Kasey Michaels - [Redgraves 02] (28 page)

Let it be both of them. Please God, let it be both of them.

And it was; both horses were gone. Some one of the smugglers had probably all but run into Kate, and mounted her on Daisy, obviously, and was leading the mare by the reins. He’d use her as his hostage, his most powerful trump if they caught up with him, and let her go at some point if they didn’t. Sooner probably than later, if Kate gave him trouble, which she was sure to do.

Simon drew in several deep breaths, and then, with his fingers at the corners of his mouth, whistled loud and long, praying the sound would carry through the clear, dark night, soaring over the noise of a battle taking place not one hundred yards away.

Long moments later, there was a deeper darkness in the distance. The sound of hooves churning up the loose turf. The curses of a man desperate to turn his mount about...the chilling sight of Kate atop Daisy, leading the way.

Leading the way? How was that possible?

“Here.” Somehow, Courtland Becket was beside him, holding out the tied brace of pistols he’d unslung from his shoulders. “You could shoot the horse to get the man, but I have a feeling you’ve another plan.”

Simon waved away the pistols and started to run toward Hector, pointing to his left. “Kate! Pull off!
Pull off!
”

She immediately began reining in Daisy, directing her as he’d ordered.

Hector had managed to get the bit between his teeth, and kept on coming. The smuggler was an inferior horseman, thank God.

And then, when he could nearly see the whites of the stallion’s eyes as it bore down on him, Simon yelled,
“Giddyup!”

Hector plunged to a halt, digging in his front hooves, and the rider on the stallion’s back was suddenly flying through the air toward Simon.

The unseated rider was quickly surrounded by Becket’s men, even as Simon ran toward Daisy, catching Kate up neatly as she threw her leg over the pommel, clearly intending to slide to the ground on her own.

He had her in his arms in an instant, covering her face with desperate kisses. “Thank God you’re safe! How did you get away from him?”

“Get away from him?” Kate went on tiptoe and planted a kiss on his nose. “I wasn’t trying to get away from him. I was
chasing
him. I mean, I whistled, but Hector paid me no attention. You’ll have to teach me how to— Simon? Don’t look at me like that.”

“How the bloody hell am I supposed to look at you?
Chasing him?
What were you planning to do when you caught up with him?”

She began stroking his chest, probably believing she was soothing him. “I couldn’t catch up with him, Simon, you know that. Hector’s much too fast for Daisy. But at least I could keep him in sight until you could come after us, and
you
whistled to Hector. It may be dark, but you know the West Run now, and I know it even better, so we could both make good progress on Hector, at least close enough for you to whistle. Plus, if the man were fool enough to think he could use any light from the Manor windows to cross close by and make it to the road, he’d land in the ha-ha, wouldn’t he? Not that I didn’t worry about Hector, in that case.”

“I’m certain he appreciates that.”

“Don’t be facetious.
The idea came clear to me in an instant, when I saw the smuggler turning in circles at the crest of the hill, looking panicked, and then suddenly running toward the horses as if his every prayer had just been answered.”

Simon made a sound low in his throat. It may have been a growl. Yes, he was fairly certain it had been a growl.

Kate frowned. “There
are
other horses here, aren’t there? And you would have taken one of them and come pelting after us and— There aren’t any other horses here?”

He could kill her. He could kiss her. “I’m sure there are, but all hidden out of sight. Tell me, were you prepared to follow Hector all the way to London?”

She jammed her fists against her hips. “I said it was an idea, Simon. I didn’t say it was a
plan.
I hadn’t gotten that far yet. Now tell me why you yelled
giddyup
and Hector
whoa-ed.
”

“Because that’s what I taught him. If anyone tried to steal him when I wasn’t around, the thief wouldn’t get very far, would he? Maybe I should try the same thing with you.”

“Yes, yes, I was supposed to stay where I was. I remember, and I’m truly sorry. Shouldn’t we go see who we’ve got? You can lecture me more later, when we’ve less of an audience.”

Simon opened his mouth to say something, probably something very profound and astute and worthy of quoting in the future should any man find himself in the position he was in now—but he didn’t say it. Nobody in this world would ever be in the same position he was in now. Because he had Kate, and they didn’t.

