Shattered Dreams (16 page)

While
the poor house had pretended to be a sanctuary; somewhere she could
turn to in order to secure a roof over her head, she had failed to
understand that the protection it offered came at a significant
price. From dawn to dusk, the work was endless, although was less
than satisfying. Far from being just work; it was incredibly
repetitive, and often included going over the same task again and
again, just because. There was no earthly reason why the floors
needed to be scrubbed twice over, but that was what Mrs Taylor had
decreed had to happen, so that was what everyone was forced to
do.

When the
sound of voices in the corridor outside reached her ears, she
reluctantly picked up the scrubbing brush and began to rub at the
same spot on the floor. Her mind went blank, as it had started to
do so much over the last couple of days. She daren’t think about
what Mrs Taylor would say to her if the horrible warden noticed she
had only done one sweep of the floor rather than the two she had
been ordered to do.

Right
now though, she didn’t really care all that much. She had already
spent last night without a blanket and candle because she hadn’t
been able to manage a second scrub of the hall floor yesterday
afternoon. The thought that she had to spend yet another night
without warmth left her with a desperate urge to hit her head
against the tiles in despair.

“
This it?”

Tilly
frowned at a spot on the floor as she listened to the rich,
cultured tones of, surprisingly, a man outside the door. As far as
she was aware, the only male in the female wing of this horrible
place was Zack.

Harry
actually felt nervous when he pushed the door open. To his utter
relief there, right in the centre of the cavernous room, looking
small and helpless upon the floor, was none other than the woman
who had haunted his dreams.

Tilly.

“
Thank God,” he growled as he marched forward. She looked so
lost and forlorn on the cold tiles that his heart lurched at the
sight of her.

The
closer he got to her, the more his horror grew as the ravages that
just a few days at the poor house had wrought upon her became
evident. Not only had she lost weight she really couldn’t afford to
lose but she was pale, and had such a look of hopelessness in her
eyes that he knew he would never forget how she looked right there
and then.

“
Tilly?” He whispered as he squatted down in front of her so
that he could look straight into her eyes.

Tilly
stared at him. She couldn’t focus on anything other than the
realisation that he was even more handsome than she remembered. He
was so wonderfully gorgeous that it almost pained her to have him
witness her complete humiliation and she wished, right there and
then, that the ground would open up and swallow her.

“
God, Tilly,” Harry growled.

Their
eyes met and held. He reached out slowly to touch one dirt smudged
cheek, and was horrified to feel it was as cold as ice beneath his
finger. He shook his head with a mixture of disbelief and
sorrow.

“
Sir?” She whispered.

Her gaze
flickered toward the small group of people who stood just inside
the hall doorway. She ignored Mrs Taylor’s evil stare, and frowned
at the curiosity evident on Zack’s face as he watched them. The men
beside Zack were total strangers, and she eyed them warily for a
moment before she turned her attention back to Harry.

“
What are you doing here?”

“
Getting you out of here,” Harry growled as he pushed to his
feet.

He held
a hand out to help her stand but, when she merely stared at it and
remained where she was, he sighed deeply and leaned down to remove
the scrubbing brush from her hand. He dropped it back into the pail
in disgust, and took hold of her chilled fingers. It annoyed him to
feel the faint trembling against his palm, but waited patiently
until she stood.

She
couldn’t tear her gaze away from him. He looked so incredibly
alive; so wonderfully masculine, that she wanted to reach out and
touch him just to see if he was real. Was he really there? Had he
really said that he was going to get her out? It all felt like a
dream. It felt wonderful. It was exciting. But, of course, she
daren’t hope that it was real. Not while she was beneath the
hateful glare of Mrs Taylor.

She
threw the warden a cautious look.

“
I need to get back to work,” she mumbled with a frown. She
quickly pushed the wild thrill of hope that began to form deep
within her aside, and sternly warned herself that Mr Tingay
couldn’t possibly be there to get her out. Why would he? Even if he
was, Taylor wouldn’t let him take anyone away from here.

“
No, you don’t, Tilly. There is no more work here for you. You
are coming with me.” Harry sighed, painfully aware that the
presence of the group of people behind him stopped him from
fulfilling his desperate need to sweep her into his arms for a hug.
“You shouldn’t have been here in the first place. It’s time to
leave.”

“
But I have nowhere to go,” Tilly gasped as she stared at
him.

Once
again, a wild thrill of hope swept through her, only this time it
was a little harder to ignore. She glanced down at their clasped
hands, and shivered as the warmth of his palm began to ease the
chill from her fingers. She had not realised until now just how
cold she was.

Harry
sighed. She was so beautiful; so pale, and trembled so badly that
he wondered whether she couldn’t walk, or daren’t. Either way, he
knew that if he wanted to get her out of there then he had to carry
her.

Still, needs must
, he mused silently
and, quite enthusiastically, swept her high into his arms. She felt
as light as a feather; and so wonderful in his arms that he knew he
had made the right decision to come after her. He took a moment to
savour the feel of her against him at last, and felt the first
tendrils of a much deeper emotion begin to flicker to life within
him. It was immensely reassuring; and gave him hope that there was
a much brighter future on the horizon now – for both of
them.

Tilly
clung to his shoulders. “Put me down,” she demanded
weakly.

She was
more than a little stunned at how quickly he stalked across the
hall, even carrying her, but she couldn’t bring herself to object
too vehemently just in case he put her down. Instead, she turned
her attention to studying him now that he was close.

