The Runaway McBride (14 page)

The minutes ticked by with no more shots to frighten the life out of her. She might have been the only person in the world. As her fear ebbed, suspicion filled her mind. What was James doing here? What had he done with Mr. Farr? How did he know about this waterfall?

A sudden spray of water doused her cheeks, and she sucked in a startled breath.
Only a douse of cold water,
she told herself crossly as her heart gradually slowed. She grew impatient with herself. She’d just heard her mother’s life story. There was nothing her mother would not dare. Then why was she, her mother’s daughter, cowering in this foxhole like an escaped convict? She had done nothing wrong.

On that thought, she pushed herself up, flattened her back against the rock face, and edged her way out. Breathing deeply, she stepped away from the water’s edge and promptly stumbled. Her shoes were wet, the hem of her coat soaked up water, and she was tempted to weep. As she got up, she allowed herself a small sniff then froze when she heard someone approaching.

“I’ve got one of them,” a voice shouted, a cultured voice. Through the mist a shape emerged, a ghostly shadow, indistinct and horribly threatening.

The cultured voice continued, “No sign of the other one.” Then to Faith, “Come over here and don’t try anything.”

Faith spoke clearly and reasonably with only a slight tremor in her voice. “This has all been a colossal misunderstanding. My friend seems to think that you are villains, and you seem to think that we are poachers. We’re not. Lady Cowdray will vouch . . .” Her words died when she saw the revolver he was pointing straight at her. Her heart began to race, and she could scarcely hear the sound of the waterfall for the blood pounding in her ears.

Someone else emerged from the mist, someone whose voice had the broad accent of one of the locals. He was breathless from his exertions. “Three of our fellows are down. Do what you have to do, and let’s get out of here before her friend comes after us.”

Do what you have to do.
She didn’t like the sound of that. Where was James? Why had he left her to the mercy of these villains?

“Patience,” said the cultured voice. “First she has to give us the book.”

First
she had to give him the book? What came second? As her mind made the connection, her fear took a gargantuan leap. He was going to kill her. She had only one chance, and she seized it. “James!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, as though she were yelling a battle cry, and she sprang at the man with the gun, the man she considered the leader.

He wasn’t expecting her attack. Unbalanced, with a shocked yell, he teetered at the edge of the roiling stream then fell into it with an almighty splash. His companion was too slow for Faith. With a speed born of desperation, she dodged past him and darted into the mist.

Her feet had never moved faster. Her heart had never pumped so hard. Though she was running blind, only one thought gripped her mind: she had to get away.

A tall, shadowy figure suddenly loomed up in front of her. Faith put her head down and charged. He sidestepped the charge, grabbed her from behind, and clamped a hand over her mouth, cutting off her scream.

“Can’t you do anything right?” he growled in her ear. “I told you to stay hidden. You were quite safe where you were. What were you thinking to show yourself and scream my name? ”

At the first sound of James’s voice, her body went lax. When he took his hand away from her mouth, she got out in gasps, “We’ve got to get back to the house. We’ll be safe there.”

“That’s the first place they’ll look. Have you got the book they were after? ”

“Right here.” She undid the top button of her coat and produced her parcel and reticule.

“What makes it so special? I mean, why kill for it? ”

She shook her head. “I have no idea. It’s only my mother’s diary. Maybe when I have a chance to read it, it will tell me.”

“Then let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Where are we going? ”

“Back to the station to catch the train.”

She would have protested that she could not make it that far, when the sound of someone whispering nearby made her heart jump. Swallowing her fear, she clutched James’s coat and followed where he led.

 

 

When they reached the station, passengers were beginning to
board the train. “If we run . . .” Faith stopped. She could hardly find the breath to go on. They’d covered the distance to the station in ten minutes, and her body was punishing her for putting it to such a test. Her legs felt leaden, her lungs were burning, and if it were not for James’s arm holding her up, she wouldn’t be moving at all.

“Hurry!” she managed to gasp out.

