Dawn at Emberwilde Read Online Free PDF Page A

be ready for them when they do.”
    Ellison pinned his narrow gaze on Colin. “I’ll offer fifty pounds to the man who gives good information on this. Disseminate that offer as you see fit, but I must insist on your discretion. You know all too well that such talk would only aggravate the already jaded view of this forest. As it stands, my own wife will not even set foot in here. I would barely be able to get her out from behind Emberwilde’s walls if she thought there was criminal activity in these woods.”
    “Understood.”
    Ellison mounted his horse and then turned back to Colin. “Good. Come back with me to the house. You can talk with Harding yourself, and we’ve other matters to discuss.”
    Colin mounted Sampson and followed Ellison out of the forest. Rain drizzled from the pewter skies and a sharp wind howled from the north. He was eager to be out of the moisture, but he had little confidence that even getting out of the bitter spring elements would quiet the apprehension building within him. It had been years since he had set foot in the Emberwilde Forest, but based on the evidence he saw, difficult times could be waiting for them. He was hardly one to shirk away from a problem, but if experience had taught him anything, it was that this particular bit of land could be an unpredictable place. Now that he had returned, he could not deny the unidentifiable hold the Emberwilde Forest had on him.

Chapter Four
    T he journey from Fellsworth to Emberwilde Hall was a slow one made even slower by the muddy roads and gusty winds. The terrain evolved from rolling green countryside to heavily forested land.
    Isabel and Lizzie broke their journey at a small inn, where they ate a light meal of bread and cheese. Isabel was disappointed that Mr. Bradford did not join them, but he had begged their forgiveness as he tended his horse. Once the driver changed out the coach’s horses, they embarked once more.
    Shortly after resuming, Lizzie stretched out on the opposite seat and fell asleep. It was a wonder the child could sleep, Isabel thought, for every so often they would hit a rut or stone in the road, causing the entire carriage to lurch.
    Without a timepiece, Isabel soon lost track of the hour. With only the color of the overcast pewter sky as her guide, she was beginning to think that they could not possibly arrive at Emberwilde before darkness fell. She did not like the idea of being out after sundown with men whom she did not know.
    Isabel returned her attention to the scene at her window, and what she saw made her straighten.
    There, beyond the crest of trees, the black spires of a great house jutted toward the sky.
    Her pulse quickened in an intricate mixture of uncertainty and excitement. It was the moment she had both dreaded and anticipated since leaving Fellsworth.
    The carriage rumbled over a bridge of stone and earth, and the structure once again disappeared behind a thick veil of tall trees. Shadows flitted intermittently across their carriage, flickering between darkness and light. After several moments, the space between shadows lengthened. The carriage slowed.
    The sudden change of pace shifted Isabel on her seat, and she reached out her hand to steady herself.
    “Why are we stopping?” Lizzie’s voice was soft as she woke. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her fist and sat upright. “Have we arrived?”
    Isabel did not answer. Instead, she angled herself to get a better view.
    As the carriage drew to a halt, she squinted and saw a large man on a brown horse come around from the trees’ edge to the carriage. She bit her lip. Tales of highwaymen and vandals manifested in her mind.
    But this man, dressed in a sharp black coat and tall shiny boots, was not moving fast enough to hijack them, nor did his movements indicate any urgency. He was of a heavy build, with gray side whiskers and silver hair that hung below his low-brimmed hat.
    A second man appeared behind him, much younger and thinner, also on