phantom knights 04 - deceit in delaware (35 page)

My body was a block of ice.

So Martha truly was the traitor.

Guns firing in one of the rooms below had Freddy releasing Charlotte and running down the stairs.

Not to be left behind, I went after him, determined to find Martha and let her know exactly what I thought of her duplicity. Her deceit.

Running through the great room, I slid to a halt at the open door to the sitting room. Two embroidered settees had been overturned and were covered with holes from pistols being fired. The large looking glass above the marble fireplace was shattered and all that was left was the gilt frame. The built in cabinet in the far corner was bare of the small ornaments that had been there before. Shattered porcelain pieces were covering parts of the patterned carpet.

Charlotte squeaked behind me and I spun around in time to see her run into the dining parlor.

Chasing after her, I slid to a halt just inside the room. The table was overturned and knives were scattered upon the floor. Dudley and Hannah were huddled together in one corner, with Jack and Freddy standing before them. Three guards were upon the floor, looking very much deceased. There had been a great battle waged in that room, but that is not what drew my attention away from Jack.

In the opposite corner of the room stood Martha.

She was facing Freddy and Jack, holding Betsy before her with a knife to Betsy’s neck. Betsy’s friend James lay unconscious upon the floor beside Martha’s feet.

Caution was required, for Martha appeared as a cornered rabbit surrounded by hounds. Easing into the room with slow, steady steps, I made my way to Charlotte’s side against the wall to my right.

Jack was speaking to Martha in consoling tones, but it was Freddy who had my attention. Freddy was slowly reaching his hand down to his hip where he had a smart looking pistol. His hand touched the engraved handle and he glanced over at me out of the corner of his eye. I gave an infinitesimal shake of my head. If he spooked Martha, she could hurt Betsy. We could not risk it.

“Let her go, Martha, and we will be lenient with you. Harm her and it will go ill with you,” I said, drawing her attention to me.

Martha looked past me, toward the door, and then jerked Betsy with her back a step. Melly came in with a pistol in hand.

“You will never win. You will never defeat Luther. Leave while you can. If you will go, I shall release your friend, but only then,” Martha retorted.

“You cannot expect us to believe you. Not when you have betrayed us,” I said.

“Betray you? You are the one who betrayed me, and everyone who served your parents. Luther will usher in peace. Luther will never abandon his homeland. But first you girls, you children, must be removed before you can do more harm.”

Martha’s wide eyed stare and rising hysterical voice was increasing my alarm about the situation. We needed to get Betsy away from her and get Martha under restraint before she became desperate.

When she met my eyes, I knew that we were in the basket. Martha had already reached desperation.

“Martha, I beg you, release the girl,” I said with my hands out unthreateningly before me.

Martha’s response was to pull Betsy closer to her chest.

“You do not know what you are aiding in aligning with William Martin,” Martha said. “You do not know of what he is capable.”

“Do we not?” My voice was scornful. Martha knew better than anyone the tasks I had done for William. “We are not aligning ourselves with William. We are trying to find our way home. A way that does not include allowing a tyrant into power.”

Martha did not look as if she believed me. There was accusation in her eyes as if she knew something that I did not.

When Betsy’s hand gently moved, Jack and I both saw what she was doing, for Jack began to tell Martha exactly what he thought of William and why we would never side with him.

Betsy was reaching into her pocket without moving her upper body. When she pulled out her hand, there was something clenched in her fist.

“Why, if it was William you were wishful to conquer, you would have found an ally in me, but by siding with Luther you are making yourself our enemy. We do not want that. Side with us, please,” Jack said.

One moment Betsy was standing perfectly still, and the next a snapping sound came as Betsy flipped open Rose’s oriental fan and threw her hand up to smack the fan against Martha’s face.

Martha’s pain filled shout and hand raising to her face gave Betsy the opportunity to break free from Martha’s hold.

Betsy ran across the room to stand beside Charlotte.

Martha righted herself quickly though she held her hand over her nose. She moved her gaze between all of us, before she began to smile. The effect was marred by her nose that was bleeding, but whatever had made her smile was behind us. Slowly turning, my stomach felt as if it had dropped to my feet. Nell was standing in the doorway. The right side of her face was battered and quickly swelling, and a frightened look was in her open left eye. Behind her, with a pistol in each hand and the barrels against Nell’s neck, was Luther.

