His Reluctant Bodyguard (13 page)

Rip waved his hand as if shooing a pesky insect. "Whatever.
As long as we aren't endangering Mama Simone."

He hoisted himself over the side of the boat, sucking in a quick breath at the combined shock of cold water and the sting of the salt on his scraped shins. A breaking wave caught him off balance and he grasped the top railing on the boat to steady himself. Gathering the long tail of her skirt up and holding it over her shoulder, Avery hopped over the opposite side and moved quickly out of the water.

"Are we beaching the boat here?" Rip asked when Luc made no move to join them.

"I've changed my mind. I'm going back to
Saturnina
to help Thierry with our friend Williams. Mama Simone will know the best place to hide both of you for a day or two."

Rip started to protest,
then
thought better of it. If Williams was still alive, Luc was probably the only one who could save him.

"When will you be back?" Avery asked.

"I’ll be in touch," Luc replied, then addressed Rip. "Give me a shove?"

Grabbing the bow, Rip put his shoulder into it and immediately regretted his action. His ribs burned like hell. Luckily one push was enough and the sputtering of the motor restarting covered his groan. He stood with the water lapping against his ankles as Luc and the boat disappeared into the darkness.

"Are you okay to walk?" Worry tinged Avery’s voice.

"No problem. As I recall, it’s not far."

Though she frowned doubtfully, she followed him across the pebbly strip of beach, the wind whipping her head scarf loose. When they reached the rise covered in sea grass, she pulled her shoes out of her bag and slipped them on. Climbing over the sandy hill proved to be slow going, but Rip vowed to himself that he would not let her guess how much pain he was in. But he couldn't disguise how winded he was when they reached the top.

Below them, the lights of the town twinkled while above, a few scattered stars shined between swiftly moving clouds. The path leading down into St.
Namadie
was clearly marked, but it took Rip a few moments to locate the much smaller one leading the other direction. After walking a few more yards, he caught sight of the rickety wooden fence and the profusion of trees and vines surrounding a white wooden cottage with bright pink shutters.

"A voodoo priestess lives there?" Avery questioned, and Rip chuckled with relief.

Ignoring his aches and pains, he hurried up the path, not pausing until he opened the rusty metal gate and walked into the yard. At the creaking of the gate hinges, the porch light flashed on, and a moment later the screen door opened. A tiny stooped figure in bright island garb stepped out. Abruptly, he stopped short and Avery bumped into him.

"That you, Rip,
mon
cher
?" The figure called out in a raspy voice. "'Bout time you got here. Supper's got cold."

The sudden thickness in his throat took Rip by surprise. He cleared it and said, "Yes, it's me, Mama Simone."

The little woman stepped to the edge of the circle of light and squinted. "Get on up here and let me look at you. Is that Luc
Du
Bois with you? No, I see now, it's your woman with the gold hair." She motioned with her arm as if to gather the two of them in.

Behind him, he could feel Avery hesitate, but she followed him up the porch stairs nonetheless.

"Mon
cher
, you grew so big!" Mama Simone gasped as he mounted the top step and stood next to her. She grasped his arm and stood on tip-toe to touch his cheek.
"Handsome, too."

Funny how he didn't remember her being so
short,
and her comments actually made Rip shuffle his feet in embarrassment. He bent to give her an air kiss on each cheek,
then
backed up a step. "Mama Simone, this is my friend, Avery."

Her wizen features shifted into a knowing smile and she grasped Avery's hand in both of hers. "You're another tall one, eh girl? And more than a friend, I'm thinking."

Avery ducked her head and murmured, "Pleased to meet you, ma'am."

"You call me Mama Simone, same as everybody else in these parts." She turned and swung the screen door open wide and waved her whole arm at them again. "Get in the house."

The living room, or parlor as Mama Simone called it, was also smaller than Rip remembered.
And more cluttered, with wicker furniture, framed pictures and books crowding the room.
But the pungent smell of dried herbs and live plants was the same as when he'd stayed here as a child. Pots of greenery and flowers lined the window sill and shelves. Clumps of drying plants hung upside down from the curtain rods, and a pair of finches
chittered
from a round birdcage in the corner. Rip couldn't help but smile at Avery's wide-eyed glances around the room. The wooden floor boards groaned as they wound their way through the room and into the kitchen.

Mama Simone turned on the overhead light and bade them sit at the wooden table which boasted only two chairs. All three pieces were painted bright yellow with designs in green and red. She plunked two dark green plates in front of them and grabbed a heavy skillet off the stove.

"Fried plantains," she said, dishing up generous helpings. Then she pulled a roasted chicken from the oven and gave them each two large pieces. "Eat up!"

Rip didn't need to be told twice, and neither did Avery. Mama Simone put the teakettle on while they ate.

"I'll brew up a potion for those bruises,
mon
cher
," she told Rip.

He noticed Avery glancing uneasily from her plate to the old woman who stood at the counter, dropping ingredients into a stone mortar and grinding them together with a crude pestle. When Mama Simone poured boiling water on the concoction, a strong sweet aroma drifted over the room.

"Need to let it cool a minute," she explained as she placed the whole thing inside the old-fashioned refrigerator.
"How 'bout a blackberry tart for dessert?
I got only one but I '
spect
you can share it." She cut the pastry in half and when she put Avery's portion on her plate, she chided softly. "Don't you worry, girl. I been doctoring a long time.
Ain't
enough real doctors on
Benezet
, so people come to us Sage
Femmes.
"

Avery stared at her plate and fidgeted with her fork. "I meant no disrespect, ma'am -- Mama Simone."

The old woman patted her shoulder. "You're
a city girl who don't
know better, but you're smart and strong." She fingered a strand of Avery's hair.
"Pretty too.
You'll be a good wife for our Rip."

