Page 29 of A Land So Wide

S teward House had been hastily decorated with swags of cut greenery and late-blooming yellow poppies. Clusters of candles nestled between the arrangements, and their flames danced as the matrons of Mistaken bustled back and forth, putting final touches on the hall before the ceremony began.

Greer watched them work with Hessel’s arm tucked painfully tight around hers, as he and the other Stewards gathered in the entry.

With a brightness so fervent it seemed false, the men chatted of the Hunt and the matches made, and tried to guess which couples would have the most agreeable winter.

She tried to ignore the playful ribbing and knowing glances directed at her father.

Just behind them were the brides-to-be, each wearing her finest dress and clutching at a sprig of pin cherries.

An identical bouquet had been thrust into Greer’s hands as she’d entered, along with a handkerchief.

Greer absently wondered how many of the tears that were about to fall were ones of joy.

The Hunters clustered close together at the front of Steward House. They’d formed a circle and were all smiles and laughter and hard slaps across one another’s backs as they waited.

In between the girls and grooms was the rest of the town.

Everyone in Mistaken was expected to attend each Joining Ceremony, pledging to support the new couples as they could, offering helping hands and plenty of grace during the often fraught first year of marriage.

Nearly every seat was filled; the benches were packed and overflowing with families and well-wishers.

All but one.

The last row of Steward House, used by generations of Beauforts, was conspicuously empty.

Greer stared warily at the bench while picking apart her nosegay, showering the floor around her with green-needled confetti.

Where were the Beauforts?

At home, grieving Ellis’s disappearance, most likely.

But where was Louise?

Greer’s entire plan—her stupid, untested, ill-thought plan—was predicated on Louise’s understanding her veiled message and packing a bag.

But what if Louise hadn’t understood?

What if she had thought Greer mad with her own grief? Louise didn’t know what Greer had seen. She didn’t know that Ellis had been able to cross the boundary unscathed. She didn’t know that Greer could now do the same.

Greer touched the necklace beneath her dress, doubt creeping in.

What if she was mistaken, and the beads didn’t work, didn’t do what she’d only assumed they must? What if she managed to free herself from Hessel and flee the Joining Ceremony, but was still sent right back into town as sunset fell?

The piling uncertainties scraped her raw, and she scratched at her hands, feeling as if they were breaking into hives.

Greer glanced toward Lachlan, catching him in uproarious laughter, his mouth hanging open, showing too many teeth. He looked carefree and careless, and why shouldn’t he be? By all accounts, he’d won. He’d caught his intended and was about to marry the wealthiest, if craziest, woman in town.

Greer’s itching fingers balled into fists.

She was not going down that aisle.

Not to him.

Not to anyone who wasn’t Ellis.

She’d rather take her chances against the Warding Stones, against the cold and the wolves, against every creature within the woods, even the Bright-Eyeds.

She’d rather die first.

As if he could sense the threat to his impending happiness, Lachlan’s attention drifted across the room, searching for and finding Greer.

“Good Stewards,” he called out, his voice rippling with a self-satisfaction that infuriated Greer, “shouldn’t we get the joining under way? We lads grow anxious for the wedding night to come!”

The grooms all laughed, and a scattering of the townspeople joined in, too. Several brides dared to smile, even as they flushed bright red and glanced nervously at one another.

“Of course, of course,” Ian Brennigan said. “We all remember such heady eagerness and would hate to prolong your anticipation any longer. Mackenzie, what say you?”

Greer felt her father freeze and heard his breath catch. He was responsible for carrying out the ceremony, but, to begin, he’d need to leave Greer with the rest of the brides, unattended.

She tried to remain as still and impassive as possible, even as her heart began to race, knowing she was on the edge of the precipice.

It didn’t matter if Louise didn’t show. Greer had on her boots and her warmest cloak. She had her hat and mittens. She had her necklace. She’d make do.

Resolve strengthened her stance.

She could do this. She would do this.

Even so, she released a silent sigh of relief as Louise ducked in through the doorway, her younger sister, Norah, close at her heels. Louise guided her through the crowd of brides, all but shoving her to their row.

“It seems your family bench isn’t altogether full, Louise Beaufort,” one of the Stewards behind Greer noted.

Louise, just about to sit, stopped short and turned to face their group. “No, Steward Wresling. My brothers Rhys and Riley are at home, taking care of Mama. She is, understandably, too distraught to join us.”

“Distraught?” Michael Morag echoed. “But this is a happy day.”

If Louise was upset about having to explain her family’s tragedy, to lay it bare and exposed to the whole of the town, she did not show it.

She allowed her hazel eyes to meet the Steward’s without shame or anger.

“Because of Ellis. Because he disappeared yesterday. Because you all believe him dead.”

The room fell into uncomfortable silence.

“Mama’s grief has brought her to the point of hysteria, and we thought it best to keep her at home, to avoid creating a scene.

Like this,” Louise added flatly. “However, if you’d like us to fetch her, so that she, too, might pledge support to all these joyful couples, I can certainly send Norah home.

Steward Mackenzie will have to speak rather loudly, though, to be heard over her wailing. ”

The Steward swallowed. “No. No, I don’t believe that will be necessary.”

Point made, Louise took her seat beside Norah, her movements deliberately slow and unhurried.

Greer stared at the back of her friend’s head, wondering at her thoughts.

