as her mother and father arrived, she’d let them know it needed to be fixed.
There was no need. Her mother came from the kitchens, stopping as soon as she stepped inside, planting her hands on her hips.
“Bloody hell. What happened to the bow?”
“You noticed, Mama? I did, too. When Papa gets here, he’ll have to climb the ladder and fix it.” One of the ladders had been left out, leaning against the wall, because her father expected to hang a few more decorations before he put it away.
Her mother said, “I can do much of what your sire does.” She marched over to the ladder at the same time as Aunt Kyla.
Aunt Elizabeth warned, “Please be careful. You should not climb a ladder without some strong men to keep it steady.”
“I’ll help you. We don’t need men to do everything for us. Take a lesson in that, Claray,” Aunt Kyla grumbled as she moved over to one side of the ladder. The two women adjusted it to the exact spot they wanted. Aunt Kyla said, “You or me?” She glanced to her sister. “Or you, Elizabeth?”
“I’m not climbing anything, but I can try to hold the ladder,” she said. “You know I don’t like heights.”
“I’ll do it,” Mama said. “I have no fear of heights.” So she climbed up to the top of the ladder and leaned in to fix the bow. It was slightly out of reach, and she leaned in closer, the sight making Claray’s heart start racing.
“Be careful, Mama. Don’t fall.”
Aunt Kyla said, “And hurry. I’m holding the ladder as best I can, but anyone could come flying through the door and jiggle it. Claray, come hold the other side. Elizabeth, go to the door.”
She got up to help her mother, hurrying over to hold the other side while Aunt Elizabeth headed to the door. What happened next did not take long, only a few brief moments, but it unfolded strangely, as if in slow motion, and she knew she would repeat the moment over and over in her head. When she reached the ladder, a pine bough fell from the strand, landing on her arm. She distinctly felt the brush of an insect on her arm and she couldn’t stop her reaction in time.
Claray let out a wail. “Spider!”
Her mother wobbled.
Aunt Kyla yelled, “Claray, hold the ladder.”
The door flew open before Aunt Elizabeth could stop it, so quickly it banged the ladder. Thorn yelled, “Claray? Are you hurt?”
His quick entrance had knocked the side of the ladder completely out of Aunt Kyla’s hands.
Claray’s mother screamed and lost her balance.
Falling…
Falling…
Banging into the ladder…
Falling…
Landing on the one thing that probably saved her life—a sack full of fabric for bows. Her bottom landed on the soft sac, her head following it. The material cushioned her fall.
But they all heard the clear snap of the bone in her leg when it hit the stone floor.
And Claray’s dear, sweet mother screamed in pain, a sound that wrenched her heart, and plunged the keep into chaos.
The worst part was the knowledge it was all her fault.
Chapter Six
It was all Thorn’s fault.
He stared in horror at what he’d done. He’d had no idea anyone was behind the door, let alone on a ladder. He’d simply reacted the same way he always did when he heard Claray scream.
With no thought, motivated by an urgency to get to her as soon as possible. His hands moved up to massage the explosive ache in his head.
He’d just watched as the mother of the woman he loved fell from the top of a ladder and landed in a heap on a sack on the floor of the keep.
Claray was at her mother’s side in an instant. “Mama? Mama?” Although she looked pale and drawn with fear, she seemed otherwise fine.
Had he heard her shout something about a spider?
Aye, a spider would have made her scream like that.
Kyla Grant had been knocked backward, twisted her ankle, but she got back up with a shout. “Thorn, get Connor!”
But Thorn was frozen in horror, not that it was likely to matter. Everyone had heard Sela’s screams, and the great man pushed through the door not an instant later.
At the same time, Gracie came rushing down the stairs with her daughters, Maryell and Merelda, directly behind her. “What happened?” she called out. “I heard screaming.”
Connor pushed Claray out of the way and reached for his wife, but she screeched, “Connor. Don’t touch my leg. ’Tis broken. If you move it…I’ll never…I