Holding her breath, Mantheria waited for the old gentleman to speak.“The lad left at first light.”
Mantheria wanted to scream in frustration, but she managed to hold it inside of her body.“And what was the boy’s name?”
Mr.Terrence gave a raspy, dry laugh.“At first, he told me his name was Noman.So I called the young buck Odysseus, which pleased him to no end.Over a hot dinner, Andrew confided to me that he was the Duke of Glastonbury.I don’t think that he expected me to believe him.But I did.We talked about the death of his father and about his own little odyssey from London.”
Mantheria’s hands clenched into fists.“And why did you not force him to stay with you where it was safe?”
“It is only me and Mrs.Sand that live here, Your Grace.The pair of maids only comes during the day.How is a blind man and an old woman supposed to stop a young boy from completing his adventure?”
“At least, do you know where Andrew is headed?”
“All roads lead to home.”
The phrase wasall roads lead to Rome,and Avalon Palace was over twenty miles from here.She felt her jaw go slack as her legs drew together and her posture stiffened.How could she have missed him again?If only she’d awoken sooner.
The old rector coughed into his handkerchief.“I told Andrew the story of how Achilles was angry after his slave Briseis was taken by his ally Agamemnon, and how he refused to fight for the Greeks anymore in their battle against the city of Troy.In his frustration, he turned to his mother for help, and she sought assistance from the gods, who owed her favors to punish Agamemnon.I told Andrew that all good warriors go to their mothers for wisdom and assistance.Then we read a little Virgil together before retiring to bed.”
Her hands slowly unclenched.Mr.Terrence had advised Andrew to return home to his mother.She was glad she hadn’t said half of what she was thinking.“Thank you, Mr.Terrence.”
The rector gave a low, dry laugh that was rather like a cough.“Your son called me Mr.Teiresias—the name of the blind prophet that Odysseus sought counsel from in the land of the Underworld.”The old man pointed a gnarled finger at the window that faced the cemetery.“The young duke was not too far wrong.”
“Thank you for your kindness and wisdom, sir.And I can assure you that neither I nor Lady Glastonbury will touch the sun god’s sheep or his cattle.”
Mr.Terrence gave another low, cackle-like cough.Mantheria supposed that Sunny’s words were a jest from the story.“My many thanks, Mr.Terrence, as well as my apologies for my sharp words.”
“Achilles’s mother, Thetis, was the daughter of a sea god.She dipped her young son into the River Styx, which made him almost invincible, but not even she could protect her son from everything.No mother is perfect, Lady Glastonbury; trust a blind prophet on that matter.You can only forgive yourself for any mistakes that you’ve made and continue to do your best.”
Her eyes pricked with tears.She couldn’t help but feel as if Andrew running away had been entirely her fault.She should have let him visit Cressy.She should have left London and the rules of Society sooner.Mantheria had stayed so that she could attend the engagement ball of her sister to show Becca her contrition and support.It was only a few days away, and Mantheria might miss the event after all.“Thank you again, Mr.Terrence.”
Sunny took her elbow, and they left the old-fashioned room and house.He helped her mount and then swung up into his own saddle.“We’ll have to be careful that we don’t pass Andrew on the road to Glastonbury—and keep an eye out in case he’s cut through a field.”Sunny took off his hat and ran a hand through his light brown hair.“I just wish we knew if he’d taken Bristol Road or retraced his steps and taken Bath Road.”
Her hands tightened on the reins, her palms sweaty.Mantheria hadn’t realized that there were two major pike roads.“Don’t they both lead to Wells?”
Looking left and right, Sunny nodded.“Yes.The roads converge at Farrington Gurney, about four miles away from here.Worst case, we loop back on the road not chosen if we don’t find him before then.Which road would you like to take?Bath or Bristol?”
Mantheria bit her lower lip as she considered.Her last decision had been wrong.She’d followed the tracks rather than the trail and lost Andrew again.But Mr.Terrence said to forgive herself and to keep trying.There was really nothing else she could do.“I think we should continue on Bristol Road.”
Sunny touched the brim of his hat and urged his horse into a canter.Mantheria followed closely behind him on the muddy road, careful to avoid puddles.Her poor gown was already mud-splattered enough.
They rode through the villages of High Littleton and Hallstrom, but Mantheria did not see hide nor hair of Andrew.Nor had the villagers seen a boy.And despite the great deal of rain from the night before, she could not see any footprints on the road.But she supposed that he could have walked on the grassy sides to avoid the mud and the puddles.
The pike road turned abruptly south, but there was still no sign of Andrew.Her mouth was as dry as a desert.Mantheria feared that she had made yet another mistake.Her hands trembled on the reins, and her shoulders curled.
Sunny urged his horse to a gallop when the village of Farrington Gurney came into sight.Mantheria trailed closely behind him, finally allowing her horse to run at full speed.The wind on her face lifted her aching heart.Both she and Sunny slowed their mounts to a respectable walk as they entered the small village.At the edge of town, there was an inn.
Holding up one fist, Sunny signaled for them to stop.“Before we circle back to the Bath Road, I want to make sure that Andrew hasn’t already passed through Farrington Gurney.We don’t know what time he left the rectory this morning, and it’s possible that he has already walked the four miles.”
Mantheria nodded, her throat felt too thick to speak.She watched Sunny dismount and go inside the stone and mortar inn.
He came back out a few minutes later with a man of middling years and a shiny bald spot on the back of his head, which Mantheria saw when the man bowed deeply to her.The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver button.“A lad bought his breakfast with this silver button not half an hour ago.I insisted that he had overpaid, but Noman said that he had no other means to pay and that he was not a beggar.If you would like, I can give it back to you.”
The man held out his hand close enough for Mantheria to see the familiar design of the button—it was Andrew’s.Not that the name Noman wasn’t also a pretty large clue to her son’s identity.“You may keep it if you tell me the direction that he went.”
Placing the button back into his apron pocket, the man wiped his hands on the cloth and then pointed down the road.“Just down the main road, but I did warn Noman to stay to the right; for it comes to a fork and thereabouts is the headquarters of One-Eyed Tim, the old highwayman.”
Mantheria sucked in a breath.Andrew could well and truly be in peril.“Thank you, sir.Come on, Sunny.”
She led her horse back to the center of the muddy road, and despite the villagers going about their daily business, she urged her horse to a gallop.They were so close to finding Andrew, and she needed to make sure that he was safe.Her heartbeat was thundering in her ears.