by Merry Farmer
“Jack’s finally caved! He’s found a priest and brought him to Kedleridge.”
Roderick stood straight, spit, and burst into sharp laughter. “Congratulations Aunt Lydia!”
Lydia jumped forward and hugged him. She wrinkled her nose and stepped back when she got a whiff of him. “Take a bath, Roderick.” His scowl was cut off when she charged on with, “No, on second thought, never mind the bath! Go find Connor and the horses and the rest of the men. It’s time to take the treasure home.”
She clapped her hands with giddy laughter and bolted off towards the ancient haystacks while Roderick ducked into the house. He returned with a small trumpet and blew it in a loud, shrill pattern as he walked towards the trees. Lydia dove at one of the haystacks. She tossed the stinking hay aside with abandon until her hand struck the hard corner of a cart.
“What in blazes are you doing, you mad woman?”
Lydia yelped and jumped back as Ethan, of all people, hobbled towards her, his miserable little shadow Toby in tow.
“What are you doing here?” She slapped a hand to her heart to still it.
Ethan’s saucy grin combined with his limp as he continued towards her made him look more like a cutthroat than a former lord. “I hear you’ve got something that belongs to me.”
“What?” She blinked, recovering herself. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The money that everyone keeps talking about. It’s mine, Lydia and you know it.”
Her initial reaction of fear fizzled into plain old surprise. Her shoulders dropped and she stared at him. He was serious. His man Toby hovered behind him, wringing his hands and glancing around as though they would be ambushed at any moment.
She shook her head and drew in a breath. “Don’t be absurd. You left the forest. Finders, keepers.”
Ethan chuckled. “Your little game is up, Lydia. You may have fooled the likes of Jack and Madeline and Tom, but you can’t fool me.”
Now she was genuinely lost. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“How much do you really have? A couple dozen marks? One strongbox? Two?”
Lydia flushed. He really didn’t have a clue. “Yes,” she agreed slowly. “Something like that.” She stole a quick glance at the cart hidden in the haystack to make sure it was still hidden.
Toby followed the line of her eyes. He squinted at the haystack, then his cheeks went pink. “My lord-”
“So why don’t you just hand it over and we’ll forget this ever happened,” Ethan ignored him.
Mouth hanging open, Lydia glanced between the two men. “Sure thing, Ethan.” She checked the line of trees where Roderick had gone to sound the signal. He could still be heard trumpeting. Connor and his men needed to get their asses back as soon as possible. “Why don’t you come inside and have some tea.”
“You don’t have any tea.” He took a wobbling step towards her.
At last she spotted movement from the trees. She thanked her luck that she wouldn’t have to deal with this madman anymore. “Look, I like you, Ethan. You’re stupid, but you’re a good lay. So if I were you I would get on your horse and go away. Keep out of this.”
“My lord-” Toby seconded her sentiments.
“Hand over the money, Lydia!” Ethan didn’t listen to either of them.
She ignored him and went back to pushing hay off of the cart.
“Hey! Did you hear what I said?” Ethan hobbled after her.
Moments later Connor and his men galloped out of the forest, Roderick walking behind them. Ethan’s eyes flew wide and he stumbled, Toby catching him.
“Clear off the carts!” Lydia ordered the men as they rode near, hollering as they dismounted.
“What are you doing?” Ethan shouted.
“Roderick, get the harnesses. We need to get these carts moving as fast as possible.”
“You!” Roderick shouted at one of Connor’s men. “Where did you put the harnesses?”
“I got ’em.” The man waved Roderick off and gestured to one of his friends, heading for the huts.
“I asked you what you were doing!” Ethan demanded through the sudden chaos.
No one had time to answer him. Lydia stepped back and let the men continue the work of clearing the carts. As the hay flew, four carts loaded with strongboxes and bundles, barrels and sacks seemed to materialize in front of them. Ethan’s blustering stopped when he noticed. He stepped back, Toby helping him to get out of the way of the work.
“Where did all this come from?” he demanded, turning to Roderick when Lydia continued to ignore him.
“What do you care?” Roderick sneered at him.