He was scanning the station just in case one of the thugs had arrived before them. Satisfied that his dream had not misled him, he gave his attention to Faith. “What did you say? ”

“We’ll miss the train.”

“Oh, it won’t go without me.”

Now she was really annoyed. “Don’t be stupid. Trains wait for no one.”

“They do for me. Ah, there’s the stationmaster. I want a word with him. This will only take a moment. Keep your head down and keep out of sight.”

He moved so fast, she didn’t have time to argue. With an arm around her shoulders, he rushed her to the front of the train, handed two tickets to the ticket master, then shoved her inside and stalked off to speak to the stationmaster.

She could see the stationmaster’s face. He shook his head in response to something James said. A moment later, his eyes widened, and he nodded. At that point, Faith looked down the length of the platform. There was no sign of anyone who looked like a villain. Then again, what did she know about villains?

Her attention turned to the interior of the carriage that James had pushed her into. Naturally, it was first-class. It comprised two separate compartments, both empty, and a convenience at one end of a short corridor for, well, the convenience of first-class passengers.

The guard blew his whistle just as James climbed into the carriage. “Let’s take the last compartment in the carriage,” he said. “I always find it more comfortable.”

“I’m not interested in comfortable!” The impatience in her voice made his brows lift. “I’m interested in someone trying to kill me! I’m interested in what you said to the stationmaster! But most of all, I’m interested in what you are doing here in Chalbourne and how you knew I would be here.”

There was the sudden grind of metal on metal, and a belch of steam billowed from the engine, engulfing the nearest carriages in its choking fumes.

James said, “Shall we take our seats before we are jolted off our feet? ”

If there was one thing she detested, it was take-charge men. On the other hand, if he had not turned up when he did, she could be lying in a ditch right now.

Squaring her shoulders, she followed him into the compartment, sank into a well-upholstered banquette, and waited for him to join her. “Well, James Burnett, I’m waiting for an explanation.”

When he began to laugh, she bristled. “Did I say something funny? ”

He shook his head, but he didn’t stop grinning. “Look at you,” he said. “Look at me. We look like a couple of scarecrows.”

She had to give him the point. They were both mired with mud, and leaves were sticking to their hair. She’d lost her bonnet, but at least her precious parcel was intact. She rested her hand on it in an unconscious protective gesture.

“Once the train gets going, you can tidy yourself in the facilities,” he said.

Her interest was piqued. She’d always wanted to see all the amenities of first-class travel. “Later,” she said. “First, I want to know what you were doing at Lady Cowdray’s and how you knew those villains would be lying in wait for me.”

He combed his fingers through his hair and threw her a strangely appealing look. Finally, he shrugged. “I have two explanations,” he said. “The first is . . .”

“Yes? ”

James linked his fingers and contemplated them in silence. He was remembering his dream, how everything had been laid out for him like a map: the house, the bridge, the waterfall, the lay of the land. He’d been inside the mind of the leader and knew where and how he had placed his men. It was like a game of chess. There was no way he could circumvent it. He couldn’t stop Faith going to see Lady Cowdray nor did he want to. It was imperative that she get the book. All he could do was play to win.

He drew in a quick breath. “The first explanation is that I inherited the gift of second sight from the McEcheran side of my family, and I can see into the future—”

She cut him off with a disbelieving snort. “Do I look like a simpleton? This is not a joke. We are in serious trouble.”

He regarded her steadily for a moment, then said, “According to my Scottish Granny McEcheran, I’m a Grampian seer.”

“Yes, well, according to my Irish Granny McBride, our family can trace its roots back to Merlin, and that trumps any seer you care to name. Can we get on with it? You said you had two explanations. The second had better be more credible than the first.”

He raised his shoulders in a gesture of defeat. “Have it your own way. It’s just as I told you. I saw your advertisement in the paper and decided to follow up on it. When you told me that you suspected you were being watched, I decided to follow up on that, too.”

She was breathing hard as she saw how it must have happened. “You broke into my room and found my correspondence!”

