There was the sound of running feet in the distance, as Santiago and Pierre came to investigate. Alannah caught the sound of someone else retreating further into the woods, crashing through the foliage as if they were running for their lives.
"You stay here, while dad and I go investigate." Santiago said to his wife as he and his father armed themselves. Then, giving her a quick kiss and caressing her cheek, Santiago and his father, left the women to go investigate.
"He is a good tracker," Anya said to Alannah, her voice thick with emotion. "He gets it from his father. And," she admitted, "he knows that I have nerves of steel . . . up to a point that is."
It seemed like hours before the men returned, both of them looking worried. Santiago handed Alannah something with a hole in it that made her face turn pale and her chest tighten with fear.
"I can see that you know what this is," Santiago said, seeing her reaction.
Alannah nodded, obviously shaken as she held onto that cap, she said in a low tone. "It's a uniform cap. The men in my fathers private army wear this when they are not in formal dress." Alannah looked as though she would faint at any moment.
"Well, there were two of them," Santiago said, mainly to his wife. "One was tall and slim but strong and athletic, the other short, and stocky . . . not in very good shape, judging by the way he walks. They ran for a short distance, then took to a pair of horses that had to have been tied up in the bush near to the road. One of them dropped these-" he said holding a couple of bullets that Alannah recognized immeditaly. "'Unusual bullets, si? They appear to be from a rifle, maybe a sniper rifle? This is not making any sense. A professional assassin would not have missed. Unless, perhaps, he had an inept assistant."
"What are we going to do now?"' Anya asked.
"First," Santiago said with a serious look on his face, taking the rifle from her, "You are going to take Alannah to our room and make sure she lies down. Then, when Dominic gets here we will fill him in on the events of the day and see what he has to say."
They would have gone straight to Anya's and Santiago's bedroom, except that Alannah turned deathly white and made a mad dash for the outhouse, there she heaved the contents of her stomach.
"Alannah? I think. Santiago is right - you need to lie down for a while and calm your nerves a bit."