Always and Forever (12 page)

"Here Nickie," Quinn offered him an apple for Champ while she fed one to Majesty. Cook had prepared a basket for their trip into the village since apparently many of the villagers had a weakness for Cook's sticky cake.

"Shall we find some people to share Cook's cake?" Quinn asked as she held out her hand to Nickie.

"Yes. The school is up that way."

"Perfect."

Quinn noticed that there were more people in the village now than in the future and the landscape was dotted with the small dwellings of the tenant farmers. As they walked along, people gave her side-ways glances but no one seemed to want to make eye contact with her. Nickie noticed this too and pulled on her hand. Quinn lowered her head to his.

"Lady and Miss Danvers came into town a fortnight back," he confided.

That explained the looks. Katherine and her mother no doubt made it clear to the masses that they would be reigning over them soon. It was just something those two wicked women would do, looking down their noses on these hardworking people while they shamelessly sponged off of Archer. It wouldn't surprise Quinn to learn that they had even insisted these people pull out their finest offerings -- provisions that were being saved for special occasions -- just to wield power over them.

"That certainly explains their reluctance to see us," she muttered as they reached the town center where a group of children were all sitting around a young woman. This was obviously the school and though it was primitive by modern standards, the children were clean and what books they had were in good condition.

"Good morning," Quinn offered cheerily.

The children stayed quiet but the teacher offered a greeting albeit weakly.

"Morning, Miss," she answered with her eyes turned down.

"I'm Quinn, Nickie's friend. Would you mind if he sat in on your lesson?" Quinn knew this was completely unheard of, nobility mingling with commoners, so it wasn't a surprise when the teacher was rendered mute. Quinn took that opportunity to lift the lid of the basket and pulled out the sticky cakes.

"We brought treats to share." And just like that, she broke the spell of fear with Cook's cakes.

Hours later, Archer and Thaddeus arrived into town concerned for Quinn and Nickie but stopped short at the sight before them. Quinn was sitting on the dirt road surrounded by children: two little girls on her lap, Nickie pressed up against her on one side and another little boy on the other. Whatever she was saying had gained the rapt interest of not only the children but the parents that had formed a circle around her. In unspoken agreement Archer and Thaddeus dismounted and quietly approached, being careful to stay unseen so as to not break up the impromptu gathering. They stopped and listened when they were close enough to hear.

"The evil witch cursed the young babe and vowed on her fifteenth year she would prick her finger and fall down dead but a wise woman, wishing to bestow a gift on the child, changed the prophecy; the princess will not die but fall into a deep sleep."

"In the years that followed, the King and Queen protected their daughter who grew up happy and safe. So many years had passed that the curse was nearly forgotten. On the day of her fifteenth birthday, the King threw a party to celebrate. The evil witch didn't forget though and she disguised herself as an old lady and entered the castle as a guest. She lured the young princess to a spinning wheel where she pricked her finger and fell into a deep sleep." Quinn paused and Archer was surprised to find that he was like everyone else, hanging on her every word, waiting to know what happened. So when his son spoke the words he himself almost voiced, he couldn't help but smile.

"What, what happens?" Nickie all but screamed.

"Well, the evil witch wins and the princess stays asleep forever," Quinn teased.

The disappointment was palpable; even Archer found himself stunned by the story's ending.

"Bloody bad ending," Thaddeus concurred from next to him and Archer grinned to himself.

The uproar that her ending caused had Quinn shouting over the raised voices.

"You don't like that ending?"

"NO!" came the yell in unison from children and adults alike.

"Are you sure? Because the princess was very tired."

"No!"

Quinn feigned defeat with a hearty sigh. "All right. A hundred years passed when a young prince came to the Kingdom. He had heard tales of the princess and her Kingdom that was under a curse and was curious to see if the tales were true. The castle walls were covered in roses so thick he almost could not gain entrance. He passed through the courtyard where dogs, horses, guards and guests were all lying upon the ground in a deep sleep. He entered the great hall, up the stone steps, and down the hall until he reached the room of the princess."

"He pushed the doors open to find her lying peacefully upon her bed. He reached her and looked down at her lovely face before pressing a light kiss upon her ruby-red lips. He pulled back just as her eyes started to flutter open and then..." Quinn paused leaving everyone in suspense before she added softly, "...they lived happily-ever-after."

The applause was almost deafening. Perhaps she shouldn't be sharing stories that hadn't yet been written but who didn't like a good fairy tale? Quinn looked on proudly as the children whispered in awe over the story she shared.

After that, it hadn't taken long for the people of the village to drop their attitude of indifference and talk with her. It seemed as if they were eager to have a new and attentive listener with whom to share stories. Suddenly, the jubilation stopped and Quinn looked up to see Archer approaching.

