The Promise of Peace (15 page)

Keifer decided to use his free time to write to Nola. He'd only sent her two letters in all this time. Part of his excuse was lack of time. Part was the expense of buying writing materials. And partly he feared creating too strong a bond when he had no intention of courting her. It didn't take much to encourage Nola, and he didn't want to give her false hope.

Still, he missed the give and take of their friendship. Nola had sent six letters to Keifer, and only in the latest did she chastise him for not writing more often. But she mentioned Will Macpherson frequently. Keifer hadn't gotten much beyond the salutation of his letter when Owyn burst through the hall doorway and raced to where Keifer sat before the fire.

He skidded to a halt in front of Keifer and gulped air. “By all the saints above, come quick!”

Alarmed, Keifer stood and put a steadying hand on Owyn's shoulder. “What? Are we under attack?”

“No, not that!” He tugged on Keifer's tunic. “Donel has gone too far this time. Come before it's too late.”

Owyn wasted no breath in explanations but sprinted toward the enclosures where the horses had been released for the day. Had Donel given too much grain and foundered one of the beasts? Quickly Keifer reviewed in his mind what little could be done for an animal stricken with severe indigestion. The malady often proved fatal, and Keifer hoped he was wrong about the cause of Owyn's agitation.

But when Owyn stopped and pointed into the pen, neither of the horses was down. Indeed, what Keifer saw almost made him wish it
was
founder. Sir Bryan's new mare, Skye, was in the pen with a stallion. And she appeared to be quite interested in the stallion's advances.

Disaster! The mare had been purchased to breed with Shadow, Sir Bryan's war horse, not the inferior animal who had his nose at her tail. Sir Bryan would be furious if the mare accepted this stallion. It would be another year before the man could breed her again. And what if she should be hurt in this encounter or in the birth of an unwanted foal?

“Donel put these two together?”

“Nay. He was in a hurry to leave, or so he said, and asked me to put the horses out for him. The mare must have been behind the hay rack—I didn't see her in there.”

Or Donel put her in there himself and Owyn was covering for him.

Owyn wrung his hands, as aware of the seriousness of the situation as Keifer. “What are we to do?”

“Get one of them out of there. Somehow.” Keifer had watched Sir Bryan with the mare when she arrived. She was well bred but high strung. And far too interested in the stallion—obviously she was in season. The two stood side by side, the stallion reaching to nip her withers.

She neighed an invitation but sidled away. Keifer's heart sank.

Neither of the beasts was going to appreciate an interruption to their tryst. But it couldn't be helped. Donel was going to pay for this.

The halters hung on pegs beside the gate. Keifer grabbed the one for the stallion. “You take the mare's halter and try to catch her.”

“Wait. I'll get some grain to distract them.” Owyn hurried away and soon came back with two buckets of grain.

Within minutes it became obvious that the stallion wasn't hungry.

Furthermore, he seemed to consider Keifer and Owyn as rivals for the mare's attention. Over and over he put himself between the men and the other horse. When they got too close, the stallion bared his teeth.

Their only success after a quarter of an hour was that they'd kept the animals from mating. With the stallion's attention on the men, the mare lost interest in him. This was a good sign that she wasn't truly ready and Keifer's first hope that this might turn out well after all.

“Maybe we should rope the stallion and tie him,” Owyn suggested.

“And watch him throw himself to the ground in a frenzy to free himself?”

“What then?”

“I'm going to saddle my horse. I will cut the mare away from the stallion and herd her to the gate. You will open the gate for us to get out without letting the stallion out, too.”

“Ye think it will work?”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“Ye mean besides killing Donel for this?”

Keifer smiled at the jest. “I think we'll let Donel take his chances with Sir Bryan.”

Owyn gave a weak smile. “We will all answer to the laird for this, I fear.”

With a grim nod Keifer walked off to saddle his horse. He rode the gelding into the pen with the other two. The stallion stood protectively between Keifer's horse and the mare. Slowly Keifer rode closer, praying the mare would come from behind the stallion out of curiosity. She did, but the stallion quickly chased her back with a nip of his teeth.

