My Lord Deceived (8 page)

“Don’t tell
Harrison I have been,” Jonathan ordered. He rapped his knuckles
gently on the highly polished desk briefly and took his leave with
a warning look before he left the building. He closed the front
door. The man’s simpering ‘yes sir, anything you say sir,’ still
rang in his ears, and he sighed. The man really would have to
go.

Right now,
Jonathan knew that had to find out what Harrison had uncovered, if
anything, in Bentney on Sea. As far as he was concerned, searching
a small fishing village like Bentney shouldn’t take several hours.
As he rode toward home, he mentally sent a prayer up that nothing
even remotely related to smuggling could be found in his home
village. If it was, then he had a hell of a lot of explaining to do
to Hugo and his colleagues.

Kat sighed and
stared at the greasy young man who stood before her. Arrogance hung
over him like a cloak. His hawkish features were swathed in a
mixture of condescending malice and ruthlessness that made Kat want
to smack his face. Her fingers curled into her palms and she stared
coldly back at Brian Meldrew, the albatross of the village.

Nobody liked
him, but nobody could get rid of him either. His mother, poor soul,
appeared to be completely oblivious to just how vile her son really
was. Kat wondered whether she was ignorant of her son’s appalling
reputation, or just chose to ignore the fact that she had made such
a mess of rearing the most obnoxious human being in the entire
county of Cornwall. Unfortunately, Brian wasn’t alone. His
associates, Wally, Robert and Colin, stood only a few feet behind
him and they had equally vile smirks on their faces.

When she had
returned Molly to her field, she had not noticed that Brian and his
friends had followed her. She was now out in the middle of nowhere,
far away from help. She stood face to face with four of the
village’s most troublesome occupants, with nobody to help her for
miles around.

“Go away, all
of you,” Kat sighed and gave Molly a gentle pat before she turned
toward the gate only for Brian to jump in her path to stop her from
leaving. Noise from behind warned her that his friends had gathered
around. She wondered where this stand-off was going to take her.
Determined not to give them the satisfaction of knowing they
unnerved her, she fought down the flutter of nerves, squared her
shoulders and hardened the arrogant stare she threw back at
Brian.

“Oh, the Kat
has claws,” he smirked and grinned at his own inventiveness.

“God, if that
is as good as you can manage, heaven help us all,” Kat sighed.
Weariness weighed heavily on her shoulders but her day was far from
over yet. She was tired, hungry, and still had to go over to
Dentham House to read to Jonathan’s uncle before her shift at the
tavern started. The last thing she wanted, or needed, was to stand
in the middle of a field being harassed by these wastrels.

“You would be
wise to curb your smart mouth against me Kat Baird,” Brian snapped.
All trace of mirth abruptly left his face. The cold, hard mask he
now wore made a shiver run down her spine. A flurry of nerves
settled deep into the pit of her stomach and the growing fear that
she was in deep trouble began to make her feel physically sick.
Brian, she could just about fight off, but the three behind her?
She had no chance. The best she could manage was to try to bluff
her way out of the field and run hell for leather for home.

With a quick
glance down at the ground, a thought began to unfurl in her mind
and a look of malice entered her eyes. Determined not to give in,
she firmed her chin mutinously. She straightened her spine and
stared arrogantly back at Brian.

“I can
distinctly remember watching your mother change your dirty backside
as a kid, Brian Meldrew, so don’t come that bully-boy rubbish with
me,” she wagged her finger at him in her best motherly manner and
curled her lip. “Take it from me, if you start with me then I shall
take great delight in giving you a lesson that you will never
forget.”

Her confidence
was boosted by the hesitation that flickered on his face and she
turned around to stare at each young man in turn.

