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You’ve coated herself She slowly eased thesilently doard, and began to h thorn-laden rose bushes to the ground below

Isobel fought to keep her knees froround Thankful for the s in one piece, she eased Peter’s boots onto her chilled feet, pulling her re jacket and cloak around her thin shoulders with a shiver She wished briefly she had taken the tie looks she would draw Ruefully she looked doard at her masculine attire, and considered the eyebrows that would be raised should she wear a shawl to match Now that certainly would draw attention!

A shiver of cool night air ruffled the loose folds of her thin shirt,her shiver Isobel pushed away from the house and took off across the yard, careful to keep off the gravel and deep within the shadows of the low standing hedgerows

Withinthe shadows of the woodland to the side of the house, a ht Her tread was so thin and silent that anybody bothering to look out into the gardens would have seen little but the shifting of the shadows in the darkened garden Certainly, nothing that would forewarn of the looe of events that was to come

She trudged on through the long hours of the night, feet aching, desperately considering the options available to her Valiantly ignoring the increasing pounding in her head and empty rumble of her stomach, she briefly stopped to drink from a tiny stream on the outskirts of a small hamlet just as dawn rose above the horizon

Although she blessed the foresight of her elder brother for putting the boots into the draith his clothing, she wished his feet had been somewhat smaller because the boots had started to chafe the tender soles of her feet, and she was already sore and uncomfortable How far aas Cumbria anyway?

“Oh dear Lord,” Isobel groaned She wished she had taken a fewRupert as she did she kneould take great delight in having her arrested for horse theft At least on foot, although slow, she could vanish relatively easily As long as she kept out of sight and away from the busy roads, she should be fine

Fear conore her physical discomfort and continue onwards She stopped once or twice to study theas she went in the opposite direction to London, she would be heading north and towards Cumbria and far away from Gosport Hall, and Rupert

Vaguely, she could recall going through Cu child to visit a distant relative, and kneas some considerable distance away But as a child her perception of the passing countryside froe, was vastly different to those of an adult on foot Nothing looked faue sense of direction to guide her, and that knowledge didn’t fill her with much confidence at all

Having spentShe had no idea where she was, but could only hope it was several miles away from her Uncle Rupert As an excellent horsewoht and day creating could be easily covered on horseback in half the tiiven her dire situation, time and distance were of the essence

Kitty would almost certainly have been discovered by now Isobel prayed that the wo her, and had been considered a victim of Isobel’s duplicity, and left alone

“Nohere to?” Isobel gasped, her breath co in shallow pants Tears pricked her eyes as a sense of isolation and loneliness swept through her She tipped her head backwards and looked at the twinkling stars through the heavy canopy of trees Dusk settled over the horizon, and already it had begun to grow cold There was a fine treroorse throughout the day Despite the threat of discovery by her uncle, she knew she couldn’t physically continue for er

How she longed for the solid coood h fields and skirting towns Forlow to avoid fares So far, she had not seen any sign of her uncle or any of his servants, but knew that although she couldn’t see him, it didn’t mean he wasn’t there somewhere

As far as she could tell, the only eyes that had seen her had been those of sheep and cows She could afford to rest for a little while She si into her cloak pocket and re apples she had purloined frouilt, she bit into its ripe sweetness, closing her eyes briefly to savour the tangy ue She could not re as thirsty as she was now She quickly devoured the apple, considering how she would get herself to Coniston while she had the strength

“Up in the Lakes” Kitty had said, but how did one go about finding Annie in the Lake District?