Joby turned on her. "Berengaria is not to exploited! It is disgusting to think of Berengaria sitting in a booth and telling fortunes by holding someone's hand."

"You can do that too?" Axia asked, wide-eyed.

For several moments, Berengaria sat silently blinking as Joby, with great disdain, explained that she and Berengaria were not of the merchant cla.s.s, to earn their living by pedaling themselves.

When she could stand it no more, Berengaria said, "But, Joby, we need money. And we tried to peddle our brother's beauty, so what is the difference?"

Joby turned on her sister in horror, feeling greatly betrayed. "It is not the same at all."

With a deep sigh, Berengaria dropped the issue. She was not going to be caught between Joby and her new sister-in-law, but she had to admit that Axia's words appealed to her. How very much she would like to be useful, to not be the Family Burden.

Chapter 26.

Axia was looking from one of her sisters-in-law to the other. In the time she had been there, the youngest, a twelve-year-old daughter of Satan, had done all she could to make Axia's life h.e.l.l. No matter what Axia did, according to the appropriately named Joby, she did it wrong. Even cleaning up that pigsty they called a kitchen was an act of aggression, according to Joby.

All Axia had been able to think of was Jamie's return. He could straighten his sisters out. But now it looked as though she would be here longer, for they were discussing sending for their ill.u.s.trious relatives to help Jamie out of whatever problem he had. Meanwhile, Axia thought, Jamie might be in danger. This time he might have been attacked by twenty men, and even he couldn't fight off that many. They could lock him in a dungeon, starve him, beat him. She had to shake her head to clear it of these horrible thoughts.

And immediately, she thought, What about Frances?! Who is taking care of Frances? What if she is held captive near daisies?

Suddenly, Axia's head lifted at the same time as Berengaria's. Someone else was coming, only this time Axia knew that step well. Without a glance to her new family, she picked up her skirts and began to run.

Tode barely reached the gate of the old castle before Axia saw him, and without a care for what the people around them thought, she ran to him, arms open wide. Catching her to him, he hugged her so hard, her feet came off the ground, and she buried her face inside his hood, tears of joy pouring down her face.

"I have missed you. I thought of you every minute," she said.

He was laughing. "Even when you were with your handsome Jamie?"

"Yes, of course," she said, laughing. "For what is a husband compared to a friend?"

For just a moment, Tode leaned back and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and in that moment, she knew that something was different about him. Had her marriage affected him so that he would change toward her? Why was he not laughing at her joke?

"You must be tired," she said. "Come inside, and let me take care of you."

"All right," he answered, taking her arm and leading her, and again she thought that something was different about him. The minute they were inside, she meant to find out everything.

Stopping only long enough to order food and drink for her friend, Axia led him up the steep spiral stairs to the best room of the house, the solar. She could tell by the way he walked that his legs were hurting him very much, and when asked, he told her that today he had walked or been jostled in the back of a wagon for many miles.

When Axia entered the solar, her happiness faded as she saw her two sisters-in-law waiting for her, for now she'd have to share Tode with them. But then she thought how much Tode would like Berengaria, because she could not see what he looked like.

"I want you to meet my sister-in-law. She is blind!" Axia said, and there was much pride in her voice.

Both the beautiful Berengaria and the boy-dressed Joby were staring at Tode with blank stares. Because he was wary of beautiful women, Tode a.s.sumed it was Joby who was blind. Throwing back his hood, he smiled at her, then when he saw the look of revulsion cross her face, he instantly pulled the hood back up and looked away; Axia gave Joby a look of anger, then pulled him toward Berengaria. "No, that is Joby. I want you to meet this one. This is Berengaria," she said, then introduced him.

"Ah," Tode said smoothly, again pushing his hood back, seeming to disregard Joby's stares as he gazed at Berengaria's perfection. "I could not guess that eyes so beautiful could be without sight. But then those of us who can see are allowed to endlessly bathe in your beauty without appearing rude." Reaching forward, he picked up her hand, and for a moment he caressed it. "May I?" he asked softly, then when Berengaria nodded, he kissed the back of her hand almost lovingly.

It would have been difficult to guess who was more astonished: Axia or Joby. Never in her life had Axia seen Tode act so with another human being. She'd seen him with women, with blind women even, but he had always stayed in the background, never pushing himself forward as he was now. And he knew how to position his body and to turn his head just so, so the scarred side of his face would not show. But now he was standing with his hood back, the mutilated side of his face fully exposed to Joby and herself.

As for Joby, she was more interested in Berengaria's reaction to this deformed man than to his reaction. Berengaria was very shy with strangers; she never liked to be alone with anyone she had not known for years. But here she was, allowing this awful man to kiss her hand! In fact, he was still holding her hand.

It was Joby who recovered from her shock first, going to Tode and Berengaria and physically separating their hands. And Axia was right beside her. In one instant the two of them had gone from being enemies to allies, united in astonishment.

