Chapter Twenty-Two #3
“I will if you tell me,” Eileen said. She slowly moved to brace herself against her husband so she could shift to an upright position. “Nate and his mother will be welcome at the manor, isn’t that right, Fenton?” Before he could answer, she added, “Won’t they, O’Malley?”
“That they will be,” Flaherty agreed with a nod in his cousin’s direction. “Finn would never turn away a hungry boy and his ma.”
“But I—” Nate began.
“Were brave enough to do everything in yer power to save yer ma. Be proud of that and let the rest go. There’ll be something hot to drink and sweet to eat after we let ye relax in a tub of hot water.”
Nate’s mother stared at Flaherty for a few moments before asking, “Do you really mean that?”
“I always say what I mean.”
Nate let go of his mother, crossed his arms in front of him, and glared at Flaherty. “I’m not taking a bath! I could catch a chill and get sick!”
O’Malley laughed. “Aren’t ye sick of the smell on ye?”
The lad lifted an arm and sniffed. “I don’t smell.”
Flaherty stared at him. “Ye smell like ye’ve been rolling in the straw in the barn the horses piss in.” He frowned at the boy. “Have ye been roiling in soiled straw?”
Nate’s mother and Eileen laughed. Listening to it, Flaherty felt a sense of calm. Peace settled in and around them inside of the cave.
“Let’s get moving. There’s scones and cream tarts waiting for us,” Flaherty told the boy.
“But I don’t want—”
Flaherty put his hand on Nate’s shoulder again. “There are times in a man’s life when he has to make choices he might not want to.” He glanced at Nate’s mother.
In the end, he did not have to coerce Nate into doing what was right. The boy sighed. “I’ll take a bath, but only after me mum. She’s worked so hard since we lost my dad and deserves clean water.”
“I’m sorry for yer loss. Yer da would be proud of ye, lad.”
The sound of men approaching ended their conversation. O’Malley and Flaherty turned as one, the women and the boy tucked safely behind them. “Be ready to move on three,” O’Malley warned Flaherty.
“Aye.”
“One…” O’Malley said, only to stop when Tremayne and his team burst into the cave, pistols pointed at their hearts.
“O’Malley? Flaherty? Did you find… Ah, there you are, Eileen.” After a quick perusal of the situation, Tremayne frowned. “You’re hurt.”
She frowned back at him. “Well, O’Malley and my husband aren’t.”
Tremayne’s lips twitched at the tone of her voice, and Flaherty bristled. “Stop staring at me wife.”
“Who did this to you?” Tremayne asked, ignoring Flaherty.
“Selkirk,” Flaherty grumbled. “I took care of him and one other. O’Malley took care of Talbot and the man tied up beside him.”
O’Malley nodded to the tall, thin man. “As Talbot is still conscious, I’m certain he’ll be wanting to tell us who the other two men are. I don’t trust them to give their real names.”
“They were no doubt recruited by Selkirk when he put his plan into place to abduct me wife—and yers, from what Mollie said.” Now that the wrecker and his men had been dealt with, and Eileen seemed to be lucid despite the blows to her head, Flaherty’s heart had settled to a normal beat.
He should admit that he and O’Malley needed more hands to clean up the situation and get his wife, Nate, and Nate’s ma back to the manor house.
They could have handled things on their own, though it would have taken far longer to sort out.
Time was not to be wasted when he planned to stop and have the physician examine his wife’s hard head—and this time he meant that as a compliment, for surely the thickness of her skull had saved her life.
“From the look in your eyes, Flaherty,” Tremayne said, “I’ll be taking charge of Selkirk.
We need him alive in order to bring him before the Admiralty Court, along with the other wreckers.
Are you going to stand there staring at the bugger, or are you going to help me load these men into the wagon waiting outside? ”
Instead of answering the lieutenant, Flaherty pulled his wife into his arms. “We’ll be accompanying the prisoners to the village to remand them into the constable’s care.
” Holding her gaze for long moments to gauge the size and movement of her pupils, he asked, “Are ye feeling up to it, or should I take ye home?”
She answered immediately. “I’m going with you.”
Flaherty searched her face one last time before accepting her answer. “Fine, then.” He turned to Tremayne. “Did ye say ye had the wagon?”
“Aye, Dillon and I found the stable hands, horse, and wagon in one of the smaller caves nearby. We freed them.”
“Where are the rest of me brothers?” Flaherty asked.
“In the village, guarding the other prisoners.”
He turned to motion for Nate and his mother to follow them, but the boy surprised him by begging, “Please don’t kill me!”
Flaherty froze. “Kill ye? Now why would I be doing that?”