“I love you,” he said instead.

She rolled her eyes. “Really, Simon, do you actually think this is the time for us to be— I love you, too,” she ended as he slung his arm around her shoulders and, together, they approached the group of men who’d all been watching them for God knew how long.

Jacko broke away from the others and headed toward them with his seaman’s rolling gait. “You can have the one, Commander, but we’ll take the rest. Local men, all of them, including one of our own. Him we’ll let
escape,
if you take my drift. The others need a lesson, and will get it, and time to reflect on the error of their ways once they wake up on a ship bound for Haiti. We’ll also be taking the gold coin for our troubles, but you can have the brandy, as we have more than enough of our own. And here, this packet we found.” He handed over the oilskin-wrapped package.

“Thank you, Jacko,” Simon said, tucking the packet away as Kate surprised everyone, clearly Jacko most of all, when she ducked out from Simon’s arm to give the man a hug.

Jacko smiled rather sheepishly, and then turned away, muttering, “Never live it down with my mates, that’s what’ll happen. Women!”

Simon threw back his head and laughed, a nearly silly joy filling him...until the sound of a pistol discharging had him running toward the circle of men. Pushing his way through, he saw the man who’d so recently met the ground thanks to Hector lying facedown there again. The first time, he was cursing. This time, he was quite dead.

“What happened?”

Billy was hanging his head, scuffing one boot against the long grass.

Ainsley Becket stepped up to Simon. “It was unexpected. He asked for some assistance in rising and Billy, always a helpful sort, bent over to give him a hand. Our dead friend pulled the pistol from Billy’s belt, and turned it on himself. Loyal to their cause, these people you’re after, aren’t they?”

“Look away, Kate,” Simon said, and then went down on one knee, to turn the body faceup. “Lantern,” he ordered shortly, and one was produced, illuminating the partially shattered face of the Honorable Ambrose Webber—or at least he had been until he was drummed out of the Royal Navy after being discovered with a dead prostitute in his cabin.

Webber. Simon mentally ran down the list of code names he’d been given by Gideon.
Hammer. Weaver. Bird. Burn.
Bird had been his own brother, Holbrook, which everyone would soon learn. Webber? Yes, that could be it; a weaver could be said to make a web of sorts with thread.

So they had another name. Unfortunately, it was attached to a dead man.

“Commander.”

Simon shook his mind away from his thoughts. “Yes, Captain?”

“You don’t smell that?”

“Smell—?”

“I do. It smells as if something is burning, doesn’t it? Oh, my God! Simon, look!” Kate took hold of his arm, shaking it. “It’s the Manor. I can see the flames from here, shooting into the sky!”

Yes, maybe a barrel or three more of the lamp oil than we needed...but we couldn’t trust the small army of loyal Redgrave servants not to heroically put out the fire before it did its job, could we?

“My horse, Billy,” Ainsley Becket ordered swiftly. “I’ll ride with you. Court, you’re in charge here. Strip our dead friend, and feed him to the fish. Far enough out to be sure he doesn’t return with the tide. Agreed, Commander?”

“Agreed,” Simon said as two of Becket’s men brought Daisy and Hector to them.

The ride back to the Manor was a race of sorts, with Kate’s nervousness transferring itself to the mare, who very nearly kept up with Hector, while Becket came with them only until they were through the opened tradesman’s gate before turning his horse off to the right. Simon didn’t bother to ask him why; Ainsley Becket had a reason for everything he did.

* * *

I
T
WASN
’
T
THE
M
ANOR
.
It was the dower house. The relief Kate felt as they raced toward the closest open gate across the ha-ha and could at last see the origin of all that smoke and flame changed nearly as quickly to suspicion.

They dismounted a good distance from the scene as one of the footmen ran across the lawn to take care of their mounts. “Jacob, my grandmother. Where is she?”

“Watching from the terrace with the others, my lady, Mr. Borders and Mr. Collier and Mrs. Justis. Having tea, my lady, and even biscuits. Nothin’ else for any of us to do. Mr. Dearborn says the roof’s about to come slammin’ down, so we needs must stay clear. All but bright as day, ain’t it?”