“You wouldn’t tell me anything. What else could I do? ”

“You knew I was coming here today to meet Lady Cowdray?”

“And I’m not sorry I did.” He sounded aggrieved. “Those cutthroats were lying in wait for you.”

She pounced on this. “How could you possibly have known that? And don’t give me that nonsense about second sight.”

“I wasn’t about to. I overheard them on the way up. They were waiting in ambush under the bridge.” Leastways, he’d dreamed it, so it wasn’t an outright lie. “They wanted the book. You were safe as long as you didn’t give it to them.”

Her brow knitted in a frown. “Where did you go when I was hiding under the waterfall? One of the villains said that three of their fellows were down. They’re not . . . ?” She choked on the word.

“Of course they’re not dead!” He shook his head in disbelief. “I knocked them about a bit, that was all. They’ll survive.”

She wasn’t finished yet. “Did you follow me to Lady Cowdray’s?”

“I was on the same train as you.”

“But—”

He suddenly pounced on her. “Have done with these useless questions! You’re alive! I’m alive! Things might have turned out quite differently. Don’t be such a sober-sides. Everything worked out for the best, didn’t it?”

He was right. An intoxicating cocktail of emotions—delayed relief, joy, rapture—bubbled up, making her dizzy. “Yes, of course, it did.”

“That’s all I wanted to hear.”

Then he kissed her.

It wasn’t a gentle kiss. It was bruising, greedy, glorious, and just what she needed at that moment in time. She was alive, desperately alive, and so was James. The need to affirm that truth suffused every cell in her body. She wrapped her arms around him and savored the strength of the arms that wrapped around her. She thought she would melt with the wonder of it.

When he touched his tongue to hers, the familiar quiver began deep inside her. They couldn’t get close enough. He lifted her bodily to sit on his lap, and the hard bulge that thrust against her made her ache with wanting. He kissed her again and again, his mouth slanting across hers with a passion that made her dizzy. His hands slid to her bottom, and he pulled her hard against his groin. When he ground himself against her, she moaned with a need that was building higher and higher.

She kissed his cheeks, his ears, his throat, and made a small sound of pleasure when she felt the pulse in his throat jump. Her actions were rash, but she wanted to be rash. She was tired of being constrained by all the rules that had been placed upon her, as her father’s daughter, as a paid companion, and as a teacher. She wanted to be more like her mother. She wanted to squeeze as much out of life as was humanly possible and damn the consequences. There would be pain, there would be pleasure, but at least the empty, hollow space where her heart should be would know that she had truly lived.

Her ardor fired his like a flame to dry tinder. He undid the buttons of her coat and dragged the bodice of her gown to her waist. Her stays were easily dealt with, then he feasted on her breasts, laving the hard buds of her nipples, sucking until pain and pleasure became pure torment.

When he raised his head to look at her, they were both breathing hard. His words punctuated his harsh gasps as he drew air into his lungs. “I’ve never seen you like this before. What—”

She wasn’t about to let him spoil it with words. She reached for the closure on his trousers and began to undo the buttons. “I’m not looking for love. I don’t want a husband. I want to experience everything life has to offer before it’s too late.”

There was a moment of profound silence; then, as suddenly as he had grabbed her, he thrust her away and lifted her till she was sitting in her own place. She blinked rapidly as she came to herself.

“James,” she breathed out, “what . . . ?”

He was scowling, and she instinctively inched away.

“A new experience. Is that what I am? ” His voice grated on her ears like sandpaper on a scab. “You don’t know when to stop. This is what got us into trouble all those years ago: lust, sheer animal lust. Seems that neither of us has learned from our mistakes.” He straightened and folded his arms across his chest. He spoke in a flat, neutral tone. “Shall we return to the subject at hand? I’ve answered your questions; now it’s your turn to answer mine.”

Faith stared at him wide-eyed as she pulled her clothes into place. She wanted to brain him. She wanted to throttle him. She wanted to spit on him and stomp all over him.