“We can’t help them.” Juliette jerked Catherine back into the room away from the window. “Can’t you see there are too many of them to fight? But we can try to stop those silly sheep in the hall from joining them.” She turned back toward the hallway.
Catherine grabbed her arm. “Wait,” she whispered. “It’s too late.”
The young girls had already reached the courtyard. They stopped in bewildered horror at the sight that met their eyes.
A laughing shout from one of the men. “Fresh meat. Leave the old crows.”
“Here’s pretty young pullets for the plucking.”
And new screams shrilled through the courtyard.
“Why?” Catherine asked. “Why are they doing this? They’rehurtingthem.”
“Because they’re beasts who want only to rut,” Juliette muttered, trying desperately to think what to do. “We can’t go through the north courtyard and we can’t hide here. They may come searching.”
“Henriette Balvour.” Catherine couldn’t take her gaze from the horror outside in the courtyard. “Look what those two men are doing to her. She’s only ten years old.”
“I’m not going to look. And neither will you.” Juliette pulled Catherine farther away from the window and slammed the shutter. She blew out the candle and set it on the windowsill. “We can’t help them, but we may be able to help ourselves.”
“She’s only ten years old,” Catherine repeated dully.
Juliette took her by the shoulders and shook her. “If we go out there and try to help, the same thing’s going to happen to us. Do you want that to happen?”
“No, but we—”
“Then no arguments. Iwon’tlet them do that to you.” Juliette tried to ignore the sounds filtering through the wooden shutters. The screams were awful but the whimpering was worse. Someone was sobbing for her mother. Little Henriette? “We have to find a place to hide.”
“Where? There’s no place…”
Juliette seized Catherine’s hand and led her down the corridor toward the north courtyard.
Catherine tried to pull away. “We can’t go there. You just said—”
“We’re not going into the courtyard. We’re going to run down the arcade to the bell tower. It’s only a few yards away and there’s a back entrance that leads from the tower to the south courtyard.”
“What if…this is happening in the south courtyard too?”
“We’ll worry about that then. We can’t be any worse off than we are now.”
The door leading to the north courtyard had been left open, and as they reached it, Juliette pulled Catherine to one side, pressing against the wall and into the shadows.
Catherine shivered. “What if they see us? I’m so frightened, Juliette.”
“So am I.” Juliette cautiously peered out into the courtyard. No one was under the arcade. All the women had been pulled into the courtyard where the rapine was going on. “Run as fast as you can for the bell tower and dart between the stone columns. I’ll be right behind you. If they catch me, don’t stop. You won’t be able to help, and there’s no need for both of us to…” Catherine was frantically shaking her head and Juliette glared at her. “Do what I tell you. Promise me.”
“I couldn’t let them hurt you.” Catherine was trembling uncontrollably but her voice was firm. “I’d have to try to stop it.”
“Oh, God in heaven,” Juliette said in exasperation. “If those pigs catch you, do you want me to fling myself in their arms to rescue you?”
“No, but I can’t—”
“Then it’s agreed. If we become separated, we try to save ourselves.”
Catherine was silent.
“You know I’d never let thosecanaillesdefeat me,” Juliette said. “I’d find a way to get free. Now, we don’t have time to argue. Yes?”
Catherine hesitated and then reluctantly nodded.
