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T he knights in their mail and heavy swords had fallen far behind their nimble young mistress as she ran after the two children with the stolen meat pies.

Despite the knights’ individual strength, which was considerable, the weight of the metal and leather dragged them down. By the time Josephine and the two children disappeared into the woods, the knights were quite far behind them.

She’d simply been faster.

But once the knights entered the woods, Josephine’s trail was not difficult to follow. That was fortunate for them, for it was even slower going as they moved their bulk amongst the trees with the swords banging and branches slapping at them.

They followed the trail that led them through hedges, undergrowth, and across a small stream.

Only Andrew seemed to be gaining any headway through the thicket, staying a few steps ahead of Sully, Etienne, and the floundering Thane.

Men in armor were not designed for swift movement or traveling through undergrowth.

It was Andrew who saw Josephine first as she stood behind the tree, watching people in what seemed to be a small clearing.

He was immediately uncomfortable with the situation; he didn’t like the idea of people hiding deep in the woods, as it could only mean one thing– outlaws, transients, or worse.

And he thought that Josephine should know better, too– why wasn’t she turning and heading right back where she came from?

Whatever those children stole certainly wasn’t worth what these gypsies would do to her if they discovered her.

He had to get her out of there.

Andrew was crouched low in the brush when Sully reached him.

He, too, squatted down, creating a low profile as his gaze fixed on his mistress in the distance.

He, too, could see the people in the clearing and felt a tremendous need to get to Josephine before the gypsies did. His urge bordered on panic.

“What in the hell is she doing?” he hissed.

Andrew shook his head, his eyes scanning their surroundings. “I do not know,” he whispered. “But we must get her out of there.”

Sully took a couple of small steps in Josephine’s direction, hoping to come up behind her and steal her away.

But she seemed to be mesmerized by the activity in the grassy clearing and she was too far away for the men to risk calling out to her.

Therefore, Sully crept stealthily through the floor of the forest, inwardly raging at his mistress for her foolish actions.

He would like nothing better than to take her over his knee and bruise her sweet little bottom.

But he had to get to her first.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast enough. Andrew was the first one to catch motion out of the corner of his eye and he turned to see a big, bear-like man heading towards Josephine, well ahead of Sully.

He was coming straight for her from inside the ring of trees, while Sully was several yards back in the undergrowth.

There would be no possibility of Sully reaching Josephine first. God help her, she was about to be captured.

And there was nothing they could do about it.

As Andrew watched the kidnapping unfold from a distance, Sully had sense enough to duck low behind a tree trunk as he saw the man close in on Josephine.

He wasn’t nearly close enough to rush him and they couldn’t risk alerting the others.

Therefore, he had to stay where he was, but his heart was in his throat when he saw the man grab her by the neck and clamp a hand over her mouth.

She squealed only once initially, then was silent as the man yanked her savagely into the clearing.

In a half-second, Sully was back to the others.

“Etienne!” he ordered. “Back to Torridon. Get help!”

Etienne fled. Andrew watched the big, blond man rush off but, much like Sully, his attention was on the gypsies, who now had Josephine in their midst. It appeared that they were simply talking to her at this point, which was good.

Things seemed to be calm for the moment.

But Andrew was so tense with apprehension at that point that had the gypsies tried to harm Josephine, he would have rushed the camp against his better judgement.

As ridiculous as those thoughts were, he knew he couldn’t fight that instinct. He had to save that silly woman who liked nothing better than to throw a punch at him. Now, his mind was working furiously on a plan to remove her with little or no bloodshed. After a moment, he turned to Thane.

“Do you have any money on you?” he asked quickly. “Any valuables?”

Thane looked surprised. “Of course,” he insisted. “I always carry my money with me. You do not think that I would leave it in camp with our people, do you?”

Andrew gave him a lopsided grin. “Good lad,” he said. “Now, remove your mail and your helm.”

Thane looked curiously at him. “What?”

Andrew ripped off his helm and then pulled off his heavy hauberk. “Do it quickly,” he urged. “Hurry!”

Without another question, Thane did as he was told. Sully watched in growing alarm as Andrew finally pulled off the chainmail coat and cast it aside.

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

Andrew rose to his knees, trying to smooth out the heavy linen tunic against his broad chest. It was dirty and damp with sweat.

“I am going to rescue your troublesome mistress,” he said.

“Then I am coming,” Sully said as he began to remove his armor as well.

“Nay,” Andrew said firmly. “You must remain should our attempt fail. We cannot risk all of us falling captive.”

“But Etienne has gone for help,” Sully said. “He will return with a force.”

“And he will need someone here to direct the forces,” Andrew responded firmly, looking Sully in the eye. “They are your men. They will need to be directed by you. Thane and I will enter the camp under the guise as renegade soldiers. With Thane’s money, I will attempt to buy Lady Josephine.”

Sully couldn’t believe what he was hearing, any of it. He just looked at Andrew in astonishment.

“Are you serious?” he said. “You are mad!”

Andrew flashed a grin. “I am that,” he said. “I am mad for risking life and limb for a woman who has struck me twice, with virtually no provocation. There has to be an easier way to earn eight thousand marks.”

“Five thousand,” Sully reminded him.

“It will be eight thousand when I get through with this.”

With that, he headed off, pulling Thane along with him.

Sully watched the two men traipse off towards the camp indirectly, wondering if any of this was going work.

He knew their plan was only half-formed, but he also knew it was imperative that they free Josephine before something occurred that would make them regret not attempting a rescue plan sooner.

Perhaps it was only logical that Andrew and Thane attempt to infiltrate the gypsies.

They were mercenaries, after all, and were accustomed to dealing with that element.

Sully was a proud man and did not like to admit he lacked knowledge in any area, but he wasn’t a fool.

He knew when to swallow his pride. Yet, it disturbed him that virtual strangers were rescuing his mistress, the woman he was so wildly protective over, but he felt it was the wisest path to follow.

As Andrew and Thane entered the clearing where Josephine was being held, Sully crept forward and crouched behind some growth, his eyes glued to the clearing.

He couldn’t hear what was being said, but he could certainly read the body language.

Hand on the hilt of his sword, he sincerely hoped that Andrew could buy Josephine’s freedom because if something dire happened before Etienne and the rest of the troops arrived, then it would be Sully’s one-man army rushing out to save them all. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

God help them all.