Read Online A Lily on the Heath 4 by Colleen Gleason - Free Book Online Page B

cries, and although the snarling and barking continued, the fight seemed to have died down. Ill with fear, she looked down through the branches and gasped at the sight below.
    “Piall!” she half-sobbed, half-cried…but his body, on the ground near the base of the tree, was bloody and unmoving.  
    One of the dogs—nay. Oh, nay . Those weren’t mere dogs she realized now that she was closer. They were a pack of wild, rabid, wolf-like canines. White foam dripped from the mouth of the one nearest the tree…the one who saw her just above him.
    With a snarl and shuddering cry that sounded pain-filled and desperate, he leapt up at Judith’s branch. He came close enough that she saw the burning red of his eyes and the gleam of his feral teeth.
    The others in his pack—just as wild and rabid as he—must have caught her scent, for all at once they were all there: surrounding her tree, scrabbling at the trunk, leaping and vaulting up toward her. Trampling the torn, bloody body of her man Piall.
    And Judith was trapped.

FOUR
     
    Tabby drew in a deep breath, inhaling the scent of daisies and honeysuckle. Like her mistress, she enjoyed any opportunity to be out of the chill stone walls of the keep. And after two days of rain and cloudiness, it was a blessing to be able to walk through the grasses and vast gardens beyond the hard dirt of the bailey.  
    This morrow, with Lady Judith gone on her hawk-hunting mission, Tabby was left with fewer responsibilities than usual. Normally, she must be available if her mistress needed a change of clothing or wanted to send a message to someone within the court. Not that Tabby would deliver it herself, but she was often sent off to locate a page to do the actual running. She was also responsible for maintaining the chamber and ensuring her lady’s clothing, bedding and other belongings were clean and organized. And then there was the matter of her furry charges, the elderly mutt, the spunky kitten—and any others she might adopt.
    But with Lady Judith away for much of the day, Tabby finished her work shortly after the midday meal. Just before she left the chamber for a much-desired walk, wherein she hoped she might find a sweet pear on one of the trees, the expected message came from the queen. Tabby did as she’d been instructed and sent word back that her mistress was indisposed and Lady Judith begged forgiveness for being unable to attend her majesty today.
    Moments later, Tabby went out one of the side doors used by the kitchen serfs. Soon she was walking among rosemary, thyme and fragrant lavender. Beyond the worn pathways in the herb garden were the orchards, lined with trees of pears, plums and apples. And past the rows of fruit trees, currently boasting fruits in various stages of growth, was a small meadow bordered by a forest.
    Tabby passed a cluster of ladies sitting on a bench surrounded by rose bushes. She saw two maidservants picking herbs, likely for the monks or the physicians who attended the king and queen. An orange-striped cat stalked something through the tall grasses to the north of a row of apple trees. Two boys played hide and seek. On the meadow, a group of five men-at-arms stood, pointing and talking. Two of them held bows and wore quivers filled with arrows.
    She skirted all of them—particularly the men-at-arms. Her papa, a skilled fighter, had been killed years ago while defending Lady Judith’s father’s estate, Kentwood, during a siege. Tabby spent the next five summers caring for her grieving mother even while she served the young Lady Judith, and the experience gave her a strong mislike for any man who wielded a sword.
    As she meandered along the edge of the meadow, Tabby alternately hummed and sang under her breath, for she always had a song in her head. Keeping a wary eye on the men, she picked a handful of flowers and looked for strawberries. Lady Judith would surely appreciate a small bouquet of daisies and wild lilies, and perhaps even some of the