Chapter 19
Charlotte tensed as footsteps sounded on the porch outside. Simon entered, his eyes sweeping around the room until they came to rest on her. He frowned. “I figured I’d find you here.”
Charlotte was saved from a response as Emmy clattered down the stairs to his side. “Simon!”
A fond smile replaced the frown on Simon’s face. “Morning, imp. I see you’ve found Charlotte.” Simon tweaked Emmy’s braid. He was clearly attached to these children. How could such a close bond develop in just a few months?
“It was Mother’s idea,” Emmy said. “I wanted to fetch her myself, but Sam said he had to come, too.”
Sam followed Simon into the cabin. “Well, I wasn’t about to let my sister go through the woods alone. Even I know that.”
Simon’s grin faded. His gaze met Charlotte’s for a moment, and she read regret in his eyes. She looked past him then, waiting for another familiar form to fill the door. Where was Joshua?
“I’ve arranged for Robertson to see you home,” Simon said.
Dimly, Charlotte heard the children’s cries of dismay and Mrs. Foster’s protests. Pain sliced through her. Simon was sending her away already. And he didn’t even care enough to take her himself.
“I don’t want to go. Not yet.”
Simon’s face settled into grim lines. “You’re leaving today, Charlotte. Robertson wants to get on the road as soon as possible.”
“But Mother planned a special meal,” Sam said.
“Indeed I did, Simon,” Mrs. Foster chimed in. “The poor girl just got here. We’ve hardly had a chance to get to know each other.”
The warmth of the Fosters’ protests melted Charlotte’s icy shock.
She cleared her throat. She’d come too far to turn tail and run home.
“Simon, please. I’d love to stay a day or two.
” If she had more time, perhaps she could still convince him to return with her. Maybe even get Mrs. Foster on her side.
“Another time.” Simon herded Charlotte toward the door.
Emmy darted in front of them, hands on her hips. “Please, Simon. I’m going to share my room with her. It’ll be just like having a sister.”
“No,” Simon said sharply.
Emmy’s mouth shut with a snap and she gave him a look that was equal parts surprise and hurt. Simon sighed and put a hand on her head. “Listen, imp, there’s reasons why Charlotte must go back now. It’d be dangerous for her to stay.”
His eyes met Mrs. Foster’s over Emmy’s head and Charlotte saw a look full of meaning pass between them. Mrs. Foster gave a resigned nod and pulled Emmy away. “Come, Emmy. Simon’s right. We’ll visit with Miss Charlotte another time.”
Simon grabbed Charlotte’s coat from the hook by the door and held it out, avoiding her eyes.
Charlotte wished she were young again. She’d stomp her feet or fly at Simon as she used to when his hasty decisions ruined their playtime. Instead, she stuffed her arms into her coat, wishing she could demand that he tell her what he’d talked about with Joshua and why he was so set on her leaving.
But she was no longer the big sister directing their days. On the heels of this thought came the uncomfortable realization that their situations had reversed. Her future depended on him.
Instead of demanding answers, she bade the Fosters farewell with promises to return and followed Simon outside.
As soon as they’d moved out of earshot, Charlotte planted her feet and refused to move any farther, bringing them both up short.
She turned to meet his eyes, willing calm into her voice.
“What is going on, Simon? How would it be dangerous for me to stay?”
He pulled a folded paper from his pocket, ignoring her question. “I wrote a letter to Papa. I’m relinquishing my rights to Edenbrook.” His voice was matter-of-fact.
Charlotte gasped. “What?” She took the folded paper sealed with a blob of red wax.
“I’ve explained that I’m not coming home.” Simon cupped his hands around his mouth and blew on his cold fingers. “If Cole spreads rumors about me, Father can disown me. You can inherit.”
Charlotte’s fingers squeezed the paper in her hand, trying to grasp the implications of such a letter. “Simon, you can’t be serious. Edenbrook is your birthright.”
His lips twisted, his face taking on a sharp cynicism she’d never seen before. “Is it?”
“Yes, it is.” She held his gaze. “Just come home for a time. Mr. Ballantine will help you join the militia—”
“Enough!” He cut off her words with a slice of his hand. “I cannot return to the city right now.”