She
didn’t think that she would ever see him again. He did, after all,
live in a world that was far away from hers. Her mind still
struggled to absorb the fact that he had come to get her out. Why?
It seemed an awful lot of effort to go to in order to help
her.

When
they swept out of the room, and into the corridor outside, she
caught sight of Zack close behind them.

“
Zack?” Tilly cried, and turned to Mr Tingay. “Please? I can’t
leave Zack,” she whispered quietly.

Harry
slowed down and looked carefully at her. He had never seen such
long lashes on a person before. Those lashes, when accompanied with
those beautiful moss coloured eyes, were a potent combination that
seemed to draw him in. They had certainly haunted his dreams over
the last week or so, that was for sure. He was so lost in the
perusal of her fine attributes that he had to force his attention
back to what she had just said.

“
We are not leaving Zack,” he assured her. “He is coming with
us.”

“
Where to? I don’t have anywhere to go,” Tilly
protested.

Harry
merely smiled at her and carried on walking.

“
Mr Tingay?” she persisted.

Harry
looked at her. “My name is Harry.”

“
Oh, I cannot call you by your first name. It would be highly
inappropriate,” Tilly assured him. In spite of the bravado in her
words, she tried valiantly to ignore the way her breasts were
squashed against his broad chest. They were so close she could feel
his heartbeat beneath his pristine white shirt.

In spite
of the dark situation they were in, Harry grinned at her.
“Inappropriate or not, you call me Harry,” he assured
her.

“
Harry,” she whispered. She tested the word on her tongue
before she nodded once. It felt right; it felt familiar. It also
felt scandalous to use it, but she was going to anyway.

Harry
smiled and looked down at her. It was incredibly satisfying to see
some of the shadows start to lift from her eyes and, for the first
time in one very long week, he felt himself start to
relax.

He
paused when an altercation started in the corridor behind them, and
he carefully eased her onto her feet before he turned around.
Tension reverberated through him, and he held Tilly protectively
behind him as he studied the people who now stood in the corridor
behind the group.

It
appeared that word had spread quickly that Taylor no long ruled the
women’s wing with an iron thumb. People were now completely
unperturbed by the fact that she was about, and some of the more
vocal residents took the opportunity to throw insults at her as
Marcus marched her along the corridor.

Assured
that there was not going to be a mass brawl, Harry sighed, and
swept Tilly off her feet again.

“
I can walk, you know,” she grumbled without any hint of
discontent.

She
caught the flash of his straight, white teeth as he smiled at her
but, thankfully, he made no attempt to put her down. In spite of
the fact that he was still very much a veritable stranger to her,
she settled against him with a contented sigh; happy to go wherever
he chose to take her.

By the
time they reached the main hall, Joseph had been joined by three
more wardens, and all of the doors, apart from the front door, now
stood wide open. Several of the male residents were now in the
hallway, and in the process of helping Joseph make sure that none
of the wardens disappeared before the jailer’s cart arrived.
Several mounds of books and rolls of parchment had been placed
beside the door, ready for inspection, along with piles of assorted
papers from the governor’s office.

“
Couple of knocks on the door, that’s all.” Joseph reported
when Harry asked him if anything had happened while they had been
away.

“
No sign of the governor?” Harry asked with his brows
lifted.

Joseph’s
gaze met his, and he slowly shook his head.

It was
irrelevant where the man was because the Star Elite were now in
charge of the poor house. Hopefully, the magistrate would be
successful in rounding the governor, and the Board of Trustees, up
for questioning and the Star Elite could then get some of the
answers they needed.

For the
Star Elite, it was more important that the poor house was secured
and the wardens removed from being any threat, or danger, to the
residents who remained. As a result, the only people who were
allowed into the building now was the magistrate, and the prison
guards from Battlington, who would keep the place secure until Sir
Hugo arrived.

Aware
that an almost deafening silence had settled over the main entrance
hall, Harry carried his precious cargo over to the front door where
he carefully lowered her to her feet. However, he absolutely
refused to let her go completely, and left a hand on her waist to
keep her beside him.

Together, they watched Marcus move to stand in front of
everyone, and a hushed silence fell over the room.

“
Right, listen up everyone because I am only going to say this
once. We are representatives of His Majesty’s government, and are
taking control of this building with immediate effect,” Marcus
announced flatly. “You are all relieved of your duties with
immediate effect, and are going to be taken to the jail in
Battlington, where you will be questioned about your part in what
has been going on around here.”

“
Why is the governor not at his desk?” Joseph
demanded.

“
He is never at his desk,” one of the wardens grumbled, and
glared back at Masterson when the man told him to shut up. “What? I
am right, he isn’t,” the warden protested.

“
He is never here,” Able added. “Masterson here runs the men’s
quarters, with Cruickshank, when he is on duty. Taylor runs the
female quarters.”

Marcus
stared at each warden in turn. “Is Cragdale due in
today?”

The
wardens looked at each other. It was clear from the blank looks and
shrugs they all shared that nobody had a clue.

Harry
knew that the governor was paid good money to work reasonable hours
at the poor house. The fact that he frequently failed to turn up
for work indicated that he either wasn’t interested in what went on
there, and had no authority over anything that happened anymore.
His job was more a token position rather than one which actually
carried responsibilities, and that was seriously worrying. If
Cragdale had effectively been squeezed out of his position, Harry
couldn’t understand why he would be willing to still ‘officially’
be in charge of how the place was run.

Where
was the Board of Trustees in all of this? Surely they had regular
meetings and toured the place?