The Falls of Erith (3 page)

She
was gazing up at him openly. “I would like to travel someday,” she said. “I
would like to go to Paris.”

The
corner of his lips twitched. “It is a grand place. Surely your husband will
take you there someday.”

She
looked away from him with a haughty expression so suited to young adults. “Aye,
he will take me there, and anywhere else I want to go. I will marry a very rich
man.”

“Is
that so? Tell me; have you already selected this mountain of wealth?”

She
shook her head. “Not yet,” she looked at him, pausing, her gaze alternately
eager and hesitant. “Do you want to know a secret?”

“What
is that?”

“My
grandmother has already invited several houses to vie for my hand. My mother
does not even know!”

It
was scandalous; he could tell just by the way she was smirking.  “Why would
your grandmother not tell your mother?” he wanted to know.

Brooke
was still playing the haughty young lady. “I already told you; because my
mother would keep me a child for the rest of my life.”

“You
are
young.”

Her
delicate features clouded with defiance. “My mother was only fourteen years of
age when she married my father. I am a whole year older.”

“A
whole year,” he repeated, his tone laced with sarcasm.  “Practically an old
woman.”

“Aye,”
the girl insisted, missing the patronizing lilt. “Besides, my grandmother wants
me to assume my rightful place.”

“As
what?”

She
looked at him as if he were daft. “As a great nobleman’s wife, of course.
Grandmother says I am the only hope our family has.”

It
didn’t make much sense to him, but then again, very little pertaining to women
ever did.  Before Braxton could reply, they began to hear movement in the trees
and looked over to see Gray and Geoff approaching.  

Braxton’s
blue-green gaze fixed on the luscious woman approaching, feeling such a strong
attraction to her that he couldn’t begin to describe it.  Brooke, apparently
unwilling to wait for her mother, began to follow Geoff as the man walked past
them, heading towards the south in the direction that the other men had taken a
few minutes earlier.  But Braxton waited for Gray, smiling politely as she
approached with the big basket of fruit on her arm.

Gray
returned his smile weakly, hesitantly; as the minutes ticked by and the
realization of guests at tonight’s meal weighed more heavily upon her, she had
been scrambling to think of an excuse or a reason to discourage Sir Braxton
from attending.  For a family that subsisted on only the very basic
necessities, guests were out of the question.  An army was impossible.   
Before she could speak, however, Braxton interrupted her thoughts.

“I
will again thank you for your generous invitation to sup, my lady,” he said
pleasantly.  “It is not often we are afforded the luxury of a private home.”

Oh,
Lord
, she
thought to herself. 
How
can I ^ the man and not offend him
? But
her smile grew at his statement, forced as it was.

“As
I said, we do not set a fancy table,” she replied. “We live… simply.”

He
waved her off. “Not to worry,” he reiterated. “The buck we have can feed an
army and then some. “

She
was still resistant, struggling not to insult his generosity. “Truly, my lord,
you are too kind,” she said. “You do not have to provide us with food from your
precious stores. Surely your men will require that food on your travels.”

“My
men have more food than they can eat,” he said. “Hunting is something of a
sport for them. We are glad to share what we have.”

“If
you are certain it will be no hardship.”

“Not
at all.”

There
wasn’t much more that Gray to say to that. Feeling somewhat ill and resigned,
she began to walk with Braxton taking up pace at a respectable distance next to
her. They walked in silenced for a few moments before Brooke suddenly
re-emerged from the trees, heading in their direction.  Gray looked curiously
at her daughter as the girl approached.

“What
is it, sweetheart?” she asked. “I thought you walked on ahead.”

Brooke
shrugged. “There are gangs of soldiers down at the bottom of the hill and I
assumed you would become angry if I just walked into the midst of them, so I
came back.”

Gray’s
brow furrowed. “Gangs of soldiers?”

Braxton
was looking at the young girl, so defiant of her mother yet inherently obedient
in spite of herself. “My men,” Braxton explained. “We camped down the hill to
the south.”

Gray
nodded in understanding, watching her daughter take up position on Braxton’s
left side as they trudged through the trees. Brooke wasn’t looking at her
mother, however; she was focused on Braxton.

“You
said that you have traveled a great deal,” she said eagerly. “Have you ever
been to Rome? I have heard that there are buildings made with gold. Is that
true? And is it also true that the streets are made of white marble?”

Gray
thought her daughter was being rather pushy with her demanding tone. “Brooke
Elizabeth, you will mind yourself,” she said quietly but firmly. “Sir Braxton
is our guest and I will not have you hound him.”

“But
I was simply asking him a question, Mama,” Brooke insisted. “Why can I not ask
him a question?”

A
faint smile on his lips, Braxton focused on the young lady. “Lady Brooke,” he
said in his deep, quiet voice. “I will speak until the dawn on whatever you
wish to know, but we must make it back to your castle first. If you will direct
me to your palfrey, we can be along our way.”

“We
do not have a palfrey,” Brooke said before her mother could reply. “We walked.”

“Walked
from where?”

“Castle
Erith,” Gray said, watching his piercing gaze turn to her. “It is a few miles
to the south.”

A
light of awareness came to his eyes. “The fortress that sits on the rise near
the crossroads?”

“Aye.”

He
didn’t say what he was thinking; the structure they had passed on their way
north was massive and derelict. He thought it had been abandoned and was rather
surprised to discover it was their home. From the outward appearance of the
structure, he was sure they did not have the means to feed almost two hundred
men. But all he could manage to say was: “That was a long walk.”

Gray
shrugged. “It was a lovely morning. It was no hardship.”