Ethan blinked in shock. “If this all came from carriages passing through the forest then it belongs to me. Hand it over and I’ll be sure everyone gets their fair share.”
Roderick shook his head and laughed. “Playing the fearless leader now, are we?” he sneered. “Noticing the rest of us now that we’ve got something you want? You should have made nice to me when you had a chance, my lord. How much do we get to keep anyhow?” He glanced away from Ethan to ask Lydia.
“You!” Connor’s booming shout split through the buzz of activity. Lydia turned to see the hulking man charging at Toby. “You cut me!”
Ethan’s man yelped and swung around, looking for a place to hide.
Connor reached for his sword, advancing on him like a wild boar. “I’ll skin you alive!”
“Ethan, help!” Toby quivered as Ethan stumbled on his one good leg, looking for a way to protect the man.
“I’ll kill you!” Connor looked like he was considering cutting through Ethan to get to his man.
“Connor, put that away,” Lydia sighed. “We don’t have time for games. Get to work on the carriages!”
To her satisfaction, Connor cowered under her order. Ethan and Toby stumbled back. Connor growled at them as they went. “I’m not through with you!” he shouted at Toby then nodded to Lydia and rushed to help with the treasure.
“What an idiot,” Lydia smirked to Roderick, lumping all of the men into one.
The men worked fast, clearing the carts and hitching their horses to them. As soon as the first cart was completely clear Lydia picked her way through scattered hay to it, reaching for a strongbox and opening it. She scooped out handfuls of coins to give to the men.
“Here you go, boys.” She distributed coins like the king on tour. “The second installment of your pay. One more to go once we get to Kedleridge and you’ll all be set for life.”
A cheerful cry rose up from the men. They came to claim their coins then rushed to finish hitching the carts. By the time Lydia was seated with Roderick at the head of a small caravan starting down the road she had lost track of Ethan. He and his man had disappeared. She shrugged and snapped the reins on her team of horses’ backs. Everything she’d ever wanted, title, riches, and Simon, were just there, within her grasp.
Madeline and Crispin raced along the south road towards Kedleridge. They’d left the rest of the soldiers behind hours ago after stopping to rest. Madeline hadn’t wanted to stop but Crispin had insisted. They needed to throw together a document to convince Lydia Jack was dispossessed anyhow. She had no idea where Crispin’s men found the parchment, pen, and ink, and her hand shook so hard as she wrote that she was disgusted with her work, but Crispin seemed to think it would do.
Her heart was already in her throat as they wound around the last hill approaching Kedleridge. When she saw the crush of carts and men in the center of the small village her head spun. Lydia’s bright blonde hair stood out against the rough and worn clothes of the forest outlaws. If Lydia had handed over the money it could only mean one thing.
“Jack!” she shouted as they galloped into the already crowded street in front of the manor.
Jack’s ginger hair caught the light of the setting sun as he glanced up from where he stood at the bottom of the manor stairs. His eyes flashed with joy for half a second before a scowl t
ook over his face. He broke away from where he stood with Lydia, Simon, and Tom and stormed towards her.
“Get out of here, Madeline! You shouldn’t be here. Not now.”
“Jack, a letter has come from London! You have to hear this!” She wheeled her horse around, ready to lie like she’d never lied before. When one of the thick guards stepped aside to reveal a priest standing by Lydia with a book in his hands she blanched. “No, Jack, no!” She jumped off her horse and ran to him. “Tell me I’m not too late!”
“You’re too late, Madeline.” He caught her by the arm and spun her back towards her horse.
Her knees gave out. Jack had to catch her and hoist her back to her feet.
“You’ve already married her?” Crispin asked as he dismounted.
Jack did a double-take at the sight of his friend. “Crispin?” The noble accent Madeline hadn’t noticed him using slipped away. “Oy, what’re you doin’ here, mate?”
Crispin pulled the parchment from his belt as he strode to meet his friend. “Did you marry her already?”
“We’re almost done,” his accent and scowl returned. He let go of Madeline and started back towards the stairs.
