Adam's Promise

by Julianne MacLean

  After John had ridden away, she had turned to see Adam through the window, sitting across from Diana in his study, reaching for her hand. It had shaken Madeline, for although she had consciously accepted their love, it was another thing entirely to see them alone together, exchanging intimacies. Gazing at each other. Touching.

  A tremendous swell of tears had filled her eyes and she’d had to leave the yard. She’d walked up the hill to the towering old oak, sat on the swing by herself and wept until she couldn’t weep any longer. She’d needed to weep, for she had bucked her tears for too long.

  She realized that although she’d tried to resist and deny it, her desire for Adam had taken over her entire soul and she could not conquer it. The only way to save her heart was to leave. She would have to make her own future somewhere other than under Adam’s roof. Whether or not John Metcalf would be a part of that future, she did not know. That remained to be seen.

  So here she stood, feeling a little stronger from the tears now out of her system, and determined once again to move on with her life. This time, she would succeed.

  She went to light a candle, for the storm had made the house seem almost as dark as night.

  Madeline jumped, however, when Penelope came bounding down the stairs. “It’s you!”

  Charlie came down behind her. “Where is everyone?”

  “What do you mean?” Madeline said.

  “There’s no one here except for Hilary,” Charlie replied in a tense, clipped voice. “We returned from Jacob’s house, and saw Lady Thurston riding out of the yard toward the marsh on Penelope’s horse. She didn’t stop when we called after her, and when we came inside, Hilary didn’t know where Lady Thurston had gone. And now it’s raining.”

  Hilary came hurrying down the stairs, too. “Begging your pardon, Miss Oxley. We’re dreadfully worried.”

  “Where’s your father?” Madeline asked Charlie and Penelope.

  The children shook their heads. “We don’t know.”

  Madeline walked to the window and looked out at the rain streaming down in a forceful, almost horizontal torrent. Huge Scotch pines and maple trees in the yard were swaying in the gusting winds, their branches flapping about. Raindrops noisily battered the glass panes. She thought of her sister, getting caught in this. It wasn’t dark yet, but it would be soon. Would she find shelter? Or would she become disoriented and get lost?

  “Diana doesn’t know her way around,” Madeline said. “She’s never been down on the marsh. Why would she ride off like that?”

  “We don’t know,” Penelope replied.

  “And you’ve looked everywhere for your father?”

  “Yes. He’s not here. His horse is gone.”

  Madeline tried to consider all the possibilities. “Perhaps Diana was following him somewhere.”

  Hilary put her arm around Penelope. “No, miss. Mr. Coates left over an hour ago. He was looking for you.”

  Madeline pressed her palm to her forehead. “For me? Why? I had just gone for a walk.”

  They all shrugged.

  “This is all my fault,” Madeline said. “I should have told someone where I was going.” She directed her gaze at Charlie. “Is your horse in the barn?”

  “Yes.”

  “Will you come and help me saddle him?”

  “You shouldn’t go out in this weather,” he said. “Father wouldn’t want you to.”

  “Everyone else is out in it. I might as well be, too. Besides, I think your father might have gone to look for me along the road where I usually go walking. If I can find him, I can tell him that Diana is out in this, too. Don’t worry, I know my way around, and there’s still time before dark.”

  “All right.” Charlie went to fetch his coat. “But I’m coming with you.”

  Madeline started upstairs to get her hooded cloak. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  Splashing through puddles and squinting into the driving rain, Adam rode his horse into the yard. He quickly dismounted, tethered his mount and went inside. The candles in the hall were lit, and as soon as the door closed behind him, Penelope and Hilary appeared out of the back kitchen.

  Penelope ran at him and leaped into his arms. “Father!”

  He knelt down to hug her. “I’m fine, darling. It’s just a little rain. Has Madeline returned?”

  “Yes, Mr. Coates,” Hilary replied, “but there’s been—”

  “Thank goodness,” he said, overwhelmed by the relief he felt, hearing that she was safe. “Where is she? I must see her right away.”