He
looked away, back in the direction of his encampment. “My men and I will escort
you home.”

Braxton
took hold of Gray’s elbow with his free hand, a gentle and knightly gesture. 
Gray, unsure how to respond, simply did as he bade. 

The
past several minutes had been slightly odd, given the knight’s sudden
appearance and Brooke’s strange attraction to him. She did not want to be rude,
but she also did not want to invite trouble into her home. It wasn’t just the
fact that they couldn’t feed two hundred men; it was the simple fact that Erith
had no army and no protection.  With Braxton’s army flooding her castle, they
would have no way of defending themselves against one hundred and eighty
soldiers. She could have spanked Brooke silly for her suggestion. But on the
other hand, as a properly bred woman, hosting weary travelers was part of her
calling. She could not turn them away.

Trapped,
she attempted to think of a plausible explanation as to why his men could not
enter the gates of Erith. She could not think of anything that did not sound
rude or suspicious.  Even when Braxton mounted her on his own fine charger for
the ride home, she continued to think of a way out of this. The closer they
drew to Erith, the more panicked she became.

By
the time they entered the crumbling ward, she had lost the battle completely.

CHAPTER
TWO

Braxton’s
first impression of the massive and imposing Castle Erith was that it had once
been a beautiful place that had aged very badly. It appeared to be a few
hundred years old with its mossy stones and degenerating façade, but he knew
that it was not as old as it looked.

The
castle had been built by King John during the early part of the last century to
seduce a northern baron for his support. When the allegiance had fallen apart
and the castle abandoned, it had eventually fallen into the hands of Simon de
Montfort during his relationship with Henry III.  As Braxton and his men rode
upon the massive, crumbling walls, he drew in the view of what had once been,
for a short time, a mighty place.

The
castle had been named Erith after the waterfalls three miles to the north, the
very falls that had almost claimed Brooke’s life. The fortress possessed the
unusual feature of concentric walls; a shorter outer wall encircled a taller
inner wall with five towers built into it.  The place was oddly shaped, too,
with five sides to it. 

Passing
through the non-existent outer gate and an equally rotted inner gate, the ward
was fairly small and there was a single keep to the northwest side, soaring
three stories to the sky.  Other than the keep, the ward was fairly devoid of
structures but for haphazard stables built against the western wall.  There
were a few servants milling about, dressed in rags, terrified of the army now
entering their domain.

Although
the entire picture was a sobering sight, Braxton did not voice his opinion to
the lady. It would not due to insult his hostess. He positioned his men near
the outer gates and placed his five massive provisions wagons up against the
outer wall.  Each wagon had its own force of men to protect the contents. He
made sure to settle his men and wagons before helping the lady off his charger.

“Your
men may make themselves comfortable where they will,” Gray told him. “I am
afraid the keep is not big enough for all of them, though some may find shelter
in the great hall if they wish.”

“Your
hospitality is very much appreciated, my lady,” he said. “I will have my men
bring the meat around to the kitchen.”

“The
kitchen is to the rear of the keep.”

He
nodded his thanks and she excused herself along with her daughter. Braxton’s
gaze lingered on her shapely form as she made her way across the bailey and up
the rotted wooden stairs into the keep.  He thought it rather comical how
Brooke kept pausing to look at him and Gray kept shoving her daughter onward.

“Any
orders, my lord?”

A
voice from behind broke him from his thoughts. His next in command and the man
who had saved young Brooke’s life, Dallas, had asked the question.  Braxton
thought a moment before replying.

“Make
sure the men are properly settled and the wagons guarded. And have someone
bring that buck around to the kitchens.”

Dallas
moved smartly to do his lord’s bidding.  He was young, quiet, immensely strong
and capable.  He was also quite handsome with shoulder-length blond hair and
blue eyes, sending many a maiden’s heart fluttering. But he was more focused on
his duties than on women at this point in his life, something that worked well
in Braxton’s favor. As Dallas began barking orders, the men moved towards the
inner wall to set up camp within its shadow.  With a final glance at the
entrance to the keep, Braxton gathered the reins of his black charger and moved
off after his men.

They
were a hard-core bunch, used to travel, and therefore quite efficient when it
came to setting up camp.  Braxton had two squires, orphaned brothers, who would
tend to his personal set up. One of them, the younger brother called Edgar,
took Braxton’s charger and led the animal away to feed it. Braxton alternately
watched his men settle in and observed the keep. 

“The
men will set up camp as directed, my lord,” came a voice. “Are there any
further orders?”

The
inquiry came from Sir Graehm de Leron, another of Braxton’s knights. Graehm’s
question lingered in Braxton’s mind as his blue-green eyes roved the inner wall
of Erith.  Ideas were beginning to take hold.

“There
might be,” he said after a moment. Then he started to walk. “I shall return.”

Braxton
crossed the compound, leaving Graehm staring curiously after him. The stables
were several yards before him, ramshackle but serviceable. There were a couple
of horses, three goats and a cow.  He was moderately surprised to see livestock
in such a poverty-stricken castle. The four big chargers that belonged to
Braxton and his knights were being watered by the squires and made the other
animals nervous.  He could hear the bleats of fear.

Braxton
inspected the stable supports and studied the roof. It was thatched adequately,
and had obviously been repaired many times. He moved on, finding his way around
behind the keep and into the kitchen area.  There was a fairly large garden off
to his left and an exterior oven built into the wall several feet to the right
of the garden.  There were at least four kitchen servants going about their
tasks, all women, and two of those were tied up tending the buck that his men
had just delivered. It was a heavy thing and the old women were having trouble
handling the weight, but they managed.