Chapter 4 #3
“Jamie, please,” she begged. “I’m needing every breath to carry you. Please, no more questions.”
“Very well.” He wrapped his thin arms around her neck and laid his head on her shoulder.
Callie walked on for as long as she could, but after a time her arms and back ached. “Lad, I need for you to walk on your own for a bit.”
Jamie got down and held onto her skirts as they headed down another crowded street.
“How many days do you think it’ll take us to walk through London? A hundred? Two hundred?”
It felt like two thousand. “We’ll get out eventually. Try not to think about that. Think about being home again.”
“Can I think about my mother’s mincemeat tarts?”
“Sure.”
“Can I think about Uncle Aster’s horse?”
“Fine.”
“Can I think—”
“Jamie, my love, can you please think to yourself?”
He heaved a weary sigh as if the burden of thinking to himself was more than he could bear.
Callie pulled him to a stop as she spied a group of mounted knights riding through the city. She let go of Jamie’s hand to pull her veil around her face in case they should glance her way.
Laughing, the mounted knights paid no heed to her. But it wasn’t until they had ridden past that her heart stopped thudding and she found her wobbly legs able to continue on.
“That was close.” She reached to retake Jamie’s hand only to realize he wasn’t there.
Oh Lord, nay!
“Jamie!” she called, scanning the crowd around her. “Jamie!” Her panic gripped her anew. She saw no sight of his brown cap. No sight of his red curls.
Where could the wee lad be?
“Jamie!”
Terror consumed her. Where was he? Where could he have gone to so quickly? He’d been right beside her only an instant before, and she had told him a thousand and one times not to wander off. Especially not in unknown places where strangers were about.
Oh Lord, anything could happen to him!
Callie scanned the crowd again, seeing several small children, but none that bore any resemblance to her imp.
Could he be in trouble?
Her heart hammering, she searched all around her as fast as she could.
“Blessed Sainted Mary, where are you, lad?” she whispered over and over as she searched.
“Please Lord, give me my brother back. I swear I’ll never again ask him to be quiet and I’ll answer every single question he asks.
I’ll never ever lose patience with him again.
Just please, God, please let me find him before something happens to him. ” Tears welled in her eyes.
He could have fallen in the river or been run over by a cart. He could have been kidnaped by thieves or some horrid such! Her mind played through numerous horrific scenarios, and all of them culminated with Jamie needing her and her not being there to protect him.
If anything happened to him, she would never be able to live with herself.
The pain in her chest was excruciating. It tore through her lungs making it hard to breathe.
She had no idea where to look. No idea how to find him in this foreign city.
Through her panic only one clear thought emerged.
Lord Sin.
He would find Jamie. She was sure of it.
Now, she just had to find him.
Sin scanned the crowd around him while he rode through the streets, seeking his bane. He’d cornered poor Aelfa and with little provocation, the maid had confessed Caledonia’s plan. Now he just had to get to the inn before the wench bought her horses.
With Simon behind him, they were making good time.
Out of the crowd, Sin spied a light-blue veil on a woman so tall she stood head and shoulders above those around her. Even though she appeared frantic and hurried, he recognized her instantly.
“Caledonia!” he called.
She stopped immediately.
Instead of running away as he expected, she rushed to his side.
“Blessed saints and glory!” Her face was streaked by tears as she placed her hands against his right leg.
Her desperate touch shouldn’t have affected him at all and yet it burned his skin with a throbbing heat that pulsed straight to his groin. “I am so glad to see you.”
Her words set him back. Never in his life had anyone said such a thing to him, let alone held such a sincere look about it.
Something bad must surely have happened for her to want to see the likes of him.
It was then he realized the boy wasn’t with her. Sliding from his horse, he held her by her arms. “What has happened?”
“It’s Jamie!” She grabbed his arm and started pulling him down the street with her as she looked all about. “He’s gone and we have to find him. He was here a few minutes ago and he vanished. Jamie!” she shouted his name.
Several people looked at them, but no one answered.
“Simon,” he called, “the boy is missing. Can you see him from up there?”
Simon shook his head and moved his horse to stand beside them. “Where were you when he vanished?”
She wiped her eyes with her hands and looked up at Simon. “Not very far from where we were yesterday. Maybe one street over.”
“By the milliner’s shop with the stuffed squirrel in the window?” Simon asked.
