Noble Hearts 03 - The Courageous Heart by Merry Farmer Read Free Book Online

hand and a covered basket in the other.
    “I thought you might need this as well.” He handed the basket to the woman and set the bucket on the floor by her side.
    “Thank you, Dunkirke,” the woman nodded. She reached into the basket, found a rag, and wet it in the bucket to sponge Madeline’s forehead.
    Joanna took a step back and watched as Wulfric buried his face in her skirts. Her panic refused to lessen. Every sound drifting from the street on the other side of the window made her jump. Even indoors the noise was thick.
    The woman left the wet cloth on Madeline’s head and took the cover off of her basket, drawing out bundles of herbs and vials of tinctures.
    “You’re a healer?” Joanna asked.
    “Rebecca is the best healer in London,” Ethan confirmed.
    Joanna whipped to study Ethan. The chase was over but her pulse beat harder . The man who stood behind her was an apparition. But it wasn’t right. He was far from the cocky lord she had always known Ethan to be. His shoulders were stooped and his clothes simple. The beard that covered his face was thick and wild, and his hair was so long and matted that if Toby could see him he would weep in shame. But his eyes were the same as the last time she’d seen them, when they sat together in silence over Toby’s body.
    She swallowed, un ready to face those eyes and everything that hid behind them. She spun back to Rebecca. “Will she be alright?”
    “That she will. All she needs is rest and a little care,” Rebecca answered in a matronly voice, mixing herbs in a cup on the small bedside table. She added a bit of water to the cup then turned to hold it to Madeline’s lips.
    Madeline stirred, her eyes fluttering open. “Jack?” she muttered, too weak to move.
    “Easy, easy, ketzele .” Rebecca held her up and coxed her to drink. “Rebecca is here now. You’ll be right as rain in no time. Just rest easy.”
    Madeline turned away from the cup, delirious. “Where’s J ack?”
    “Ssh, ssh, love. Drink this first and we’ll find your Jack for you.”
    Madeline moaned but let Rebecca feed her the herb concoction.
    Rebecca turned to Ethan. “And you, young man, need to go downstairs and think long and hard about how you’re going to explain this to me and David.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Ethan nodded to Rebecca as if she were the Queen Moth er and backed out of the room.
    Joanna balanced on the balls of her feet , glancing between the door and the bed . The draw to follow Ethan to find out what in God’s name was going on was as powerful as the need to stay and look after Madeline. Madeline was her duty, but Ethan … Ethan was some thing she never could explain.
    She shuffled Meg in her arms and smoothed a hand over Wulfric’s head. Rebecca wiped Madeline’s forehead and felt her neck and shoulders. All Joanna could do was watch. Her back bristled in panic.
    “It’s alright, dearie ,” Rebecca told her with a kind smile. “ I can see your feet itching. You can go after him. The lady is safe with me.”
    Joanna mumbled a quick, “Thank you,” and rushed out to the hall, taking the children with her.
    The sounds and smells of the London inn pressed around her, awkward and unfamiliar. She found her way downstairs and into the bustling kitchen. The maid Ethan had spoken to earlier eyed Joanna suspiciously when she stumbled to a stop in the doorway.
    “Can I get you something, miss?”
    Joanna took in the cramped, steaming kitc hen and shook her head. “No.”
    The maid, Bess, went back to her work. The prickling down Joanna’s back grew hotter. London was always going to be an adventure, but standing in a strange room surrounded by people she didn’t know while her master and mistress were locked away in a Tower decorated with the heads of people just like them was not what she had in mind. She swallowed, tamping down the panic that clamored against her ribs.
    “Where did Ethan go?” She winced as the words left her lips. She hadn’t thought