Tales of Timeless Romance

Chapter Nine

L iddy had arisen early to bid farewell to her father. As she stood on the veranda, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders, she had bid Daniel farewell as well, briefly catching his eye and the subtle nod he’d given her. Secure in the thought that he would relay her message to Alec and the other members of the Wilmington Safety Committee, Liddy did her very best to make herself inconspicuous.

The easiest way to do that in the country had always been to ride out on her horse. However, with that avenue of escape forbidden to her, she’d retreated to the library. In just a few minutes, she had pulled a slim volume from Goethe down from a shelf her father never bothered with. Along with that, she found a volume of hand-drawn maps of the area that her father had commissioned in hopes of securing even more land. Those she tucked into a pocket sewn into the skirt of her dress.

Should Alec or any of his compatriots arrive at Oak Grove, it might be of help to them as they strategized ways to stop the Regulators and Martin’s band of Highlanders. Liddy had just picked up the volume of Goethe when the door opened to admit Josiah Carr. He appeared taken aback to find her there but quickly covered it with bluster.

“What might you be doing in your father’s library?” he demanded.

Liddy raised her chin. “I had always thought it was the family’s library, Mr. Carr. So, in that light, I might ask what you are doing entering as if you have the right to barge into our family home.”

Carr’s eyes narrowed and he thrust his chin out belligerently. “You father left me in charge, missy, and you’ll be showing me some respect.”

Liddy set her book to one side. “I am in our family library searching for reading material since I am not to be allowed to ride on my own. Surely, I may have some amusements, or do you plan to confine me to my room?”

The smile that curved his lips gave her pause. What license had her father given this hideous man?

“Perhaps a few days in your room will change your outlook, Miss Fennell. By then, I feel sure your betrothed will be here.”

“I am not betrothed.”

“Exactly what your father said you might say. So it seems I will need to follow his instructions to the letter.” He turned his head and bellowed for Mrs. Keyes, the housekeeper.

The woman appeared in the doorway so quickly Liddy was positive she had to have been poised just outside. Her blue eyes were wide with fright and her shoulders slumped in submission. Although Liddy had always found the woman to be kind, she saw there would be no help from her in getting around Carr and what appeared to be a conspiracy to ensure she wed MacGill.

“Yes, sir, Mr. Carr.”

“Escort Miss Fennell to her room. She is to remain there until Mr. MacGill arrives.”

“You cannot keep me confined for days on end!” Liddy protested. “You have no right!”

“I have every right,” Carr shot back. “Your father gave me that right when he left me in charge of everything here at Oak Grove.”

The gaze he turned on her held a deep and abiding malice. She wasn’t sure whether it was towards her or all women. It was enough, though, to make her cautious.

“I will go as you ask and not cause any problems,” she responded, then continued so as not to make him suspicious of her sudden capitulation, “but once Mr. MacGill arrives, you may be sure I will speak to him about this.”

She picked up her book to leave the room.

“What is that tome you have there?”

The novel could hardly be called a tome. Letting her suspicions take root, she said, “’Tis just a silly romance by Samuel Richardson.” She held up the book so he might see it. “ Pamela is its title.”

He squinted at the copy of Goethe’s Leiden des jungen Werther. “Well, all right then. Take it with you. Silly stories for a silly young woman.”

Liddy rolled her eyes as she passed him on her way out. Carr couldn’t read. Perhaps that would work to her advantage. The odious man watched her all the way up the steps with Mrs. Keyes following close behind her. Once they reached the second floor, they were no longer in sight of Carr. Liddy turned to confront the housekeeper.

“Why are you toadying up to that horrible man, Mrs. Keyes?” she demanded.

The older woman dropped her head. “He said he would beat my boy if I didn’t do what he told me to.”

Liddy released her breath in a soft gasp. The woman’s son was sweet but none too bright. He worked in the stables tending the livestock and did a good job hunting game. Benji wouldn’t hurt a fly, but a man like Carr could do the poor boy a lot of harm.

“Oh, Mrs. Keyes. I am sorry! That man is evil. I promise I shall do nothing that will get you in trouble.”

Liddy continued on to her room. After going inside, the lock clicked behind her.

“I’m awfully sorry, Miss Liddy.” The muffled words of the housekeeper filtered through the door.

Liddy stared around the confines of her room. Her plans to escape seemed impossible now. For if she did, Josiah Carr was sure to carry out his anger on Benji Keyes. She only hoped now that Daniel might convince Alec that she needed help.