Nate pointed at Selkirk. “That man said you’d put a blade in my heart if I didn’t do exactly what he said.”
“And did ye?”
The boy hung his head. “Aye. He told me to run to the duke’s manor house and tell a lie.”
“Oh?” Flaherty said. “What lie?”
“That you and O’Malley were hurt and bleeding.”
“And ye were to tell this lie to O’Malley’s wife and mine?”
The boy hung his head lower. “Aye.”
“Ye’re a brave lad for telling me. I give ye me word that I mean ye no harm, and I’ll speak on yer behalf to the other men when the time comes.”
The boy lifted his face, and Flaherty wanted to beat Selkirk all over again when he saw the bruise on the boy’s chin.
“Men?”
“Aye, lad. None that ye should fear. Tremayne here’s a former lieutenant in the King’s Dragoons.
Then there’s me three older brothers, all serving with O’Malley and me in the Duke of Wyndmere’s private guard.
Added to them will no doubt be me father-in-law and his men, all wanting to be involved as well. ”
The boy shifted to stand in front of his mother.
Though he only stood rib high to her, his intentions were clear.
He would die to protect his ma. “Will you give your word that they will not hurt my mum? The bad man said that if we escaped, he’d send men after us, and they’d do things to her that would make Mum cry. ”
Flaherty didn’t bother to ask what those things were. He could guess. Selkirk was despicable. “Ye have me word.”
“And mine, too.” O’Malley turned to Tremayne. “Let’s take two men at a time and load them up.”
A short time later, the prisoners were bound—though only Selkirk was gagged—and in the wagon and on their way to the village. One stable lad handled the reins, while the other sat facing the wagon bed with his blunderbuss trained on its occupants.
Satisfied that everything was under control, and that his wife did not show any of the noticeable signs of a serious head injury, Flaherty signaled to his cousin and Tremayne. “I’ll be taking Nate and his ma to Dr. Wolcock.”
Eileen had been quiet while the men were secured in the wagon, leaving Flaherty to wonder if she was in more pain than she’d admitted to.
She laid her hand on his arm and whispered, “Thank you. Nate and his mum have been so brave, but I am worried about their wrists where the rope rubbed the skin raw.”
Flaherty scooped her into his arms. “Well now, that’s grand, though ye’ll be the first patient the good doctor examines.”
Instead of the pushback he expected from his feisty wife, she sighed. “Very well.”
Panic seeped into his heart, but he did not want the lass to know how concerned he was.
She was indeed either in far more pain than she admitted, or she knew he would badger her until she gave in and agreed to see the physician.
“Which is it?” he asked. “Ah, so ye haven’t been telling me the truth about the pain in yer head. ”
Eileen brushed the tips of her fingers over his jaw and pressed her lips to the bruise that would fade with time. “You need all of your attention on your duties to His Grace, and at the moment that includes turning the prisoners over to the constable, who will be transporting them to London.”
He drew in a deep breath, starting to become irritated with her evasions. “I’ll have yer answer now, lass, because I’m thinking ye’ve been prevaricating. How badly does yer head pain ye?”
Her eyes narrowed, and a heartbeat later his head was ringing.
O’Malley snorted and looked over his shoulder at Tremayne. “I’m thinking me cousin-in-law has a way of getting her point across, don’t ye?”
Tremayne chuckled. “How does your head feel, Flaherty?”
Astounded that his wife had struck him again, Flaherty shook his head and immediately regretted it. “She got her point across, though for the life of me I do not understand why she couldn’t just answer me question.”
“She already did,” Nate reminded him. “Twice, don’t you remember?”
The lass’s lips lifted into a smile that warmed his heart.
“Faith, I must have been too worried to listen.”
“I do not lie,” Eileen said. “In future, if you ask me a question, I expect you to trust that I am telling the truth.”
“Fair enough, lass, and I expect the same in return.”
“This should be interesting,” O’Malley muttered to Tremayne.
“Mayhap a wager?” Tremayne suggested loud enough for Flaherty to hear.
“Best two out of three bare-knuckle bouts,” Flaherty replied.
“I’ll take that wager,” Tremayne and O’Malley said at the same time.
“Done,” Flaherty said. “Let’s move out.”
O’Malley rode on one side of the wagon with the little boy on his lap. Flaherty rode on the opposite side with Eileen on his. Tremayne brought up the rear, carrying the boy’s mother.
Relieved that he had found the lass before the vile men who abducted her had time to inflict even more pain upon her, Flaherty tucked his wife against his heart and rode in silence, listening to the sound of her rhythmic breathing as she fell asleep in his arms.