A Reluctant Companion (18 page)

She milled about the crowd, using Tiernan’s trading credits to acquire a leather satchel, food, and leather-wrapped canteen. At a bladesmith’s stall, she picked up two knives, making sure to ask the guard’s opinion on if he thought the commander would like them. They went into the satchel, as did other discreet finds. She couldn’t fully outfit herself for a trip under the guard’s watchful eye, or he might grow suspicious.

In the end, escape proved surprisingly easy. Two stalls away, a dispute broke out among a group of shoppers and the merchant, who they accused of tampering with his scales. The disagreement was quickly heating up, but the soldiers who patrolled the market weren’t in their vicinity yet.

“Go on,” urged Madison. “We can’t let this become a riot.”

The man looked unsure. “I don’t know, Miss Cole.”

She sighed, making a point of putting her hand on the fruit stand by which she stood. “I’ll be right here and within shouting distance. You have to do something before people get hurt.”

With a nod, the soldier strode over to the arguing people. As soon as he turned his back to her, Madison slipped around and ran, putting all her energy into speeding away. By some miracle, she managed to navigate the crowds and stalls without knocking into anything or falling. From her explorations with Cleo, she vaguely knew how to exit the city and made for that direction.

As she put distance between herself and the soldier at the market, she paused long enough to buy a long duster from a merchant, along with a matching leather hat. As she walked, she crammed all stray hairs underneath, pulled up the collar, and slouched into it, hoping it provided her with some measure of anonymity.

She walked for more than an hour before joining the exodus of people leaving the city. A cart passed nearby, and the little girl in the back tossed her doll out the side. Immediately, she broke into a wail, and Madison jogged over to rescue the toy. Her hat fell off when she bent over to retrieve it. Shoving her hair back under it, she secured the hat before handing the doll back to the child as the driver halted the horses. “There you are.”

“Thank you, miss,” said the little girl, who couldn’t have been more than three.

“Yes, thank you,” said the woman sitting in the back near the child, holding another smaller one on her lap.

Madison nodded. “You’re welcome.”

After the mother and father traded a look, and he nodded, she asked, “Can we offer you a ride somewhere, miss?”

It was her lucky day all right. Madison smiled. “Thanks. That’d be nice.” It didn’t really matter what direction they planned to take. She could always split off from them when they left the city behind.

*****

Tiernan had ignored the feeling all afternoon, but it had persisted. Something was wrong. He thought maybe he should have listened to Madison, but her request to go home after their past few weeks of happiness had blindsided him. He had reacted on impulse, surrendering to the need to keep her at any cost. He hoped it hadn’t cost him the progress he’d made with her recently.

The feeling of wrongness swelled as he opened the door to the suite and found it deserted. No dinner waited on the table, and Madison was certainly not waiting with a warm smile—or even a recriminatory sneer. She must be pouting and had decided to give him the cold shoulder. He should just let her have her sulk and get over it. She’d be back by tomorrow. Still, it didn’t sit well with him to indulge her in these matters. She had to know who was in charge, and if he let her sleep away from him tonight, she would think it was she.

He radioed the guardhouse to find out if she had left the premises and raised his brow when the sergeant gave him an unfamiliar name as her escort. “Send him to my office. I want to talk to him.”

“Corporal Figg isn’t back yet, sir, and neither is Miss Cole.”

A pang hit him in the chest, and he followed instinct. “Send out troops to find them. Don’t forget to check that clinic where she volunteers.”

Feeling sick, he left the suite and returned to his office, finding the change of location did nothing to ease his thoughts. Bad thoughts. Thoughts of betrayal. Had she run from him? Had she somehow convinced one of his men to turn traitor and help her? Was that why she hadn’t chosen Vinny as her guard?

Within twenty minutes, the sergeant marched Figg into his office. The young man looked scared, especially when Tiernan loomed over him. “Where is she?”

Figg looked down. “I don’t know, sir. There was a fight at the marketplace. She told me to go break it up, and then she was just gone.” He looked up, pale and trembling. “I spent the rest of the day looking for her.”

The sergeant scowled. “Protocol is clear here, Commander Archer. Corporal Figg was duty bound to report back to headquarters for reinforcements to conduct a search.”

“Please, I didn’t want to get in trouble.” Sweat streamed down his forehead.

Tiernan growled. “Or you were helping her.”

He shook his head. “Help her with what, sir?”

The kid looked so clueless that Tiernan believed him. Clearly, Figg thought Madison had wandered off, or had been kidnapped. He didn’t realize she had run away. Tiernan admitted his first thoughts would have leapt to kidnappers too, if she hadn’t asked about going home this morning. “Sergeant, file charges of dereliction of duty against Corporal Figg and have him put in the brig until the tribunal convenes again.”

“Sir, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose her.”

Tiernan managed a minute shred of compassion. “I know, Figg. She tricked you. Serve your sentence, and you’ll be allowed to return to your post.”

Figg nodded, lips trembling, as the sergeant led him out. Next, Tiernan sent for Aidan and a small group of soldiers to head up a search party. Only Aidan dared protest that it might not be safe for Tiernan to accompany them, but he shrugged off his friend’s concern. He intended to be on hand when Madison was reacquired. She had a few lessons to learn.

*****

Her luck had held. The family in the wagon was heading her way, and she’d ridden all of yesterday with them, sheltering with them overnight. It was only after they’d reached their destination that she’d split from them. In their village, she’d managed to barter one of the gold bracelets for a horse and had made good time since then. One of her finds at Pike Place Market the day before had been a compass, and she had it pinned to her saddle horn to ensure she stayed on the right course.