With a sigh of despair, she perched on the window seat and stared out over the neighboring expanse of flat, fallow land. It wouldn’t be long before teams of horses began turning the earth for planting, but for now, the fields lay waiting. Strips of woodland intersected the land and ran along the paths of the many creeks.

If she dared, Liddy knew she could disappear into those woods where Carr could never find her. The question was how.

Pacing her room did little to give her any solutions to her current dilemma. She extracted the maps she’d hidden in her pocket and took them back to the window seat where she examined them more closely. At this time of year, the maze of creeks in the area were often swollen so that crossing them was treacherous, unless one knew the area intimately. Liddy smiled slightly. She had roamed this area all her life, an advantage she would have over both the approaching loyalists and in escaping Carr as well as Iain MacGill, though she scarce pictured him chasing off in pursuit of her.

When supper approached and she had already lit the candles in her room against the gathering gloom of winter, a knock finally sounded at her door, followed by the jingle of keys.

“It’s Mrs. Keyes, Miss Liddy, come with your supper.”

“Come in.” Liddy stood with her back against the window as the door opened to admit not only the housekeeper, but also Josiah Carr, a leer creasing his scruffy, ginger-bearded cheeks. Liddy glared at him.

“I’ve come to make sure you mind your manners while your supper’s delivered. I’ll be fetching the tray myself in a half hour and making sure you’re locked in for the night.”

He had such a look of malicious triumph on his face that Liddy wanted to slap him. It was then that her plan of action came to her. If Carr himself was the one to lock her in for the night, then he could hardly hold Mrs. Keyes responsible if Liddy were not there come morning.

“I’m sure my father would be pleased to know you take your responsibilities so seriously, Mr. Carr.”

His gaze narrowed with uncertainty, as though he suspected she might not be sincere. Perhaps he wasn’t quite as dim as she thought.

“I’ll be staying in the guest room down the hall to make sure you’re safe.”

Liddy forced a slight smile. “Most reassuring. I’m sure your diligence will be rewarded once Mr. MacGill arrives.”

Once the door was locked, Liddy consumed the food that was perishable—a bowl of stew and a cold tankard of cider. The bread, cheese, and dried apples she wrapped in a linen fichu, which she tucked inside the window seat. While she had the lid opened, she checked the other treasure she had hidden there in recent years—money she had saved, a discarded knit cap that she had darned, and an earthenware jug stopped with a cork and supported inside a woven strap to carry across her body.

Looking back on it, Liddy supposed she had always known that at some point she would have to defy her father, and that her defiance might go as far as her current need to escape. She pressed her lips together, pushing back the disillusion that made her want to cry. How had her papa so lost sight of what should matter most?

With a shake of her head, Liddy tidied up, making it appear that she had finished her meal, before she sat in a chair near the fireplace and took up the sewing she had brought up with her the day before. She had always helped out with the mending of everything from aprons to her own clothing. While it wasn’t a chore she particularly enjoyed, it was a way for her to contribute to the household.

She had several mended items neatly folded on the stool in front of her when Carr returned for her tray. He didn’t knock and announce himself as Mrs. Keyes had. Instead, his footsteps and the rattle of the keys were her only warnings he was there. As the door opened, she rested her hands in her lap and looked up.

“I see you’ve found something useful to do instead of all the time having your nose stuck in a book. It’s no wonder you squint.” Carr laughed, as if making fun of her was a great joke.

While it was true Liddy was nearsighted, she did her very best not to squint at things—well, not often. She feigned a yawn. “I am quite exhausted. If you will take the tray and lock the door, then I can settle down for the evening.”

Carr turned his head toward the door. “Boy, get in here and fetch this tray.”

Benji entered, wide eyed and blushing at being in the house, she was sure. “M-miss Liddy.”

He touched his forehead respectfully, strands of his blond hair falling free of the queue at the back of his neck.

“Thank you, Benji. I hope you’re doing well.”

“I am, miss.”

“That’s enough talking,” Carr interrupted. “Take the tray down to the kitchen and get on out to the barn.”

Benji jumped as if he’d been struck. Liddy narrowed her eyes. It wouldn’t take much stretch of the imagination to believe Carr had already struck the boy more than once. Afraid she might raise Carr’s ire, she said nothing else until the door closed behind them.

Now all she had to do was wait until she was sure everyone had settled in for the evening. She would make her escape and take her horse with her. Maybe she would take Benji too. He could ride, and his presence might give her disguise as a lad a little more credence.

