Chapter Twenty-Two
Eileen tried to get the boy to tell her who had sent him, what had they threatened the boy with to get him to deliver the message in person. But it was no use; he kept his head down as he raced along the road toward the cliffs, stumbling on the path that led to the beach below.
The high-pitched, keening cry had Eileen scanning the land below them.
There, on the sand, stood a woman with her hands bound behind her back, a huge bruise across one side of her face, and tears streaming down her face.
Their gazes met, and the younger woman mouthed, I’m sorry, to Eileen, before turning to one of the men holding her captive.
“He’s brought one of the women. You said you’d let us go free if he did. ”
“I changed my mind. I want both of them!”
The woman started screaming, and the little boy rushed headlong toward her. “Mum, no! He’ll hit you again.”
The slap didn’t stop the woman for more than a moment. She kicked out one foot at the dastard who’d struck her, connecting solidly with one of his knees. He groaned and lost his balance. The other man yanked the woman by her hair and roared, “Stop it, or you’re both dead!”
Eileen held the little boy by his shoulders, to keep him from getting hit, but he squirmed free, rushing toward his mother. “Leave her alone!”
The man raised his fist, and Eileen screamed for help as she sprinted toward them.
Head down, she plowed into the oaf’s solar plexus.
His surprised expression and gasps, as he tried to regain control of his breath, would be something to relish, later, when she repeated her afternoon’s adventures to Flaherty.
Dear Lord, was she too late to help O’Malley and her husband?
“Where are O’Malley and Flaherty?” She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, but didn’t have time to react before white-hot pain seared through the back of her head. Her vision blurred. If Flaherty and O’Malley were not in danger yet, they would be if they came looking for her.
Vowing to protect the man she loved, and his cousin, while aiding the boy and his mum in escaping, she wavered on her feet and lifted her chin.
“Whatever it is that you want, you’ll never get it.
Flaherty and O’Malley are formidable when riled.
They’ll be angry on behalf of this poor boy you used to lure me away from the manor house. You won’t get away with—”
The blow to the side of her head knocked her off her feet.
She held out her arms to keep from landing on her face.
For a moment, she couldn’t see, couldn’t hear.
She shook her head to clear it, but a wave of dizziness swept up from her feet.
Unable to escape it, Eileen felt the darkness pull her under.
*
“I don’t like it,” Flaherty said. “We haven’t been able to get our hands on Selkirk or Talbot. They weren’t in the caves Judson always uses.”
O’Malley was frowning—not a good sign. He usually kept a neutral expression on his face.
“What are ye thinking?”
O’Malley gave a slight shake of his head in answer.
“Has everyone reported in?” Flaherty asked.
“Aye. We need to stop at the manor house to see if there have been any unwanted visitors.”
“Let’s head out now,” Flaherty said. “We haven’t found a bloody clue as to where those two blackguards are hiding.”
A short while later, they arrived to chaos.
Mollie had her babe wrapped in a warm shawl, snuggled tight against her, and was yelling at the trio of men standing between her and the stables to move out of her way.
Flaherty knew something had happened to his wife, otherwise she’d either be helping Mollie up on to the back of a horse, or into a wagon.
“Mollie,” O’Malley called out loud enough to be heard over the raised voices as he dismounted and strode over to where she stood. She immediately stopped and turned toward him. He reached her side and pulled her close. “Where do ye think ye’re going?”
“I have to follow Eileen! It’s been almost an hour, and she hasn’t returned.”
Worry lanced through to Flaherty’s bones. “Where did she go?”
“She followed the little boy who came to tell us…” She paused and let her gaze slide from the top of O’Malley’s head to his feet, then did the same for Flaherty. “You’re not hurt.”
Flaherty and O’Malley shared a look. “Should we be?” O’Malley said.
Flaherty didn’t have time for explanations. He needed to go in the direction his wife had. “Where did Eileen go?”
Mollie’s eyes welled with tears, but she blinked them away. “I don’t know. I promised her I would stay inside with our daughter, Finn. But it’s been too long—at least one of the stable lads should have come back with Eileen and the two of you… You’re not bleeding.”
“Nay, lass, we aren’t.”
Flaherty ground his back teeth in frustration. “Which direction did the lads go?” he demanded of the stable hands. Before they had a chance to answer, he asked, “Did they take extra horses or a wagon to drag our bleeding bodies back with them?”
