Saving Sabine

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Sabine didn’t stop riding. She pushed Puissant to her limits, allowing her to run at her fastest. Of course, such a speed could not be sustained, but all Sabine wanted was to be away from Connor at that moment.

How could he have hid so much from her? They were to be married and she knew absolutely nothing about him. She thought that perhaps he might’ve broken the law once perhaps, but nothing like this. He was an heir himself. His whole background, everything he was … he lied to her! Not only had he lied, but he was never going to tell her the truth. If he had said to Merida ‘I’m going to tell Sabine tomorrow’ then she would have turned around and pretended that she’d never overheard anything, but he was planning on hiding his whole life from her. She didn’t want to be married to a liar. Not ever.

Sabine was riding north. She’d learned to tell direction from the sky as a child. She’d been riding north for several days. She knew the general direction of Gretna Green and she knew she was heading away from it.

She’d used some of the money in her pouch to buy food from Puissant and herself in the tiny little villages that she came across. She didn’t know what she was doing or where she was going. She knew she should turn around and go home but she couldn’t. To go home would just mean that her father could say ‘I told you so’. She just felt lost.

Every so often she would look over her shoulder to see if a blond Scot was galloping after her but she never saw him. She was sure he would be looking for her, but the elements would have cleared her tracks.

On the third day of riding, she could really feel Puissant’s exhaustion. She allowed her to sleep whenever they came to a secluded place on her travels, but Sabine knew it wasn’t safe for her to be in one place alone for too long. She hated the fact, but being a woman alone made one vulnerable to all sorts of bandits. So long as she kept moving she was safe.

It was after sunset when she came to the next village. The dirt streets were lit with torches and in the distance she could see a large, dark object. She thought it could be a mountain. Slowing Puissant to a walk, Sabine rode her up the street, searching the names of each of the little shops looking for a blacksmith to take Puissant for the night. Puissant really needed a blanket and some fresh hay.

Many candles were lit in the windows so she was glad that she was not going to wake anyone up. Coming to the largest building on the end of the street, she saw a sign of an anvil. Realising it was a blacksmith, she eagerly dismounted and led Puissant into the blacksmith’s courtyard. Tying her to the hitching post, she quickly went to knock on the door of the residence.

She heard movement in the house before the wooden door opened. Before her stood a man whose clothes were dirty with soot from a day’s work. He looked Sabine up and down and smiled at her slightly, his green eyes looking very pleased with the sight. It made Sabine uncomfortable but she persevered.

“Hello, sir, I was wondering if you had a stall for my horse for the night,” she said calmly, gesturing to her chestnut mare tied a few feet from them.

“Aye, I’ve a stall,” he nodded, exiting out of his house and walking over to Puissant. Running his hands over her front legs he let out an impressed whistle. “What a fine lady,” he remarked. “Never have I seen such legs.”