Turning, Tode gave Axia a fond look, an almost fatherly look, as he bent and kissed her cheek, then said, "Ah, the food has arrived. Come, ladies, and sit with me. I will enjoy your company."

Saying that, he easily and naturally slipped his arm around Berengaria's and led her to the table, where the meal was being spread out.

Behind them, in stunned silence, stood Joby and Axia. Axia was in shock because Tode's behavior was so out of character, and Joby could not believe that a man who looked as though he were part of a traveling show was taking over their household. Who was this man anyway?

Tode had seated himself at the small table with Berengaria next to him, leaving the bench on the other side of the table for Joby and Axia. "Come, girls, do you not want to hear my news?"

Girls? Axia thought as she went toward the bench, Joby right beside her.

As soon as they were seated, Tode began to tell his story, but it took Axia a while to hear what he was saying. There was no mistaking that he still looked like her Tode, but his body now seemed to be occupied by the spirit of another. For one thing, he seemed to have taken possession of Berengaria. Only one plate had been set on the table, but Tode, in a natural gesture, had moved it to halfway between himself and Berengaria. As he ate, he placed small bits of food into her hand: succulent pieces of fruit, b.u.t.tered bread, a morsel of beef on the end of a little silver knife.

It took Joby's explosion to make Axia hear what Tode was saying.

"Jamie!" Joby shouted. "Henry Oliver has put our brother in a dungeon?" At that she drew a dagger from its sheath at her side and stood. But Tode caught her arm.

"Sit!" he commanded, and she did so.

"There is nothing we can do now, at least not in full daylight," Tode said. "I would like a few hours rest, then I will return."

Joby, not liking the way this scarred man had come into their lives as though he owned them, said, "What can you do?" with a sneer.

"Joby!" Berengaria said sharply.

From the moment Tode had said that Jamie was in danger, Axia had not been able to breathe, but now she was recovering herself enough that she could whisper. "Tell me everything. I must know it all," she said softly.

"This Henry Oliver is not as stupid as people think. He has a bit of cunning, and he has set his heart on-" Stopping, he looked into Berengaria's lovely face. "On you," he said softly, making Berengaria turn pink with a blush. "I can understand that now."

"What of my brother?" Joby shouted at him.

Unperturbed, Tode started eating again. "Oliver is determined to have her, and he says he will hold Jamie until he agrees to allow him to marry his sister. And he will hold Frances until her father pays a ransom."

At this Tode looked hard at Axia, letting her know that her father had now been notified of the exchange. Joby looked at the dagger still in her hands, because she knew that she was the cause of two people being held prisoner.

Tode continued. "There are underground tunnels leading from Oliver's house to the sea. They are dark and damp, and cells have been carved out of them. Jamie has been held in one of these for days. I tried to get to him, but the guards saw my torch, and I was"- he smiled-"detained."

At this Joby and Axia nodded, but Berengaria drew in her breath. "How did you escape them?"

"I played the fool," he said simply. "I merely had to act idiotically, and they were laughing."

For the other two women this was easy to understand, but Berengaria was puzzled. "How could you play the fool?"

As Joby and Axia watched in stunned disbelief, Tode picked up her hands and put them on his face, guiding her fingers to feel the scars of his face, then downward onto his neck.

"My legs are also scarred," he said, looking into her eyes, their noses but inches apart.

"And if you think my sister is going to be allowed to feel those, you'd better think again," Joby half snarled.

Blushing again, Berengaria took her hands from Tode's face.

With a smile that Axia had never seen before, Tode turned back to the table and the food.

"We will get the Montgomery cousins here," Joby said. "They will raze that place of Oliver's and hang his fat body from the nearest gibbet. They will-"

"There is no time. I must return tonight and see what I can do."

"Yes, I'm sure you'll be a great deal of help," Joby said contemptuously.

Tode did not bother to speak, but the look he gave Joby made her shut up. He let her know that she was a child, and as such, if she wanted to stay with the grown-ups, she had better mind her manners. Neither Axia nor Tode knew it, but it was the same look that Jamie often sent his little sister's way.

"I can come and go freely. No one notices someone who looks like me. I came for just these few hours to explain to you what was wrong."

"What of Frances?" Axia asked. "Is she cared for?"

To Axia's disbelief, she thought that for a moment Tode blushed, but surely, she must have been wrong.

"Frances is all right. She is being held in a stone room at the top of the old tower. She is comfortable but frightened. Oliver tends to her himself and rarely allows anyone in to see her." He gave a bit of a smile. "Except for someone to cheer her up."

Axia reached across the table to take Tode's hand. "Tell me what I can do. I will give my life if it will get Jamie out. Please let me do something."

