Instinctively Kraaia left the door open at her back. It was the same instinct that had made her count the steps outside and measure their height, the same that had made her pace out the length of the wall, and the same that had made her note the depth of the grass in the uncut field beyond the road: tall enough to hide the body of a crouching girl.
“Ced—”
“Nice joke! Very funny!” Cedric snapped.
His father finished his name as a grunt.
Cedric saw at once just what sort of trouble he was in. His father had been summoned, it seemed, and even if he had only chanced to come by at that moment, there was no explaining away the presence of the reeve.
Conrad was forced to pounce at the last minute, having previously let slip a dozen opportunities to simply bend his head to Margaret’s and ask. But the great doors were opening, and once inside she would surely attach herself to Hetty, his father, or—God forbid—Father Matthew, or to any person who would make too embarrassing a witness to his attempts to steal her away, however subtle henceforth.
“Boys!”
Cynewulf and Heafoc scarcely hesitated in their game, but Haakon went as stiff as a reed. It was not so much with the hope of remaining unnoticed as with his ten years’ experience of the futility of running from adults when one had been found out in a misdeed.
I find it hard to categorize this chapter, but I think it’s fair to say it could be disturbing, in a violent, ugly, sordid, wish-he-hadn’t-done-that way. You may skip it if you are not fond of such chapters. There will be consequences, and you can always wait to find out what happened then.
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"Oh heavens, that man is..."