Anne of the Fens by Gretchen Gibbs Page A

the level of command in my voice.
    He swore and grumbled but he obeyed me, and in a few moments we slipped from the room.
    The servants had their heads out the window and one of them gasped, “They’re coming towards the castle.”

C HAPTER T WELVE
    W E RAN DOWN the stairs, John pulling me so that I slid around the corner. We reached the open front door just as the Sheriff’s men approached. They were perhaps ten feet away.
    â€œSlow down,” I said. I took a deep breath, went out the door, and made a curtsey to the men. Then we walked sharply to the right, down toward the moat.
    â€œHold,” one of the men said loudly. “Who goes there?”
    â€œI am the Steward’s daughter, helping the cook. We are going to pick dandelion greens for the evening meal.”
    I hoped that they would see a young girl and a tall cook wearing the bonnet and apron that I had forced Cook to give me. John’s long hair peeked out from under the bonnet.
    The Sheriff’s man waved us away, and John and I tried not to hurry toward the water.
    â€œWe must pick for a while,” I said. One of the men stayed at the door, looking out over the castle grounds. Bent over, we began to pluck leaves and stretched out our aprons to put them in.
    â€œIs this a dandelion?” he asked.
    â€œNo, that’s a mullion. Dandelions have broader leaves.”
    â€œI do know dandelions, just not the plant without the flower.” He seemed cross, perhaps because he was as afraid as I was. My mouth was dry.
    John kept glancing over to the moat, and finally he spied what I had told him about while he put on Cook’s great white skirt in the castle. Sam’s little boat lay half hidden in the reeds. It could not be seen from the castle. John could get into it and escape.
    We kept glancing back at the castle, and finally saw another of the Sheriff’s men come out of the castle and engage the sentry in conversation.
    We moved slowly, picking all the way to the very edge of the moat.
    I muttered to John, “You must take the first, left fork. You could miss it, it is small and heads off at an angle. There is a big egret’s nest in a tree to the north as a landmark.”
    â€œAn egret’s nest?” He snorted. “I do not know an egret’s nest from a wren’s. You must come, and once I find the turn, I can put you off.”
    â€œI have only been there once,” I said. It had been three years ago, when Sam had taken me eeling with him. I dropped into the boat after John.
    It was small, about seven feet long and a foot and a half wide, with a flat bottom. There were no oars, just a pole that Sam used to propel himself, and a smaller pole that I could perhaps use. John and I barely fit, but there was no time for niceties. I wished I were not wearing my Sunday dress with the wide skirt and was glad I had shed some petticoats. Church in Boston this morning seemed long ago.
    â€œWe should take this inlet into the fens. Then we need not go around the bend where we will be visible at the drawbridge,” I said, and John nodded. There was a red-coated sentry stationed at the drawbridge, who would surely not let us leave the castle if he saw us.
    We cut into the passage, barely wide enough for the tiny boat to get through. Reeds brushed our faces.
    â€œWhat will happen when they realize we are gone? Perhaps we should simply have hidden you in an outbuilding until they left.”
    â€œNo, it is not safe for me here any longer. They will find the secret room and they will station someone at the castle. The servants would talk if there was a strange person in the outbuildings.”
    John was having a hard time poling, as reeds caught the boat on either side and the depth of the water was only a couple of feet. The sweat began to bead on his forehead as he pushed us along. The reeds were above our heads now. We could only see the upper stories of the castle. If someone was posted at the