Chapter Eight #2
“The staff have rooms on the floor above us,” Percy added. “I don’t think Flaherty and the others know about the hidden passageway, though. You can only get there through the fireplace.”
“In the room at the front of the house,” Phineas said.
“How do you two know about the hidden passageway?” Millie asked.
“Or where it leads?” Pippa’s belly churned with worry as she and Millie followed the twins through the door and up the staircase.
“We explored the whole house the first few days we were here,” Phineas bragged.
“We weren’t scared of the spiders or the dark!” Percy added.
Pippa stopped halfway up the stairs. “Spiders?”
“Dark?” Millie asked.
Phineas reached for Pippa’s hand at the same time that Percy reached for Millie’s. “Don’t worry,” Phineas said.
“We’ll protect you,” Percy assured them.
In the lead, Phineas reached the top, and slowly twisted the knob before pausing to put a finger to his lips. When everyone signaled that they understood, the boy opened the door a few inches and peered through the crack.
Pippa did not want the boys to come to harm if it was indeed Trentchester who was hiding upstairs with Roarke. “If you and Percy wait here, I’ll go to the room at the end of the hall.”
“You are not going to search for my son without me,” Millie declared.
“How will you find the passageway in the fireplace without us?” Phineas demanded.
“It’s hidden!” Percy reminded them. “Besides Phineas and me, only one…”
Pippa knew then that someone else knew about the passageway.
She’d bribe the information out of the boys later, with teacakes if she had to.
Pretending disinterest, she said, “We cannot all go. We’d make too much noise and cannot afford doing anything that would startle whoever has kidnapped Roarke—someone has to go for help. ”
Phineas and Percy shared a telling look before they put their heads together and whispered furiously. Finally Percy said, “Fine, but I get to be the leader next time!”
“All right,” his brother agreed.
“Promise?” Percy asked.
“On my honor.”
The look on young Phineas’s face, and the tone of his voice, reminded Pippa of the duke’s guard. She knew then that, despite their youth, these two were determined to help find the missing babe. The only worry was whom were they trying to protect.
Percy held out his hand to Millie. “My brother and I agreed that you should stay behind with me. Phineas wanted to go alone, but decided that Pippa should go with him.”
Millie protested, “But I’m Roarke’s mother.”
“And more likely than Pippa to gasp or cry out when you see your son,” Percy said.
“How did the two of you come to that decision?”
“Shush, Millie!” Pippa warned. “He’ll hear you.”
Phineas looked from Millie to Pippa and back. “Never mind that now. Percy will stand guard, while Millie goes for help.”
“But I’m his—” Millie began, only to close her mouth when both boys shook their heads.
“Mums are more protective of…” Phineas’s voice trailed off and shoulders slumped.
Percy put his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Most mums.”
Pippa sensed there was a sad story here.
It would explain why the boys were in the care of their cousin Prudence, living with the baron and baroness.
She would wait until Roarke was found and ask another time.
“Millie, the longer we stand here debating, the longer Roarke is being held captive. Please do as the boys ask. Go for help. If you do not run into Flaherty on the second floor, just go into the nearest room and tug the bellpull. Then go into the next room, and the next, and next, and do the same.”
Millie stared at Pippa for a moment before catching on to the plan. “The men will know something is wrong if all at once the servants are being summoned from all of the rooms on the second floor. The baroness is normally resting at this hour, and you and I usually stick by one another’s side.”
“Exactly,” Pippa said.
“Cousin Prudence and Caro have become thick as thieves since O’Malley married Caro. They are always together too,” Percy told them.
“Hurry, Millie,” Pippa urged. Without another word, Millie slipped through the door. Pippa had to strain to hear the sound of her friend’s footsteps.
“Follow me,” Phineas said, leading the way along the hall until they reached the door to the last room. Unlike the others, it was open. He beckoned Pippa to lean close and whispered, “Stay behind me, and don’t talk.”
The confidence the boy exhibited warmed her heart. It encouraged her and gave her hope that they would find the man responsible for stealing Roarke—and more importantly, Millie’s sweet babe! “I will.”
Phineas stealthily lead the way into the room. Once they realized it was empty, they made their way over to the fireplace. “Duck,” he ordered her.
Pippa obeyed, avoiding smacking her forehead. Once they were inside the fireplace, she was able to stand. “What do we do now?”
