Chasing Shadows (21 page)

Sarah felt a spark of shame when she realized that that was precisely what she had hoped for. Being discovered and silenced had been Karen’s greatest fear, and Sarah had conveniently forgotten about the danger as she played the part of the king’s avenger. However much she wanted to pretend that this was all a fantasy, it was also very real. And the fear of danger she saw reflected in Damien’s face reminded her of this. 

“You must stop this.”

“I can’t,” she said regretfully, knowing he was only speaking out of concern. But she would not abandon her friend to a solo chase after a potential killer. And Sarah had to admit that she had her own selfish reasons for staying: This quest had become as important to her as it was to Karen and the Kingdom of Serimone, and she had come too far to turn back. “I have to see this through, Damien. I hope you can understand that.”  

A sigh escaped his tight lips, and his voice wavered when she spoke. “Then please, for my sake, take care and stay in the shadows.”   

~Chapter 21~

They did not speak for the rest of the ride, but Sarah could feel his gaze on her every few minutes. She asked Damien to stop when they reached the end of the road where the trees thinned and opened up to the Joneses’ land.

Damien halted the horses at the tree line and told her that he would be gone no more than two hours. He looked reluctant to leave, even for such a short time, and Sarah got the feeling that he was still worried about her safety.

Hopping down from the wagon, she threw him a grin to ease his apprehension over her absence. “Don’t worry. I doubt there are any spies in the forest.” His smile was forced and weak at best, causing her to wonder if there
were
spies lurking in the trees.

Sarah jogged out into the field toward the house, feeling his watchful gaze on her to make sure she arrived safely. The moment she heard the wagon rolling back along the trail, she busted into a run, veering toward the barn in a lurching crouch. If she only had a few hours, she didn’t want anyone delaying her and Karen’s private conversation.

She ducked behind the corner of the barn just beyond sight of the house. Breathing heavily from her covert dash from the trees, she leaned against the wood siding and ran a hand down the front of her dress. That was when she remembered the black detailing on the gown, which made her stick out against the layers of white snow like a skunk in a flower shop.

Super
, she thought. Now she really hoped no one had spotted the well-dressed blur jumping invisible hurtles in the snow.

Squinting at the far edge of the Joneses’ land where the whitewashed hills crested and disappeared on the other side into the forest, she noticed the framework for a small cabin tucked into the side of one of the hills. It was still in the early stages and would not be completed for a while, Sarah suspected, but the Jones family would have some new neighbors before too long.    

She drew her attention away from the potential home and peered around the corner of the barn to scout out the front of the house, her rapid breaths surrounding her lips with clouds of moisture. All looked silent, and no one appeared to have spotted her, which was a great relief. Not that she had a shining reputation to uphold, but she did not enjoy looking like a complete idiot . . . if there wasn’t a good reason for it.

Mustering whatever dignity she could, Sarah slid her way to the barn door and pressed an ear to the wood, listening for any sound within. Nothing.

Satisfied, she pulled the door open by the steel rung, grunting as it resisted her. Her boot lost traction on the snow, and she nearly landed on her backside before she used the rung to pull herself upright. But her movements were jerky and she overcompensated, which ended with her jerking her shoulder into the side of the building with a resounding
smack
.

So much for covert.

Blowing a stray auburn curl off her forehead, she leaned back, pulling on the heavy wood with her full weight until it budged enough for her to slip inside. Sarah struggled to close it and then straightened her skirt, wondering how Karen, with her slight frame, managed to open the massive door everyday and look graceful doing it.

Meandering down the row of stalls that contained a menagerie of animals, she tried to pick up any sound other than the nickering of the horses or the shuffling of the goats nearby. She thought she caught a human voice echoing off the barn walls, but it was so faint she couldn’t be sure.

She slowed her steps, listening intently until she heard the sound again. Now she was positive that was Karen’s voice. But was someone with her? Curious, Sarah moved through the rows of pens, following the sound of her friend’s voice.

“. . . not as difficult as you think,” Karen was saying.

