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as they drew closer to the dry land, sweeping past them, washing away into the dark night. It was quite unnerving but the men kept their heads, knowing they had no choice if they were going to live through this. Chad, in particular, kept his head. The man had nerves of steel as Alessandria, in his lap, simply closed her eyes and held on. She couldn’t swim and the water swirling around them was terrifying her, but she kept her composure. But the eyes stayed closed; it was better for them all if she couldn’t see what was going on.
    Suddenly, Chad’s horse seemed to come into contact with firm ground beneath the water and the horse, eager to be free of the muck, jumped to get out of it and onto the firmer soil ahead. Chad was semi-prepared for the horse’s movements but Alessandria, only holding on by the horn of the saddle, lost her grip. Chad was trying to keep his seat as his horse jumped not once, but twice, and on the second jump, he lost his grip on Alessandria and she went flying off of the horse and into the dark, swirling water around them.
    Immediately, she was swept downstream and she screamed in terror, her head barely above the water. Without a second thought, Chad jumped in after her.
    Unfortunately, he was in all of his heavy clothing – chain mail, leather breeches, boots, and at least three tunics. It was weighty, worse still with the water, and even as strong as he was, he couldn’t swim very well in all of that gear. He also couldn’t take the time to remove it because he saw Alessandria’s head go under the water and then bob back up again. She was screaming at the top of her lungs.
    So he struggled after her, realizing that the water wasn’t all that deep but it was moving swiftly. Therefore, he began to half-run and half-swim, using the current to his advantage, closing the gap between him and the lady who was being swept just out of his reach. He reached out, almost managed to grab her, when her head went under again. Blindly, he began grabbing at anything he could in the water, hoping to come across an arm or a head. He ended up grabbing her hair and with a big yank, pulled her up to the surface.
    Alessandria was sputtering and weeping, absolutely terrified, as Chad literally reeled her against him using her hair. When she came close, a big arm went around her.
    “I have you, lass,” he assured her in a steady, calm voice. “Do not fear. I have you now.”
    She didn’t really answer him other than to throw her arms around his neck, sputtering and gasping for air. She had him so tightly that he was starting to gasp for air so he was forced to shift her arms as he struggled to make his way out of the churning water.
    Fortunately, it was only at his knees at this point and he was able to climb up on the bank, carrying the lady. But his men were far away, over on the road to the northeast, and the pinprick torches were getting closer. He didn’t want his men to be caught in a skirmish. With Alessandria still in his arms, he bellowed to his men and hoped they could hear him.
    “Go on!” he yelled. “Get to Canterbury!”
    He hoped they would listen. He didn’t want them to try and make their way to him in this swampy land where a misstep would break a horse’s leg or sink them into mud they couldn’t get out of. When one of the knights, Stefan he thought, tried to do just that – make his way over to him – Chad yelled at him again and de Russe blocked Stefan off from going after his brother. They would have to trust Chad to take care of the lady while they would lead the men pursuing them away from her, which was presumably the target. They could only assume that Henry’s men had somehow caught up to them.
    As Chad’s knights took off towards Canterbury, which at this point was a very short distance away, Chad carried Alessandria back towards a heavy grove of trees, silhouetted black against the night sky. There, they would hide.
    He prayed it would be enough shelter to keep