Owyn shook the grain bucket, and she trotted from behind her protector and toward the gate. Keifer couldn't believe his good luck. While Keifer and his gelding shielded him from the stallion, Owyn continued to shake the pail of grain until the mare put her head in the bucket. With practiced moves, Owyn got the halter on her. She followed him out of the gate, and Owyn closed it behind her.

“That went surprisingly well.” Keifer urged his horse to a walk. The mare whinnied, unhappy at being separated. The stallion pawed the ground and snorted. Keifer needed to get out of the pen as fast as possible. But Owyn was busy tying up the mare. Keifer didn't want to agitate the disappointed stallion by running his own horse toward the gate, so he walked slowly until Owyn returned.

Keifer's horse was within five feet of the the opening when Keifer heard the sound of the stallion running. He kicked his horse into a trot and Owyn prepared to open the gate. The stallion cantered around the pen, getting closer and closer to Keifer and his horse. The stallion headed toward them from the right. When the gate opened, it would open into the horse's path and give Keifer a clear shot at the exit.

Three more steps and they'd be there. The stallion slid to a halt inches from Keifer's horse, bared his teeth, and lunged. Keifer gripped tightly, knowing his horse would shy from the bite. The gelding sidestepped successfully—the stallion's teeth missed his horse. But Keifer screamed in pain as the strong teeth and jaws clamped instead around his right arm. Distantly, he heard bones crunch.

The stallion released his grip just before Keifer would have been pulled from the saddle. Keifer and his horse shot through the gate and Owyn slammed it shut behind them.

Keifer crawled down from his horse, cradling his throbbing arm against his chest. He prayed the sound he'd heard had not been his bones, but instead the glove.

Owyn took the reins. “I'll see to the horse. Go stick yer arm in cool water. When I've put up yer horse, I'll fetch some cloth to make a sling.”

As he walked to the hall, Keifer removed his gauntlet, allowing the glove to fall to the ground. He tried to wiggle his fingers and could not. The whole wrist and hand felt numb. When he reached the kitchen, he poured cool water into a basin before pulling back the sleeve of his tunic.

The large, semi-circle of teeth marks was clearly visible on both the upper and lower sides of his forearm. Redness was quickly giving way to blue, which would no doubt become purple in a few hours.

With relief he noted that the skin wasn't broken. Now if the same could be said about the bones . . . Keifer placed a wet cloth on the injury, wishing he had ice instead. Still, the cool water took some of the sting away.

Owyn came into the kitchen carrying Keifer's discarded glove. “Let me see.”

Keifer removed the cloth.

Owyn whistled. “Ouch.” He held up Keifer's riding glove, made of soft leather to allow greater flexibilty of the fingers. The sleeve of the glove was made stiff with whalebone and cuffed just above the wrist.

The cuff of Keifer's right glove showed teeth marks and hung limply, the whalebone useless. Keifer realized the bone that had snapped had indeed been in the glove, not his arm.

When the steward inquired how Kiefer was injured, he said only that he'd been bitten. 'Twas the truth, and no more than the man needed to know. Time enough to deal with the episode when Sir Bryan and Lady Kathryn came home.

TWO DAYS AFTER THE HORSE BIT KEIFER, Donel returned to Homelea and Keifer sent for him. But before he had a chance to talk with the other squire, Keifer's benefactor and lady wife rode into the bailey. Half the surrounding countryside seemed to be there to welcome the lord and lady home. At least that's how it appeared to Keifer's disgruntled eyes.

He dreaded telling Sir Bryan the story—didn't want to get either Owyn or Donel in trouble. But they would have to own up to their deeds. Keifer spied Donel in the crowd. He jerked his head and indicated Donel should follow him so they might talk privately. But Donel shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't understand.

Just then Sir Bryan saw Keifer and walked over to him, no doubt anxious for a report of the happenings during his absence. Bryan clasped Keifer's right hand, and he winced.

The knight pulled up Keifer's sleeve. “Well, what have we here? A horse bite, from the looks of it.”

“Aye. The bay stallion caught me.” Keifer hoped Donel would confess and free him from telling. It would go better for Donel if he did so. Keifer would not cover for him this time.

Donel and Owyn stood close by. Sir Bryan looked at Donel, who stood with his head averted, then at Owyn, who was shifting from foot to foot. “I would like to hear all about it. Wait here. All of you.”