Phineas didn’t bother to answer her question. He ran his hands across the bricks until one moved, and a soft click sounded. Pippa’s mouth hung open as the back wall of the fireplace swung in. “This way!” he announced.
She marveled at the boy’s bravery, dashing into the darkened passage. She wished for a moment that she were the same age as the twins, and that she had discovered the secret passage. But no time for those thoughts now—she could hear the faint sound of an infant crying.
“Hurry!” Phineas rushed along the passageway.
Heavy footsteps sounded behind them. “How close are we to the other end of the hallway?”
“More than halfway.”
Relief filled her as she hurried to keep up with the boy. “Those footsteps behind us must be help arriving. What if they can’t get to us in time?”
Phineas sighed. “They won’t reach us before we get to the kidnapper.” He grabbed hold of her hand. “Listen!”
Roarke was screaming. Her heart ached for Millie’s babe, who was letting his abductor know at the top of his lungs that he was ready to eat. “He’s hungry and knows whoever has him is not his mum!”
“That’s in our favor,” Phineas replied. “Percy and I have noticed how Roarke squirms when he’s screaming to be fed. He seems too young to be able to move like that, but he does.”
“You have spent a bit of time getting to know Roarke if you have noticed that.” Pippa was beyond grateful to have their assistance. “The kidnapper will have to stop or he’ll lose his grip on Roarke, and trust me, he won’t want to do that.”
Phineas stared at her, looking as if he were going to ask a question, then the boy’s expression changed. “We have to hurry, then!”
As young as Phineas was, he must have realized the reason the kidnapper would not harm Millie’s babe…
money! Pippa picked up her skirts so she wouldn’t trip and rushed after the boy, wondering if he was holding back vital information.
The sight ahead of them in the passageway nearly stopped her heart—she recognized the man as one of the baron’s footmen!
Pippa knew she had to not only rescue Roarke, but protect young Phineas from harm. But how?
Her worst fears were realized when the man cocked his head, spun around with Roarke in his arms, and slowly smiled.
“My cousin told me to expect you, Miss Stanhope.” He let his gaze sweep from the top of her head to the tips of her half boots.
“You are not even half as pretty as this babe’s mum.
” Staring at her breasts, he added, “Though you are endowed where it counts.”
Mortification heated her face, and she felt Phineas shift beside her.
Hoping the boy didn’t know half of what the man insinuated, she placed her hands firmly on the boy’s shoulders.
He trembled beneath her touch. She sensed it was anger—not fear.
Needing the brute to know she was not cowed by his slur or suggestion, she demanded, “Give me that babe.”
The miscreant tilted his head back and roared with laughter.
“I like my women fiery!” It echoed down the passageway, and Pippa prayed it had been heard by their rescuers.
Roarke’s eyes widened as he cried louder.
The kidnapper had the babe tucked in one arm while he lunged for Phineas.
He missed when the boy shifted out of the way.
Pippa felt the large hand, and crushing grip, squeeze her upper arm. He yanked her toward him. Fearing for Millie’s babe, and the boy, she yelled, “Go! Get help, Phineas!”
The man laughed again, watching the boy dash along the passage.
“We’ll be long gone by the time they reach this spot.
” He shoved Roarke at her. She pulled the babe protectively to her breast, whispering nonsense words to soothe him.
Amazed that he quieted so quickly, she was about to say something, but the kidnapper held a knife in front of her face.
“You’ll do as a hostage.” He leaned closer.
“Know this: I’ll gut you if anyone tries to stop us. ”
The terrifying fear that gripped her ebbed, in its place acceptance that she would give her life to protect the babe in her arms. In that moment, she fully understood the vow Flaherty, Garahan, and O’Malley had promised the Duke of Wyndmere, and the wherewithal it took to give it.
Without hesitation, she would do the same for Millie and her babe.
“As long as you let me care for Roarke, I will do whatever you say.”
The man snarled. “Start walking and don’t stop until you reach the door at the end of the passage.”
“Then what?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you when we get there!”
Pippa tamped down the fear of what would happen to the precious babe in her arms, should she fail.
Resolved that that would not happen, she prayed for the strength and fortitude to do so.
A calm settled over her, and she knew her prayer had been heard.
As they reached the door, shouts and the sound of pounding footsteps could be heard from somewhere behind them.