Louise’s neck swiveled as she scanned the room, giving a stern look at anyone caught whispering about her family.

Before turning her attention to the front, Louise glanced over her shoulder and offered a discreet nod to Greer.

For a moment, the anxiety plaguing Greer dimmed. One part of her plan had fallen into place.

Hessel tightened his grip around her elbow, as if branding her with a silent warning. “I’ll see you at the end of the aisle,” he promised, speaking loudly enough to sound like a proud father. Only Greer heard it for what it really was—a thinly veiled threat.

She resisted the impulse to throw out a final retort.

Instead, she met his eyes, wondering if this was the last time she’d ever see him.

Once she found Ellis—and she had no doubt she would—there would be no need to return.

With their beaded jewelry, they could go wherever they wanted.

Nothing would stop them from wandering to the coast and finding a ship.

Greer thought of her bright-blue ink. They could venture there, to that faraway land, and see the peacocks for themselves.

Their beads meant that the entire world had suddenly opened to them.

Greer felt dazzled by the prospect, enchanted, beguiled.

She just needed to escape Mistaken first.

So Greer said a silent farewell to her father and joined the group of brides, trying to appear as innocent as she could.

Hessel looked as though he were about to say something, looked as if he’d somehow guessed her plan, knew that she’d stolen a necklace, knew what she planned to do with it. But Ian Brennigan slapped at his shoulder, ushering him to the front so that the ceremony might begin.

Greer bided her time, waiting to see what Louise had planned.

Hessel drew the room’s attention, welcoming all who had gathered. He commended the couples waiting to be joined and reminded them of their sacred marital duties—to each other and for each other and for the good of the community.

“For the good of Mistaken,” the townspeople repeated when prompted, and Norah Beaufort immediately burst into tears.

“How can anything in Mistaken be good now that Ellis is gone?” she sobbed, throwing herself upon Louise, her smaller frame heaving.

“Oh, Norah,” Louise began, rubbing at her younger sister’s back. “We talked about this, didn’t we?” She glanced up as the weight of the room’s stares fell upon her. “I’m so sorry. It’s just…this is all so fresh, so raw.”

“He’s gone!” Norah wailed, her voice screeching in pitch. “He’s gone, and they wouldn’t even look for him. Ellis! Ellis!”

Snot bubbled from the youngest Beaufort’s nose, and tears streaked her cheeks.

Greer’s heart ached for the young girl, and for Louise as she tried to pick her sister up from the bench. She bent in all the wrong angles, too heavy an object to stand on her own.

“I’m so sorry,” Louise stammered, all but falling over as Norah began to flail, tossing herself this way and that, trying to escape her sister’s grasp. “I think…I think it best…”

“I think it best you get her home,” Hessel said, overriding any suggestion Louise had been about to make. “Under the circumstances, perhaps your family should offer their good wishes in spirit only.”

Louise nodded, face scarlet with embarrassment. “Norah, come with me. Norah, please !”

But the girl was past the point of reasoning, well beyond propriety. She’d dropped to the ground, a dead weight that Louise could not lift. She pitched back and forth with such fervor that not a single person stood to offer assistance, wary of touching such concentrated grief.

“Norah,” Louise tried again, grabbing at her sister’s arms and yanking her from the row.

The young girl was a mess of petticoats and stockings. Several women clucked with disapproval, swatting at their husbands and sons to cover their eyes.

Greer stepped forward and, heedless of her fine wool skirts, knelt beside them.

“Norah, it’s Greer,” she tried, and swerved to avoid being struck by a wayward limb. Norah’s wrist caught her cheek anyway and all of the crowd, even Hessel and the Stewards, gasped at the violence of it. “We’re taking you outside now, but you need to help us, help Louise.”

“No one helped Ellis!” she shrieked, flopping onto her back, her eyes scrunched and streaming.

“Someone get her out of here!” Lachlan exclaimed, annoyance heating his face. “She’s ruining the ceremony.”

“Sorry,” Louise called out again. “I’m so sorry.”

Greer left her bouquet on the floor and struggled to scoop Norah into an upright position. Once the girl’s arms were around both her and Louise’s shoulders, they shuffled into the fading afternoon.

Only once Louise had pulled the door to Steward House firmly shut did Norah straighten, a wicked grin spreading over her face. “Did I do very well?”

Greer hugged the small girl, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “You were magnificent!”

“There’s a bag packed for you along the fence to the Hunting Grounds,” Louise said as they crossed into the side yard. “I tried to think through everything you’d need, but there was so much I didn’t know.”

Greer threw her arms around her friend, imparting her gratitude with the tight squeeze. “You are a wonder! I knew you’d understand! Thank you!”

“Do you really think you’ll be able to find Ellis?” She murmured her doubt quietly into Greer’s shoulder, keeping her voice too low for Norah to overhear.

“I do,” she promised. “I will. I know he’s still out there.”

Louise looked unconvinced. “Before sunset? I don’t understand…How will you—how did he ?”

The door to Steward House opened and Michael Morag peered out. “Greer, they’re waiting for you. You’ll have to get your sister home yourself, Louise. The ceremony is starting now.”

Greer gripped her best friend’s shoulders, wishing there was a way to say everything she needed to. But there was no time. There was only—

“Now!” Norah shouted, giving away the ruse with an excited cry. “Run now, Greer!”