He nodded and turned to go.
“Jorgen?” Odette said, before she lost her courage.
He ducked through the doorway again. “What?”
“I . . . I know you will be in a lot of trouble if the margrave finds out you are hiding the poacher in your house. You should let me go with you, to confess to him.”
“No, Odette.” He frowned, then sighed. “There is no need. Besides, the margrave already knows that the poacher is here, injured.” He seemed about to say more, then shook his head. “I will return soon.”
He turned and left, his bow strapped over his shoulder next to his quiver of arrows.
Odette bit her lip. Was the margrave furious with Jorgen for protecting the notorious poacher who was killing all the king’s deer? Jorgen didn’t deserve to get in trouble because of her. As soon as her arm and leg were a little better healed, she would insist on turning herself in.
If she were able to walk that far, she would go now.
Jorgen arrived at Thornbeck Castle several minutes later and was greeted by a servant. “Lord Thornbeck is expecting me.”
The servant had him wait in the entrance hall. A few minutes later, instead of the servant, Lord Thornbeck himself was walking toward him. “Jorgen. Do you have information for me?”
Jorgen cleared his throat. “No, my lord. You sent for me.”
The margrave stared. “I did not send for you.”
“The messenger, he came to my house and said you wanted to speak to me.” A burst of light seemed to explode in his head.
“Which messenger?”
“It was a boy, about thirteen years old, with brown curly hair.”
“That sounds like Ulrich’s nephew, but I did not send him. Perhaps someone is playing a trick on you.”
Someone who wanted to harm Odette? “Thank you, my lord. Forgive me—” Jorgen turned and began to run.
He ran as fast as he could down the steep winding road that led away from Thornbeck Castle. He took a shortcut through the forest, skidding down a deep ravine on his heels. In two more minutes, he would reach the clearing in front of his cottage.
Suddenly, something buzzed past his ear, so close he felt a tiny puff of air as it passed by. A soft thunk sounded just ahead as an arrow struck a tree.
For the second time in a few days, Jorgen hit the ground on his stomach because someone was shooting at him.
He raised himself to his knees, staring in the direction the arrow seemed to come from. The trees were so dense he could see very little here. His blood was pounding in his ears, but there seemed to be no movement at all. Jorgen drew out one of his own arrows and his bow. “Who is there? I will shoot if you do not tell me who you are!” Let him think Jorgen could see him.
Instead of staying where he was to get shot at again, he crawled on his hands and knees. If the archer came looking for him, Jorgen was confident he would see him before the archer could see Jorgen.
Then the person started running, crashing through the brush, heading toward the cottage where his mother and Odette were.
Jorgen leapt to his feet and ran after him. Within a minute, he was in the clearing around the house. All appeared quiet as he ran the last several feet and burst through the front door.
No one was in the front room, so he ran to Odette’s bedchamber. His mother sat in a chair beside the bed, and Odette was reading from his Gospels.
“Jorgen, what—？”
“Have you seen anyone? Did anyone come through here?”
“We haven’t seen anyone. What is the matter?”
Jorgen turned and ran toward the door. “I’ll be back soon.”
Something was wrong. Odette could see that Jorgen had been running, and he had his bow and an arrow in his hands. Had someone shot at him again?
“Frau Hartman, would you help me up?”
“Of course, child. Do you need to use the chamber pot?”
“No, I want to . . . get some fresh air.” She didn’t want Jorgen’s mother to realize he was in danger. “Can you hand me my bow and my arrows?”
“Your bow and arrows? Why, child, whatever for?”
Odette clenched her teeth and ignored her leg’s screams of pain as she put her feet on the floor and stood. Frau Hartman grasped her arm.
“I do not think you should be doing this.”
Odette reached out for her weapons, and Frau Hartman handed them to her. Odette hobbled as quickly as she could to the doorway.
“No, no, you should not be doing this. What are you and Jorgen hiding from me? What is happening?”
Odette unclenched her teeth to say, “Jorgen may be in danger. I want to see if he needs help.”