She’d done her best to disguise her gender, hating to travel alone and knowing it would be safer if everyone thought she was male. With the exception of that family yesterday, who’d seen her hair, she was fairly confident everyone else with whom she’d interacted thought she was a young man.

That didn’t mean she was safe, and she kept the horse moving at a rapid pace, not wanting to tire it too much, but also feeling the need to get home as quickly as possible. It was amazing that Tiernan’s train had made the journey in a few hours, whereas she would probably be on the road for another day or two, depending on her mount.

She stopped for camp that night in a secluded area, feeling nervous. That being-watched feeling was with her, though she hadn’t seen any riders for a while. Shunning a campfire, she tied the mare to a willow tree and climbed under its protective branches, hoping it would obscure her and the horse for the night.

The travel had exhausted her, but she didn’t really want to sleep. Her eyes kept closing, and she would twitch awake when her head touched her chest. She slept in fits and jerks for a time, until a soft sound woke her. Instantly alert, despite her physical tiredness, Madison reached for the knife on her belt, clutching it in her hand.

The sound came again, and it was so sly and furtive that she knew it was from someone trying to sneak around. At some point, she’d been followed, and the follower, or followers, clearly had bad intentions.

Her stomach clenched with nausea, but she forced herself to remain still, breathing as quietly as possible as two figures came into view. The half-moon didn’t provide much illumination, and the willow branches obscured them, but she could discern enough details to determine two large men were just outside her cocoon.

The hiss of a match lighting pinpointed one of the sneaks, and a torch lit a moment later. Madison blinked at the firelight, scrambling to her feet just as one of the men pushed back the branches. The other one dropped the torch on the ground and ducked under the leaves to get her.

She fought as he grabbed her, but his hold was relentless. Smelling of homemade alcohol and tobacco, along with unwashed body, it was all she could do not to vomit as he held her against him and dragged her out into the open area near the lit torch. Her hat fell off as she hit the ground, spilling her hair everywhere.

“Look at this, Bud. The young fella is a young miss.”

As the other one leaned closer, Madison screamed when she saw the ragged “R” branded on his forehead. “Let me go.” She twisted and bucked, trying to throw off the weight of the bigger one holding her down. Her knife was still in her hand, but rendered useless by the way he held her arms clamped at her sides.

“What a treat, James.” Bud licked his lips. “You got a name, girl?”

She continued struggling, finding just a little movement in her knife hand as James shifted positions—to straddle her obscenely.

“Who cares what her name is?” He leered down at her. “All I care about is her cunt.”

“And who decided you’d go first?” demanded Bud with a petulant whine.

“You’re a damned eunuch, Bud. Whacha gonna do with her?”

Bud growled. “They took my balls, not my cock. I can get it up same as you, James.”

“Too bad you survived,” spat Madison, earning a slap across the mouth from the one with the “R”.

Glaring at him, she stopped struggling under James. “Look, if you promise he won’t touch me, I’ll show you a good time.”

Bud howled his protest as James laughed.

“That sounds like the makings of a deal, girl, but I can’t leave him totally high and dry. You suck his cock, and we’ll call it a night.” His leer deepened. “After I fuck you, ‘course.”

Revulsion churned in her stomach, but she forced herself to nod. “I guess, but nothing more. I don’t like the looks of him.”

James chuckled as he shifted again, this time allowing her to move her arms. “None of the ladies do. That’s why he has to take it.”

“Fucker,” screamed Bud.

She managed a smile that felt greasy and false, but he didn’t seem to notice. “But not you, huh, James?”

He shook his head. “The ladies like my cock. You will too.”

“I’m sure.” She lifted her free hand to put on his thigh, as though she were about to touch his erection. It took every ounce of will power not to throw up at the feel of rough cotton under her hand, knowing that was the only barrier between his flesh and hers. Madison shifted onto her knees, bending forward as though she was going to kiss him. At the last moment, she brought up the knife and drove it into his chest as hard and deep as she could.

James gasped with surprise, and blood sprayed from his mouth, drenching her face. He made a choking sound, but couldn’t seem to get out any words. As he slumped backward, she tried desperately to tug the knife out of him, wishing she hadn’t left the other one in her satchel. The blade remained in his flesh, and she had no weapon as Bud ripped her off his bleeding buddy with a roar.

His fist hit the side of her head hard enough to make her see stars. Her attacker vibrated with rage, and he seemed intent on beating her to death with his bare hands. On the plus side, he seemed too enraged to rape her first.

Suddenly, he cried out, dropping her before he could hit her again. A crossbow bolt protruded from his chest, having entered his back. With a look of shock, he fell forward, barely giving her time to step back to avoid getting trapped under his dead body.

Madison looked around warily, wondering if she had a rescuer or just another attacker to face. Within seconds, a group of soldiers filled the area, followed by a Tiernan so angry he made Bud seem calm. Having her answer, she lost the battle with unconsciousness and sagged to the ground as her enraged lover got closer.

Chapter Twelve

She woke to find herself sprawled on a cot, the white canvas of a tent above her eyes. Gingerly, she lifted her head and saw several oil lamps around the tent. Her gaze came to rest on Tiernan, who sat near her in a straight chair, his gaze somewhere between brooding and homicidal. “You came for me,” she said, and the words were happier than she’d meant them to be. It was strictly the relief of being rescued from that rapist, not joy at knowing he had been compelled to follow her, of course.