Far From Broken Read Online Free PDF Page B

shoulder to Malcolm as he ran to the boy’s side. “Hurry and get someone out here to help him.”
    “My lady. She—” The boy coughed. Blood bubbled from his mouth.
    “What happened, John?”
    “I was in the woods this eve, lookin’ fer some o’ that wild garlic to give to the mare, ’cause the flies have been botherin’ her somethin’ fierce.”
    “What happened?” he repeated, trying not to lose his patience. Malcolm was already on his way back with Cook, who’d brought some towels and bandages. Jasper reluctantly moved aside to let them tend to the boy.
    “They came from the direction of the house, sir. All carryin’ guns, and one of ’em had my Lady Carlisle thrown over his shoulder like a sack of feed.” He gazed up at Jasper with a pleading look, as if begging for forgiveness. “I didn’t know what to do. They were three big bastards, and only one of me…so at first, I just followed ’em.”
    “How did you get hurt?”
    If possible, the boy turned even whiter. “Well, when they got deeper into the woods my lady, she started fightin’. She were kickin’ and scratchin’ to get away. The one guy, he dropped ’er, but she tripped and fell over her skirts tryin’ to run, and he just grabbed ’er back up and hit her in the face.”
    Jasper’s hands clenched into two tight fists at his sides. This couldn’t be happening.
    It couldn’t be a coincidence, either.
    “I couldn’t let them hurt her, my lord. I mean…I tried. I tried not to let them.” Tears had gathered in his eyes, and he lifted a bloody hand to swipe them away. “I jumped in, but one of ’em stuck me. A knife. I…I couldn’t—”
    Jasper put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, John. Did you see where they were headed?”
    “I think the direction of Lord Folderall’s old huntin’ lodge. You know it?”
    The shack was just beyond the border of Jasper’s property and hadn’t been used since the old Earl keeled over almost ten years ago. Jasper remembered playing there when he was a boy. “Yes, I know it.”
    He looked to Malcolm, who frowned. “It’ll take longer with the horses. We’d have to go around. Better to cut through.”
    Jasper agreed. He was more concerned about the passage of time than losing their way in the dark. He’d grown up in these woods and knew every stone and every bush.
    He thanked John for everything he’d tried to do to save his mistress, and told the others to take good care of him.
    Then he ran.
    Even with a head wound, Malcolm did a good job keeping up with him. The moon was high and full, which helped them see where they were going even though Jasper was moving only on desperation and instinct. He ran faster and faster, without feeling tired or out of breath, every one of his senses and all the muscles in his body in complete accord with his objective—to reach Callie.
    Halfway there, they splashed through the narrow stream that marked the boundary of the two adjoining properties, but Jasper didn’t even pause. Tree branches slapped his face and shoulders. He dodged the rocks and roots cropping up in the path, and tried not to think what was happening to his wife. But as they neared the hunting lodge and all was quiet, he feared they were already too late.
    A hundred yards from the small cabin, he glanced at Malcolm. “It doesn’t look like they’re here, but run a check of the perimeter. I’m going inside.”
    “Aye, Colonel.”
    As he approached the door, his belief that nobody had been here changed. He still couldn’t hear anything and there was no window to see inside, but the oily stink of violence and death was all around this place.
    Please, no.
    When he opened the door, the scent of freshly spilled blood hit him first. He couldn’t hold back the terrified hiss that spilled from his mouth. Callie’s blood. He didn’t even have to see the room to know it was covered in Callie’s blood.
    But he did see. And she was there. Tied to a chair.
    Thick, coarse rope