“It’s about
time you lot got yourselves jobs. Maybe then it will stop you being
the pariah’s of the village. Keep causing trouble and we will all
drive each of you out on your ear,” she snarled. She spun around
and moved until she was nose to nose with Brian. The hesitant step
back he made was all she needed. She was unwilling to relinquish
the upper hand she had won. Her hands landed firmly on her hips and
she stared at each man as though they were nothing more than
naughty little boys. She was rewarded when Wally shuffled
uncomfortably and stared down at his feet as though he wasn’t sure
what to do. Brian merely stared back with a frown while being
watched by Colin and Robert, who daren’t move without orders.

“I think you
had better not cross me again, or you will be sorry,” Kat snapped.
She shoved roughly at Brian and bent down to scoop something off
the floor while he regained his balance and couldn’t see what she
was doing. As expected, her elbow was caught in Brian’s painful
grip as he swung her around to face him.

He intended to
threaten her again. What he got instead was a face full of Molly’s
richest manure, which Kat took great delight in rubbing into his
face. He immediately relinquished his hold and spat the foul straw
covered mass out of his mouth, while his friends smothered their
laughs.

“I wouldn’t
stand there smirking if I were you,” she growled and gave each of
them a warning glare before she shoved Brian roughly out of the
way.

It took every
ounce of self control she possessed not to run for her life. She
could hear the muttered conversation behind her, and was half way
to the gate when she heard Brian order, ‘get her’.

Fear locked in
her throat. Lifting her skirt, she ran the last few feet to the
gate and hurtled over the top so swiftly that she didn’t notice the
dark flurry of movement to her right until the horse’s terrified
squeal rang loudly in her ears.

“Good God,
woman. What are you trying to do, get yourself killed?” Jonathan
snapped with a scowl. He froze at the sight of the fear evident on
Kat’s face. He took a quick look at the four men who raced towards
them and moved his horse around until he blocked Kat from their
view. He didn’t wait for permission, and grabbed hold of Kat. The
effortless way he swung her up behind him left her clinging on for
dear life.

“Hold on,”
Jonathan growled.

It all happened
so swiftly that Kat gasped for breath as she clutched the back of
his riding jacket with desperate hands. She wondered why he made no
effort to race away and took a breath to ask him when he shifted
before her. Her hold was loosened by his movement and she had to
fight to keep her seat on the rear of the horse. Her view was
blocked by the broad width of his shoulders. She wasn’t tall enough
to see whatever he had in his hand, but whatever it was had enough
impact to make all four of her pursuers slam to a stop on the other
side of the gate. Their gazes were fixed on whatever he held and
they made no attempt to approach any further.

“Who are these
people?” Jonathan drawled, and threw her a questioning glance.

“These are the
village’s worst occupants. Brian, Wally, Robert and Colin are all
wastrels who have far too much time on their hands and are the
worst of bullies,” Kat reported sharply. She wished her voice
didn’t tremble so much but she shook uncontrollably and didn’t seem
able to control it.

“I was just
bringing Molly back to her field for the night before going to read
to your uncle, but then this lot turned up looking for trouble.”
She gasped when Jonathan moved to sit sideways in the saddle so he
could face the men without the need to dismount. He studied her so
carefully that she had to work hard not to squirm under his intense
stare.

“Did they hurt
you?”

“No, but they
would like to,” Kat whispered.

The lingering
fear in her eyes unmanned him. It made him furiously angry that
anyone would threaten any woman’s safety in such a way, and it
angered him even more that Kat was the person they had chosen for
their target of the day. He wondered what would have happened if he
hadn’t turned up when he had, and quickly closed that thought out.
Four men in a field with one woman – the prospect of her getting
out unscathed was remote. He stared stonily down at the defiant men
gathered before him.

“I suggest that
you all depart this area, now, before I really have to get down and
teach you all not to mess with this woman,” Jonathan drawled, aware
that the gun in his hand had drawn the attention of all of them.
The implied threat he carried was enough to keep them at bay. He
could see from their assessing gazes that they were trying to
figure out if he would actually shoot them. Luckily, nobody had the
courage to test him.

Eventually,
Wally sighed and climbed over the gate. He sidled around Jonathan’s
horse warily, and began to walk down the narrow lane toward the
village. He was soon followed by Robert, Wally and lastly Brian,
who paused beside Kat.

