ditch on the other side of the track. Hide and wait for me there. Don't move, understand?'
He pushed her into position next to the opening of the small wicket gate set into the large, imposing manor gate. As carefully as he could, he eased up the beam and pulled the door towards him, but not quietly enough. A hound leapt up, barking furiously, straining at its chain. There was a grunt and a curse, as inside the gatehouse old Walter struggled off his cot. All at once every hound in the manor took up the cry of the guard dogs. Raffaele pushed Elena through the gate and slammed it behind her.
Elena picked up her skirts and ran stumbling and tripping across the grass over the cart-rutted track and towards the ditch on the other side. She could hear shouts and barks from behind the manor wall. Desperately she tried to look for some hiding place, but between the manor and the ditch there was only a line of slender birch trees and bushes that would not hide a rabbit, never mind a woman. She crouched behind them praying the darkness would cover what the trees would not.
Every sense was screaming at her to run, but he'd said to wait. She must wait, but for how long? Why didn't he come? It would soon be dawn and as soon as the light began to creep over the marshes, she'd have no hope of escape. She must go now before it was too late.
She tensed herself and stepped out from behind the trees, but instantly drew back again as the huge manor door swung open. Raffaele strode through, but he was not alone. Four men stumbled out after him, still rubbing the sleep from their eyes, and hard on their heels came two more who held the leashes of two pairs of hounds. The dogs were almost choking themselves on their collars as they strained forward, sniffing excitedly at the ground. The hounds were searching for her scent. Almost vomiting with fear, Elena looped the leather strap of her scrip over her neck and scrambled towards the ditch behind her. She dropped into it, trying to smother a cry as the cold water rose to her thighs. She crouched down till she was neck-deep in the stinking water and huddled into the reeds.
'Over here!' the gatekeeper shouted.
Elena could hear the hounds snuffling and barking above her. A few yards away a duck, unnerved by the dogs, flapped in fright along the surface of the ditch.
'Keep those hounds on the leash, damn you!' Raffaele yelled.
'But they've found something,' Walter protested.
'Water rats, that's all. I told you, I saw the thief head off towards the village. Now you take those mangy hounds and track him down. And if you come back without him, by God's teeth, I'll flay the hide off you myself for leaving that gate unfastened.'
'It was secure. I checked it myself, like always,' poor Walter protested. 'I swear by my right hand, I didn't leave it unbarred.'
'Find him,' Raffaele roared, 'or I'll keep you to your oath and take your hand, and the same goes for each and every one of you idle bastards.'
The men did not need telling twice; pulling their reluctant hounds away from the ditch, they set off hastily in the direction of the village, with Raffaele's curses and threats chasing them till they were out of hearing.
When the sound of the barking had died away, Raffaele came to the edge of the ditch and softly called out to Elena.
She struggled to clamber out, holding up her hand for him to help her. But instead of pulling her out, he took off his boots, tied them by the laces around his neck, and slipped into the ditch beside her. He hauled her towards him, but she was so numb with cold and fear she could hardly stand.
'I've friends waiting for us where the ditch meets the river, but they'll not wait past first light. We have to hurry,' he added, looking anxiously towards the marshes. 'Best keep to the ditch. They think the gate was opened by the thief, but if someone thinks to check the prisoner hole and they find it empty, they'll send the hounds after you. With luck the water'll throw them off the scent. Come on, we must be well away before they realize you're gone.'
Elena shivered and tried to wade forward, but her feet had sunk deep into thick mud at the bottom