Though I wanted to rage at him, I had to remain calm. I had to keep my mind devoid of weighty emotions. Jack would not thank me for allowing my thinking to be impaired and allowing the others to be harmed.

“I believe that is quite enough of your lies, Jack Martin. Your brother also had a way with tale-bearing,” Luther smiled, “but I have taken care of that. For one cannot lie when one has stopped breathing.”

Charlotte released a little gasp, but Jack charged forward with his hands clenched. Freddy reached out and grasped Jack’s arm before he could move three steps.

“Who should go next? Martha, what say you?” Luther asked.

Martha took a wide berth around us as she began to move toward Luther. In Danish she told him who he wanted, and it was none of the Phantoms.

His response was immediate. If the Phantoms were gone, they could no longer stand between him and his nieces.

“In that event,” Martha said, giving us each a calculating glance before smiling with intent. “Shoot Jack.”

One of Luther’s pistols removed from Nell’s neck to point straight at Jack’s head.

“He has caused us the most trouble,” Martha told Luther. “If he is gone, the rest of them will crumble. Especially Bess.”

Luther nodded. “As you wish, my dear,” he said to Martha and his finger moved over the trigger.

“No!” Charlotte screamed as she threw herself before Jack and Freddy, covering them with her outstretched arms. “You will not harm them!”

“Charlotte,” Freddy and Jack said at the same moment, reaching for her, but she refused to move aside. She stood before them like a warrior, not a hint of fear in her voice. Luther’s pistol switched its direction to point at her, but she did not flinch. She made no sign of inward or outward qualms, though Freddy and Jack were each itching to move her out of the way. Freddy had inched closer to her side and near enough that he could pull Charlotte out of the line of fire should Luther try anything.

“Mary,” Luther murmured as his eyes narrowed at Charlotte. “I should have known you would prove to be a thorn in my flesh, for you show the same aggressive, headstrong tendencies as your sisters.”

Dread quickly filled my soul for a madness crept into Luther’s eyes as he gazed at Charlotte as if he had found something of his that had been stolen.

“I am not Mary. I am Charlotte Mason,” Charlotte retorted in haughty disdain.

“Of course you are. Arabella would never allow you far from her, so she had you take the same name as Samuel Mason and claim to be his sister. I see how it has been.”

“You see nothing beyond your own evil intentions,” Charlotte countered. “I am Charlotte Mason, daughter of the late Rector and Mrs. Paul Mason, sister of Samuel and Bess Mason, whom I live with in Charleston until I marry.” Charlotte looked to her right, straight into Freddy’s eyes.

His mouth slowly opened in a sign of awe before he smiled at her, and in that moment I had never seen Freddy so happy, peaceful, and content. The stress that was like a cloud around him disappeared and his entire demeanor changed to a man who had just been given the one thing above all others that he needed to complete his happiness.

“Lies will get you nowhere, Mary. Now that I have you and your sister, I shall not allow you to deceive your way away from me,” Luther said curtly.

“She is not Mary,” Nell tried to say, but Luther shoved the barrel of the pistol harder into her neck.

“Be silent, you!” Luther hissed at her. “If I did not love you as I do, I would shoot you first. Instead, I will settle for your bastard of a son.” Luther’s finger twitched over the trigger, and Charlotte screamed again, as she started to run forward.

Martha threw herself before Charlotte, cutting her off from Luther’s path.

“My dear, they speak the truth. She is not Mary. Any more than Constance is the queen. That note of marque was a ploy created by Constance and William Martin. A last effort to keep you from power. If you should shoot anyone, it should be Constance.” Martha met my gaze. There was a plethora of anger and bitterness there. She was no longer my ally, my companion. She had changed sides.

Luther watched Martha with a calculated gaze, and then he relaxed, removed his finger from where it was beginning to press the trigger.

“Marta, Marta,” Luther murmured, speaking her true name. “I do believe that you have outlived your usefulness,” and with that said, he jerked his pistol toward her and fired.