The bite of berry tart suddenly stuck in Rip's throat. His violent coughing fit drowned out whatever Avery had said, but her stunned expression matched his own shocked reaction. Mama Simone pounded him between the shoulder blades and then handed him a mug of tap water.

Shaking her head, she clucked her tongue and scolded Rip. "You think it was dumb luck you landed on her ship? Us Sage Femmes seen it all. We cast the spells. We brought you back to
Benezet
, and your woman with you."

***

Holy
moly
!
The old lady really was a voodoo priestess.

Avery's stomach
clenched,
and she couldn't eat another bite. She doubted this day could get any more bizarre. The idea that she was the object of magic spells was just the cherry on the top of this whole crazy mess.

Across the table, Rip gained control of his coughing though he continued to wheeze. He looked like the same guy she'd known in college, but who was he really?

Avery had never thought about what his childhood might have been like, now she realized how very different it was from hers. While she'd lived a very ordinary American white-bread life, he'd spent his first nine or ten years on this island under the influence of this weird old woman who brewed potions and cast spells. Not to mention the small detail of his father being a military dictator.

Dizziness swamped her, and Avery realized she was on the verge of hyperventilating. The implications of what she’d jumped into by coming after Rip washed over her. She dropped her head into her hands and took several slow deep breaths. Behind her, she heard Mama Simone chuckle, but the sound made her think of a cackling witch. Clearly her imagination was running wild.

"You okay?" Rip's concerned voice broke into her thoughts.

"Fine," she lied, as she watched Mama Simone take her herbal concoction out of the fridge.

The old woman soaked the end of a tea towel in the liquid and dabbed it on the cut on Rip's cheek. Her black eyes met Avery's. "Don't worry, girl. It'll be fine. You just need a hot bath to make you feel better." She folded the wet towel and pressed it against Rip's swollen eye. "Hold this here,
mon
cher
." Then she motioned for Avery to follow her.

An ancient cast iron tub dominated the long, narrow bathroom. Mama Simone pulled the string on a single bulb hanging from the ceiling, and handed Avery a towel from a shelf over the commode. "I'll take the pair of you to a better hiding place before the sun comes up. There's a mighty storm coming, so rest while you can."

Before Avery could voice any of the questions bubbling through her mind, the woman closed the door behind her. Though Avery turned both faucets fully open, only a small stream of water ran into the tub. Rather than wait for the tub to fill, she peeled off her clothes and bathed hastily while the water continued to run. The sound kept her from hearing anything else going on, but it also interrupted the stream of thoughts spiraling through her mind, which suited Avery just fine.

Once she'd washed off the sweat and grime of the day, she drained the tub and put her clothes back on. When she re-entered into the kitchen, Rip had his shirt off and Mama Simone's smelly
goo
spread all across his torso. The two of them seemed to be engaged in a low but intense conversation, but they stopped talking as soon as Avery appeared. Goosebumps rose on her arms at the thought of the secrets they weren't telling her, but she put on a false face of cheerful ignorance.

"Thank you, Mama Simone. I feel a lot better." But she was pretty sure the old woman's knowing dark eyes saw right through her.

"Your turn now,
mon
cher
." She nodded at Rip, who rose to his feet. She handed him the stone container. "Put the rest of the potion in your bath water and soak a good long time."

Rip limped out of the kitchen without meeting Avery's gaze. His furtive behavior only increased her uneasiness.

Mama Simone studied her face for a long silent moment before she wiped her hands on another tea towel. "You look tired, girl. You need to sleep. Rip says you won't share the same bed as him." Avery bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out in protest, ready to strangle Rip for revealing that personal tidbit. Meanwhile the old woman chuckled again. "Good for you! I got a little cot on the back porch in case I need to watch a patient over night."

She inclined her head in a 'follow me' gesture and Avery complied nervously. The porch turned out to be a screened room with an iron day bed. Insects buzzed and chirped in the surrounding darkness, the sound oddly comforting to Avery.

Pulling back the coverlet on the bed, Mama Simone patted the mattress for her to sit. "You need a cup of chamomile tea to help you sleep?" Sitting, Avery shook her head. "
You done
good rescuing our Rip. He's strong, you're brave. You'll both be fine."

Avery wanted to demand how she knew, ask what would happen next, how she and Rip would get off
Benezet
alive...
 
But Mama Simone had already turned and opened the connecting door. Deciding to ask later, Avery stretched out and was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The wind woke her up several hours later. The insects had grown quiet, or perhaps she just couldn't hear them over the rattling and moaning of the trees. She pulled the coverlet up under her chin as the wind whistled through the screens. Her eyes had just adjusted to the darkness when the light near the door switched on.

"You awake, girl?" Mama Simone's raspy voice cut through the sound. "We
gotta
go before this storm hits."

Avery sat up and slipped on her shoes. She'd draped her island skirt and head-wrap across the foot of the bed, and she folded them over her arm rather than put them on. Hitching her bag over her shoulder, she followed Mama Simone into the house, but made a pit stop in the bathroom on her way to the kitchen. After pulling her hair into a ponytail and splashing water on her face, she steeled her spine and strode out to face whatever was in store next.

Much to her surprise, a plate of biscuits and jam were what awaited her. Rip met her gaze, swallowed a substantial bite and flashed a hint of a smile -- the first she'd seen since he'd left Valiant. Though still ringed with a purple bruise, his eye was no longer swollen and the gash on his cheek was scabbed over.

"Drink your tea and have a biscuit," Mama Simone instructed.

A large wicker basket sat on the kitchen counter and she bustled about placing things in it. Avery had no sooner smeared jam on one of the biscuits than the old woman scooped up those that remained, wrapped them in a cloth and packed them in the container.