me with a cold stare. I don’t know why that old crow should have set me off, but it did. I stood there and bawled. Howled. How long for, I don’t know, but after a while no more tears came. I dried my eyes and blew my nose and looked around.
Waa-aa-aaa!
The crow was still there, watching me. With another melancholy cry, it flapped its wings and flew off.
Oh, had I the wings of a turtle-dove
I’d soar on my pinions so high …
That was a song Pa used to sing while he mended shoes. He didn’t have a very good voice but he liked to sing. “It cheers you while you’re hard at work,” he told me. “It makes the time pass and keeps your spirits up.”
My voice was as croaky as the crow’s, and off-key as well, but I sang that song to the finish. I wasn’t exactly cheered, but it did the trick of keeping my mind occupied. For there was no use in giving in to fear. That wouldn’t get me back to Shantigar.
I’d just started another tune when something made me turn around. Way down the road behind me I saw a small moving shape. It quickly became a horse and buggy of some kind, with what looked like a riderless horse cantering behind. They were approaching fast. They were in a tearing hurry – but surely they’d stop. I began waving my good arm and shouting.
“Help! Help!”
My words were lost in the sound of hooves and wheels. I heard my own name and realised who was driving the buggy. Harold jumped down to the ground while the vehicle was still moving.
“Oh, Verity, thank goodness I’ve found you.” He sounded shaken. “Are you hurt?”
“Just my shoulder,” I said. Relief flooded through me and then, without warning, my knees buckled under me and I staggered against him. The next thing I knew, Harold had scooped me up and placed me in the phaeton. He got up beside me. He gently felt along my left arm and shoulder. “I don’t think anything is broken. Does it hurt when I move it?”
It did, but why was he asking about me? It was Drucilla and Helen who were important.
“Harold, there were three men. They tied me up and took Helen and Drucilla in the phaeton.” Then I realised what I was sitting in. “But
you’ve
got the phaeton …”
With one arm around me, Harold turned the vehicle around. “I found Beauty and phaeton under a big tree near the Rossiters’ farm and came looking for you. Verity, where were you going?”
“To Castlemaine.”
“But you were heading in the wrong direction.”
“The wrong …? Oh no.” I began to shiver and there again was Drucilla’s face.
“Here.” With his spare hand Harold reached into a bag on the floor of the vehicle and pulled out a small bottle. He uncorked it with his teeth and handed it to me. “Have some. It’s blackberry cordial. Hannah made me bring it.” It was sweet but had a very strong flavour, a bit like medicine. “Have some more. You’re as white as a sheet and as cold as a …”
“As a frog?” I suggested with a weak smile. I took another sip and handed the bottle back to him. He took a swig too.
“Would you like my jacket?”
Whether it was the cordial or Harold’s jacket or just relief, I don’t know, but in a few minutes I began to feel better. And then I felt worse again. For Harold showed me the note he’d found pinned to the seat of the phaeton.
AWAIT RANSOM INSTRUCTIONS FOR MRS PETROV DO NOT CONTACT POLICE TO DO SO WOULD BE TO PLACE THE LIFE OF OUR CAPTIVE AT RISK YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
16
THE RED GLOVE
I stared at the crude black letters.
Ransom
.
Captive
. It was like a bad dream. Who could have predicted when we set off this morning for a country drive that it would end like this? The three of us should have been back at Shantigar by now, eating our lunch.
Our lunch … It suddenly occurred to me that Helen, Drucilla and I had not been expected back at Shantigar until one o’clock. It was too soon for anyone to worry. So how had Harold known we were in trouble?
“Harold,” I said slowly. “Why did you
Waa-aa-aaa!
The crow was still there, watching me. With another melancholy cry, it flapped its wings and flew off.
Oh, had I the wings of a turtle-dove
I’d soar on my pinions so high …
That was a song Pa used to sing while he mended shoes. He didn’t have a very good voice but he liked to sing. “It cheers you while you’re hard at work,” he told me. “It makes the time pass and keeps your spirits up.”
My voice was as croaky as the crow’s, and off-key as well, but I sang that song to the finish. I wasn’t exactly cheered, but it did the trick of keeping my mind occupied. For there was no use in giving in to fear. That wouldn’t get me back to Shantigar.
I’d just started another tune when something made me turn around. Way down the road behind me I saw a small moving shape. It quickly became a horse and buggy of some kind, with what looked like a riderless horse cantering behind. They were approaching fast. They were in a tearing hurry – but surely they’d stop. I began waving my good arm and shouting.
“Help! Help!”
My words were lost in the sound of hooves and wheels. I heard my own name and realised who was driving the buggy. Harold jumped down to the ground while the vehicle was still moving.
“Oh, Verity, thank goodness I’ve found you.” He sounded shaken. “Are you hurt?”
“Just my shoulder,” I said. Relief flooded through me and then, without warning, my knees buckled under me and I staggered against him. The next thing I knew, Harold had scooped me up and placed me in the phaeton. He got up beside me. He gently felt along my left arm and shoulder. “I don’t think anything is broken. Does it hurt when I move it?”
It did, but why was he asking about me? It was Drucilla and Helen who were important.
“Harold, there were three men. They tied me up and took Helen and Drucilla in the phaeton.” Then I realised what I was sitting in. “But
you’ve
got the phaeton …”
With one arm around me, Harold turned the vehicle around. “I found Beauty and phaeton under a big tree near the Rossiters’ farm and came looking for you. Verity, where were you going?”
“To Castlemaine.”
“But you were heading in the wrong direction.”
“The wrong …? Oh no.” I began to shiver and there again was Drucilla’s face.
“Here.” With his spare hand Harold reached into a bag on the floor of the vehicle and pulled out a small bottle. He uncorked it with his teeth and handed it to me. “Have some. It’s blackberry cordial. Hannah made me bring it.” It was sweet but had a very strong flavour, a bit like medicine. “Have some more. You’re as white as a sheet and as cold as a …”
“As a frog?” I suggested with a weak smile. I took another sip and handed the bottle back to him. He took a swig too.
“Would you like my jacket?”
Whether it was the cordial or Harold’s jacket or just relief, I don’t know, but in a few minutes I began to feel better. And then I felt worse again. For Harold showed me the note he’d found pinned to the seat of the phaeton.
AWAIT RANSOM INSTRUCTIONS FOR MRS PETROV DO NOT CONTACT POLICE TO DO SO WOULD BE TO PLACE THE LIFE OF OUR CAPTIVE AT RISK YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
16
THE RED GLOVE
I stared at the crude black letters.
Ransom
.
Captive
. It was like a bad dream. Who could have predicted when we set off this morning for a country drive that it would end like this? The three of us should have been back at Shantigar by now, eating our lunch.
Our lunch … It suddenly occurred to me that Helen, Drucilla and I had not been expected back at Shantigar until one o’clock. It was too soon for anyone to worry. So how had Harold known we were in trouble?
“Harold,” I said slowly. “Why did you
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