Part Five

The Willimites, or so Betia believed, would be far away by now. She emerged from the forest beside the main road looking for signs of passage from the group of men. The signs of so many hoof prints led her to presume that all of the men were atop horses. She would never be able to catch the men walking by foot, her only hope would be that they were not going too far.

The man from Claret's memory appeared to be the leader of this group of Willimites and he being Deryni, whether or not the rest of the group knew this she could only speculate. A Deryni in the ranks of those who opposed Deryni was ironic. Maybe, she supposed, he was working in alliance with the Willimites, somehow atoning for the accident of being birthed Deryni. Or the leader was an Deryni activist who felt need of subterfuge to accomplish the deed of eradication of the "evil" Deryni. Either way, the man was dangerous.

Betia looked over her shoulder toward the clearing where the dead men lay wondering if she should do anything about the bodies or send word to Valoret of their misfortune. If the patrol did not check in on its regular schedule, she assumed there would be a search party sent to discover where they had disappeared. They would find the bodies eventually or someone else might stumble across the dead men and report it. She walked northward away from the bodies letting it be someone else's problem. It was as if she had never been there.

Betia's mind thought back to the incident wondering if she could have changed the outcome of the slaughter. Probably not, unless of course, she had joined the soldiers with her own death. She shuddered at the thought, but kept walking. She also thought of one of the man's last words, "'Tis a chore to be chasing after the wind." She had no idea what the man was talking about, unless it was about the Willimites. They appeared and disappeared as easily as the wind. Now she had to find the wind.

***

Toft had missed Betia the last two mornings at his stall. She was the first person he talked with every morning for the last several years during the summer months. Something had happened to her and he was worried. It was never like her to miss talking with him in the mornings at his vegetable stall, it was a regular event in their lives. The first morning she missed he dismissed her absence as an aberrance, the second morning, however, was something different.

Closing his stall just after midday, he decided to visit Betia at home. Her cottage was not far from his farm, so he made the trek to her place on his way home. Approaching the cottage, he noticed smoke was not coming out of the chimney. That concerned him. She always had a fire ablaze especially with the cold nights they had been having lately. There were no signs of her in her own small garden just beyond her cottage either. He walked to the garden to see if she had picked anything today. The plants looked undisturbed.

He furrowed his eyebrows with concern as he made his way to the cottage. "It's not like her to disappear," he said out loud to himself as he approached the cottage. He knocked on the door, but he did not expect to hear anything from inside. Every indication pointed to her disappearance. The last time he spoke with her, he recalled, was about being cautious. She had mentioned talking to Sam'l that day, he wondered if she did.

Toft peered in the cottage through the windows. Still nothing. Maybe he should talk to Sam'l to see if she had come to him about the conversation he had had with her. It was becoming quite distressing that he could not find her. He tramped his way from the cottage to Lord Camber's residence in hopes of finding Sam'l and some answers to Betia's whereabouts. It would only take a few minutes of his time to talk with Sam'l.

The village was quiet. The second day of the Festil law had taken place with another two hangings. At least one of the hostages had been set free by Cathan. Imre and his idea of justice was a bit skewed, Toft thought as he passed through the village. First, that fifty people could replace one dead Deryni was ridiculous. And then, Imre had the audacity to give Earl Cathan a Michaelmas gift of setting one hostage free. If Betia had been here to hear the news, she would have been just as angry as the rest of the villagers.

The villagers were about their regular business but with heavy hearts. No one bothered Toft as he passed through the village. He would not know what to say to them if they did intercept him, no one knew what to say to each other. What the king was doing was an impossible matter to live with, yet Imre had no desire to find out about the truth or the real murderers. All he wanted was revenge.

The Lord Camber's residence came into view. Toft needed something to take his mind off the hostages. The talk with Sam'l would do him some good despite the fact that a friend was missing.

It did not take long to find the man-at-arms. Toft found him near the stables tending to some horses "Sam'l," he said as cheerily as he could. "Sam'l, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Toft, what are ye doin' here?" the man challenged surprised to see the old farmer.

"Sam'l, I am looking for someone."

"Well now, I'' do what I can to help,' he responded giving Toft his undivided attention.

"The other morning Betia and I were discussing the need of ..." Toft paused taking a quick glance around the yard. "The need of being cautious especially if ye are Deryni."

"Aye, the good Lord Camber feels the same. Why just the other day I escorted the Lady Evaine to the village church so that she could teach catechism to the village lads. Lord Camber thought it necessary with the death of Rannulf happening an' all."

Toft nodded in agreement. "Betia was telling me that she saw Father Joram and the Healer Rhys talking with the Lady Evaine outside of the church, that must have been what she was talking about."

"Aye, Father Joram and the lady's husband had ridden in the rain that day. They had yet to hear of the murder."

"Ah," Toft said his mind on another matter.

"You had mentioned someone had disappeared?"

"Aye," Toft replied. "Betia and I talked the next morning after Father Joram and the Healer rode in to Caerrorie. That was the last time I had seen her."

"Why would ye have thought I would have seen her?" Sam'l asked intrigued by the farmer.

"She had mentioned that morning she might talk with you about the murder. I..."

"Does she know something that might help?" Sam'l interrupted hoping to tell Lord Camber something.

"No, I think she was more interested in what Father Joram and the Healer might know. For some reason, Betia has a great desire to help set the hostages free. I know she was worried about her friends, but I'm afraid she might have done something to find out about the murderer on her own."

"Do ye think she was taken or killed?" Sam'l asked quietly.

"I don't know. I have been to her cottage, but nothing appears out of the ordinary except that she is gone." Toft answered him wringing his hands.

"I would like to help you Toft, but I'm afraid I will be needed here," Sam'l said patting him on the back. "I will keep my ears open. If I hear anything, I will be sure to let ye know."

"I appreciate that, Sam'l," Toft sighed. He did not feel reassured from the conversation with the man-at-arms, but there was only so much Sam'l could have done. "I must return to my farm."

"Good day to ye," Sam'l said returning to the care of the horses.

"Yer a good man, Sam'l." Toft watched him a moment before turning back to the village. He could talk with the other villagers as he passed through on the way home. There was not a lot he could do either, but he could ask nonetheless.

No one from the village had seen or heard from Betia the past two days or at least the villagers he had talked with. He was becoming worried about his friend, but did not know what to do. Some of the people he talked with reassured him that Betia would turn up. He just hoped that she did not turn up dead.