Conflict and Courage by Candy Rae Read Free Book Online Page A

Jessica’s not
been viciously stabbed to death by the search party who had come
chasing after them? Only Jessica, Jenny and Gerry had managed to
evade the searchers.
    Jessica was
feeling decidedly low this morning. She imagined that Gerry was, in
all probability, dead too by now. All she could do was look after
the horses he had entrusted into her care.
    She looked over
at the colt, her eyes narrowing, and watched as he played butt and
run with the filly at the far end of the field.
    Jessica knew
she should be more resilient and get on with her life, but felt she
was at a stasis, unable to move forward until she knew for certain
what had become of her family and Gerry.
    If Jessica had
known exactly what was happening within the new-found southern
Kingdom of Murdoch she would have been even more worried than she
was already.
     
     
    * * * * *
     
     

CHAPTER 6 - KINGDOM OF MURDOCH
     
    It had not
taken the self-appointed Lords of Murdoch long to begin to stamp
their authority and rule over the country and its inhabitants. With
the death of their self-appointed leader General Elliot Murdoch
during the battle, the most powerful and influential of the
surviving ex-convicts were able to do very much as they chose.
    Both Lords
Baker and Smith thought they should be in charge, Smith because he
had been Elliot Murdoch’s deputy for years beyond count, scar-faced
Baker because he felt he was the best suited and able for the
position. As the key to power would be control of the King, as yet
unborn, they both began to court Anne Howard-Murdoch, angling for
the position of guardian to the future king.
    They also began
to form informal alliances with the other Lords and within weeks
two rival factions had begun to emerge though no one was showing
their hands openly as yet.
    Sam Baker had a
firm ally in Henri Cocteau who held the land immediately to his
south and also Raoul van Buren, whose largely desert Lordship was
situated to Cocteau’s east. Lords Smith and Brentwood formed a
partnership and bullied the indolent Lord Gardiner until he agreed
to support them in Conclave.
    That left
Pierre Duchesne in the far northeast, who was being cultivated by
both sides, each promising the world, but so far, he had managed to
distance himself and had moved away to his own lordship as soon as
he decently could.
    Pierre Duchesne
had observed the other Lords and hadn’t liked what he saw and
heard. On his western border lay the lands of old Lord Gardiner and
his people largely remained on its eastern fringes, beside the more
arable earth next to the river. To his south lay the desert area
that Sam Baker, with Henri Cocteau’s support had decreed should
belong to the king. It was uninhabited and likely to remain so for
some time to come.
    In Pierre
Duchesne’s eyes the good thing about his lordship’s location was
the fact that it was far from prying eyes. As soon as he and the
remainder of his people arrived from the encampment, he set about
organising matters in a far different way than did Sam Baker and
the others.
    He decided
first of all that his first township should be built on the coast
some forty miles from his eastern border, distancing him and his
even further. This area was hilly forest and had a good supply of
fresh water, an important consideration. The precise spot he
selected was also defensible. If he built a tower on the highest
rocky outcrop he would be able to see for miles. Pierre Duchesne
did not trust Sam Baker.
    Henri Cocteau
had allocated him a fair number of artisans from the encampment,
some two hundred strong, who, when taken with what remained of his
regiment, gave him around six hundred men. Lord Cocteau had not
sent any females. As with the rest of the Kingdom, there was a
worrying shortage of womenfolk and children.
    “Doesn’t want
to lose his breeding stock,” was Michael Wallace’s comment.
    “Breeding
stock?”
    “That’s how van
Buren sees women,” replied Michael. “If you hadn’t managed to