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recognize the clues. ‘Dammit, man,
think. How many times did we see villages left in just this way? The people
vanished into thin air, horses and dogs gone too?’
    Enlightenment dawned. ‘I have it. It’s as
though the place has been evacuated; they must have left on horseback,
presumably in the middle of the night as nobody local heard or saw anything.
That must be why your aunt took so little baggage, only what she could carry.’
    ‘But why did they take the dogs along? It
doesn’t make sense.’
    He looked round the empty yard. There was
something here that didn’t quite fit this scenario. What was common on the
Peninsular when the French were rapidly approaching a Spanish village didn’t
explain why Neddingfield should have been abandoned in the same way. Neither
did it explain why Aunt Agatha had sent an urgent note to himself and Miss
Frobisher to visit and then not waited for them to arrive.
    He kicked angrily at a chicken pecking his feet
and it squawked, bustling off, its outrage obvious in every cluck. He was on
his way back to the house when there was the sound of a horse galloping towards
them. No one arrived pell-mell unless the news was urgent.
    The horse thundered into the yard and its
rider, James, dragged it to a halt. He vaulted from the saddle and dropping the
reins casually in front of the horse he ran across the yard.
    ‘I’ve found something, your grace. And it’s not
good, I can tell you. There are signs that at least a dozen, possibly more, men
were camping at the far side of the park, but there’s something strange about
it. Gave me the shivers. It’s empty now but I reckon it was occupied not long
ago.’
    Ralph turned angrily to Tom. ‘Why did you hear
none of this in town, Clark? Surely such a large band of strangers must have
been noticed by someone and the two things linked to what’s going on here?’
    The man flushed, whether from annoyance or
embarrassment Ralph neither knew nor cared. ‘I beg your pardon, your grace, I
only arrived here myself yesterday. I’ve been somewhat busy since then what
with my mistress being attacked and everything.’
    Ralph’s cheeks reddened and he raised a
placating hand. ‘I apologize. I’ve no right to roar at you. It’s my own
stupidity that’s led to this. First I take my cousin for an intruder and then
fail to do the most basic of information gathering.’ He shrugged before turning
to speak to Robin. ‘The fact that men were camped…’ He swung back to James.
‘Are you certain it wasn’t a Romany encampment? Did you see evidence of women
or children?’
    ‘No, your grace. That was the first thing I
thought myself. It looked a very professional setup, everything set out neat
like and proper rails to tether their mounts. But there was no sign there’d
been any wagons at the place.’ James shook his head, his mouth twisting.
‘There’s something odd about it; you’ll understand what I mean when you see for
yourself, your grace.’
    ‘Can find your way back there? I think in spite
of my reservations it’s time to call out the militia. God’s teeth! How I wish I
had my chosen men with me now. We could flush out the buggers easily enough
then.’
    He saddled Thunder, the only mount up to his
weight. He cursed the fact he hadn’t had the foresight to bring his stallion
with him. He stopped beside his coach to retrieve his pistols from the side
pocket, checked they were primed and loaded, then tucked them into the deep
pockets of his riding coat.
    ‘Lead the way, James. We shall follow.’
    Ralph was relieved Miss Frobisher’s man had
visited Neddingfield before and knew his way around the park and ancient woods.
But even so he doubted they would have found their way back to the camp if
James hadn’t left a trial wide enough for a blind man to follow.
    As they cantered across the greensward Ralph
was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the horse he was riding. That it was
well bred was obvious from its conformation, but