Patience had never been one of her strongpoints, but somehow, Liddy managed to keep quiet and still, listening for the gradual settling of everyone in the house. Of course, she couldn’t be sure of the servants, but she had heard the booted footsteps of Carr as he made himself comfortable in her family home. Liddy doubted her father had intended the man to take his duties quite so seriously. In fact, she wasn’t at all sure it was proper for him to be in the house with her.

Well, she wouldn’t be staying long enough for it to cause any kind of scandal.

When she at last felt she could safely leave, Liddy braided her long hair, wrapping the braid around her head before pulling on a knitted stocking cap that would hide her locks. She was no fool and knew her disguise would hold up under only the most cursory of meetings. With that in mind, she decided she must convince Benji to go with her. It would serve not only to keep him safe but her as well until she could figure out a way to get him home.

After slinging a satchel across her shoulders so it rested snugly against her back, Liddy slowly raised the window and eased her way out onto the porch roof. Really, she had to stop escaping this way, but needs must. There was a tense moment as she eased her way down the corner column until her feet rested on the veranda railing when a door shut at the rear of the house.

Liddy quickly dropped into the bushes surrounding the porch, crouching low as she looked out through them. Heart pounding, she squinted into the darkness. It was nearly impossible between her short-sightedness and the darkness to see who now walked away from the house.

The moon was on her side this night, however, and moved out from beneath the scattering of clouds to reveal the short, square form of Benji with his distinctive, rolling gate. Liddy pulled her boots from her satchel and jammed her feet inside them before hustling after the young man.

“Benji!” she whispered just loud enough to get his attention. When he turned, she held her finger to her lips. “Quiet. Let’s go to the barn.”

“Yes, Miss Liddy.”

She resisted the urge to keep looking over her shoulder. Everyone in the house was asleep with the possible exception of Benji’s mother. “What were you doing in the house so late?”

He paused in closing the door and hanging the small lantern he carried with him from a peg on the wall. “Am I in trouble? Mama was talking to me in the kitchen. She wants me to go rabbit hunting.”

Liddy smiled. Maybe Mrs. Keyes wasn’t quite as intimidated by Carr as it seemed. “That’s good thinking. Rabbits will make a nice stew.”

He eyed her. “What are you doing out here dressed like a lad?”

Liddy leaned back against the door. “That’s the thing. I need your help.” When he started to nod his head, she continued, “I want you to know everything before you agree because it might get you in trouble, although if you come back with rabbits, everything should be fine”

“Okay.” His voice had gone a bit hesitant as he glanced out a crack in the door.

“My papa is trying to make me marry Mr. MacGill. You remember him.” At Benji’s nod, Liddy said, “He’s on his way here, or soon will be, and my papa has left Mr. Carr to keep an eye on me. Except, he’s really keeping me prisoner inside the house. I snuck out and climbed down from my window to the veranda. That was when I saw you. I need help getting away.”

Benji’s eyes had widened at her tale. “I can saddle your horse, Miss Liddy.”

She took a deep breath. “That’s very kind, but you know I can do that for myself. I have a much bigger favor to ask of you. I need you to go with me. I think any people we might encounter would more likely believe we’re both lads if you were there to do the talking.”

“I’m not so good at talking.”

“I don’t expect we’ll have to partake in extended conversations. I would not ask this of you if it were not so important. I think there are some bad men headed this way, and I need to find out where they are. Do you think we could do that? You’re a good hunter. I believe you could help me with that, and we could look for rabbits for your mother along the way. Would you help me?”

He drew himself up taller, and Liddy realized Benji really was tall, a lot closer to being a man now.

“I’d be proud to help you.”

She grinned. “All right then. Let’s saddle our horses and go.”

“Can I let my ma know?” he asked.

As much as Liddy longed to tell him yes, the fewer people who knew what was happening the better. “She already sent you to hunt. So she won’t worry. Did she say how long you should be gone?”

Liddy suspected his mother had sent him away to make sure he was safe from Carr. She just hoped Benji’s response would confirm that.

“Mama said I should go to Mr. Ballard’s farm to hunt. He lets me stay in his tobacco barns if I’m hunting. Mama said two or three days.” He patted his bulging pockets. “Gave me plenty of food too.”

Liddy nodded. The Ballards often needed help picking, and Benji earned extra money for his mother that way. “I’ll make sure you’re back before she worries.”

“With rabbits?”

She smiled. “Of course.”

He nodded and worked with her to get the horses ready.