Charlotte swallowed back a wave of hurt that had her blinking away tears. “I think what you mean to say is that you won’t return to the city. Not for my sake. And not for Papa.” She had the satisfaction of seeing him flinch, but if she hoped her words would move him, she was to be disappointed.
“I won’t discuss it anymore.” He pressed his lips together.
She looked at Simon’s face, the stern lines seemingly set in stone.
He was as stubborn as Papa in his way. There was no chance of swaying either of them once they’d made up their minds.
“Father will see reason.” Simon leaned back on his heels and met her gaze.
“Edenbrook will be your dowry. You can marry well, join society.” His lips curved in a bittersweet smile. “You’ll be happy.”
Charlotte swallowed. “Papa will never disown you.”
“You might be surprised.” The bitterness returned to Simon’s voice.
Joshua appeared at the barn door and her heart gave a leap, as though she expected him to take up her cause.
“Ready to go?” Joshua’s stern voice brought her back to reality.
Charlotte looked between the two men, both so eager to be rid of her, and blinked away a furious rush of tears. It didn’t seem she had a choice. “Fine.”
Joshua led Bess and Tuck from the barn. The horses were saddled, with no sign of Joshua’s wagon.
“I don’t understand.”
“Your brother lent you his horse,” Joshua said, holding out Tuck’s reins. “I’ll leave my wagon here and fetch it on the way back. If we ride cross-country, we can make it back to the city in one day.”
Of course. He wouldn’t want to be saddled with her any longer than necessary. She put her foot in the stirrup and prepared to mount Tuck.
Joshua leaned forward to speak low into her ear. “Aren’t you going to bid your brother farewell?”
She looked back at the cabin. Simon lingered on the porch, his arm braced on the post. He looked tired and pensive, but not regretful.
In fact, he looked like he couldn’t wait to see the last of her.
After all she’d gone through to get here, she couldn’t forgive him for that. “I’ve nothing left to say to him.”
She moved to push past Joshua, but he stayed her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You don’t know when you’ll see him again.”
Charlotte’s eyes snapped to his face. “What do you mean? Is he in danger?”
Joshua sighed, his eyes shifting to the side. “Life is uncertain, that’s all. You should talk to him. You don’t know what a gift a sibling is.”
She could have made a glib comment about a sibling being both a blessing and a curse, but the look on Joshua’s face stopped her words. He was so intent, so earnest. Underneath the entreaty was a flicker of pain that told her he spoke from experience.
She sighed and marched to Simon. “Goodbye.” She looked him in the face and saw a flash of something under his stoicism. Worry or regret, perhaps. But she had no time to guess his feelings. He’d had the chance to come home, and he refused.
“Goodbye, L. J.” He reached out and drew her close. “Maybe I should change that to Maid Marian, eh? And I suppose you’ll need to find a new Robin Hood.” He drew back with a meaningful glance at Joshua.
Before she could protest this outlandish suggestion, he set her away from him, his face as stern as ever. “Take care of yourself.” He unwound his muffler and wrapped it around her neck. “You’ll need this. It’s getting colder by the minute.”
What had happened to the scatterbrained brother she’d cared for all these years? He’d become a man she scarcely recognized.
“I’ll return Tuck to you somehow.”
He nodded. “I use Foster’s oxen for farmwork. Keep him as long as you need him . . . now that Scarlett is gone.”
She swallowed. Scarlett’s loss was too fresh to discuss. “Farewell.” She gestured to the cabin and the cleared fields beyond. “I hope you find happiness here.”
His lips turned up in a brief smile. “I already have.”
Joshua glanced at his silent companion. She rode beside him on Simon’s horse, a fine-boned gelding who resembled her Scarlett and stood in sharp contrast to solid, plodding Bess.
They’d been underway for an hour or more, long enough for the cold wind to cut through the layers he wore and numb his fingers and toes. He tried to catch Charlotte’s eye, but she avoided his gaze.
She hadn’t appreciated his insistence she bid Simon a proper farewell, yet he didn’t regret his interference. He didn’t want her trudging through life with the same messy, unfinished threads of hurt and regret that he dragged around, threads he could never tie up neatly and tuck away.
Scanning the woods for the hundredth time, he let out a breath, releasing some of the tension in his shoulders. No signs of any other travelers, rebels or otherwise. He turned to Charlotte. “You warm enough?”
