Chapter 9-- The Return

“Death, thou shalt die!” Sophia gasped, throwing her shoe at a rat that darted under the wall in a panic. Tears filled her eyes as she stooped to retrieve the pathetic shoe, the toe worn through. Sighing, she slipped it over her foot and frowned at her exposed toe. She looked up, startled, when Sarah gave cough.

“It was not the rat that did it; it was his passengers,” the old woman told her calmly. “Of course the physicians do not believe me, the fools.”

“I do not understand,” Sophia began, but Sarah did not hear her above her grumbling. She grumbled about things the other women did not understand.

“I can walk today,” Hannah insisted, wincing as Laura dressed her leg. She inhaled sharply, muttering curses when Laura lifted her hand.

“No, you cannot go anywhere with help,” Laura told her. “Not for long distances, anyway—and you will go everywhere in pain if you try. They will be back soon, I am sure. Maybe they have found more food.”

“And others,” Sophia offered, sighing—and Edele gave a low scoff. The youngest girl was sitting on the ground and peering through the wall. She squinted periodically, looking grim as she searched the quiet village. A dog had approached the hut, a dark-spotted mutt with a small tear in his ear, and Edele did not say a word. The animal stopped to sniff the ground before the wall, and then, strangely, bared his teeth without a growl.

“I went out this morning,” Laura announced, producing a bundle of scraps. “The sky is thick with clouds so it may rain again soon. There is a small orchard not far from here. Most of the fruit have fallen and rotted on the ground. But here are some—here.” She offered the old woman an apple but Sarah declined with her white grin.

“My teeth are too brittle for it,” she said. ‘But do you remember the feast I promised you?”

“Of pies and puddings and pork no doubt,” Hannah muttered.

“We will know when they come back,” Sophia said, attempting to be hopeful.

“My brother will eat it all,” Edele murmured. No one paid her any heed. She suppressed another sigh and drew her knees up under her chin. “I see them, I think,” she whispered, noticing the small party beyond the village, at the base of the hill—tiny specks moving below the formidable castle. Her brother was leading them all, she was sure. She was aware of his particular way of walking: very upright, in a straight line, backwards at times so that he could dictate his orders to those who followed behind.

“When will they come?” Laura worried, biting her lips and taking a bite of the fruit in her hand. “When will they come?”

“Soon,” Sophia assured her. “Very soon. I can feel it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Hannah snapped. “Stop feeding us false hopes. If they have found anything to eat or anything of any value on this godforsaken island then they would have taken it all for themselves. That is the way with people. They will not come then—and I won’t care if they come having found nothing at all.”

“They might have found your sister Catherine,” Sarah said, knowing the way to silence the brooding girl. “Surely you had been hoping. Even in my sleep, child, I heard your cries.” She moved to the window with ease, standing over Edele and peering out towards the castle. A smile lit her face and she turned to the others. “I see them—look! They are coming closer.”

“All of them?” Laura asked eagerly.

“I am not sure.”

“Well, count them,” Hannah said, limping to the window. “It is noon already, my lady, and they have nothing with them.” She narrowed her eyes to look for her sister, a golden head among all the others, but there was none. Tears stung her eyes and yet she refused to weep for the small hope she had yet. “They should have put themselves to a far better use—hunting, perhaps. We could use some meat to go with our fruit. No one owns these lands, I am sure, so it is not poaching.”

“One is missing,” Sophia remarked, her brow raised curiously. “The dark-haired man. Stephen. He is not with them—why?”

“Which one is he?” Laura wondered, not remembering.

“The one who approached us at the well. The one who was unkind to Hannah.”

“Then I hope he is dead,” Hannah wished bitterly, much to Laura’s dismay.

“No, no, do not hope for such wicked things,” she said, shaking her head. “Those who wish for others to be dead might in turn receive the same fate.”

“That is well, then,” Hannah replied, “for we are all dead in all our fates.”

--

When Will and his followers arrived, they did not know which hut to go too. Sophia and Laura hurried out into the muddied streets, excited as the rain began to fall again, soaking through their tattered skirts and unkempt hair.

“Where is Stephen?” Sophia asked immediately, even though she had decided her contempt for him at the well. “Has he died?”

“No, he decided to stay in the castle,” the older man told her, breathing hard from his walking.

“Will,” Edele’s small voice sounded from behind the wall. She was looking at them from there, her face hidden in shadow.

Hannah made up her mind to go out of the hut, stumbling out into the open as if the rain had fallen down from the sky to beat her. She frowned at the weary party, most of them too breathless for words. “It was a grand castle,” the tall woman told them. “It was old.”

“Stephen wished to remain alone there?” Sophia pressed for the others could ask about what they had found at the castle. “Why?”

“He is not alone,” Will finally spoke. “He has found company—in Catherine Stuart.” He hastily turned his gaze to Hannah, who felt the pain in her leg disappear for a second with the news. “We found her there last night. In a chapel.”

“Is it in the tower?” Sophia wondered excitedly, and Will shook his head, not thinking much of her question.

“There, you see?” Laura said, throwing her arms around Hannah until the girl felt she would crush her. “Did we not tell you she was there? Did we not dare to hope? Now, who is to say we are feeding you false hopes? You are the most lucky out of all of us, I think.”

But Hannah was silent. She opened her mouth to speak but she could not find the words to say. The rain dripped from her hair, pouring down her face to mask her tears. But she was not crying. “Why,” she began hesitantly, “did she not come with you? Is she hurt? Is she ill?”

“No,” Will assured her, though he tone seemed cold. “No, she is well enough.”

“Why did she not come with you then?” Hannah demanded.

“The weather?” Will guessed. “Your prayers have been answered; are you not happy?”

“Yes,” Hannah said. She looked to the castle longingly. Why did she not come? she wondered. Was she not as worried as I was to find me as I was to find her? Had the others not told her then—that I was here? She heard the thunder rumble in the distance.