  He rose to his feet and continued to hold Penelope’s tiny hand. She did not seem ready to let it go just yet.

  “Miss Oxley’s not here, sir. She returned not long ago, and discovered that you and Lady Thurston had both gone looking for her, so she went with Charlie to find you.”

  There was a long, tremulous silence as Adam’s brow furrowed with disbelief. “She’s gone back out? Diana’s out there, too?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “But this storm is getting worse every minute.”

  “We know, sir. Miss Oxley assured us she knew her way around, and Charlie went with her. Her ladyship, however, was alone.”

  He went to the door to look out. “This is disastrous. How long ago did they leave?”

  “Miss Oxley and Charlie left about ten minutes ago,” Hilary replied, “but my lady has been gone almost an hour.”

  He gathered his coat collar tighter around his neck and opened the door. A gust of wind blew into the front hall. “You two stay here. I’m going to the marsh to look for them. John Metcalf is on his way. When he gets here, tell him what has happened and send him out to look, too.”

  “Be careful, Father!” Penelope called to him from the shelter of the doorway.

  He waved at her, then mounted his horse and galloped through the wind and rain toward the top of the ridge. He paused there briefly to gaze below, but saw nothing through the raging storm. His horse nickered, and Adam had to urge the reluctant steed down the road to the lowlands.

  On the marsh, Adam called out to Madeline and Diana, but no reply came. The wind howled like a great beast as it gusted over the grasses. The rain stung his face like steel pellets. He continued along the road toward the river, until he decided to cross over a dale to check one of the hay barns.

  Within minutes, he noticed his mount was struggling to manage his footing across the wet grass. The closer they came to the river, the deeper the puddles became until they were sloshing through soggy ground and sinking into the mud. It was clear to Adam that the water was not draining fast enough into the ditches. He gazed uneasily up at the darkening sky, the clouds showing no sign of retreat. He called out Madeline’s name again, then Diana’s, and searched the vast landscape with squinting, burning eyes.

  Though his first concern was to find each of them unharmed, he could not deny the hope that he would find Madeline before Diana did.

  He continued toward the river and soon realized that his horse was up to his knees in water, struggling now with each step.

  A slow panic began to move over Adam. He stopped on the marsh and peered through the storm toward the river. Perhaps the dykes were damaged.

  “Madeline! Diana!”

  He spotted a hay barn in the distance and wondered if they might have gone there to seek shelter. Madeline was smart. She would take Diana there if she’d found her.

  “Let’s go, boy, just a little farther.”

  Suddenly his horse slumped beneath him and Adam tumbled off, splashing into ice-cold salt water. The shock of it set his heart racing. The next thing he knew, he was struggling to keep his head above water and touch bottom in what appeared to be a flooded ditch.

  His horse snorted and whinnied. A few frenzied seconds of panic passed, then they both managed to stagger out of the trench. Still up to his knees in muddy water, Adam pulled himself onto his horse. He shivered with a chill, then called out, “Madeline!”

  He heard a cry from somewhere in
the distance. “Madeline!” he called out again.

  At last he spotted her, galloping across the swampy ground with John Metcalf and Charlie, and he thanked God for keeping them safe. He started off toward them.

  “Adam! Help!” Madeline shouted. “It’s Diana! She’s been hurt! Terribly hurt!”

  The words struck him like a mallet. He rode to meet them on dryer ground. “Where is she?”

  Dear God, whatever had happened to Diana tonight, it was his doing and he would never be able to forget it.

  “She’s in one of the hay barns!” Madeline turned to point toward the center of the marsh. “I couldn’t get her out! The wind took the roof off and it collapsed on her! She’s not conscious!”

  He heard the terror in Madeline’s voice, felt it in his own chest. All he could do was urge his horse onward. “Let’s go. We’ve got to get her out of there before this whole marsh floods.”

  John rode up beside Adam. “It’s flooding? Good God, you’re drenched.”

  “I went for a swim. We all will, if we don’t reach high ground soon.”

