When Molly didn't turn up for breakfast, Rupert
was sent to see Miss Throckmorton to ask where the child was. When she
informed Rupert she had no idea where Molly was, Rupert's next stop was
the kitchen. Cook related that Molly had been dressed for a ride so he
hurried out to the stables, becoming concerned for the first time.
Little Todd explained to Rupert that Molly had ridden toward King's
Cross when last he'd seen her. He offered to go after her, although his
take on things was that she'd simply been out enjoying her ride too much
to pay attention to the time, and that she had cherry tart on her cheeks
so she couldn't have been hungry anyway. Even so, Little Todd saddled
his big mare and took off to look for Molly.
Rupert returned to the side parlor where Lord Rosslyn and his guests
were having breakfast. He shook his head at Lord Rosslyn and withdrew.
Brother Vaal, noting the exchange, held his tongue. Sir Reginald took
the opportunity to rail about children who are allowed too much
freedom. Lord Rosslyn just sat with tight lips and endured. He ate
nothing and just sipped at his tea.
Phillip, recognizing the tension in his grandfather, took the first
opportunity to slip away. He asked Rupert about Molly and he told him
Molly had taken her horse out for a ride. Phillip, thinking he'd help
look, grabbed his sword and his cloak and then hurried to the stables to
saddle his own horse and join the search.
Phillip, unlike Little Todd, had no idea who Molly's friends might be so
he just tried to imagine himself in Molly's place and figured she'd be
interested in watching the coaches along the King's Road. She hated the
isolation here, so that made sense to him. He rode to the the main
crossroads and pondered the marker that sat where King's Cross ended and
the Far Reaches began.
He, like Molly, knew not to go beyond the marker, at least not alone.
The Far Reaches weren't considered 'safe.' The King's justice was
supposed to reach all the way to the high mountains that officially
marked the border between the two kingdoms but in reality there wasn't
much in the way of King's Guards this far north. Brigands lived in the
mountains, as did the rebels and who knew who else.
Phillip bit his lip, checked the blade on his hip, and spurred his gray
forward. His father would be angry to know he'd gone beyond the marker
alone, but who would tell him? He certainly wouldn't admit it.
His gray had taken only a few steps onward when something shiny caught
his attention. It lay in the snow at the side of the road. The snow had
been trampled a bit here, and there were obvious hoof marks, although no
boot prints he could see. He dismounted and then had to search to find
the shiny object that had caught his attention. It was hard to spot with
the sun hitting the snow differently now that he was crouching down to
look. But he persisted and finally, after what had seemed like hours of
staring at the brilliant snow and squinting, he saw it. He reached down
and picked it up.
Little Todd rode the circuit around the town. He checked at the inn, no
they hadn't seen Lady Molly. He'd looked sternly at young Nigel Bell.
He was fairly certain the boy wouldn't lie. At least not with regard to
Molly when she might be in trouble, and possibly in a lot worse trouble
than just from an angry but doting grandfather From the inn he went to
the baker's, and then to the sage's cottage. Molly liked the old boy he
knew. Finally, out of desperation, he checked in with the healing
sisters. But no one had seen Lady Molly since before the storm. Now he
began to be truly concerned.
Little Todd even pondered seeing the Mother's Priest, but then discarded
that thought. He'd go back to Lord Rosslyn. The old master would be
better at facing her. She might not be as scary as the Bastard's
Priest, but she was bad enough.
Little Todd arrived back at the Rosslyn stables, left the mare in the
care of his stable boy and son, Littlest Todd, and hurried up to the
manor. Within moments Rupert had fetched Lord Rosslyn out to see him.
Both Sir Reginald and Brother Vaal followed Lord Rosslyn out to the
front stoop where Little Todd waited.
