Nothing of importance,” Juliet responded brusquely, folding the letter up into her other notes and turning to look at her mother, her elbow sliding the documents out of reach.
There was no need to cause waves now, not when the time was short. If everything went to plan, her letter to William would’ve been delivered yesterday. While she felt no regret in secretly calling for William, Juliet felt compelled to explain to her mother. Perhaps there was still time to make her see.
“Mother, I need to speak with you.”
With a sigh, Elizabeth pushed aside the embroidery she had brought with her and looked up at Juliet with the same flashing copper eyes as her daughters.
Swallowing, Juliet refused to balk at the stalk look. “I wrote to William. I asked him to come here.”
Elizabeth’s finely arched brows flew up, her lips pinching in stark and obvious disapproval.
“The Marquess of Mansfield Park? Why would you do that?” she said incredulously. “You know that your father is never going to allow you to marry that rake? Especially after your little show at Lakeview. Look at what he almost did to your good name! Our good name.”
Juliet felt her temper flare. Unable to stomp out the flame of her anger, she slammed her hands against the table, silencing her mother. She felt the bite of the wood smart against her palms. “First, mother, allow me to remind you. He is not my father. Second, it was me, me, who sullied William’s good name or at least attempted to. And you know what, I’m not sorry that I did it.”
Juliet pulled herself up to her full height, her chair screeching backward against the hardwood floors. She stared down her nose at the woman who continued to deny her love and support, even after all these years.
“If that is what it took for me to have met William, then no price is too high. Even if you and Marshall try to ruin this for me, for us, I know that at least I made that one decision on my own. And that being with him was wonderful. I know my worth, Mother, and you or Marshall no longer define it.”
Juliet gathered her scattered papers with deliberate slowness and strode from the room, her dress sweeping out behind her with the force of her steps, as if carried by an invisible wind. She didn’t look back, and her mother didn’t call out.
The day from there turned gloomy. Rain threatened as Juliet looked out into the darkening sky, the dark rumbling cloudbanks mirroring her mood. She was already dressed to ride, planning an evening ride on Sterling to clear her mind before the sinking sun went down and the chill in the air became too much for her thin cloak. She sighed, pressing her face to the window, feeling the weight of her fight with her mother drag at her shoulders until she wanted to collapse to the ground.
Biting her bottom lip, Juliet decided that even a damp ride was better than spending another moment in this vacant, depressing house. A ride would brighten her spirits, and she could always cut back across the property if the rain started up.
She dashed down the stairs, boots tapping merrily along the steps, past a scolding Amelia who carried in her arms a bundle of fresh towels. Laughing, Juliet made her escape to the rain scented day, her nose tingling with the weather change.
Juliet made quick work of tacking up Sterling in the deepening chill, and using a nearby fence line, climbed easily into his back, astride. The majority of the stable hands and barn manager had been among Marshall’s first cut from the staff, so she was all alone as she ventured out, the fog shrouding the pair as Sterling’s hooves softly beat against the earth.
The sky continued to look ominous, but seeing as the rain was holding off, she and Sterling marched off across the overgrown property yards towards the front roads. His heavy steps carried her away from the stresses inside of Greystone.
Leaning her head back, Juliet yanked the pins from her hair, letting the dark mass free to sweep over her shoulders like a cape. With a sigh, Juliet closed her eyes and tried to soak in some peace.
She was planning on using the dirt roads to cut through to her favorite galloping track since the wooded paths were obscured with branches. Not that it was anyone’s fault, the smaller gardening staff had more than enough work to maintain just in the estate’s garden, let alone on the expansive riding trails that crossed across the grounds. Juliet sighed as she stared up at the sky, rolling her shoulders as she felt the tension slowly recede from her form.
Sterling was thrilled to be out and pranced lightly along the roadside, his ears pricked with the black lined edges eagerly pointed towards the deserted roadway. They had gone maybe a half-mile when Juliet felt the first raindrops splash against her cloak. At first, just the occasional drop, but soon the sky opened up with a deep rumble, and Juliet cursed loudly as the rain grew heavy.
Squinting into the downpour, Juliet spotted the stone-lined groundskeeper cottage on the corner of the Greystone property. Marshall had only recently let the groundskeeper, Albert and his wife Susana, go. After almost twenty years of Greystone service, Juliet had cried when they had packed up to leave, another victim of Marshall's poor management skill.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Juliet steered Sterling towards the path to the empty cottage. There would be a porch on the side that Sterling could step under, as well as plenty of firewood still stacked up inside if Juliet were to need it.
Giving Sterling his head, she squeezed her legs on his sides, urging the reluctant, rain-drenched horse forward. “Come on, boy, it’ll be dry there,” Juliet found herself shouting at the horse, as the wind had suddenly picked up all around them. Gripping his mane in her slick riding gloves, she leaned over Sterling’s thick neck to try to avoid the worst of it as they walked into the thrashing wind, her thin cloak whipped back behind them both.