Donel paced back and forth, running his hand through his hair. “I need ye, man,” he said to Keifer. “I cannot be dismissed. What will I do?”

Keifer glanced from his friend to his lord, then shook his head.

“This is out of my hands. You made a bad decision. Now you'll need to own up and be accountable for your actions. I'm sorry, Donel.”

The knight walked over to Lady Kathryn and spoke to her. She smiled at him and went into the hall. When Sir Bryan returned, he asked for an explanation.

Keifer answered, “The stallion was released into the wrong pen.”

“Who put the stallion in there?”

Owyn said, “I did, my laird.”

“Why?”

“The mare was hidden by the hay rack. I didn't know she was in there, and I thought it's where he belonged.”

“Why did you think that?” the knight demanded.

Owyn bowed his head.

Sir Bryan looked at each boy in turn. “Tell me the truth, Owyn. Loyalty to friends is an admirable trait, but this prank could have had serious consequences to my livestock. And Keifer suffered a grievous wound.”

Donel said nothing.

Keifer bent to Donel's ear. “Tell him, or I will.”

Donel, red-faced and scowling, admitted what he'd done. “I told Owyn where to put the stallion. 'Twas meant to be a jest, a prank and nothing more.”

Sir Bryan pointed to Keifer's injured arm. “Then you should have stayed for the fun. How did this happen, Keifer?”

Keifer told them in as few words as possible.

After hearing the tale, Sir Bryan scowled. “As head squire, you may mete out Owyn's punishment, Keifer. You will inform me of your decision in the morning. Donel, come with me and help me with my chain mail. Keifer, have my wife take a look at that.”

Keifer feared the knight would dismiss both Owyn and Donel. When the other boys came to the stable a quarter hour later, Keifer had still not decided on Owyn's punishment. Donel was subdued. Owyn grabbed the other boy's tunic and pulled him close. Donel was a good six inches taller, but Owyn appeared to barely notice. “If ye ever harm Keifer again, ye'll answer to me.”

“I didn't mean for him to get hurt,” Donel said.

“Maybe not. But this time ye went too far. Next time I'll skewer ye on my sword.”

Donel had the good sense not to make light of the threat, as Owyn's swordsmanship had become second to none. “There won't be a next time. I've been dismissed.”

Donel gathered up his gear as Keifer exchanged glances with Owyn. “Dismissed?”

“Aye, no thanks to either of you.”

Keifer shook his head at Owyn to warn him to stay out of this. “Frogs in our beds were harmless enough. I even stood up for you when you convinced Owyn to climb the rope and caused him to fall.

You brought this on yourself.”

Donel brought his horse out of its stall and threw the saddle on its back.

Keifer handed him his bridle. “Where will you go?”

“Can't go home. My father will not take me in again.”

Owyn stood beside Keifer, looking unhappy. “Then what will ye do?”

Donel finished bridling his horse. He turned to fasten his saddlebags to the back of the saddle. “Well, I certainly won't be able to marry Sarah now that I have no means to support her.”

He gave the strings that secured the bags a savage tug and grabbed the reins from Keifer's hand. “Don't waste your time feeling sorry for me. I'll find someone in need of my services.”

Glaring over his shoulder at Keifer, Donel said, “Some laird you'll make if you won't stand up for your men.”

For a brief moment, Keifer allowed himself to feel guilty. But again he reminded himself that Donel had probably sealed his fate when he hadn't confessed without coercion. “I'm sorry you see it that way, Donel.”

“I won't soon forget what you did this day. You are no friend to me, Keifer MacTaggert.”

Keifer and Owyn watched as Donel mounted and rode out of Homelea's gate.

“Ye'd best watch yer back, Cousin.”

Keifer turned from watching Donel's vanishing back to stare at Owyn.

Owyn shrugged. “I've heard my da speak of Eveleen MacTaggert often enough. And ye look like my da—it wasn't hard to make the connection.”

“I've wondered if you didn't suspect it. Why didn't you say something sooner?”

“Didn't think it was important.”

Keifer didn't know whether to believe him or not. “Until I met you, I thought you and your father still coveted my lands.”