Chapter Two
“Wake up, wake up,” shouted Marion, “they’re taking Patch and Tan.” Her brothers started awake but she didn’t wait for them, climbing down the ladder as quickly as she could without breaking her neck. Next to the fire downstairs, Imelda sat up from her mattress, her blanket pooling around her waist. She was a heavy sleeper and barely yet conscious.
Wearing only her chemise, Marion ran outside into the cold. She reached the woodshed, then remembered that they locked the axe away overnight. Seizing a piece of split wood instead, she ran towards the men.
There were four of them now, another had left the stable. Three stayed with the oxen, but one came to meet her. He wore a dark hood pulled forward, a black scarf covering his mouth and chin.
When Marion saw Dark Hood waiting f