  By the time they crossed the marsh to where Diana was trapped, the entire ground had flooded knee-deep. John and Adam leaped off their horses.

  “Where is she?” Adam asked.

  Madeline slid off her horse and splashed into the water, the surface littered with limp blades of grass and weeds. She gasped at the shock of the chill. “She’s this way!”

  Gathering her heavy, wet skirts in her fists, she waded toward the barn door and went into what remained of the damaged structure.

  She pointed. “There!”

  Adam saw the vivid color of Diana’s blue skirt peeking out from beneath some debris and draping over the side of the loft. He felt a sickening wash of dread. The rest of her was hidden beneath the fallen roof. At least she was not in danger of drowning, he told himself, as he climbed the ladder.

  John followed close behind. Carefully they tossed boards and planks aside until they could reach her. Adam touched her arm. “Diana!”

  She didn’t move. He found the pulse at her wrist. “She’s alive!”

  He and John pulled broken pieces of wood off her, most of them small shingles and splintered planks. When he uncovered her face, he saw that it was scratched and cut.

  One larger beam had pinned her leg and was not so easy to move. “John, can you reach the end of it?”

  John moved a few more planks out of the way and crawled to Diana’s feet. “Yes, sir, Mr. Coates.”

  “When I say go, we’ll lift at the same time. Ready?” They each gripped a section of the beam. “Go!”

  Groaning at the impossible effort, they pulled the beam off her leg and tossed it aside. Adam scrambled to see where Diana was injured. He lifted her skirts. Her leg was twisted and her stocking was soaked in blood. “This doesn’t look good. We have to get her home. Help me, John, that’s it, take her arms. Madeline! Bring my horse!”

  They handed Diana down like a heavy, limp doll. A few minutes later, Adam was high on his horse, cradling Diana in his arms. The others mounted and they started off across the sodden marsh toward the ridge.

  “John, will you fetch the doctor? Do you know where he lives?”

  “Yes, sir.” Without hesitation, John pushed ahead, struggling over the flooded ground to the uplands, finally reaching the road and disappearing over the hill.

  Charlie rode behind Adam and Madeline, all of them keeping their heads down, protecting their faces from the driving wind and rain. It was dusk now, growing darker by the minute.

  “Will she be all right?” Madeline asked.

  Adam shifted Diana in his arms. “I don’t know. All we can do is pray.”

  They walked their horses along a fence, reaching the edge of the marsh. The road to the uplands was at last within reach.

  Suddenly a low, thunderous roar stopped all of them in their tracks. Charlie, behind them, called out, “Father, what’s that noise?”

  They could see little through the gray, turbulent dusk, but the noise continued, like the terrifying rumble of the sea. Adam turned in the saddle. “Hurry, Charlie, we’ve got to reach the road!”

  His son was farther back, his horse laboring through the shallow waters that had gradually covered the entire marsh around them. “Dante can’t go any faster!”

  “Try!” They all continued toward the road. Adam was the first to reach dry, higher ground, with Madeline close behind him. “Madeline, take my horse with Diana and go home. I have to help Charlie.”

  “But I can’t leave you here!”

  “You have to. Your sister’s life depends upon it.”

  Madeline reluctantly changed places with him.

  Charlie called out, “Father!”

  Both Adam and Madeline turned toward the marsh. From their height just above, they saw a wave sweeping toward them at great speed from the river, taking with it whatever stood in its path: hay, fence rails, cattle and sheep. The dykes had all but disappeared beneath the great tidal surge.

  Panic welled up in Adam as he watched his youngest son turn to look over his shoulder. Adam ran down the hill. “Charlie! Ride!”

  He heard Madeline calling out to him but couldn’t stop. He ran splashing into the water just as the wave swept up behind Charlie and lifted both him and his horse off their feet.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Adam continued to sprint toward Charlie, finally being swept off his own feet by the waves. Ice-cold water covered his head. He pushed himself to the surface and swam toward his son, who was flailing in the frigid, rough waters, calling for help.

  Reaching Charlie at last and gathering his coat collar in a tight fist, Adam hauled him through the water in the direction of the ridge. “Swim, Charlie!”