She nodded, and they returned to the thick silence, broken only by the horses’ footfalls and the sound of the icy wind blowing through bare tree limbs.
“Why did you agree to take me home?”
Her question startled him. “I . . . I need to purchase supplies. Someone gave them away, remember?”
She flushed, but the reminder wasn’t enough to silence her. “There’s a store in Eglinton. You needn’t go all the way back to the city.”
She was nothing if not persistent. “I have business to see to.”
This caught her attention. Drat. He’d said too much.
“But you just left Toronto.”
“Now, thanks to you, I’ll return with money in my pocket.” He’d head straight to Mrs. Cooper’s in search of Deacon Cole. Of course, he still hadn’t figured out just what he’d tell the man.
“I told you I’d send the rest of the money to your bank. You needn’t follow me all the way back to Edenbrook.” She frowned. “Unless you don’t trust me to keep my word.”
He sighed. “It’s not that. It’s my brother.
He’s in the city.” The explanation burst out of him before he thought better of it.
“I need twenty-five pounds to pay off his indenture. With your payment, I’ll have nearly enough.
Maybe I can bring him back with me.” She opened her mouth to ask more questions, and he headed her off.
“Besides, I need to make sure the daughter of the famous Charles Carruthers returns home safe and sound.”
She gasped. “Carruthers? How did you . . . ? Ah, yes. Simon.” Her lips pressed together. “I suppose he told you all.”
“Enough,” he hedged.
She was silent for a long minute, chewing her lip as though she couldn’t decide how to answer him. “I’m afraid you’re under a misapprehension about me.” She paused. “I’m not important.”
She really believed that. She had no idea what it was like to have no family, no name.
To be completely powerless on the streets of a city where no one cared whether you lived or died.
Whatever hardships she’d suffered—and he recognized now her life hadn’t been easy—they didn’t compare to the powerlessness that he’d faced.
A sound came through the woods, the distant call of voices that had him pulling his horse up short and grabbing the bridle of Charlotte’s mount.
“Who’s—”
“Shhh.”
She sealed her lips, though the lively expression in her eyes told him she’d pepper him with questions as soon as she was able.
Spying a thicket of brambles ahead, he let go of Tuck’s bridle, turned Bess off the narrow trail, and motioned for Charlotte to follow.
They picked their way through the trees to the edge of the underbrush.
He dismounted and pulled aside the long, thorny branches to reveal a clearing.
Motioning her to enter, he followed her into the gloom.
The voices grew louder, and Joshua sent a worried glance at Tuck. Bess was happy enough to hang her head and rest from the weight of him on her back, but what if Tuck grew restless and gave their location away?
“Ye reckon we’ll be there in time?” A voice heavy with a Scots accent reached their ears.
Charlotte paused her soothing strokes up and down Tuck’s neck and sent Joshua a worried glance. She must be wondering why they were hiding from the men on the path, but apparently she trusted him enough to save her questions for later.
His smile clearly didn’t reassure her, for she crowded close until he could smell the faint floral scent that had haunted him the past few days.
“It’s planned for Monday. We’ve plenty of time.”
“Humph. If you say so. I reckon we should have met the Nassagaweya men by now.”
“Relax, McGuinty. Mackenzie has it well in hand.”
Their voices faded as they moved down the path, leaving Joshua and Charlotte frozen in the brambles, unwilling to move or make a sound.
Joshua looked down. The questions in her eyes faded and a bloom of delicate pink spread across her cheeks, as though she’d only just become aware of how close they stood.
His gaze dropped to her mouth. Did she know how she affected him? How he could think of nothing but her when she was near? Did she realize how much he longed to bend his head and touch his lips to hers?
Perhaps she did, for in the next moment she took a step back, putting distance between them. “Who do you suppose that was?” she whispered.
He supposed it was the men Simon would meet on his way to join Mackenzie’s rebellion. But Charlotte didn’t need that worry added to her plate. He shrugged. “Hard to say. Best mind our own business.”
“We spent four days in the bush getting here and didn’t come across anyone except the Wilkie children.” She paused. “Mackenzie. He’s the rebel leader, isn’t he?”
“Aye.” He pressed his lips together. For all he knew, the rebellion had already begun. “We’d best take the next side trail.” And pray to God they weren’t too late.