“But you haven’t actually married her yet?” She stopped him. She couldn’t catch her breath. The world spun around her.
“No,” Simon answered for him, marching over to break into the conversation. “They haven’t spoken the vows yet.” He met Madeline’s eyes with grim triumph.
“Oh thank God!” Madeline pressed her hands together in prayer, tears springing to her eyes.
“We’re almost done,” Jack told them, the light in his eyes fading. “Nothing you can say will stop me.”
“You’ve been dispossessed,” Crispin delivered the news with the force of lightning. He thrust the parchment at Simon. “A letter came from London two days ago. Prince John has overturned your investiture. When he was made aware of Simon McFarland’s claim he appointed him as Lord of Kedleridge instead.”
All color drained from Jack’s face. He staggered back, stepping on Madeline.
It was Lydia who snapped, “What?”
Simon unrolled the parchment and read it with the same stoic determination with which he did everything. He scanned the document, then turned and handed it to Lydia. “You’re in the process of marrying a penniless peasant,” he told Lydia with a straight face.
“You’re jokin’, mate!” Jack swiped at the parchment before Lydia could take it. He read it, squinting, chest heaving harder and harder as the implication sunk in. Then he started laughing.
“Let me see that,” Lydia snatched the document away from him. She scanned it, eyes growing wider and wider as she read.
Jack continued to laugh to the point where Madeline was afraid the whole thing had unhinged him. He grabbed the guard closest to him and slumped against the startled man. Madeline rushed to shove a shoulder under his arm to hold him up. “Oy, you still want to marry a homeless horse thief, mate?” he asked Lydia, tears and sweat streaming down the sides of his face.
Her turned up nose was all the answer anyone needed. Madeline burst into tears, throwing her arms around Jack and burying her dirty face in his tunic.
The sound of the blood rushing in her ears almost made her miss Simon asking, “Will you still agree to hand over the money if I marry you, Lydia?”
“Yes!” Lydia sang so quickly and decisively that Madeline sobbed anew. “Oh yes, Simon, of course!”
It was going to work. She couldn’t believe that it was actually going to work.
“Father Joseph,” Simon rushed back to the bewildered priest who had climbed onto the stairs to get a better view of the drama. “Will you need to start the rites anew or can we carry on where you left off?”
Father Joseph gaped, wide-eyed, before shaking himself and saying, “The ceremony was already most unusual. I don’t suppose it would make a difference how it continues from this point. You’ll still have to come to the church in Derby to sign the documents.”
“Oy, you got room for two more, mate?” Jack straightened, grabbing Madeline’s hand and bustling her over to stand next to Simon and Lydia. “Hope you don’t mind, MP,” he murmured to her as an afterthought.
She shook her head, unable to see through her veil of tears. “Right now is not soon enough for me to marry you, Jack.”
He let out a loud breath and swept her into his arms, kissing her so hard and so thoroughly that she saw stars.
“I believe you are supposed to wait until after the vows before kissing the bride, my lord,” Simon scolded him with a straight face.
“Right,” Jack sobbed. “Get on with it then!”
The priest eyed Jack and Madeline and then Simon and Lydia with utter confusion. He picked up where Madeline figured he had left off chanting in Latin. As the meaning of his words came clear in her head she had to fight a swoon. She wondered if any of the others understood Latin enough to know how close they’d come to disaster.
“Um, let’s see now,” Father Joseph closed his Bible. “How shall we do this?”
“Us first, mate!” Jack exploded with mirth.
Father Joseph glanced to Simon. Simon nodded, a hint of a smile sneaking onto his otherwise straight face as he stole a glance at Madeline.
“Alright then. Do you, Lord John-”
“Jack Tanner, mate,” Jack rushed to correct him. “It’s Jack Tanner.”
“Jack Tanner,” Father Joseph nodded. Madeline laughed and wiped her eyes with the back of her grimy sleeve. “Do you take this woman….” Father Joseph signed and dropped his shoulders, glancing to her for a prompt.
“Madeline Matlock,” she managed to squeak.
“Madeline Matlock,” the priest continued, looking to Jack again, “to be your wife.”
