At the sight of this, Camilla went wild.
She struck Kara across the face until she lay limp and senseless in her restraints, yet still Camilla's rage burned until it seem it must consume her and all that lay around her. She threw over the table, tore a dusty old pair of curtains from the window the table had stood before, tore the curtains to shreds and threw the shreds into the fire. She began tearing at Kara's clothing with her hands and teeth, until Kara lay semiconscious and all but nude in the few rags that remained to her.
Her ranting grew dimmer and dimmer to Kara, who felt as though her spirit and life were ebbing away along with any sense of hope, until she was left with but one wish . . .
. . . that it would soon be over.
Roman woke with a frown, sat up and registered Kara's absence. Getting up and dressed quickly, he went downstairs to find Maria just starting the fire in the kitchen stove.
'Have you seen Kara?'
Something in his demeanor made Maria go very still. 'I did not hear her this morning-'
Roman moved quickly past her to the back door. He looked to the mill, hesitated, then went straight to the barn, only to emerge moments later at a gallop astride his favourite black Arabian.
He found Guiseppe bound and gagged in the darkness at the back of the mill. Shaking his head to expel the rag in his mouth, Guiseppe cried, 'They have her, Señor Roman! Wrapped in a carpet.'
'Who has her?' Roman demanded sharply. 'Who are they?'
'They are not from Isla Fiero!' Guiseppe told him. 'Only one of them have I seen before! His is a fisherman who shows his face now and again in Port Haven.'
'Come, get your mount and get ready to leave!' Roman told him. 'We leave for Port Haven immediately.'
Once under way they rode hard, but stopped when they reached Pietro's home. Standing in his saddle, Roman said to Pietro, 'I need you to raise the island in our wake. For now, I will need Santiago's rifle beside mine.'
'Santiago and his rifle go nowhere without me!' Anana cut in. 'No one shoots at my husband unless it is me!'
'It is useless to argue with her,' Santiago grumbled, though he couldn't conceal the love and pride in his eyes. 'Besides, she's a better shot than any of us.'
Roman hesitated fractionally. Then, 'Come! We ride to Port Haven, and there will be hell to pay when I catch up with Kara's abductors.'