O’Malley swore. “Best answer soon, before Flaherty starts taking ye apart one at a time until he gets the answer he’s needing about his wife’s whereabouts.”
The three men started talking simultaneously. “She ran after the boy,” one said.
Another chimed in, “They took one of the wagons.”
“Who’s they?” Flaherty demanded.
“Royce’s sons,” the third man answered.
Flaherty quickly digested the news. “Toward the village?”
“Aye.”
O’Malley shook his head. “We just came from that direction, and the road to the village winds in and around it.”
“There is no way we wouldn’t have noticed a wagon, and two young men driving it into the village,” Flaherty added.
O’Malley nodded to him. “Go! I’ll be right behind ye.”
Mollie started, “But you said you didn’t see a wagon—”
O’Malley pulled his wife into his arms, gutting Flaherty with the thought that if he didn’t find Eileen soon, he’d never be able to do the same with his wife.
“We know the direction.” O’Malley pressed a kiss to her forehead, the tip of her nose, and then her lips.
“We’ll be hungry when we come back with Eileen and her young escort.
A butter cake, cream tarts, or scones would be a welcome treat to hold us off until the evening meal.
” Boadicea started to fuss, and O’Malley eased his hold on his wife, pressing his lips gently to their babe’s head. “Is she hungry again?”
Mollie rolled her eyes at him. “She’s always hungry. Like father, like daughter.”
“Best get her fed and then see if ye can convince Mrs. Castleton to whip up a batch of scones.”
Mollie was smiling when she lifted to her toes to kiss O’Malley’s cheek. “I’m certain we can accommodate your request, Finn. Be careful. You too, Flaherty.”
“Aye, lass,” Flaherty replied. O’Malley was too busy kissing his wife. “Kiss her later—we need to find my wife!”
O’Malley kissed Mollie one last time before he vaulted into the saddle and followed Flaherty toward the road that would lead them to the village. A short distance from the manor house, Flaherty nodded toward the first path that led to the cliffs. “If ye take the first path, I’ll take the second.”
“Aye,” O’Malley agreed, and turned his horse to follow the path.
Flaherty continued a quarter of a mile farther to reach the other path leading to the cliffs.
He scanned the ground on both sides, looking for the indentations and tracks that wagon wheels would leave behind.
The storm from two nights ago—or was it three?
—had dropped a few inches of rain. The sandy soil on the surface had dried, but beneath, it would still be damp.
As he’d hoped, he finally spied the faint trail the wheels had left behind, and followed it.
He whistled for O’Malley—not certain his cousin would be able to hear him, but it was worth a try.
The faint answering whistle was music to his ears.
He’d leave O’Malley to follow his horse’s hoofprints along with the tracks from the wagon wheels.
As he approached the bend in the path where it angled sharply downward, he dismounted.
“I’ll be leaving ye up here, laddie, out of range of any lead balls that might be aimed in me general direction.
” His gelding lifted his head and snorted right in Flaherty’s face.
The animal’s hot breath, mixed with moisture, had him chuckling.
“I love ye too, but now ye’ll need to be quiet. Understood?”
The horse nudged Flaherty in the chest with his muzzle.
“There’s a lad. I’ll be back soon with me wife, and the stable lads that ye’ll be missing if I don’t bring them too.” He patted the side of the gelding’s neck and slipped out of sight, sticking to the edge of the path that hugged the side of the cliff until it wound back on itself.
Flaherty paused when he heard a deep voice and the brief stamping of hooves.
O’Malley had arrived. A glance up confirmed his assumption.
His cousin raised his chin in greeting. Flaherty didn’t bother to wait for him, continuing to the bottom of the path and edging his way toward the mouth of the cave normally used by Ruan, but which had been abandoned by the Frenchman after he and the duke had come to an agreement to work together to save O’Malley’s life.
There were a number of caves that had been used by smugglers and wreckers until the current duke assumed the title.
Once the duke had installed O’Malley and Flaherty as guards at Penwith Tower, things changed.
The duke himself met with the villagers and began to repair and rebuild his tenant farmers’ homes, as well as the chapel, and a few of the buildings in the village.
The duke firmly believed in taking care of the villagers who depended upon him, as well as the tenant farmers…
and he’d added the smugglers who were instrumental in aiding Flaherty’s saving of O’Malley from the hangman’s rope!