In a flash of brilliant light, the sky split open with a keening cry, lightning crashing to the ground in the large field on her right. The lightning sent Sterling into a scramble, rearing again and again, and even as Juliet tried to keep her seat, the big horse backed up quickly, preparing to flee from the lightning when his hooves slipped in the mud of the road.
With a squeal, the pair began to go down, the uneven edge of the road falling away under the torrent of rain. Juliet clamped her eyes shut, her hands fisting into Sterling’s mane to hold on, and for a moment, she wondered if the stallion would be able to keep his feet.
A breath later, the world went topsy turvy. The last thing she remembered was her leg being pinched under Sterling's heaving sides and cool darkness settling over her mind.
***
Juliet’s eyelids fluttered open, her mind feeling hazy as she tried to ascertain what had happened and how long she had been out. The rain was still steadily coming down, and Juliet could feel the spongy texture of the muddy soil beneath her left side.
The same side that was effectively pinned to the ground by Sterling’s mass. The great horse had gone down on his side. Because of the angle of the ditch, they were now stuck where he fell. Sterling was surprisingly calm, his breathing ragged but his eyes quiet, as if waiting for her to wake up and get them out of the predicament.
Juliet took a quick stock of the rest of her body, moving her hands over her limbs. Nothing seemed broken. She may have been fortunate this time. The rain had soaked the ground all under her, providing a way to cushion her pinned leg against the weight above it. Stroking the sodden, hot neck of her mount, Juliet tried to sit up to slide her leg out, using her hands to push back against the saddle. Nothing happened. With a grunt, she tried again with little success. They were very stuck.
Tears threatened as she realized how far she was from home and that even if someone bothered to come looking for her, there were a hundred other more logical spots to look before checking the main roads that surrounded Greystone. Juliet leaned back down, hating the thick, paste-like mud that clung to her elbow and shoulder, the chill of the rai
nwater chilling her to the bone.
“Help!” Juliet shouted, leaning towards the road and trying to project her voice as well as she could. Nothing but the falling rain responded to her, drowning both her voice and her hope.
“Is anyone out there?” She tried one more time, her throat sounding hoarse against the steady downpour. Frustration blurred her dark eyes, and she went back to fighting the saddle, frantically pushing this way and that, trying to free her leg from under the bulk of the horse.
Suddenly Sterling’s body quivered, and he took an enormous breath, letting it out with a screaming neigh. Juliet covered her ears as well as she could in her awkward position, flinching away from the severe sound.
Sterling’s head was as far off the earth as it could get, and his ears were pricked forward, flickering slightly towards the roadway. With another deep breath, he repeated the screaming neigh. This time a less hysterical, nearby whinny responded to him. There was another horse up there.
“Help! Help us!” Juliet shouted. Patting the shifting horse, “God bless you and your big mouth.”
“We’re down here,” Juliet yelled again, her eyes searching the swirling grey sky, her eyes narrow against the attacking raindrops, waiting to see if anyone would step into view. But there was nothing.
“Please,” Juliet cried, feeling desperate. She leaned back down, resting on her mud-caked elbow, closing her eyes as she began to shiver.
“Juliet!” shouted a deep man’s voice, worry apparent in its pitch. Juliet’s eyes flew open; she recognized that voice. A dark horse and rider were halted at the top of the ditch, the horse's legs several inches deep in mud. Within moments, the rider threw himself off the horse and slid down the ditch to her side. The hands upon her face were warm against the clammy feel of her skin.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
William’s heart felt like it might pound out of his chest. When Athena had first returned the mysterious horse’s call, he had been irritated at the piercing noise and legged her on. He was drenched to the skin, his heavy clothing plastered against him. He wanted desperately to get to Greystone, to get dry and warm. But most of all, he wanted to get to her.
Receiving Juliet’s letter had almost broken him. He had immediately postponed his last meeting with Bohart’s sources and ridden out of the city. The weather hadn’t been kind as his mare had gamely pushed through the frigid rain. He was so close now, and all he could think about was the doe-eyed girl who had turned his world upside down.
That was until his mare had stopped in the downpour, and he had looked down to see his worst nightmare unfurling at their feet. Juliet curled at the base of the roadside’s ditch, trapped in a sodden divot with the massive grey stallion trapped directly over her.
Her eyes had been closed; her face a shocking shade of pure ivory. He was out of the saddle and down the slope before he had time to register any of it. When he had gotten to her, she had opened those incredible amber eyes, and when she had seen him, well, it had changed everything, the way she looked at him.
“Juliet? Easy now. What’s hurt?” He asked roughly, his throat was tight, and the emotions building in his mind from seeing her like this threatened to overwhelm him. Forcing them down with a swallow, he pushed a comforting smile to his lips. His hands floated over her body, looking for any sources of pain or injury.
