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The men seemed to be taking a break, she didn't see Thaddeus or Archer, but there was one young man who was working a pulley and when Quinn looked up she noticed several rather large rocks in a net. She wondered what they were for and watched, with interest, manual labor in the truest sense of the word.
She moved down to the river bank loving the way the sun reflected off the water to make it glisten. She didn't know how long she stood there but when she felt a warmth burn down her spine, she turned to see Archer standing a bit of a distance from her but looking in her direction. He was looking at her. There was an odd look on his face, one that looked remarkably like longing, but of course that couldn't be because he was not a fan of hers at all. He seemed rooted there for a few minutes, completely unrepentant, to be staring at her and then, quite suddenly, he turned and walked off. She watched him go, felt an emotion she wasn't ready to examine too closely, then turned and started walking along the river's edge.
Before long she headed back up to the castle, keeping a safe distance from the construction site and that was when she heard the sound. It was very faint but it sent a chill through her. Quinn raced around the wall to the source of the noise. It took a minute for her brain to catch up to what her eyes were seeing and then she felt the bile rise up in her throat. A young man, the same one she had watched earlier, was pinned under a pile of rocks. She noticed the frayed rope and pulley and immediately realized what happened. It was instinct that had her reaching for her cell phone but then she remembered where, or more to the point,whenshe was as her hand dropped to her side and she hurried over to him. She dropped to her knees, pulled her cloak off and pillowed it under his head.
"I'll go get help."
"No," his voice was barely audible.
Quinn wanted to protest but she knew he wasn't going to make it. In the future he would have had a chance but not in this time. The only help she could offer was to stay with him until he died. She never felt more helpless in her life.
"Is your family close?"
"No, I haven't any. My pa died the winter last. It's just me."
"Please let me get someone, maybe we can help you."
"'Tis too late. I don't feel anything now."
"What can I do?"
"Oh, Lady, just being with me is enough."
Quinn stroked his forehead as she held his hand.
"Do you believe in heaven?" he asked.
"Yes. I believe that when we leave this world all those we lost are waiting for us."
"Pa. It will be good to see him again."
His breathing grew shallow, like that of a death rattle, and then his eyes widened in surprise as he looked at something that Quinn could not see. A moment later, he was gone. She watched as his soul left his body; saw as his eyes that moments ago were lit with life, dulled in death. Her tears fell in earnest then as she reached down to close his lids. She didn't hear the footfalls until someone came to kneel at her side and when she looked up she saw it was Thaddeus.
"Oh my God," he gasped.
"He wouldn't let me get help. He just wanted me to stay with him," Quinn offered softly. "He was just a boy."
Thaddeus put his arm around her shoulders, felt her body shaking in shock, and then noticed the blood on her hands and gown. He started to rise when he heard Archer calling his name.
"Over here, Arch."
Quinn wouldn't move though which had Thaddeus offering softly, "He's gone."
"I know but he shouldn't be left alone," she wept.
She didn't see as Archer hunched down next to her because her back was to him and her attention completely on Thaddeus.
"He wasn't alone, Quinn, you were with him," Thaddeus whispered.
"Yes, but he died. He was too young to die and he doesn't have family. What will happen to him?"
When the answer came, it was from behind her and when she turned her head, she saw Archer.
"I'll make sure he is laid to rest and if there is any one left behind that they are provided for."
Quinn held Archer's gaze before she nodded her head and then let Thaddeus pull her to her feet and escort her back to the castle.
Later in the day, everyone was gathered in the great hall for a drink before dinner but Quinn couldn't seem to get the vision of the boy out of her head. She realized in this time accidents happened often and due to the lack of modern technology and medicine, people died. But watching someone die was not easy. She was pulled from her melancholy thoughts when she heard Katherine callously talking about the accident.
