Free Eochaidh - Legend of the Horsemen (Book One) by Terri Reid

let’s get you back
home for an extra bit of grain and an apple.”
    The horse lumbered up the slight hill and back onto the
road, spilling the remaining strawberries.   Daisy looked over her shoulder at the strawberries littering the side of
the road. “Oh, well, I suppose Lady Strathmore owes us some strawberries.”
    They clipped along at a quick pace and were in the courtyard
of the estate in no time.   Daisy pulled
the cart up to the front of the estate and ran up the stairs to the main
door.   Before she reached the top step,
the door was opened before her and an unsmiling Fitzhugh stepped out. “I do
believe you have forgotten your place,” he stated harshly. “Servants never
enter—”
    “Oh, Mr. Fitzhugh,” Daisy cried urgently. “Miss Meaghan sent
me to get her father. The magistrate has taken Jepson, and Miss Meaghan has run
off to help him.”
    “Never say so,” Fitzhugh gasped, rushing forward and
hurrying her into the house. “We must send help immediately.”
    “Problem Fitz?” Lord John asked, coming down the stairs into
the front hall.
    “It’s Miss Meaghan,” Daisy said. “She told me to find you
and send you to help.”
    “Meaghan?” he cried, rushing forward, standing in front of
Daisy and grabbing hold of her shoulders. “What happened?   What did she say?”
    Daisy was now stammering with fear.   She had never seen Lord John so upset. “The
magistrate arrested Jepson,” she said. “Meaghan was afraid for his life.   She told me to get you.   She went into town.”
    “Alone?   She went
after Jepson by herself?” he cried, standing and running toward the door.
    “Well, she had her sword, sir,” Daisy called after him.
    “Her sword?” he asked, stopping and turning. “How did she
happen to have her sword?”
    Daisy shrugged. “I found it in the stable and didn’t want
her ladyship to happen upon it, so I hid it in the cart and took it with me to
town.   I gave it to Miss Meaghan.”
    In two quick steps Lord John was in front of Daisy again. He
leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Daisy,” he said. “You may have
well saved both of their lives.”
    Turning and running out the door, he called back to Fitz.
“Have all the servants fortify the estate.   Have all weapons at the ready.   We
don’t know what we are dealing with.”
    “Yes sir,” Fitz called and Lord John was surprised to see
that Fitz was running alongside him to the stables.
    “Fitz, I charged you with an order,” he said, entering the
stables and hurrying to Galahad’s stall. He pulled the saddle and pad from the
wooden stand and placed it on his horse.
    “And the first footman, Rawlins, heard it, too,” Fitz
replied, opening another stall, leading out a large gelding and saddling it.
“He will fulfill the task while I ride along with you.”
    “Fitz, there is not time to waste,” Lord John said, cinching
Galahad’s saddle.
    “I agree sir,” Fitz said, surprising Lord John by tucking a
blunderbuss in his waistband. “Therefore, I will not wait for you.”
    Fitz kicked the sides of his horse, and the horse galloped
out of the stables, through the courtyard and onto the road toward town.
    Lord John quickly mounted his steed, grabbed hold of his
sword and staff and, slipping them over his shoulder, urged Galahad out the
door, following in Fitz’s wake.

Chapter Fourteen
    Jepson silently followed Meaghan back down the narrow track
by the creek, behind the lilac bushes and away from town. When they reached the
edge of town, Meaghan stopped her horse and waited for Jepson to ride alongside
her. “How badly have you been hurt?” she asked him, watching him silently wince
as his horse lurched forward.
    Smiling ruefully, he shook his head. “It is nothing, Miss
Meaghan,” he replied. “Merely surface wounds, there is no cause to worry.”
    She met his eyes. “Can you ride back to the estate?” she
asked. “Or should we find a place to hide?”
    “I do not believe there is a