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“You will be caught!”
“I am never caught,” Jacob Leary smiled while he pointed his pistol.
“That is not rightfully yours, sir!” the man continued.
The smile fell from Jacob’s face as he replaced it with a dark and serious look. “It means that much to you? Is it worth your life?” Jacob cocked the gun.
The rich nobleman jutted his chin in the air, but said nothing in defeat.
“Indeed it is as I thought. Thank you gentlemen for your time, have a good evening.” Jacob pulled the reins on his horse, and darted from the Old Roman Road, straight into the woods where the carriage he had just held up could not track him.
“Get him! Do not just stand there. Do something!” the nobleman shouted after him.
But Jacob knew very well that the footman and valet were not going to risk their lives for their master. Besides, they could only give chase on foot. The two horses that were with them were bound to the carriage, and it would take at least ten to twenty minutes or more to pull them off. By then, Jacob would be long gone and lost into the wilderness, for he knew these back pathways very well. The dark black of the forest hid him from those that sought to find him; that and the dark hooded cloak and black handkercheif he wore to hide his face.
He wore it over his nose and mouth and tied it behind his head. In this manner, he looked like a regular creature of the night, with that black mask and black hooded cloak. Lending him a look of menace is exactly what Jacob wanted to accomplish with this costume, and he found it very effective indeed.
Deep into the wilderness he rode and then climbed off his black stallion horse, Champion.
“You did very well, Champion. We both did, did we not? ” He spoke to his horse as a partner and not an animal. He grabbed the leather brown bag that he had stolen from the carriage, knowing very well what it carried. He set it on the ground, and crouched next to it. The flap flipped open and he tugged the black handkerchief from his face down to his neck, and then heard the cry of a young woman. Possibly a woman that sounded in distress or pain.
“Who’s there?” he asked, but only silence and the sounds of the forest replied.
Jacob knew that it could not be those that searched for him, for why would a search party have a young woman with them? He stood up and hung the strap of the leather brown bag from his shoulder. He grabbed the reins of his horse and wrapped it quickly around a branch.
“Stay here, Champion,” He whispered. “I will return. Stay.”
He walked cautiously in the direction of the sound, but no human form became visible in the dim light. He decided to call out again.
“I said, who goes there?”
No one replied. The sound of a twig snapped, guiding him in a new direction. Jacob knew very well that someone was hiding. He knew a lot about hiding.
“I will not hurt you. Are you in distress?” He said as he moved closer.
Then, a pale face turned to him, catching in the very limited light of the twilight evening. He stepped back, stunned, not expecting to see a young girl. Her wide green eyes were round. She trembled. The fear in them made her eyes look very big; too big for her head. Jacob saw a young girl, too young to be out in the wilderness alone. Her pale skin caught in the brief rays of moonlight that filtered through the branches and lit her fiery red hair that twisted in a braid over her shoulder. Jacob scanned the area, for she could not be alone.
“What are you doing here? Are you alone? Is there someone I can call out to come and find you? Truly, you cannot be here alone,” He raised a brow at her.
But she said nothing still. Her breathing was heavy, fear gripped her eyes. He knew that he had to do something to calm her or she would never speak. He set the bag down and crouched beside it, staying a few yards from her as though speaking with a small frightened animal.
“You are hurt?” He looked to her hand wrapped around her ankle. She said nothing.
“Then you are mute? Deaf and dumb?”
“I am not!” she said with anger, her nose wrinkled.
“Oh, so it does talk. Who are you? What are you doing here in the middle of the woods all alone?”
Once more she grew silent. This had become tedious; he did not have time. He needed to get back to his cottage hideout as soon as may be. He had not planned on this detour of a damsel in distress. Bad luck.
“If you continue to be silent, madame, then I will not know what is wrong with you. Should I take a look at that?” Jacob pointed to her ankle.
“I fell. Now I cannot stand.”
“All right, let's see if it is broken then, shall we?” Jacob moved toward her boot. The young girl gasped and moved back. But he had enough of being patient. He placed both of his hands on her slender ankle, and moved it back and forth. She released a small groan.
“It does not seem to be broken, but I cannot be sure. I would have to take a look at it under the light. Can you stand?”
She nodded her head no. “I tried. It was quite painful. Perhaps if I just sit here a little longer, it will eventually subside and then I can be on my way, sir.”
“On your way?” Jacob looked around. “ You are in the middle of the Black Forest, are you aware of that?”
The Black Forest? No, I was not. I was following the Old Roman Road, to the Hertfordshire Inn.”
“Well, you are off by about two miles. You must have greatly veered from your path. Did you think the small path was the Old Roman Road?” Jacob teased.
“No. I am not an idiot. I thought it was a shortcut.”
“So you are alone?” He asked.
Her green eyes grew wide again. “I did not say that.”
“No, but you said I thought it was a shortcut, not we thought it was a shortcut. That means it is just you. I will not ask what a young girl is doing walking the Old Roman Road alone at night. For now, we just need to get you some help.”
“Perhaps if you can take me to the Hertfordshire Inn.”
“No! I cannot do that.” Jacob said knowing that he could not show his face anywhere tonight. He needed an alibi and that meant he needed to be at home in his cottage, not anywhere near the Old Roman Road and the carriage that he had just robbed. He looked toward his leather bag.
“But if it is just two miles, then why not...”
“I said no. I cannot go there, and I will not take you there. I could take you back to my cottage and we could see to that ankle. If you are well by morning, you could continue on your journey,” He said.
“Your cottage? What do you take me for? I am no harlot!”
“I do not think that you are a harlot, you are nothing but a child.”
“Child? I am not a child, I am seven and ten years of age.”
Jacob cocked his head to the side, as though to say that he considered that age very young, a child. Indeed the girl held beauty, but a child nonetheless. At his age of five and twenty, he held no improper thoughts for this young woman.
“My point, madame, is that I have no intention of treating you like a harlot. I did not think that of you at all. I am merely was offering my hospitality for the night, seeing that you are injured and in the middle of the Black Forest by yourself. It is not safe here.”
Jacob saw her glance over at the bag.
“What is in that bag? It made an awful lot of noise,” She said.
“That, madame, is none of your concern.” Jacob had enough. “Look child, you could come with me and be in a warm home for the night, or you can stay here and let the wild beasts have you for a late supper. It is not as though you are going to get up and run from them, are you?”
Once again, those big round green eyes grew rounder as this information settled inside her mind. The night was growing colder. Even in late summer, the English nights could be harsh. Jacob could see her limbs trembled, possibly from the cold, but as well as from the pain. Even though he did not know this young woman, he did not like to see someone as young as she in distress.
He sighed. “You are trembling.” He untied the cloak from his neck.
“No, I am not.” She said in defiance.
“Yes, you are. Are you always this argumentative?” He wrapped the cloak around her shoulders, and pulled the hood over her head, and then tied it around her small pale neck.
“What is it going to be? Are you coming or not?” he asked.
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