“Yes!” Jack exclaimed with all the force of the love he’d had to keep down for so long.
“And do you, Madeline Matlock, take this man, Jack Tanner, to be your husband?”
“I do,” Madeline choked on her relief.
“And do you, Simon McFarland-”
“Oy! Finish up over here first, mate!” Jack shook as he interrupted the priest.
Father Joseph sighed. “Very well. By the power invested in me by God and the Holy Church I now pronounce you man and wife.”
Madeline didn’t hear the rest of the pronouncement, if there even was a rest. Jack crushed her in an embrace that knocked the wind out of her and kissed her for all he was worth. She could hardly believe they’d won. She threw her arms around him and held on as though she would never let go, kissing him back. It didn’t matter that they were surrounded by forest outlaws and Kedleridge villagers. She gave herself over to him, eyes closed, tongue twining with his. They were oblivious to anything else.
A sudden cheer and applause dragged them back to the reality of the moment. Gasping for breath, Madeline leaned back from Jack and looked around. Lydia pressed herself against Simon, kissing him over and over. Lydia’s men were the ones cheering. Even the little creep Roderick stood smiling, his teeth bared.
“This is the happiest day of my life!” Lydia exclaimed when she finished kissing Simon.
“You can send these men away now,” Simon spoke with the same even tone he would have used to direct one of the maids to clear the supper table.
“Oh no,” Lydia arched an eyebrow. “Not until all of the legal documents have been signed.”
“What legal documents?” Madeline’s heart plummeted to her gut.
“Don’t worry.” Jack was still laughing, red-faced and bright-eyed. “We had to drag Father Joseph out here from Morley where you and Aubrey stashed him and his mates. He said he could marry us in the eyes of God whenever an’ wherever, but if there was ever gonna be any grounds to contest anythin’ then we’d need to go to the church to sign an official decree.”
Madeline’s pulse raced again. Her glance shot to Simon. “Then we need to go to Derby as soon as possible to get everything taken care of.”
; “Oy, I don’t care, mate.” He pulled her into his arms again and squeezed her tight. “I don’t care if we sign papers or spit and shake on it or just tell everyone we’re man an’ wife and go live in a hole in the ground. You’re mine an’ I’m yours an’ no one can ever tell me different!”
Her heart melted at the words and once again tears flooded her face. She was really going to have to find a way to break that habit. As soon as Jack would let her she leaned back and looked him in the eyes. “Jack, we have to go to Derby and sign whatever Father Joseph needs us to sign, right now,” she whispered, trying to tell him with her eyes alone everything she and Simon and Crispin had plotted.
“Yes, we should go and get everything squared away this instant,” Lydia agreed.
A few of the closest observers were taken aback by the urgency both Madeline and Lydia showed, but enough of them knew better than to delay.
“Your horses are already saddled,” Simon glanced from Madeline to Crispin. “I see a few more belonging to Lydia’s men. The rest of us will borrow those. We can be in Derby in an hour. How long will it take you to prepare the documents, Father Joseph?”
“Uh,” the priest stammered as all eyes turned to him. “Not long. Before the night is out I suppose.”
“Good,” Simon nodded, grabbing Lydia’s hand and starting for a cluster of saddled horses. “We’ve no time to lose.”
Giddy with joy and anxiety, Madeline stood on her toes to kiss Jack one more time. She then spun out of his arms and started towards her horse. Tom was standing a few feet away. His face was a mask of conflicting emotions.
“Oh. Tom.” Her stomach twisted with awkwardness.
“Tom.” Crispin swooped in and took charge. “Would you be willing to do something for me?”
Tom blinked between Crispin and Jack and Madeline. “Uh, sure.”
Crispin leaned closer. “Two dozen of my soldiers are riding this way. When they get here I need you to direct them to take these wagons on to Windale.”
“Windale?” Jack shifted to business in spite of his energy.
“We’ll store the money in one of the warehouses there until we can count it. I don’t want to run the risk of Pennington getting wind of it and coming back. The fewer people know of its presence the better, and we can keep it well guarded there.”