"No, she is not there."
The looks that everyone exchanged at that moment sent shudders down Dominic's spine. Jakob and Erik looked at one another, and then back to Dominic.
"I heard the back door open this morning, but didn't think anything of it, I thought that Maria went outside to get some milk from the cows." Jakob said.
"No, Senor, that most definitely was not me." Maria replied carrying in a plate of eggs and bacon.
Suddenly the room errupted in a furry of conversation, everyone talking all at once and no one able to understand anyone else. Finally Senora Beringer whistled to get the attention of everyone in the room.
"My daughter-in-law is missing, and you all are sitting around here arguing, get your heads together and go find her."
By the time they all got organized it was noon, Alannah had at least a good six hour head start on them, they were losing time and losing ground. Dominic was furious. He sent Jakob and Erik to search the area around the mills, as he went to the stables. Maria made a call to Anya's place to call for back-up. By the time everyone regrouped at the Chateau it was now two pm.
Alannah was jarred back to consciousness by the feeling of someone tugging on her hands. She discovered that she was lying on an old stinky, moth eatten mattress. She tried to look around but she could not see, she found that she could not move much, her hands were bound behind her back, her ankles tied and she had been gagged. Not only was Alannah bound and gagged, but she was also wrapped up in some sort of blanket to keep her from going anywhere. Breathing was difficult to say the least, breathing through her nose required effort and let in a horrid smell. The old feelings of being suffocated and having the walls come in around her came back and made it impossible for her to calm down.
Not knowing where she was or who had done this to her, Alannah was terrified. For the first time in her life she felt like she had finally been able to relax and find peace, and now the worst feelings, and the worst thoughts were coming into her mind and no matter what she did, she could not shake the thought that she was going to die today.
She knew that she was in the back of a wagon, she could feel the movement- how could these people have gotten past the men that Dominic had hired? Where was Patrick? Was there someone from the estate involved? Could Patrick be the one responsible for these perople being here? Then she remembered Nicolò, could Nicolò have betrayed her? Her mind was going a mile a minute, she could think of no other explanation, that either Patrick or Nicolò was involved. Patrick came to mind because he was suddenly absent, and Nicolò because of his sudden appearance on the ship that took her to America was almost too coincidental. Or - is it possible the people who now held her, had harmed Patrick? Could they have killed him? Perhaps they had come here at her brothers request to kill her! Would they take her to a remote location to bury her alive? Would they tie chains around her waist and throw her into the lake?