Carolyn found herself laying back in the grass in the blue jacket and skirt, her hands pinned above her head, Connor kneeling over her, his head buried in her neck. She pulled at her hands but his grip was hard on her wrists. "Connor, it hurts. Let me go." He raised his head and grinned down at her, his eyes obscured by shadows. "No. You're mine." His voice was cold, different, the voice of the assassin. She began to struggle in earnest, her body awash in pain. "Stop. Please." He released on her hands and she pushed on his shoulders until he reached down and pulled her dagger lose from her belt and held it to her neck. She froze then as his other hand tore at the buttons of the jacket throwing the sides wide. He grabbed the neck of the linen shift she wore and placing the knife against it cut it open down the length of her body. Once it got past her chest she could see her pregnant stomach swelling upwards with the passage of the blade. The waist of her skirt was lower now, hanging down her hips where Connor knelt between her legs. His hood obscured his face but she could see him grin viciously and change his grip on the knife. He leaned over her one hand in the middle of her chest pinning her down and he plunged the knife into her stomach. She screamed, her chest flooded by a hot rush of liquid and blood as he cut her open. He reached in burying himself up to his elbows and pulled out the baby. "Mine." She tried to reach for them as he turned and began to walk away with the child and screamed.
Her whimpers woke him up. Pushing up on one arm he touched her shoulder lightly. "What's wrong?" At his touch she began to thrash wildly, screaming. He pulled her on her back and leaned over her, his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong? Wake up." He shook her. Her eyes flew open and she screamed again, high pitched and terrified and clawed at his hands on her shoulders. Behind him he heard the door fly open and his father come running in sword drawn. "What are you doing?" he bellowed, approaching the bed. Connor let go of her then, sitting back on his heels. "She was having a nightmare. I was trying to wake her up." Carolyn looked around frantically. "Where's the baby?" "In his crib, I put him to bed." Carolyn pulled herself to the edge of the bed and fished the baby from his cradle holding him to her tightly. "Ah darling. Mommy's got you. I'm not going anywhere." She rocked herself in the bed, her frantic breathing starting to slow.
Haytham sheathed the sword and laid his hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?" She nodded. "I'm sorry to disturb you. It was just a bad dream." Connor looked guilty. "You've never had them before." Carolyn laughed bitterly while Haytham grimaced. "I've had them many times before. I used to have them after my father died. I've had them here, but you were gone those nights. You kept them at bay." He shook his head. "And now I cause them. Do you wish me to sleep elsewhere? I thought my father would take the bed downstairs but I could sleep in another room." She shook her head, her hand grabbing his sleeve. "No. Please. I want you to stay. If… if you still want to." He nodded and watched out of the corner of his eye as Haytham went for the door.
The next few weeks reminded Connor of nothing so much as when he first got married. Carolyn and Haytham adjusted quickly to each other's company but Connor felt unbalanced. He kept walking into a room only to hear a subject change or a conversation suddenly drop. He confronted Carolyn about it one night in bed. She averted her eyes. "We're speaking of people we know. " He clenched his fists. "Templars." "Friends. I trust you with my life, Connor. Truly I do. Can you ask for more? But that is not something they've agreed to. Their lives are not something for me to play with." She curled up against him and wrapped an arm around his waist. He felt her comfortable warmth settle against him and appreciated it while it lasted. On more than one occasion she pulled away in her sleep, crying and clawing at the sheets. He knew better than to touch her those nights now but he supposed he couldn't blame her after what had happened. The cut on her neck that he would have healed in hours took a full week to heal on her and he was finally able to watch her hold their son without picturing her eyes wide with fear as he held the knife to her throat and the familiar feel of the blade as it began to split the skin. Lost in thought his hand trailed the line of her back and he felt her stiffen against him. With a sigh he let it fall to the sheet next to her.
Her arm tightened on him. "You know I would if I could, Connor. I want you to be happy. But I can't. Not yet. " He tried not to sigh and kept his tone as neutral as he could. "I know." She shook her head. "Edward was just big. The doctor said there was tearing and I need to heal properly before… well before we do anything more. Or I might never have another child." He looked down at her. "You did not say." She shrugged. "I'll heal in time. If it were just the pain I wouldn't ask you to wait but I want to give you more children. I do. I want us to have a family." She pressed her face against him. His hand tightened on her shoulder, drawing her closer to his chest. "Do you think I could take pleasure while causing you pain? We will. I'm not going anywhere. Though I would think after all that you wouldn't be in a hurry for more. "
She kept encouraging him to spend time with Haytham but it wasn't easy. She did get them to go fishing one day though. She laid in the grass in the pale green linen dress with the baby while they fished for trout in the river and Haytham told stories of taking Carolyn fishing as a girl. When they got back to the house she handed him the baby and fried the fish for lunch as Haytham cleaned them. They had made little progress on finding anybody behind the attacks. "I'm going to Boston to talk to Samuel Adams. We need to know where he got your name." Connor said suddenly. Haytham looked up. "I don't think that's a good idea." At the same time Carolyn turned to him. "I wish you wouldn't." He shook his head. "They won't just forget about you. Sooner or later they'll find you." She spooned the last of the fish to a plate and carried it to the table. "Just be careful." He nodded "I can be back tonight." She hugged him briefly and took Edward sitting at her normal place with him tucked up against her while they ate.
