His Defiant Wife, the Adventures of Linnett Wainwright, Book 2 by Vanessa Brooks Read Free Book Online Page A

material for her
dresses to cut and sew as well as the never-ending chores of the
home to attend to. She had successfully produced some butter,
hardly able to contain her excitement when, turning the handle of
the butter churn, at long last there came the thump, thump, thump
as the butter formed inside the barrel. Cheese, of course, took
longer, and although Linnett had attempted a roundel of cheese, she
decided that since they planned to leave in the spring it was
pointless to make more as it needed more time to cure than they
would spend in the cabin.
     

CHAPTER 4

    The weather was
getting colder. The leaves on the trees had turned to russet and
gold. The morning frosts were bitter and sharp as John finally set
off on a three-day hunting trip. He would stock their winter larder
with fresh venison. It was so cold now that the meat would stay
fresh once it was hung.
    Linnett was not
at all happy with the idea of spending three days alone in the
cabin, despite John’s reassurances that she would be safe if she
did as he bid and stayed put. In the end, they were barely speaking
when John set off, having kissed his sulking wife goodbye.
    John rode away
on Amber, another reason why Linnett was so upset. Amber was her horse and yet, the first chance that he got, John was
taking her for his own use. Linnett moped around the cabin on the
first day of John’s absence and did little other than keep the fire
in.
    That night, she
woke alone in the darkness listening to the strange sounds outside
the cabin, the distant hoot of an owl and the lonely sound of a
wolf’s call. Linnett dragged herself out of the bed and put more
wood on the fire.
    When she awoke
again, it was broad daylight. Refreshed and full of energy, she
built up the fire, dressed and went about her usual daily tasks,
also setting the dough to rise and sweeping out the cabin.
    Linnett decided
that because the day was sunny as well as breezy, she would take
some clothes to be washed up to the stream. She remembered John
ordering her to stay inside the cabin, but she was certain that
since the stream was so close by, she would be safe enough.
    Linnett also
felt rebellious and cross with John for commandeering her horse.
She gathered the stiff brush that she used for washing clothes and
a bar of strong brown soap. Then she threw them into the clothes
basket and set off.
    It was a chilly
day, and Linnett was glad of the thick clothes she had put on. The
stream water was freezing cold but thankfully not yet frozen.
Linnett was able to scrub the clothes and rinse them in the clear,
swift-running water. When the task was done Linnett’s hands felt
icy, and she tucked them inside her coat for warmth.
    She was
standing gazing hypnotically into the sparkling, spilling water,
when she heard a high, sudden cry. Linnett started and looked
around her. She could see nothing unusual along the banks of the
stream or in the nearby bushes. She stood listening and heard a
snuffling noise which seemed to come from nearby bushes.
    Cautiously,
Linnett walked over to them and with her heart racing she half
knelt down, ready to turn and run if she needed to. She parted the
bushes, and at first she could see nothing; then, as her eyes
adjusted to the gloomy interior of the bush, she found a pair of
dark eyes looking back at her. Linnett bent lower and realised that
the eyes were set in a small, round, very brown face - the face of
a very small child.
    Shocked, she
stepped back and looked around her, expecting to see a parent close
by. Nobody was near and there was no sound save the tinkling of the
stream and the calling of the birds. Linnett bent again into the
dark recess of the bush and reached in for the small child. Her
arms closed on a surprisingly warm little body and she lifted it
out. “Why, you’re only a babe!” Linnett exclaimed.
    She held a
child who was no more than eighteen months old and strangely
dressed in a pale, soft leather tunic sewn with small, brightly
coloured