Bound By Honour (Book 1)

Chapter 11

The snow is coming down fast now as the sun breaks over the horizon. She pulls her thick coat tighter around her, trying to bring some semblance of warmth to her cold body. Her beautiful, sturdy, black cob snorts by her face, giving her cheek a brief moment of feeling. With her gloved hand tight around the reins she trudges forward, her feet sinking deep into the snow. It hasn't yet set and so she has to lift her feet high to trudge through the snow each time she makes a step. She glances over her shoulder and scans the white flurries of snow.

Somehow she had managed to sneak away without anyone noticing. It is going to be a long trek. She's gone too far to turn back now. She flutters her eyelashes and the snowflakes fall from above her eyes. Those same, crisp blue eyes stare out at the whiteness before her. She removes her compass from her pocket and checks her direction. She heads due south.

○ ○ ○

Sparrow wakes up with a jerk and her blurry eyes dart across the hay attic and find nothing to the left of her that could have jolted her out of her sleep. Slowly she rolls over and comes face to face with wide blue eyes and a mouth that breaks into a grin. Sparrow chuckles under her breath and sits up.

"Good morning Tilly."

"Morning!" She sings; her ringlets bouncing as she fidgets on her toes. "I found you."

Sparrow raises an eyebrow and looks over Tilly's shoulder, but there's no one to be seen. "Yes, you did."

"I won the game."

Sparrow's forehead creases slightly. "The game?"

"Yes, all of Wolfe's men and playing hide and seek. Uncle Logan told me I should join in. He said that because they'd already been playing a while I could have a hint!" Tilly grins widely. "He told that you liked horses so I looked in all the stalls." She sighs loudly. "But you weren't in any of them."

"So what happened then?" Sparrow asks, smiling down at her as she rises.

"Well, I went and saw Uncle Logan and he told me you liked climbing. And I remembered that there was a ladder near the horses! Then I found you." She does a little jump out of excitement. Sparrow grins at her. Then they both hear a knock against the wooden floor.

"Hello?" Sparrow calls out and a head appears through the hole in the floor. Logan nods his head to her.

"Morning. I think you should come down and see to Wolfe. He thinks you ran off in the night."

Sparrow nods and glances down at the creased, red gown she hadn't bothered to remove in the early hours of the morning.

Tilly then rushes to Logan and he grabs her around the waist before she can slip down the hole. "Careful." He warns in a quiet voice and Tilly nods in obedience.

"Uncle Logan, mummy said that she had some clothes for Sparrow to wear. We should go and get them."

"Ok." He looks to Sparrow. "I'll be right back." He pulls Tilly to his side and climbs down the ladder with her in the crook of one of his arms.

Sparrow sits back down on her bed to wait for his return. There's no way she wants to be wearing a dress again today. He's only gone for five minutes and he returns with a large bundle of clothes. He places them on the hay and leaves her to get changed. Sparrow sorts through and finds a pair of thick, warm trousers and a thick brown shirt. She tugs them on along with her sturdy boots and the green cloak that Bronco had so kindly given her. She climbs down the ladder and greets each of the horses who have already accepted her as belonging there.

Outside she comes across Ra who leans against the stable door, his feet sunk into the deep snow. She tilts her head. "I thought everyone was playing hide and seek."