Rightnow, Avery and his men, believed Avery controlled Isabel’s forces, whichextended to her allies, Richard and Justin. So they were riding to interceptthe men, who were escorting the kidnapped girl. As they approached the group,Justin prayed they did not get suspicious. He was already sore from lastnight’s fight, and hoped he did not have another skirmish, to recover the girl.

“Heythere, Manuel,” Richard called to the leader, as they drew near. “I thoughtAvery would be with you. We were to meet him at Landel Grange.”

“Averyhad to go take care of some other arrangements,” Manuel replied. “He sent us totake this girl, to hold her with Lady Ann. 'E said his business could take twoor three days.”

“Averywill not be there, for a few days?” Justin asked, deciding to act as though hedid not want to be there, to allay suspicion. “He said he needed us to helpcoordinate his defense. Are we just expected to wait for him? Do you know wherehe was going first? Mayhap, we could meet him there.”

“Nay,Yer Lordship,” Manuel answered. “All I know, is 'e is to meet us at this Grangeplace, in a few days.”

“WellI have no other pressing matters,” Richard said. “If you do not mind, I willjust ride there with you, and wait. Justin?”

“Thatseems to be the only thing to do,” Justin replied. “I just do not like himwasting my time. You are sure, he will be coming shortly?”

“Aye,that is what ‘e said,” Manuel answered.

SoJustin nodded to Richard, and the two knights fell in with the others, escortingthe two girls. Justin and Richard had four men with them. Manuel was one of agroup of six men, plus the girls. Things were even there, Justin thought. Helooked over the two girls. One of them had dark hair, and appeared to be numbwith shock, as she tightly grasped the saddle on her horse, with her boundhands. She was wearing what looked to be a woolen nightgown. The other femalewas blond, and although she looked quite frightened, she was determinedlyclutching a blanket around herself, with bound hands. Judging from the finequality of the thin gown, that peeked out from below theblanket, the blond was likely the sister, he thought. Although,Brant had dark hair, closer in color to the other girl. Both girlslooked rather unsteady on their mounts, which were being lead by their captors.

Afterthey had slowly plodded along for a while, Manuel said, “I will be glad when weget there. Those two are really slowing us down. That one is afraid of thehorse, and the blonde has nearly fallen off ‘er horse twice. She is moreconcerned about keeping her covers, or we could go faster.”

“Thereis an easy solution to that,” Justin said.

Hemaneuvered his destry up beside hers, and lifted her up in front of him, withone very strong arm. She tried to struggle against him a little bit, butquickly gave up, when he cut the rope on her hands, then rapped the blanketaround her, trapping her arms inside. After that, they increased their pace,reaching their destination, about an hour later. There was a brief wait, as theheavy gate was opened, to allow them entry. Then, the group rode into the innerbailey, where a well dressed woman descended the stairs, from the residentialbuilding, with several men, to greet them.

“Goodday, Ann,” Richard greeted, as he dismounted.

“Goodday, Richard. Do you have word about Isabel?” Ann asked.

“Aye. Wetook care of that matter I discussed with you, last night. Who is Isabel’s topman here?” Richard asked.

“ThankGod,” Ann said, waving to a knight who waited nearby. “This is Peter, Isabel’sman. Avery only has three men here.”

“Peter,there are six of Avery’s men with us. They were bringing the girls here,”Richard said, waving.

Richardand Justin’s men had remained on their destries, with Justin still holding thegirl. Another man lifted the second kidnapped girl from her horse, and movedaway from Avery’s men. Others from inside the Castle,came forward.

“Peter,Lady Isabel was wed last eve, to Lord Brant, who is now Lord of this fief. Youare to arrest all of Avery’s forces, immediately,” Richard said, producing theverifying documents.

Fromher seat, pressed against the large hard body of the blond knight, Esme watchedher captors being taken into custody. At the same time, her mind was racing,questioning if she had heard correctly. Lord Brant, her brother, had wedIsabel? Esme was not aware of Brant even knowing the lady, so how had he wedher? She looked in confusion to the man who held her.

“DidI hear him correctly? Brant got married?” Esme asked.

“Aye, last night. Are you his sister, or...” Justin asked, trailing off.

“Aye,I am Esme, Brant’s sister. That is my maid, Mary,” she answered, pointing tothe other girl.

“Iam Lord Justin, an ally of Lady Isabel. This is her Castle, so you are safenow,” he said. “Though, I do not think the plan is to stay here.”

Atthat point Avery’s men were being lead away. Richard approached to lift thegirl down. Then, Justin dismounted, as Esme was lead up to the older woman, whohad met them upon their arrival.

“Wedo not want to be here long. However, the girls will need some clothes, beforewe continue on,” Richard said.

Mary,who was also being lead up in front of the woman, began yelling, “Nay. I am notgetting back on a horse. I ‘ate them. They said they would kill me, if I didnot.”

Sheburst into tears, shaking her head in the negative. Ann glanced at Richard,raising an eyebrow, before leading the two young girls into the residence. Inshort order, Esme was taken to a bedchamber, where she was provided with acouple of gowns, that Ann said use to be her daughter's. She slipped one ofthem on, and discovered it was just slightly, too big for her. She picked theblanket back up, to wrap it around her shoulders, again.

“Alright.You have some clothes for now. We need to get going, so that Avery does notcorner us here. Your maid will have to stay here, since she is refusing to getback on a horse,” Ann said, leading Esme back the way they had come. “At least,Avery cannot use her, to get to your brother.”

“Whereis Brant? I want to see him,” Esme demanded.

“Iam not sure where he is. I am sorry. He is somewhere with my daughter, Isabel.I want to see her, too,” Ann said. “Avery was threatening her with harming me,just as he hoped to use you, to hurt your brother. Right now, it is safer forall of us, if he does not know where we are.”

Asthey exited the residence, Esme said, “I am too tired to ride any farther. Theywoke me up, in the middle of the night.”

Stillthe girl was pressured back onto a horse, and they quickly rode back out of thegate. Lady Ann and five men, who seemed to be her security force, joinedRichard and Justin’s men. Unfortunately, Esme was too tired and sore, to keepup with the pace the others wanted to ride. So once again, she found herselfriding double with the knight Justin. Later, despite the jostling of the horse,Esme fell into a restless slumber. She had been forced to ride for severalhours during the night. Then, after a short break to eat, her captors hadforced her back on the horse for several more hours.

Awhile later, Esme awoke, feeling as though she had not slept at all, whenJustin said, “We are here, young lady.”

Shelooked around sleepily, recognizing nothing, until Richard came around, andJustin handed her down to him. He set her feet on the ground, and Ann graspedher arm to escort her into the hall, where a serf met them. Esme was thenhanded off to the serf, who took her upstairs to a bedchamber. Once there,despite all her doubts about her safety, and her situation, she quickly fellinto an exhausted slumber. However, several hours later, her dreams turned tonightmares about being kidnapped. Esme tried to scream, but a hand over hermouth stifled it. Struggling mightily, she dislodged the hand that quieted hercries, and succeeded at emitting a string of blood curdling screams.