Catherin caught her breath. "What is it, Anna?"
She kissed her mother's cheek and smiled. "I did not mean to alarm you. Come sit down, there is something I have not yet told you." She waited for her mother to sit down at the table, and then took a seat across from her.
With the same dark hair and blue eyes as her daughters, Catherin was still an attractive woman even at her age. Her cottage was typical with two small rooms. The first held Rachel's bed, a table and chairs and in the second was the bed she shared with her husband, Justin.
"Rachel asked about my broken nose today."
Catherin looked down. "She has seen my scars often and she does not ask. Why now suddenly? Has something frightened her?"
"She did not say so. The memories are there, Mother, in the back of her mind. We both know they are. She was almost four when we left England. Neil is six and he remembers things that happened when he was three."
"I would die a thousand deaths before I would have her remember." Catherin got up and walked to the window. "When my nightmares wake me, I sometimes cry out. Rachel does not open her eyes, but she covers her ears. I know she hears; she must."
Anna went to her mother, turned her and pulled Catherin into her arms again. A tear rolled down Anna's cheek, "I did not tell you, but she was there the day he beat me. She saw it."
Catherin began to sob.
Anna let her cry for a while, then pulled away and wiped her mother's tears with her thumbs. "We should go back and burn the manor again."
That made Catherin smile. "Aye, we should. We should even build it back and then burn it again."
Suddenly, Justin burst through the door and he looked surprised to see his wife's tears. "You have already heard?"
Catherin went to him and hugged him. "Heard what?"
"You have not heard? Then what upsets you, wife?"
Catherin poked him in the shoulder. "I asked first." He did not return her smile. Instead, he kept one arm around his wife and reached for Anna. When Anna came to him, he whispered, "Three slain; Olson, his wife and son." Justin gave them a few moments to absorb the news and kissed each on top of her head. "Where is Rachel?"
"She was south of the meadow when I last saw her," Anna answered.
"I will find her. Kevin wants everyone inside the wall and has already sent lads to bring the other families in."