“Later,” Brian
warned. His gaze was defiant and he studied the gun in Jonathan’s
hand dismissively for a moment before he flicked Kat with a warning
glance. “You will be alone some time Kat Baird, and you will be
sorry for it.” He didn’t glance back as he made his threat, but
then he didn’t have to. He knew that she understood she was at risk
when she left work at night, and she felt a wave of revulsion sweep
over her again.

Kat slumped
with relief when they disappeared around the bend in the road. Her
shivers took over to the point that she wasn’t sure how she managed
to stay on the horse. She made no protest as Jonathan’s long arm
swept around her waist and drew her into an awkward hug. She leaned
closer to him and savoured his strength for several moments while
she gathered her nerves.

“I am sorry,”
she whispered when she eventually drew away. The concern in his
eyes made her want to cry for some reason, and she hadn’t done that
since her father died several years back. She wasn’t a habitual
crier, mainly because she rarely got the time to indulge in such
wayward emotions.

“Who are they?”
Jonathan asked. He dipped his head to look down into her pale face
and wished that they didn’t have to sit so awkwardly, but at least
she let him hold her. That was far more than he had ever expected
and he wasn’t about to break that hold just yet. She was softly
rounded, curvy almost. The dips, hollows and sweetly rounded curves
that fit against him felt as though she had been made specifically
for him.

“Brian Meldrew
is a spoilt little boy. His dad used to run one of the fishing
trawlers, but went out to sea one day and didn’t come back.” Kat
sighed. “Rumour has it that his boat didn’t go down. One or two of
the fishermen swear blind they have seen it head back to one of the
ports further along the coast. The gossips say that he has found
another woman and simply vanished to live with her, but nobody can
prove anything.”

“Go on,”
Jonathan sighed and used her distraction to draw her
infinitesimally closer. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t
seem to notice their physical proximity. He did not want to take
advantage of her. That was not in his nature, he just wanted to
give her comfort.

“His mother
ruined him. Gave him whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it, but
she could not cope with him and he has run riot ever since. As he
has grown older, his behaviour has deteriorated considerably. He
believes he is beyond the law. He steals what he cannot afford to
buy and has been linked to some of the muggings, rapes and petty
crime in the area, although always seems to get away with it.”

“What about his
associates?” Jonathan made a mental note of all of their
descriptions and looked forward to being able to pay each of them a
visit.

“Wally, Walter
Seabourne, is the youngest of all of them and is very
impressionable. Some question whether he is a bit simple,” she
shared a knowing look with him. “He goes along with anything anyone
suggests, yet is always kind and helpful when not in the company of
the others. Because he is so impressionable, Brian and his friends
manage to get him to do all sorts of things they themselves don’t
want to get caught doing.”

“Is he another
fisherman’s off-spring?”

“No, he is the
son of the farmer from Seabourne Farm.” She nodded down the road
behind them and watched recollection dawn on Jonathan’s tanned
face.

He really was
incredibly handsome. Up close, his brown hair had been tousled by
the stiff sea breeze but rather than make him look unkempt, it gave
him a roguish look that accompanied the devilish twinkle in his
blue-green eyes; eyes that now studied so closely that she
struggled to remember how to breathe.

She realised
then that he was waiting for her to expand on her explanation of
the men she had just encountered. She gave herself a mental shake
and turned her attention back to Walter Seabourne.

“He is quite
nondescript. Helps out on his family’s farm but seems to have gone
off the rails of late, ever since he met Brian, as a matter of
fact. I don’t know much else about him, except that he also does
everything Brian asks of him.”

Jonathan
scowled at that and stared darkly down the lane after the boys.
“What about the others?”

“Robert Taylor
is a bully through and through. He is the kind of person who would
drown kittens just for the laugh. He isn’t averse to breaking
children’s toys when he passes them just to prove that he can do
what he wants and get away with it. He is a horrible man who is too
big for his boots.”