The River Maid by Gemma Holden Page A

the flask gratefully. The brandy raced through him, warming him up.
    “We’re not going to find her,” Christian said, handing him back the flask. “We’ve searched the cliffs and along the riverbank. If she fell into the river, her body could be miles away by now.”
    Gaspard slipped the silver flask back into his breast pocket. “ She could still be found.”
    Christian didn’t voice his doubts. If she had fallen into the river, she would have stood little chance. The cold would have killed her if not the water.
    Men from the town, their faces grim and disheartened, were pulling their boat up onto the bank. They had been searching further down the river. From their faces, Christian knew they had found nothing, but he turned his horse and nudged his mare over to them anyway. 
    “ We found no sign of her,” a thick, red-haired man said as Christian rode up. “We asked in St Goar, but no one has seen her.”
    “Go back to the town and get something warm to eat ,” Christian said. “You can continue the search tomorrow.”
    The man shook his head. “We would rather keep looking.” He nodded further down the river to where a figure stood by the river ’s edge. “That’s the girl’s mother. As long as there’s daylight, we will keep going.” The men climbed back into the boat and used the oars to push away from the bank.
    Gaspard sighed heavily from behind him. “I will go and speak with her.”
    “ No,” Christian said, wanting to spare him the pain. “I’ll do it.”
    He rode over to her, trying to think of what he would say. The chance that her daughter was still alive was becoming less and less likely with each passing hour, but he couldn ’t tell her that. As he got closer he could see that her eyes were swollen and red from weeping. She wore only a thin dress and had no shawl or cloak, despite the strong wind. 
    “ Have you found her?” she asked as he approached, hope filling her voice.
    Christian stopped his horse before her. “No. I’m sorry.” She started to sob into her hands, her shoulders shaking. He was at a loss how to comfort her. “We’re doing everything that we can to find her.” He couldn’t tell her there was little hope now.
    She wiped the tears away with the back of her head and took a deep breath to compose herself. “Have you spoken to the girl from the river?” 
    “Why would I need to speak to her ?”
    She clutched his stirrup. “ She saw Adrianna. I know she did. I heard her singing. She was singing the same song that Adrianna has been singing for weeks now. How could she have known the song?”
    “ Perhaps in your distress you were mistaken.”
    “ She knows what happened to Adrianna. I know she does.”
    “ I will question her,” Christian said reluctantly.
    She released his stirrup and nodded, the sudden fire gone. He watched as she made her way back to the town, her shoulders hunched against more than just the wind, her head down. 
    “It’s strange that one girl vanishes just as another appears,” Gaspard said from behind him. He had been listening to their conversation.
    “Do you really believe that Lorelei harmed that girl?” Christian asked, turning his horse so he could face his tutor. “Lorelei is half her size and so weak she could barely walk. What reason would she have for harming her?”
    Gaspard shook his head. “ I don’t know, but surely she would have passed Adrianna on her way to the town. She must have seen her. And how did she survive in the river? There have been no reports of any ships going down. It does not make sense.”
    “ Lorelei is a guest of my family’s. She has been through a great ordeal. I will not have you making accusations against her.”
    “ I wouldn’t dare.”
    Lorelei was so fragile. He remembered her slender arms wrapped around his neck, ready to snap under the weight of her bracelets. He couldn’t believe her capable of harming anyone. It had to be a coincidence that Adrianna had disappeared on the