“Aye. I believe so.”
Sin arched a brow at the expression on Simon’s face. “You think you know where he might have gone?”
“Aye.”
Caledonia took a deep breath and her grip on Sin’s arm tightened.
“But,” Simon said, his voice sour, “I’ll only take you there provided neither one of you ever mentions the bed incident to me or anyone else. Ever.”
Caledonia blushed. “I am so sorry for that. But I did wash out your eyes. Do they still burn?”
Simon’s face turned the color of Caledonia’s hair, though from anger or embarrassment Sin couldn’t tell.
When Simon spoke, his voice was colder than a snowstorm in January. “They are fine. Thank you, milady, for your kindness.”
Sin mounted his horse, then reached his hand down to Caledonia. Her eyes relieved, she grabbed onto him and he noticed the tiny bones of her hand. The softness of her touch. He’d never felt anything like her delicate hand in his.
He pulled her up to ride before him and turned his attention to Simon. “Where are we bound for?”
“On the way back yesterday, I was telling the boy about the sweets at the Unicorn Maiden. I even showed him where the shop was located and he said he would give anything to see the pastries and cockapies. I have a feeling he might have gone there. Though why I should bother rescuing him, I’ll never know.
I swear my head still throbs from the little demon. ”
Callie felt heat sting her face. “He didn’t mean to hit you, Simon. I swear that part of it was an accident.”
He gave her a droll stare that told her he didn’t believe a word of it.
Callie didn’t say anything as they rode toward the bakery. Jamie knew better than to leave her side. He’d never done anything this foolish in his life and she couldn’t imagine what had possessed him.
The lad had best be in trouble when they found him. If not, she was going to throttle his young life right out of him.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long to retrace her steps to the corner where Jamie had vanished. Simon led them a few yards over to a small bakeshop where an old woman was leaving with a basket full of bread.
As they approached the store, Callie saw the squirrel Simon had mentioned and she recognized the small head staring out the window, scanning the passersby. It was a head that bore the face of a demon and a smile of extreme jubilation as its large blue eyes focused on her.
“Oh, blessed be Saint Mary,” she whispered.
Relief tore through her as she slid from the horse and ran inside the store to her brother. He’d been close by the entire time, but without the men, she’d never have known to look here.
Tears ran down her cheeks again as she swept him into her arms. “Little runt,” she breathed. “You scared me.”
“I’m sorry, Callie.” He pulled back and showed her the cinnamon bread in his hand. “I thought we’d be needing something to eat for the journey. You’ve had nothing all day.”
Her hand trembled as she took the bread from him. “I would much rather starve than lose you.”
“I’m sorry, Callie. I never meant to scare you. I was just a little hungry.”
Sin swallowed at the sight of their reunion. At the love the two of them had for each other.
The boy looked up at Simon. “I wanted to buy the swan pastries you told me about, but the baker’s wife said I didn’t have enough coin for that.” He looked back at his sister. “You like pastries.”
While she kissed his cheek and assured herself the demon was hale, Sin paid for enough swan pastries to make the rapscallion’s belly ache.
Callie looked up as Lord Sin handed her brother his purchase. “Thank you for your kindness.”
By the expression on his face, she could tell her words made the knight terribly uncomfortable.
As they left the shop and headed back to the castle, Callie realized she wasn’t going to make it home.
At least not alone. She’d been fooling herself to even think there was any chance of getting back to Scotland on her own.
Worse, she’d almost lost the one thing that meant most to her in the world.
Dear saints, what if they hadn’t found Jamie? What if he had gotten hurt or killed or...
It would have been all her fault. She closed her eyes as pain swept through her for being so selfish. The last thing she wanted was to tell Morna she’d let something happen to Jamie. It would be the death of the poor woman who had been a mother to her as well.
Nay, she’d take no more chances with his safety.
But then what was she to do?
Her thoughts turned to the man who would be her husband. Could she trust him?
For an Englishman, he seemed reasonable enough. As did Simon.
Perhaps if she allowed them to go home with her, her clan might see that not all Englishmen were beasts. Perhaps they could even win them over...
What are you? Daft? Get your head out of the dreamworld, lass, and put it on earth where it belongs. There’s little to no chance of the MacNeelys ever accepting an Englishman into their midst.
It was a long shot, no doubt. But it was the only one she could see.