In short order he left for the dock to sail to Boston leaving Carolyn and Haytham alone. She cleaned up from lunch and headed upstairs to feed the baby. Once he was fed and sleeping she stood and surveyed the room. A small corner of blue caught her eye by the table and she reached over and pulled out the painting from the night of Edward's birth. She smiled at the portrait and carried it downstairs quietly. Haytham sat in the living room with a book. "Look what I found." She held it out to Haytham, smiling at the familiar painting. He took it carefully and frowned. "Where did this come from?" Her smile slipped fractionally. "It's the painting they sent to Connor. I don't know where they got the original to copy but I'm glad to have it. I was thinking we should put it somewhere." He stood suddenly. "That's impossible. This is my painting. It's the one I had in Kingston with me." She looked at him curiously. "How is that possible" He shook his head. "I don't know but it is. See here where the paint is scraped in the corner. This is definitely mine. That can only mean someone there sent it. This is bad. If this is Templar plot you're not the target at all. Connor is." She grabbed his arm. "He's gone to Boston for the first time since they sent it. What if it's a trap?!"
Haytham grabbed the handle of his sword and looked at the door. She pushed him towards it. "Go. He's just left. It's not much longer up there by horse. We'll be fine." He ran out the door and she bolted it behind him. She tried to calm herself and trust that he wouldn't let anything happen to his son. Heading back upstairs she laid down with the baby, holding it close. Mere minutes after Haytham left she heart the pounding on the door followed by the crack of the wood giving way as it was broken down. Carolyn heard the voices downstairs and knew something was terribly wrong. As quietly as she could she picked the baby up and placed him on the floor beneath the bed, pulling the edge of the blanket down so it obscured the child, hoping he would stay quiet. Reaching in the top drawer she pulled out the knife, placing the scabbard pointing towards the bed and taking the naked blade. She headed from the room hoping to draw them away. As she ran from the room she saw two men already climbing the stairs towards her. The first man had just reached the top and she slashed at him blindly splattering his blood on the walls and floor. As he swore she ran and opened the door on the other side of the hall running for the balcony. Gaining the second door she glanced around outside seeing 2 more men waiting below. Lifting her skirts she climbed on the railing and jumped to the branch still hoping to draw them away from the house. Focused as she was on the climb she did not see the man on the ground pull out the sling shot and loose the stone that hit her, knocking her to the ground below. In an instance the men were on her, wrapping her up in a piece of cloth and a heavy blow to the head meant she knew nothing more.
Haytham pulled his hat low and waited on the rooftop outside the tavern for Connor to emerge not daring to stand in the street lest someone recognize him. He breathed a sigh of relief when Connor came out unharmed and he saw no movements towards him. He dropped from the roof and walked beside him, telling him of their discovery. He turned to him angrily "And if you're here, who is at home with Carolyn and Edward?" Haytham glared at him. "She wanted me to come. Do you think she'd be happy being safe if you were in danger? Let's get back then."
Haytham remounted and headed for Davenport while Connor sailed back on the Aquila but when get got to the house he realized just how wrong they had been. He dismounted by the stable when Connor appeared behind him, punching him and laying him flat. His face was contorted with emotion. "What was that for?" Haytham shouted and climbed to his feet. "She's gone. They've taken her and it's your fault. You should not have left them!" Haytham turned and ran for the house. The door swung loose on its hinges and a bloody trail led down the stairs outside. Haytham grabbed Connor's shoulders. "You have to track them. If they just wanted her dead they would have killed her and left her here. Where ever she is she's alive." Connor shook his head. "I don't have to track her. They left a letter next to the painting." He handed a piece of parchment to Haytham.
Assassin: If you would like to see Carolyn again you'll meet me tomorrow at sunrise two leagues south of Martha's Vineyard. I suggest you be prompt or she is liable to stay there when we sail on.
Haytham clenched his jaw. "You were right. I shouldn't have left them." His head raised suddenly. "Connor, the note doesn't mention the baby. Did they get the baby too?" Connor looked at him in horror. "I assumed they had but I didn't check." He ran for the stairs. The cradle and bed where empty and he turned, searching the room despairingly. Seeing the dagger's sheath on the table he picked it up, relieved at least at the thought that the blood on the stairs might not be Carolyn's. "If she had enough time to get the dagger…" He listened carefully and reexamined the room discovering Edward under the bed. The baby looked up at him curiously and waved his arms but did not cry. He fished out his son and sat on the stairs. "I've found him." Haytham came to the end of the stairs watching them with a sigh of relief. Connor looked between his father and son. "What do I do?" he asked quietly.
Haytham eyed the baby. "Well unless you have hidden talents you've never told me of the baby will need to eat at some point. And when we sail he should not stay here. Do you know who can take care of him?" Connor thought back to the night he was born. "Carolyn said Diana would know." Haytham nodded. "We'll take the carriage. That way she can go to town and look for a wet nurse." He drove while Connor sat inside holding his son. Passing the tavern he spotted Diana inside and motioned Haytham to pull over. He approached the table of laughing people who quieted seeing him and the baby, his eyes full of pain. He handed his son to Diana. "Carolyn said you would know what to do." He told her quietly. Her eyes went wide but she took the baby. "What happened?" Connor fished for his purse and handed it to her. "She's gone." The people at the table gasped in horror but he shook his head. "Not dead. Not yet we hope. Taken. I'm going to get her back. Take the carriage. Find a wet nurse and a place for her to stay. Do not put her at the house, it isn't safe." Terry stood and nodded taking Haytham's spot on the carriage.
Haytham turned to his son as the carriage drove from view. "Back to the house?" he asked. Connor shook his head and fingered his weapons. "To the dock. I have everything I need and I could not sleep in the house tonight. We'll sail for Martha's Vineyard tonight so we can be there early." Haytham nodded and they broke in a run for the dock, unsure of what precisely the hurry was.