AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
Katherine Norwood, known to her intimates as Kate, chose to walk the long path through the hilly woods by her uncle’s farm rather than the short one that passed the fields of his cattle on the morning of April 3rd, 1812. ’Twas a fortuitous choice, for had she taken the shorter path (as her aunt would no doubt have preferred), Lord Thorburn would have very likely lost his horse.
She was swinging her basket, full of wild yarrow she’d picked for dying wool later, when her bonnet ribbon came undone in a hard gust of breeze. She was tidying her dark blonde hair and restoring her bonnet to its proper position when she heard the horse’s alarmed whinny.
Kate frowned, turning to try to locate the source of the noise.
The whinny came again.
Why, the animal must be near the marsh.
Kate’s heart sped up at the thought. The peat bog south of the wood was notorious. Unwary travellers often never returned after trying to cross it.
Kate took up her skirts and began to run.
Sure enough, as soon as she emerged from the trees, a sight met her eyes that caused her to drop her basket. A man and a chestnut horse with a wide white blaze down its nose were struggling. The horse was sinking, and the man was scrambling to pull the animal free. But the man was in danger as well. One step more, and he would join his mount in a muddy grave.
‘Ho, there, sir!’ Kate called, hastening to take a path she knew well to bring herself near to the unfortunate pair.
The man startled and looked round.
‘I say, sir, please take care! The bog is treacherous where you stand!’
Kate was not so panicked that she missed the fine cut of his grey coat, or the handsome features of his face. This man was a gentleman, at the very least. Perhaps a noble. He was a few years older than she, with light brown hair that sparked with reddish highlights in the sun. His hazel-green eyes glanced from under angled eyebrows that gave him a sharp gaze, before he turned all his attention back to his horse.
‘My lord, ’tis the edge of the marsh where you stand!’ she tried again. ‘You must step back!’
She was close now, but the fellow paid her no mind, pulling on the horse’s reins in desperation as the animal sunk to its chest in the black mud. It let out another terrified whinny.
‘Come to me, Merrylegs!’ the lord cried, his voice cracking with fear.
Kate’s heart lurched to hear it. This gentleman loved his horse, it was apparent to her.
How may I save them both? The animal is surely lost already.
Kate clenched her jaw.
No, I mustn’t think such a thing. We shall rescue the horse, I swear it.
‘Please, my lord, you must move to this area here. ’Tis far safer,’ she said, pointing to a spot more to the back of the horse, that looked identical to the ground he currently stood upon. Kate had lived her whole life by this marsh, and she knew it like she knew the lines of her own hand.
The gentleman gave her an exasperated look, but she met his eyes unflinchingly, and something in her gaze must have convinced him. He moved.
‘Good. Now, you must go to your knees and hoist Merrylegs from behind, whilst I pull from the front!’
‘Extraordinary,’ the fellow muttered, but he did as he was told without hesitation. Mud stained the fine buckskin of his breeches black as he knelt.
With care as to where she put her feet, Kate took hold of the horse’s bridle and met the lord’s eyes. Sucking in a deep breath, she gave him a nod.
He pushed and she pulled, and the animal neighed and pumped his legs futilely.
Bog water splashed over her dress, but Kate cared not. She was determined to rescue the chestnut now, and nothing would distract her.
‘Again, my lord.’
They resumed their efforts.
The horse seemed to rise for a moment, but then lunged down further than before.