Charlotte, Betsy, and I all screamed different things at the same moment while Freddy ran forward. Charlotte had grabbed Martha’s arm and they both toppled to the floor. Freddy reached Charlotte first, and rolled Martha off of her. He searched Charlotte first, but she said that she was unharmed and begged him to check on Martha.

Martha was gripping her shoulder, where the ball had struck instead of her chest.

Jack and I charged toward Luther, but when he tightened his hold on Nell and Nell winced, we halted. Jack had a pistol in each hand with them raised toward Luther. Luther was using Nell as a shield, except that Nell was not tall enough to cover all of him. Luther’s head was still exposed.

“Come closer and I will shoot your mother,” Luther shouted.

Jack kept his pistols on him but did not move in closer.

“Why would you shoot your only ally?” My question had merit, but the response was evident. He was a madman.

“She had too many demands. Consider, making demands of me.” He shook his head sadly.

“You were never going to marry her,” Jack said.

Luther looked appalled. “Marry the daughter of a peasant?” He scoffed. “The king can marry whomever he pleases, and a scullery maid is not to be considered.”

“Scullery maid! I was handmaiden to the queen!” Martha screeched from her place on the floor. She was laying on her uninjured side, as Freddy inspected her wound. Her eyes were ablaze with indignation.

“Only because Willem had his concubine speak for you,” Luther told her in Danish.

Jack and I stiffened, for we each understood what he said and that he spoke of Nell.

“You say that because she chose Willem over you,” Martha retorted.

Luther growled as he aimed his second pistol at Martha.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Charlotte jump up from her knees on the floor beside Freddy and move to stand before Martha.

Luther’s pistol never moved, but he smiled. “Forever the champion of your nursemaid,” Luther said to Charlotte.

Charlotte huffed and stomped her foot in the Charlotte way. “She is neither my nursemaid nor am I your niece, but you may believe that I will champion anyone who is being bullied.”

“Bullied?” Luther looked taken aback. He did not intend to bully anyone. He intended to kill Martha.

“Bullied,” Charlotte pursued as she took a mighty step toward him, her face set in determination and strength. “A bully is a horrible, ugly person who belittles everyone else to raise their self, because they know that the only thing inside of them is an ugly, black hole. But it does not have to be that way. You can choose to change, to release your anger and bitterness. You can choose to be good.”

Charlotte interlaced her fingers together and took another step toward Luther. “I know that it is difficult to turn from your wicked ways,” Charlotte threw me an apologetic look before focusing on Luther again, “but you can do it. Choose the path of goodness. Please.”

Pride rose within me as I looked at Charlotte. She had truly grown in the last few months. In wisdom, beauty, and grace. She had become a woman, and she had fallen in love. Not that her brother would think Freddy worthy of her, but I would be on her side if he was whom she chose.

Luther was staring at Charlotte as if he did not know who she was, or what he should think.

At last, Luther smiled. “Little Mary.”

In that moment, I saw it. I saw it!

Turning toward Charlotte, I started to scream her name…

Luther’s pistol exploded and everything moved as if the world had slowed down.

Freddy leapt over Martha, shoving Charlotte out of the way, as the ball struck. Freddy landed on the floor beside Charlotte, and he did not get up. He did not move. Melly was the first at Freddy’s side, clutching his hand, saying his name. Her love for him was evident by the way she tried to wake him. Then, her tear filled gaze shifted to Luther.

“
You
! You killed my brother!” Her scream caused cold shivers to dance across my skin. Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I refused to step near the black depths that were surging toward me.

Charlotte’s sobs filled the room as she shook Freddy, saying his name over and over.

Melly shoved herself to her feet, pointed her pistol at Luther, and then ran.

“Murderer!”

Jack tried to halt her, but she dodged around his outstretched arm.

Luther’s eyes were wide, horrified, and focused upon his son’s unmoving form.

Sounds of the front doors bursting open and then men shouting as the fight moved indoors sparked something wild in Luther’s gaze. Removing his pistol from Nell’s neck, he shoved her straight into Melly’s path, and then turned and ran.