Passing the only open enclosure in the barn, Sarah jerked to a stop in the middle of the isle, too surprised at what she was seeing to move or turn away.

Karen sat cross-legged on the layer of fresh hay that covered the floor inside the stall, her fingers working to entwine a wreath of straw together by the soft lantern light. Seth sat beside her—
close
beside her—one arm resting behind Karen’s back so he could lean over her shoulder to better see what she was doing. But he wasn’t watching her hands. Instead, his eyes were fixed on her face, taking in her features with rapt attention, and it was clear every word she said was lost on him.

Karen glanced over at him, fingers still moving over the straw. “Did that last part make sense?”

Seth nodded encouragingly, and she went back to work, though his eyes never strayed from her profile, roving over the lines of her face as if seeing her for the first time. Sarah had never seen him so enraptured. He was gazing at her in awe, like she was food to a starving man or sight to a blind one. Sarah felt a smile growing on her own face.

Karen’s concentration had caused a crease to form on her forehead, and she appeared totally oblivious to his attention as she focused on the wreath she was making. Whether she was aware of it or not, the entire scene was very intimate and the start of something special, judging by the captivated fascination Sarah saw written over every inch of Seth’s features.

Swallowing against the sudden lump in her throat, Sarah backed up slowly before she interrupted their . . . whatever she had walked in on. She kept her eyes trained on them as she retreated out of the mellow circle of light. Seth pressed his shoulder against Karen’s, and she leaned innocently into him, holding the wreath a little higher for her tutorial.

In a spastic moment, Sarah’s own feet became entangled for no reason at all, causing her to fall backward into the door of the stall behind her. She ricocheted noisily off the wood and landed in a mangled heap on the floor.

All conversation ceased in the barn. With a pained grunt, Sarah looked up through her tangled mass of hair and the bits of straw that clung to it, catching the shocked expressions on their faces. Trying to smooth things over as neatly as possible, she brushed her hair out of the way and propped herself up on her elbows, trying to look casual to cover her embarrassment. “Hey, guys.”

Seth already looked on the verge of laughter, but Karen still appeared shocked by her sudden appearance. Her hands were poised mid-air, though she had dropped her craft on the floor in her surprise. “Sarah, what are you
doing
here?”

Resting her chin on her entwined knuckles, Sarah kicked her legs back and forth like a child. She was going for nonchalance, but by Seth’s amused expression over her compromising position, she wasn’t pulling it off. “Oh, you know. I was in the neighborhood—thought I’d stop by.”

Karen gawked at her, and the mirth Seth had been containing escaped in a hysterical burst of laughter. He didn’t appear upset that she had interrupted their romantic interlude as he clutched his stomach, and Sarah felt her own lips slanting upward in amusement.

“Glad to lighten the mood,” she said, stumbling awkwardly to her feet and rolling her sore shoulder.

“Are you all right?” Seth asked, barely containing a chuckle as he helped Karen stand. She started to grin as the shock wore off.

“Nothing’s broken, so that’s a plus.” Sarah stopped flexing her arm to look more convincing. “I thought my dismount was pretty graceful, though.”

Shaking her head, Karen snatched the straw wreath off the ground and released a soft laugh. “Only you could make such a spectacular entrance look so natural and poised,” she joked.

Sarah shrugged. “Don’t hate me because I’m gifted in the art of klutzing.” She hiked her thumbs into an invisible belt in a self-satisfied way. “I don’t like to gloat, but I’m kind of a black belt at it.”

Karen really laughed then, and Sarah felt that easy camaraderie she had experienced from the start. It was nice to be reunited, and although it had only been a few brief days, Sarah felt that there was so much to tell her.

Seth was grinning from ear to ear, clearly enjoying their banter as his gaze flickered between the two of them, though it strayed to Karen’s face more often than not.

“More of a purple belt at gracefulness, though,” Karen teased. Sarah shrugged unrepentantly; it was safer for the world if she stuck with awkward and clumsy and left the poise to Karen. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. Can you stay for a while?”

“Actually, I only have a little bit and was hoping we could talk, if you’re not busy.” Sarah’s gaze traveled meaningfully between them, and Karen’s face heated in a tell-tell way.