"Please don't stop on my account. I was hoping we could ask Miss Shaughnessy to share with us another one of her stories."

His words were answered with shouts of agreement but Quinn's attention was solely on the man walking toward her. He could never be hers, no matter how much she wished it could be different, so with great effort she turned away from him and the feelings inside of her before she offered, "I may have another story or two."

That night Quinn found herself retiring to the lady's solar with Lady Danvers and Katherine. For some odd reason she had been asked point-blank from Lady Danvers to do so. Quinn was all for avoidance but she wouldn't be intentionally rude. Well, unless provoked, but she thought sadly, the Danvers were being extremely courteous toward her.

Lady and Miss Danvers chatted, mindlessly, while Quinn sat staring into the fire. She had learned, having been raised with loud brothers, how to tune people out but was doing such a good job that she didn't sense the change in the air until Katherine's harsh voice commanded her attention.

"I don't know what game you're playing but he isn't yours and he never will be," she chided. "You're nothing, have nothing to offer him, and as a titled gentleman he deserves more than a commoner. You will only bring him ruin and disgrace. Who are your family? Likely poor Irish farmers. Would you have him ridiculed by his peers for marrying a woman so decidedly beneath him?"

It wasn't the venom in Katherine's words that had Quinn's voice so soft in reply but the fact that they were true.

"I've no intention of marrying Archer," she said just above a whisper.

Quinn didn't see the surprised looks on her companions' faces since she was still looking into the fire. She felt a lifetime of regret fill her. If only she had been born in this time or he in hers.

It was Lady Danvers who spoke next.

"I'm proud of you, Miss Shaughnessy, for realizing that you are completely unacceptable for him. But since he appears to be smitten with your common appeal perhaps you should leave here and go back from where you came."

As if she could, she thought. But even if it were possible, Quinn was not one to be warned off and especially not by two puffed-up bitches with no more sense than a plate of finger sandwiches. Quinn rose as her anger brought a heat to her cheeks. "I'll leave when I'm good and ready."

Katherine sneered. "There are ways to make you leave."

Quinn walked to stand over Katherine and leaned down so that they were nose to nose.

"I don't scare easily."

A flicker of uncertainty passed over Katherine's face which was enough of a response for Quinn as she turned and left the room.

The following morning, Quinn went for her run, alone, and thought about the scene in the lady's solar the night before. It wasn't really surprising that Katherine and her mother wanted Quinn gone. As far as they were concerned, she was threatening their very livelihood. Or was she? Whatever the Danvers were up to, Quinn still didn't understand why Archer felt obligated to them.

A movement in the trees caught Quinn's attention and she slowed her run to quietly investigate. As she approached, she was greeted by the sight of the Viscount, Edwyn, burying something in the soil. What the hell was he up to? Quinn was careful to stay out of sight as she watched him dig a hole, drop a small sack into it then cover it up again mindfully marking his treasure. She waited for him to leave, watched as he made his way back into the house, then waited a bit longer after that before moving to the disturbed soil to dig up what he had buried. Outrage filled her when she opened the sack. Edwyn was stealing from Archer, collecting some of the more valuable pieces from the house and burying them! She knew, in that moment, that the Viscount and Derek were one and the same. How he was doing it, moving through time, she didn't know but she damn well was going to find out. In the meantime, she needed to protect Archer's property but not tip off Derek that she was on to him. She looked around to see just how busy he had been and saw four other hiding places.

A plan formed but she was going to need help.

Two hours later she, Thaddeus and Nickie started back to the house pulling Nickie's wagon, which looked to be filled with dirt, but really was filled with Archer's stolen possessions. Filling the sacks with rocks had been easy. No one questioned as they loaded rocks being used for the construction into the wagon, especially after they created a wall with some of them to use during a mock battle they staged. Well, it started as a mock battle but Quinn found it very enjoyable tossing pine cones at Thaddeus and, based on the grin on his face, he enjoyed it too. After, they disappeared into the woods to switch out the sacks.

Thaddeus was an obvious accomplice but they needed Nickie for their little espionage since two adults carting around rocks would look odd. She knew Nickie would love the adventure but she felt guilty about exposing him to Edwyn's deception and further tainting Nickie's poor opinion of all the Danvers. It was unfortunate but unavoidable.

"We can't bring this into the house. We need to find somewhere else to stash it," Quinn offered.

"We should just go to Arch and tell him," Thaddeus suggested, the disgust in his tone clearly evident.

"We can't though because Edwyn would deny it. Or worse, he'd blame one of the staff which would put Archer in a terrible position."

Thaddeus seemed to think on that for a minute before he conceded, "You're probably right, but the audacity of that man. When Arch finds out, it is not going to go well for Edwyn."