  Frigid waves crashed over their heads; Adam gasped frantically for air. His heavy coat, tangling around him, made it almost impossible to move and stay afloat in the dark waters, let alone swim to shore. The sound of the water surging all around them was deafening and the water was filling his ears and nostrils. He could taste the salt in his mouth, feel the grit of the marsh mud between his teeth.

  Adam heard Charlie make a low cry of defeat behind him. He shouted again, “Swim!” and struggled harder against the weight of his clothes. His fingers, in a tight fist around Charlie’s coat, ached from the cold, but he would not let go. He would never let go.

  Then, by some great gift of fate, another surge swept them both toward the edge of the marsh and Adam grabbed onto a fence pole, the top barely visible in the gray waters. They made their way along the fence and climbed upward to dry ground, where they collapsed in heaps of exhaustion.

  Adam turned to look at Charlie. “Are you hurt?”

  Charlie shook his head.

  From somewhere outside his muddled consciousness, Adam heard the faint sound of Madeline’s voice. “Adam! Adam!”

  He sat up. The wind gusted past him, pressing his cold, wet clothing hard against his skin. He managed to wave at her.

  “I must take Diana home!” she shouted.

  He could barely make out what she’d said beneath the roar of the flood. She rode the horse up the hill toward the house.

  Adam gathered Charlie into his arms. “Thank God, you’re all right.”

  Charlie sobbed. “What about Dante?”

  Adam gazed out over the waters, looking for the horse. Farther out, he could see the heads of his cattle, drifting toward the sea. He saw an entire barn floating away and breaking up. “I can’t see him.”

  Charlie stood. His teeth chattered, and his voice trembled from his shivering. “What’s going to happen to him?”

  Adam managed to stand, also. “I don’t know, Charlie. We’ll just have to wait and hope he makes it to dry ground. But for now, we’ve got to get you home.”

  Madeline rode into the yard, her muscles aching from the strain of keeping Diana’s limp body on the horse. Just as she approached the door, John Metcalf came galloping in behind.

  He dismount
ed and rushed to Madeline’s side. “The doctor’s on his way!”

  Madeline handed Diana down to John, who carried her to the house.

  Hilary and Penelope must have been watching at the window, for they were already there waiting, holding the front door open for him. Madeline quickly led the horses into the barn and tethered them there, then she ran through the pounding rain to the house. She was never so glad to walk into a warm home and see candles burning, smell a fire in the hearth.

  She unhooked her cloak and handed it soaking wet to Hilary. “Bring hot water and towels to Diana’s room right away. She’s badly hurt.” Madeline picked up her wet skirts and bounded up the stairs.

  She hurried to Diana’s room. John was laying her sister on the bed, while Penelope lit candles. When the room brightened, Penelope froze at the foot of the bed, staring dumbfounded at Diana’s blood-soaked stocking. Her brown eyes were as big as saucers.

  Madeline rested a hand on Penelope’s shoulder. “Sweetheart, go and watch for your father. He and Charlie are on their way, and they’ll need warm blankets and hot tea as soon as they arrive.”

  Penelope pulled her horrified gaze away from Diana and nodded. Seeming grateful for a task to focus upon, she turned and left the room.

  Madeline moved to the bedside and laid a hand on Diana’s forehead. “She’s chilled. Let’s get her under the covers.” John helped Madeline pull the quilt around Diana. “When is the doctor going to arrive?”

  “He had to saddle his horse. He should be here any minute.”

  Madeline tried to catch her breath. Everything had happened so fast.

  “Why hasn’t Diana opened her eyes or moved at all? I’m so worried, John. Is this normal?”

  “My uncle fell from his horse once, and didn’t move for two days.”

  “Two days? Really? Then what happened?”

  “He simply woke up one afternoon and said, ‘Who let the fire go out?’ He had a few bumps and bruises, but he recovered.”

  Madeline gazed warmly at John. “Thank you for helping us. We were lucky to meet up with you.”