Saving Sabine

Chapter 3 - Photo of Connor

“Next time?” he said, sounding surprised. “Am I to set aside some time each week to come out and find ye? Because … I do have a job to do,” he teased with his crooked smile, the lines on his face becoming more apparent.

“No, I assure you, I won’t be running off again any time soon. I believe I may be chained to my bed for about a month after what I did,” she sighed.

Once the horses were saddled, Connor motioned for Sabine to follow him out of the cave. As she did, he spoke. “My little sister, Merida, did something similar when she was about sixteen. My da’ had her lashed so she’d learn her lesson. She would have welcomed being chained to a bed,” he said shaking his head.

Sabine’s eyes widened. “Lashed?” she repeated. “My parents never hit us …” she whispered. She was glad that the biggest punishment she’d ever received was being sent to bed without supper.

Connor didn’t say anything else on the subject. He offered her a leg up onto Puissant and she settled in the saddle. She followed him as he rode his horse in a walk. The ground was moist but it wasn’t slippery so it was safe to ride the horses. Everything was a brilliant green. The trees and brush all smelled so fresh and if it were any other day she would have stopped to enjoy the scenery, but not when she was headed towards her parent’s wrath.

“If ye aren’t in too much trouble after you’ve spoken to your parents, ye can come down to the stables and I can give ye a lesson on riding like a man,” he said after a while.

“I’d like that,” she smiled.

They rode the rest of the way in silence. Sabine liked how it wasn’t uncomfortable silence, they didn’t have to say anything. They could just enjoy horse riding together … even if they weren’t together … because there was absolutely no way Sabine was going to let her mama say ‘I told you so’.

By the time the edge of the Southerby estate came into view, Sabine was feeling thoroughly sick. They came to the stables and Connor dismounted. Sabine jumped down from Puissant just as Connor was coming to help her.

“I’ll rub down Puissant an’ feed her for ye,” he offered. “Good luck, milady.” He wasn’t teasing her, he was being genuine, an expression that looked nice on his usually cheeky face. 

“Thank you,” she said gratefully, handing him the reins. “Thank you for finding me. I would be sick with a fever by now if you had not found me.”

He shrugged. “Anytime, milady.” With that he turned away from her and led the horses into the stables.

Sabine took a deep breath and made her way up to the house, keeping a quick pace. The house appeared before her which made her heart take off.

When she came to the back door, she took a deep breath and opened it. As she peered inside she couldn’t see anyone. She knew that they would most likely be in the dining room having breakfast. At the thought of food, her stomach growled. It hadn’t been attended to since lunch the previous day.

She crept through the house and arrived at the dining room door. She could hear cutlery moving against plates. Turing the handle, she heard forks being dropped and chairs moving outward. As she walked into the room her mother practically flew into her arms, crushing her with a tight hug.

“Oh, don’t you ever do that to me again!” she exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, mama,” she apologised. “I didn’t know it was going to rain.” She hugged her mother back, enjoying the fact that she wasn’t angry.

Jane pulled back and then frowned at her. Her mother’s dark blue eyes looked disappointed. “I don’t want you ever to talk to me like that again. I don’t want anything but the best for you. There aren’t that many people in this world that would give their right arm for you, so you can’t just throw away genuine concern,” she scolded.