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Dark thoughts began to creep in as she realized that in her bid to outrace her husband, she had not considered the fact that he might not venture to the area she was in.

She tried to remove her boot to properly inspect her ankle, but it was difficult, as every attempt sent another wave of intense pain through her.

She was wondering if she should crawl her way home when she heard the sound of hooves from afar.

“EVELINE!” William bellowed.

Eveline had never been so relieved in her life.

“William!” she called back, waving her arms.

Her husband seemed to have seen her because his horse galloped faster towards her until it finally stopped a few feet away from her.

William flew off his horse, his eyes wide in terror.

“Eveline!” he cried. “What happened?”

“Well, I won the race, at least,” Eveline quipped, in an attempt at levity.

William, however, did not seem to hear her, as he fell to his knees on the jagged rocks at the bank of the stream. His eyebrows drew together, and his jaw was tense as he looked her over as though to confirm that she did not have a fatal wound. She could feel his body shake when he finally pulled her to him.

William had been enjoying the challenge his wife had issued, and he had even been looking forward to getting to the river bank before her when he heard a sound that made his blood freeze in his veins.

It was his wife’s scream. A million thoughts raced through his mind for a moment.

Had she been kidnapped?

Was she thrown off her horse and trampled to death?

What if she had fallen off her horse and broken her neck?

William panicked, and his heart raced. He could not help but think the worst as his horse galloped harder towards the stream, where her scream had come from.

An image of Eveline lying by the stream, in a pool of her blood, flashed through his mind, but he shook it off. However, he could not help the dread that flooded him.

He wanted to protect her, to take her in his arms, and assure her that she was fine. However, the distance between him and the stream felt like an eternity no matter how fast his horse galloped.

When his horse finally broke out of the dense woods to the airy bank of the stream, he quickly looked around, hoping to find her.

It was when she called his name that he finally saw her sitting beside a large rock. Even though she had waved at him, he could not help the fear that shot through him.

William was not quite sure how he closed the distance between them or tethered his horse. All he could remember was falling to his knees and peering into her eyes for any sign of exhaustion or pain.

“Eveline, what happened?” he whispered.

“Well, I won the race, at least,” he heard her say faintly, but he did not quite understand the words.

“Where are you injured?” he asked, checking her for any sign of injury or blood.

His mouth went dry when he took her arm and saw that her skin had been scratched badly.

“Eveline,” he whispered, taking her other arm and seeing that it was bloody. “You are bleeding. We need to get you home right now.”

He made to lift her off the ground when she stopped him.

“That is not quite where my injury is,” she said.

“Oh no!” he groaned when she pointed at her foot.