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Bre
"I won't," Bre
"We'll stay in the woods and move around the south border of the camp to the pen where the horses are kept. The searchers won't expect us to head back toward the camp, they'll be looking for us in the opposite direction-moving into the woods.
"When we near the pen, you stay just inside the woods, and I'll bring the horses. With luck, whoever watches the mounts will be more interested in the search for us than he is the horses."
Bre
"Nay!" Bre
"Listen to me!" Je
"Yes."
"Good. Once I've gotten the horses and we're mounted, we're going to stay in the woods, working our way to the north, till we've topped the hill. Once there, we'll angle west as we head down the hill, but we must remain in the woods. When we're in sight of a road, we'll ride parallel to it, but we'll need to stay in the woods. Claymore will probably send someone to watch the roads, but they'll be looking for two nuns from Belkirk Abbey, not two young men. If we're lucky, we'll meet up with some travelers and join their group, which will add to our disguise and increase our chances of success.
"Bre
"I can't just leave you," Bre
"You must-so that you can bring father and our kinsmen to my rescue."
Bre
"Merrick keep?" Bre
"You can stay at the abbey if you wish, and I'll ask Mother Ambrose for an escort so I can continue on home sometime today or tonight. Father will surely think we're hostages here, so I must reach him at once, before he accepts their terms. Besides, he'll have questions to ask about how many men there are here, what arms they bear-things like that, which only we can answer."
Bre
The guard's footsteps sounded outside, and Je
"Good morning," Je
Sir Godfrey, a man of perhaps thirty, cast an odd look at her-undoubtedly, Je
"You slept little," he said, evidently aware of their late-night efforts with a needle.
Their footsteps were muffled by damp grass, as Je
Feigning a yawn, she cast a sidelong glance at him. "My sister is feeling rather peaked this morn from our late hours. 'Twould be very nice for us if we were permitted a few extra minutes to refresh ourselves at the stream?"
His deeply creased, sun-bronzed face, turned to her, watching her with a mixture of suspicion and uncertainty, then he nodded agreeably.
"Fifteen minutes," he said and Je
He stood sentinel at the edge of the woods, his profile turned to them, his eyes, Je
"The water looks cold, Bre
Two minutes later, both girls had shed their habits and were stuffing them beneath the brush, heaping leaves and twigs over the gray cloth to hide it from view. In a moment of inspiration, Je
"That ought to mislead them and get us much more time," she said. Bre
With a smile of appreciation and encouragement, Je
A few minutes later they had worked their way around behind the pen where the horses were cordoned off, and they were crouched low in the brush, catching their breath. "Stay here and don't move!" Je