“My leg is sore, the one under him, but nothing feels broken,” Juliet answered, her voice a little too breathy. Her lips were beginning to turn blue, and he knew that between the cold and the shock, he needed to get them both right-side-up as soon as he could. There was no time to ride to Greystone for help, even if he could bear to leave her in this state.
“Okay, I think I have a plan,” William said, “I need to go back to Athena for a moment.” But Juliet’s hand shot out as her face crumpled.
“Please don’t leave me here,” her eyes wildly looking from him to Sterling and back.
“It’s okay, darling, you have to trust me,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead and feeling her chilled skin under his lips. Carefully he pulled his hand out of her grip, and she lay there quietly as he stood, then sprinted the few strides up the slope again to his mare.
The thick mud pulled at his legs as he clambered to the top, his blood heated by urgency. In his saddlebag was Athena’s tie-downs for when they had made camp the night before. It would be long enough to do what he needed.
Looking down at the trapped horse and rider, William could see exactly how he needed to free the large animal. Once freed, he would be capable of rising on his own and leave Juliet safely on the ground.
Thankfully, Sterling remained quiet, his body crooked, but nothing looked damaged from Williams' quick overview. Quickly William made a harness and wrapped it around the saddle before sliding down just far enough to catch one of Sterling’s back hooves. Setting a loop around that leg, William let his body slide the remaining distance back to Juliet’s head.
She smiled at him when he came into view. “Are you going to pull us out?” Her voice sounded doubtful.
“Not quite,” William answered. “All I need you to focus on is making sure your foot, this foot here,” he pointed at the leg under the horse, “is free when he gets up.” He tried to smile at her.
“Otherwise you’ll end up hanging from the side of him like a monkey,” he joked. Juliet’s pale lips quivered as if a smile tried to appear but didn’t quite make it.
She nodded, and he watched as her long delicate fingers gripped a bit of the rein, her knuckles a ghostly white under the skin, preparing herself for what might be a lot of violent movement from Sterling as he attempted to right himself.
William climbed back up and onto Athena, facing her in the direction of Sterling's errant legs. Patting the rain-soaked horse, he clucked and squeezed his legs hard against her, “Go ‘Thena, go.”
The mare was a riding horse, not a cart or plow horse, but she quickly realized what her rider was asking. She dug in, the slick mud deepening around her hooves. Within moments, she lunged forward, yanking Sterling hard enough that his hindquarters dropped off the ledge that had been keeping him from getting up on his own.
The moment his legs felt the solid ground, the big grey lurched to his feet. “Juliet, kick free,” William shouted to her. He didn’t need to, though, since Juliet had immediately thrust her foot out and now sat upon the ground cringing, watching as Sterling shook himself like a wet dog.
William again flew down from Athena. Sliding deftly down the slope, he knelt beside Juliet, his handsome face filled with worry. “Juliet, Juliet,” He said deliberately, her face stared at him. His hands raced down her muddy leg, tracing the lines for obvious signs of pain or discomfort. When he found nothing obvious, the relief nearly choked him.
“Let’s get you up. We need to find shelter and get you warmed up now.” Juliet nodded dumbly, taking both his hands in hers and attempting slowly to stand. She flinched hard, pain filling her lovely face and settling it into a scowl as she gently kneaded one hand into her left thigh, the one that had borne both of their weights.
“Here, let me,” he shifted until he could put his arm under hers and prop her up.
“It’s not bad,” Juliet breathed, “Just some rather significant pins and needles.” But regardless, she leaned her head against his shoulder. Together they carefully made their way up to Athena. Sterling followed obediently, giving William a chance to assess the horse’s soundness visually. While the animal looked fine, William wasn’t eager to put Juliet back on a horse just yet.
Looking about them, he saw the cottage just off the main road. Jerking his head towards it, “What is that?”
“It’s part of Greystone, vacant for now.”
“Well, that’s where we are going then,” William said, relief in his voice. Reaching behind with the hand not secured around Juliet’s body, he looped Sterling’s mud-soaked reins over Athena’s saddle. Then whistling to the mare, he began to walk towards the cottage, sticking to the high
road until the last possible moment.
Juliet kept up with him hobbling a little on her leg as she went. Her bottom lip was in her teeth as she focused on maintaining her pace. He squeezed her waist, trying to reassure her as she made their way up the sloppy path.
Thank god that they had been within easy walking distance to the groundkeeper’s cottage, William thought as together William and Juliet stumbled through the doorway. Rain dripping off the clothes and creating a long line of mud and water on the dusty hardwood floors. Stopping just inside the door, Juliet saw a chair.
“You can set me down here,” Juliet murmured, her teeth starting to chatter as the icy rainwater settled against her skin. Carefully William lowered her until she could sit down, her water-laden skirts dragging behind her as if they’d been dipped in lead. William quickly dashed back out to secure the horses under the overhang to dry, making sure to grab the leather bag from the back of his saddle.