Chapter 1 Spring 1886 #2
Rhett stuck his hand into his pocket, which had her fingers tightening around her derringer again, her grip loosening as he pulled out a crumpled calling card and thrust it her way.
Having no choice but to take the card as Rhett had thrust it directly under her nose, Seraphina gave it a cursory glance before lifting her head. “You’re the proprietor of Harvey Brothers Circus, one you’re promoting as the most innovative circus in the country?”
“Too right I am.” Rhett beamed another smile at her.
“That’s why we’ve been following you.” He nodded to Dazzle, who was in the process of bowing to the crowd gathered around her, all of whom were clapping and cheering her on, which was hardly going to have Dazzle abandoning her overly abundant bag of tricks anytime soon.
“That horse of yours is exactly what we need to really cement the innovative splash Otto and I intend to make.”
“Dazzle isn’t for sale.”
“Maybe we should let Mr. Franklin be the judge of that,” Otto said, stepping forward and settling an indulgent smile on her, as if he found her not only lacking in the looks department but also lacking in the intelligence department as well.
“Mr. Franklin is currently, ah, indisposed and won’t be able to be the judge of anything,” she managed to get through teeth that had taken to clenching.
“Perhaps you should allow us to decide if he’s indisposed or not,” Otto returned.
Her lips thinned. “Mr. Franklin would hardly appreciate having his indisposed nature interrupted since it’s one of a, erm, repulsive nature.
” Seraphina gave a sad shake of her head as the perfect malady for her nonexistent husband sprang to mind.
“From what the physician told me, his condition is highly contagious and is actually why I grew three new warts on my face just yesterday.”
It was hardly a surprise when both men turned their attention to the many warts she’d attached to her face, having decided during the Merriweather Academy for Young Ladies’ Christmas break that warts were far more effective a disguise than the moles she’d been sporting for months.
She’d then decided, given the monthlong holiday, that her students probably wouldn’t notice the difference, and to her delight, she’d been quite right about that.
Not a single student asked why she was suddenly in possession of numerous warts or even noticed that the wart she’d attached to her nose had a rather unattractive black hair sticking out of it.
Otto gave another shudder, his attention now riveted on the hairy wart in question. “I’ve never heard of warts sprouting overnight,” he finally said.
“Which suggests Mr. Franklin’s indisposed condition is serious business and also suggests he’s the last person either of you should seek out.”
“She makes an excellent point,” Rhett said before he blew out a breath. “I don’t think anyone would be clamoring to buy tickets to our show if we suddenly came down with unfortunate cases of warts.”
Otto dragged his attention from the wart he’d been fixated on and took a telling step away from her.
“Warts certainly wouldn’t increase ticket sales, which means .
. .” He turned another indulgent smile on Seraphina.
“We’ll have to negotiate the sale of the horse with you after all—but from a distance, of course—and with all due haste to lessen the chance of me and Rhett coming down with a dreaded case of warts. ”
“There’s no need for us to negotiate anything as, again, Dazzle isn’t for sale.”
“I bet Mr. Franklin would appreciate it if you brought home an unexpected ten spot.”
“And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t insult my intelligence since Dazzle is worth at least a hundred spots, and that would be a bargain price for her.
” Seraphina lifted her chin. “With that settled, I have numerous matters to attend to today, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll bid the two of you good day, as well as bid you good luck with your innovative circus plans. ”
Turning on her heel, Seraphina began walking in Dazzle’s direction but was yanked to a stop when Otto materialized beside her and had the audacity to snag hold of her arm.
She narrowed her eyes on him. “You would be wise to release me.”
“Not until we come to terms about the horse. How about if I give you twenty for her?”
“And how about you let go of me because, if you’ve forgotten, I recently contracted a regrettable case of the warts, something you might now come down with given your close proximity.”
Otto was stumbling backward a heartbeat later, the rapidness of his backpedaling causing him to lose his balance and drop to the ground, a loud oomph escaping him once he hit the hard surface.
Unwilling to allow a prime opportunity to escape the brothers who seemed unusually desperate to acquire a horse that gave new meaning to the word trouble, Seraphina strode over to Dazzle, nodded to the audience still surrounding her, then pulled herself into the sidesaddle.
Taking the reins in a practiced hand, she stilled when she heard Rhett yell something from behind her.
She twisted around and arched a brow his way, one he neglected to notice because he was gesturing to a crowd that was now assembling around him, or more specifically, to a woman who was all but clutching her pearls as she gaped at Otto, who was still lying on the ground.
Rhett turned his gesturing Seraphina’s way and pointed.
“She’s right there—the woman who knocked my poor brother straight to the ground, and for no good reason.”
Given that Otto had at least two hundred pounds on her, it was questionable that she would have been able to even budge the man, let alone knock him to the ground, but since the crowd gathered around Rhett was now sending scandalized looks her way, she didn’t think it was exactly a prudent moment to point that out to everyone.
“We need to go,” Seraphina told Dazzle right as three men broke away from the crowd and began striding toward her, determination stamped across their faces.
Thankfully, Dazzle seemed to sense the precariousness of their situation and didn’t hesitate to bolt into motion the moment Seraphina kneed her, galloping down the street even as Rhett began bellowing for renewed assistance, yelling “Stop her!” and “She tried to hurt my brother!”
Dodging a delivery wagon, and then a group of men who materialized around that wagon, one of the men making an attempt to grab Dazzle’s harness, which left Dazzle skittering to the right, Seraphina took a death grip on the pommel, something that saved her from somersaulting through the air again when Dazzle reared up, Seraphina’s teeth jolting together when the mare dropped to the ground and took off like a shot.
Knowing there was little chance of controlling her, Seraphina allowed Dazzle her head, continuing to hang on for dear life as Dazzle thundered down the street, everything passing Seraphina in a blur until the mare began to slow four blocks later.
Seraphina chanced a glance over her shoulder and discovered no one chasing them, but before she could do more than breathe a sigh of relief, Dazzle suddenly stopped in her tracks, almost unseating Seraphina once again.
The reason for the stop quickly became evident when Seraphina looked up and discovered an enormous black horse standing in the middle of the street twenty feet away from them.
Unfortunately, sitting on top of this enormous horse was an equally enormous man, who was sitting quite as if he’d been born to the saddle, just as it seemed he’d been born to hold the pistol gripped in his hand, one that was, concerningly enough, aimed her way.