The Golden Braid Read Free Page B

between them and grabbed her hands. She screamed, and the man with the scar on his face yelled, “Shut her up!”
    He grabbed her face, his fingers biting into her cheek, smothering her screams.
    She had to get free, had to help her mother. She yanked a hand up and slammed her fist into the grinning man’s throat. Next she brought her knee up and struck him between his legs.
    He released her, let out a strangled cry, and sank to the ground.
    She ran to her mother. The scarred man was choking her. “No!” Rapunzel screamed.
    He looked down at his partner, who lay on the ground, coughing weakly and moaning.
    Rapunzel stepped forward and slammed her fist into the scarred man’s throat. She tried to knee him between the legs, but he shifted Mother in front of him.
    Rapunzel clawed at his hands with her fingernails. But instead of letting Mother go, he grabbed Rapunzel’s wrist with one hand and squeezed so hard she cried out.
    She used her other hand to claw at the hand that held Mother’s throat. Mother was struggling against him, but her lips were turning blue and her movements were slow and weak.
    The scarred man was breathing out curses and threats, but Rapunzel renewed her efforts, slamming her fist into his face until he finally let go.
    Mother coughed and sputtered, leaning forward as she gasped for breath.
    The scarred man grabbed both Rapunzel’s hands and twisted her arms behind her. He hissed in her ear, “I will kill you.”
    The smiling man got to his feet and caught hold of her mother. Rapunzel yelled and lunged at him, but the scarred man held her fast.
    The smiling man continued to grin. “You put up quite a fight. What have you got on that ox besides those chickens? Any gold or silver?”
    Mother rasped out, “I’ve a Saracen charm that will cause your extremities to turn black and shrivel up.” She began chanting as though in a foreign tongue.
    â€œShut up, old woman.” The scarred man behind her jerked Rapunzel’s arms, making her shoulders burn more. “Get some rope and tie her up,” he growled.
    â€œO Father God, send your angels,” Rapunzel whispered under her breath. “Send your archangel with his flaming sword.” Her heart pounded. What would these men do to her and her mother? Would they steal their chickens and few household belongings and then leave them alone? Would they do something even more dastardly than robbing them of their possessions once they realized they had no gold or silver?
    The smiley one was still breathing strangely after her attack, and the scarred one had bloody scratches on his hands from her fingernails, a sight that sent a thrill of satisfaction through her.
    A sound broke through her consciousness. Horse’s hooves!
    â€œHelp!” Rapunzel yelled until the scarred man covered her mouth again.
    The two men exchanged a look.
    Suddenly, he let go of her, then shoved her so the ground rushed up to meet her.
    Rapunzel hit the dirt so fast she didn’t have time to get her hands underneath her. She landed on her left shoulder and the side of her head. A sharp pain pulsed through her eye, then everything went dark.

    Gerek urged his horse into a full gallop in the direction of the scream. Another scream, this time louder, sent a chill through him. Donner, always ready for a full-out gallop, seemed to revel in the wind whipping through his mane as his hooves flew over the ground, eating up the road with his powerful legs.
    When they rounded a bend, two women were lying in the dirt. He pulled back on the reins. “Whoa!”
    Donner slowed before halting beside them. The older woman sat between the ruts holding the head and shoulders of a young woman in her lap.
    â€œWhat has happened here?” Gerek dismounted and came toward them.
    His breath stuck in his throat at how beautiful the young woman was. Her eyes were closed. Dirt and a small trickle of blood marred her temple, but