“I was just showing him how to braid,” she hurried to clarify.

Sarah directed her attention to the broad-shouldered man and did her best to hide her knowing grin. “I think that crown will look very masculine on you. Nice choice.”

Seth grinned unashamedly. “I thought it might be a useful skill in the spring, when the flowers come up and I can make you beautiful angels the halos you deserve.”

Karen rolled her emerald eyes heavenward. “Be still my heart,” she said dryly.

The always-smiling farm boy bowed gallantly. “And now I shall take my cue and leave you to converse. You know, Mother misses having her adopted daughter around,” he said to Sarah. “Anything I can do to convince you to stay?”

Sarah shook her head regretfully, wanting more time with the family who had taken her in without a second thought. “I wish I could, but I have to get back pretty soon. Thanks for the offer, though. I miss your mom’s home cooking.”

He winked at her. “Well, then, it was nice of you to . . .
drop
by?”

“Oh, ha-ha.” Sarah shot him a grin before he disappeared through the back door. She looked back to Karen, who didn’t appear to realize that her little work of art had slipped from her fingers and fallen to her feet again. “Soooo, what was that about?”

Karen peeled her eyes away from the closed door, looking baffled and a little dazed. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, come
on
. It’s me. I’ve seen a thousand romantic comedies.”

Plopping down on a soft pile of hay in the empty stall, Karen gave a confused huff, eyes fixed on the discarded wreath. “I have absolutely no idea. He’s been acting so odd lately—especially nice and attentive. I can’t make heads or tails of what’s gotten into him.”

Sarah sat beside her. “Looks to me like he got bit by the
love
bug.”

Karen shook her head, though a wistful expression briefly flashed across her delicate features. “There’s no way. We’ve known each other too long.”

“And you fell head over heels, goo-goo eyes in love with him on day one?”

“Well, no,” she said thoughtfully. “It was gradual. But I can’t allow myself to hope for something like that if his feelings don’t exist, especially after our track record of being ‘just friends.’” She turned imploring eyes on her. “Can you understand why I’m a little skeptical?”

“I honestly can,” Sarah admitted, forcing back a sigh. “But if you had seen the look on his face that I saw when I walked in, you wouldn’t have any doubt over how he feels about you.”

Karen looked hesitant to believe her. “And what did you see, exactly?”

Sarah’s smile was slow and brought about by the hopeless romantic in her. “A man who just realized how madly in love he is. He was staring at you like he had been trapped in the dark his whole life and you were his first glimpse of the sun.” She clutched her heart and gave a dreamy sigh.

Karen’s eyes did a disbelieving loop-de-loop at that suggestion. “Oh, please.”

“I’m serious!” Sarah cried, then lowered her voice. “I admit it sounds cheesy, but you didn’t see his face. When I walked in, he wasn’t even paying attention to your little straw-hat thing. He was too busy studying your face, and I mean
studying
—like he was seeing you for the first time.” She bumped Karen’s shoulder with her own. “Call me a sap, but it was just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. Kind of made me want to adopt the poor puppy.”

Karen was staring at the floor, looking torn over whether to believe Sarah’s words or protect her heart. Sarah had never seen her confident, take-charge friend so uncertain.
Ah, young love
.

“But why hasn’t he said anything?” Karen asked quietly after a long silence.

“Maybe he doesn’t know you have feelings for him.”

Karen’s eyes went wide. “But I’ve been in love with him for so long that there’s no way he could have missed it.”

“Think about it, Karen,” she urged softly. “You once said that you didn’t want to ruin your friendship if he didn’t feel the same way, so you kept your feelings hidden. You’re so good at playing the friend’s bit that I think you act the same with him as always. And you’re so comfortable around each other that I never would have guessed how you felt about him if you hadn’t told me. And I’m a girl—guys are slower,” she joked. “You might have to help the poor fella along. And you said yourself that he’s been acting differently.”

Karen bit her lip. “Well, a few times I wondered if something might be there, but I dismissed it as wishful thinking. I just don’t know anymore.”