“You did this,” Kate said when Jacob took the reins and moved off. “You removed the journals, you and Richard, and then you did this.” She narrowed her eyes. “How did you do it?”

“I suppose it’s possible Richard and I forgot to extinguish one of the candles once we were done moving the journals,” Simon said, his gaze intent on the fire.

“Possible, but not probable. Congratulations, Simon, you’re learning how to answer a question without really answering. But you did it.”

“Thank you, I suppose, and yes, I did it,” he admitted, at last turning to look at her. “Richard lit the lamp oil at the appointed time, but the plan was my idea. Actually, I may have overdone it, and it’s a good thing it’s a calm night. There’ll be nothing but a few stone walls and a large pit filled with rubble by the time it burns itself out. I doubt a single statue or stick of furniture or anything else will be left recognizable.”

“Thank you, Simon, with all my heart,” Kate said, blinking away tears as she slipped her arm through his, leaned her body against him. “My grandfather used fire to destroy. You used it to right a terrible wrong. So many terrible wrongs.”

“Good evening again, Commander, my lady. Quite the spectacle you people put on,” a stranger to Kate remarked from atop his horse as he joined them. He wore his wide-brimmed slouch hat low over his forehead, and a black scarf covered the top half of his face.

“Thank you, sir. We Redgraves pride ourselves on our flair for the dramatic,” Kate said, peering up at him, able only to see his strangely beautiful eyes behind the half mask. She didn’t remember him from seeing him earlier, although she was certain he was the one who had ridden with them through the gates to the Manor. It was obvious he didn’t wish to be recognized, unlike Jacko and Billy. No, this was the man in charge of everyone else. And after what he’d done for them tonight, she knew she would have to be content with what he allowed her to see. “Yet one can look at it and only begin to imagine half of London going up in flames during the Great Fire.”

“True enough. But you might find something else of interest if you were to take a moment to look in another direction. Commander, the tunnel near the stone maze is no more than thirty feet deep, and contains little but ropes used to tie casks together for hauling and some tea, unfortunately ruined by seawater. It’s not what you’re searching for, nor is the ancient passageway beneath the rock barrier although, architecturally, it is fascinating. Roman in origin, I believe. You will, however, locate the oilskin packet you abandoned and our late acquaintance’s clothing in the cottage you visited the other day.”

He half rose from his saddle, actually making quite an elegant bow. “Again, it has been my distinct pleasure. Please tender my regards to the lovely Trixie, and thank her again for her assistance that, happily, is no longer necessary. The cottage is hers once more. And give her these.”

Simon’s laughter was both rueful and delighted as he caught the ring of keys the man tossed him. “I’ll be sure to do that, Captain.”

“Thank you. Good luck to you, Commander, for you’ll need all you can find—and a word of caution garnered through personal experience. A man who can convince others to execute themselves in order to protect him is a deadly dangerous man surrounded by worshipful fanatics. When you encounter them you’ll have to strike first, without a thought to capturing any of them alive. Any hesitation on your part would prove fatal, for they won’t hesitate to kill you, and reason is outside their realm of comprehension.”

“I’ll pass that along, as well,” Simon said, nodding. “You’re a fascinating man, Captain. I hope we might someday meet again.”

The
captain
only nodded, and then turned his horse away. Looking after him, away from the brightness of the fire, Kate quickly lost him in the dark. “He is a fascinating man,” she said quietly. “And he somehow knows Trixie? Let me see those keys.”

“You can look at them if you wish, but I think I can already tell you the locks they fit. The tradesman’s gate, the keys to the French doors for the library at the very least and one for the cottage. I’m standing here in amazement, even as I’m kicking myself for not realizing sooner—although I’ll be damned if I know how the two of them met.”

Kate handed back the keys. “You should be the one returning them, as I’m the one who supposedly knows nothing. You called him Captain. Don’t you know his name?”

“We never exchanged names, no,” Simon told her.

“As I said, you’re getting better and better. I almost believed you this time. But I won’t question you, as you obviously made a promise. Now tell me what he meant about something interesting to see if we were to look in another direction.”