For a moment, his eyes locked with hers, and Tode saw there what had only been a shadow before. Axia loved Jamie. Loved him as she'd never loved anyone else. For a moment Tode felt jealousy, but then he controlled himself and squeezed her hand in return. "There is nothing you can do. I can get into the tunnels well enough, as the guard lets me pa.s.s. It is just getting Jamie out that is difficult. I cannot very well lead him through the Great Hall and out. For all that your Jamie is a great soldier," he said, smiling warmly at Axia, "I do not think he can fight all of Oliver's men."

"What other way is there to get him out?" Axia asked.

"I cannot tell what the tunnels were, but they seem to go on for miles. Whether they are old mines or crypts, I do not know. Nor do I think Oliver knows, or if he did know, he has forgotten. I think they are mayhaps Roman, and some of them have collapsed. Whatever they were, only a mole could find his way through them."

"Or a blind person," Berengaria said softly.

"Not on your life!" Joby shouted. "Jamie would-"

"Quiet!" Tode commanded, then turned to Berengaria, his eyes searching her face. "Yes," he said thoughtfully. "A blind person would have a great advantage in the darkness of those tunnels. The first day I was allowed to see Jamie, so I took a torch and tried to see where the tunnels led, but the guards saw my torch and stopped me. Another day I spent combing the forest near Oliver's, trying to find the exit to the tunnels, but I could find nothing. For all anyone knows, they have no exit."

"But if we could hide Jamie in the tunnels until a rescue comes, it will get him out from under this Oliver's rule," Axia said, her eyes showing her rising fear. When Tode would not meet her eyes, she said, "You are not telling all. I know it! You are holding something back."

"Yes," Berengaria said as she reached for Tode's hand and ran her thumb over the palm. "There is more danger than you are telling us."

"Yesterday morning, Oliver's brother arrived."

When Axia heard the sharp intake of breath from both Joby and Berengaria, she knew there was danger, true danger.

Tode lowered his eyes and his voice. "The brother, Ronald, told Oliver that he was stupid for wanting a poor Montgomery for a wife when he had the Maidenhall heiress locked away in a tower. Since the brother is already married, he is trying to force Frances to marry Oliver. But Jamie has told them that Maidenhall has made him Frances's guardian, and she cannot marry without his permission. But, of course, Jamie will not sign any papers giving Frances to Oliver, so he is being held without food and only enough water to sustain life." Lifting his head, Tode looked at Axia. "He will need a doctor when he gets out."

At that Axia rose from the bench and went to look out the window, not wanting anyone to see into her eyes.

"What has been done to him?" Berengaria whispered.

"Repeated whippings," was Tode's reply. "I was the only one allowed to see him and then only because they did not know that I had ever met him before. For all that has been done to Jamie, he is still making Oliver's brother believe that he has some hold over Perkin Maidenhall, and it is up to Jamie to agree to the marriage."

"So this protects Frances," Axia said softly, turning back to the group at the table. "Whether she marries or not is out of her hands and in Jamie's."

"Yes."

Chapter 27.

Drawing the horses to a halt, Tode sat atop the wagon seat with his breath held as he watched the approach of armed men. Because he knew some of them by sight, he knew they were Oliver's men. One disadvantage of looking as he did was that people recognized him and remembered him.

But when the men saw him and started punching each other and grinning, he knew they would not be suspicious. Which was good, because he had three females hidden in the back of the wagon, lying under great mounds of flowers.

"And what do you have here?" one of the men asked, already laughing at the very sight of Tode.

"Flowers for the Maidenhall heiress," Tode said jovially. "What better way to court a woman than with flowers? She will be his by tonight. In marriage or out."

Under the coa.r.s.e linen that covered the three of them, Axia listened in wonder, as she had never heard this tone in Tode's voice before. By nature, he was a somber man, taking his duties rather too seriously at times. But the man speaking now had a tone in his voice that seemed to expect people to laugh at whatever he said.

And Oliver's men did laugh. "You'd better replant those," one of the men called. "The heiress won't be needing them."

"At least not for marrying poor ol' Henry," another man called.

"Ah, then," Tode said, "I shall use them for my own wedding."

At that the men laughed as though that were the funniest thing they had ever heard. Inside the wagon, Axia felt Berengaria, lying beside her, tense, her hands made into fists at her side.

"Maybe you can marry the heiress," one of the men said. "If you can find her."

"Oh?" Tode asked as though it meant nothing to him. "Has she managed to hide herself, or has her father come to fetch her?"

Only Axia heard the fear in Tode's voice at the mention of Perkin Maidenhall.

"Escaped," one of the men said. "Painted her way out," he said, then shouted with laughter. "If you see her, tell her to find a door and come back inside."

After that the men were laughing too hard to speak anymore, and without a word, they left Tode and his wagon full of flowers alone in the road.

Ten minutes later, Tode had moved the wagon under the dense shade of an oak tree and stepped down to get a drink of water from a little barrel strapped to the side of the wagon.

"Did you hear?" he asked, looking through the great crack in the sideboards at the three pairs of eyes staring at him.