“Nathan said to her, ‘Mother, are you sure about this? I begged Jacq to tell Katkin the truth many times. Is it right we now take the girl against her will?’
“Elisabeth said, ‘We must do as your brother instructed us to. It may very well be his last request of us, do you not see?’
“Jacq’s mother went out with him, to help with hitching up the horse. I waited until they were well away from the house and then I followed the drugged milk out the window. As quietly as I could, I whistled for Brinna. They had unsaddled her, but I jumped on her bare back and rode as hard as I could for the Acre.”
“Pet, you don’t mean to say you went into the Acre at night?” Maggie asked in surprise. “That was a dangerous route to choose.”
“I felt as though nothing worse could happen to me than I had already
