“Then you will not go,” he ordered, thinking her too stubborn for her own good.
Her hands went to her round hips and the smirk on her face dared him to challenge her again. “I go where I please.”
“I am here to protect—”
“We protect ourselves! You remain here out of our generosity! Do not for once think you can command me!”
Lachlan stood staring at Sister Terese, the force of her voice and her commanding stance made him look twice to be sure he spoke with the same woman.
“Sister Terese,” Piper said appearing out of nowhere. “I need to speak with you.”
The two were gone in a flash, Sister Terese acknowledging her departure with nothing more than a bare nod.
He wasn’t sure of what had just happened, but he knew one thing. Sister Terese wouldn’t be going anywhere without him.
Chapter 7
Terese took a deep breath and walked around the back of the common shelter with Piper. Once out of Lachlan’s sight she took another deep breath, squeezed her eyes shut, and dropped back against the rough-hewn wall.
“You nearly lost your temper,” Piper said, though not accusingly.
Terese’s eyes popped open and she sighed with a nod. “He got me so mad, dictating to me.”
Megan approached having seen the whole exchange and followed the two sisters. “We have gotten too used to being on our own, with no one to give us orders, no one to command our lives. We live as we please.”
“I like it,” Piper said.
“As do we all,” Megan agreed, “which is another good reason we should find a new home.”
“Unfortunately, the search must wait,” Terese said. “We have more important matters.”
She shared the news about the mercenaries with Megan and the woman paled.
“What are we to do?” Megan asked anxiously.
Terese motioned for the two to follow her. They made their way a few feet into the woods where the dense trees and thick foliage concealed them from prying eyes and ears.
“I am going to speak with the mercenaries,” Terese said.
Megan objected with a firm shake of her head. “That’s much too dangerous. You take a serious chance of being harmed.”
“Not if I arrive wearing my nun garments and with news that would benefit them,” Terese suggested. “This would surely put me in their good graces and in turn benefit us. Besides, I must learn their intentions here.”
Megan stopped shaking her head. “It is an idea that could work, but it still remains dangerous.”
“I thought the same,” Piper added. “Though what other way is there?”
Megan nodded and asked, “Piper will go with you?”
“Yes, I need her. And it is wise that we take our leave as soon as possible and have done with this matter,” Terese said, “though I will need your help in distracting Lachlan. He thinks to come with me.”
A scream interrupted any response and excited, though unintelligible shouts followed. All three women hurried to see what the commotion was about. In the end it was the unexpected fuss that gave Terese and Piper the cover they needed to sneak away.
The three women were startled to see Beatrice and Harry fling themselves into the arms of a tired and ragtag couple who would have dropped if it had not been for the children’s hardy embrace.
That Beatrice and Harry should be reunited with their mother and father, everyone agreed, was nothing short of a miracle. Some chaos pursued since everyone seemed to be talking at once, while the children, teary-eyed, clung to their parents. Neither children nor parents expected ever to see each other again. They had been separated in the mayhem of a battle that had spilled onto their farm. The children witnessed the carnage and believed their parents dead. The frightened brother and sister left thinking they had no one but each other. Ever since that day the parents, George and Gelda, had searched tirelessly for them.
All were caught up in the joyous reunion ; it was Megan who saw opportunity in the moment and urged Terese and Piper to take their leave before anyone noticed.
They did. The last thing Terese saw of Lachlan was his charming smile as he spoke to the happy parents about their daughter and son’s bravery. She bid him a silent good-bye, and oddly enough, realized that she would miss him.
A crazy thought, that should never have entered her head. And she suddenly felt guilty for having snapped at him. It was nonsense to be angry with him simply because he knew what he wanted and more than likely would get it.
She had been foolish to ever think her father would actually let her live her life the way she chose. He had reminded her often enough of her duty to him and the clan. And while he had encouraged her boldness, her need to be herself, when the time came, she was expected to reign in her independent nature and be a dutiful daughter.