Whenever-kobo (7 page)

I threw her a crumb. “Maybe you could take her.”

“Maybe.” Lisette sighed. “I studied so hard for the decathlon. Those stupid kidnappers interrupted the event before I even got one question.” She looked up at me and blushed. “I hope everyone’s okay.”

“Me too. And my speech was supposed to be on football.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, the players got in that accident.” She nodded. “That’s why you couldn’t give it?”

“Yeah.”

The pilot came on again. “Please prepare the cabin for landing.”

We went to the front, took our seats, and belted in. The plane tilted downwards, plowing through the clouds. We reached a low altitude, and my first vision of Ireland appeared in the windows: green rolling fields, a lush shade of green we didn’t have in Texas. Wow.

Metal flaps appeared on the wings, slowing the plane. The brakes protested the wind resistance and then the wheels thumped as they hit the tarmac.

Callum’s mouth softened, and his shoulders eased. “Welcome to Ireland,” he said, his eyes on me. I winked at him, and a flush stained his cheekbones. Man, he was cute.

Lisette clapped, unhooked her seatbelt, and scooted forward. “I don’t see much out there. Is this a private airstrip?”

Callum nodded. “For security.”

Sean jabbed a finger at me. “But you never know when the paparazzi will show up. It’s probably why they restricted the phone contacts. We don’t like to feed tabloid rumors.”

It was too early to react to his baiting. I yawned a contagious yawn and kept my seatbelt fastened until we pulled to a stop, and then I rose to stretch, enjoying the pull of muscles. Despite the pathetic napping I’d done, I didn’t feel as if I’d slept at all, and I didn’t try to calculate the time change. The plane made sounds of being powered down and the bodyguard checked his watch. “Good tail winds. We’re early, but not too much.”

The pilot came out of the cockpit. He was smaller in stature than his deep voice had implied, and he had a lean wiry appearance that I’d only seen in Europeans in the movies. His hands were raised, and both palms cupped the handle of a black pistol. “Stay where you are. It will be over in a moment.” Anger scrunched his face, and he narrowed furious eyes at Callum. “Pretender.” He leveled the gun so the nose pointed at the center of Callum’s chest. “We’re on Irish soil now. As it should be.”

Callum’s jaw tightened, and his hands scrambled to unlatch his seatbelt.

My breath caught.

The guard threw himself in front of Callum. “No.”

Pops sounded from the gun.

I sank behind a seat, covering my head.

The guard fell to the floor across the cabin. A gushing spray of blood came from his shoulder and splattered the grey trousers worn by the pilot.

The blood and the motion made us all move. I grabbed my blanket off the armrest and threw it at his head, like my brothers did to me when I slept in last Sunday. The pilot reacted with confused disorientation and fought the fabric.

Callum ran toward him and planted his foot into the pilot’s knee, causing him to crumple to the carpet. He clawed at the blanket, cursing.

Austin tackled him, and Callum pressed his wrist, forcing him to release the gun.

The gun slid free. Sean sprang over. “I got it,” he said, and scooped the gun into his pocket.

“Get something to tie him with,” Austin said.

Lisette raised the console and unhooked the phone cord, carrying it over, her gaze averted from the blood.

I had my hand over my mouth. The wounded man’s chest rose and fell shallowly, and his hand clasped over his injury. Bright red blood oozed over his fingers, lending the cabin air a coppery smell. I tried to remember first aid and grabbed some blankets. “We should stem the blood flow.”

“First aid kit’s in the galley,” the bodyguard said.

I got up and ran for the galley, searching the metal bins, and returned with a bright orange box.

“Stop crying,” Sean snapped at Lisette. “Security will be here any moment.” He snatched the kit from me. “Move out of the way. We need towels not blankets.”

Austin tied the pilot’s wrists together with the phone cord. “Get another cord so I can tie his legs.” Lisette grabbed a second one and Austin secured the guy’s ankles, linking the ends as if the pilot were a calf at the rodeo.

The pilot groaned louder and spewed more curses, imaginative foreign ones I’d never heard.

I hurried to the bathroom and came back with all the towels I could find, damp or dry.

Sean wrapped the guard’s wound, and used a towel to wipe at the blood staining his hands. He shook his head.

“Security will be here,” the bodyguard said. His lips pressed tight and white rimmed his mouth. He barely opened his lips when he spoke again, “But so might your enemies.” He closed his eyes. “You have to get moving. I can’t protect you here.”

Callum put the bodyguard’s free arm over his shoulder and braced him to rise.

“I’ll slow you down, Your Highness,” the guard said.

“I don’t care,” Callum said.

The guard slumped down. “They’re not after me. Go, and don’t tell me where you’re going.”

Callum’s mouth tightened. He dropped a blanket around the man’s shoulders and then he spoke to us. “Austin, grab the weapons. Lisette, get food. Hayley, the other blankets. Sean, the door.”

“We should wait for the security team to get here,” Sean said.

“You wait.” Callum shoved the handle on the emergency exit, pulled the door from the fitting and threw it out from the aircraft. A bright orange mat billowed out, forming a slide. Next, he grabbed a cell phone and said, “Whoever’s going with me, come on.”

All of us hurried over. I crossed my arms over my chest like the others and jumped. It was like rushing down a slide on the playground, but while wearing silk, in a foreign country, with the threat of gunmen looming. I hit the tarmac and tugged my skirt back into place, shivering as the Irish air washed over me, crisper than home, cleaner than home. The thin black sweater barely countered the cold air. I breathed in deep, clearing the smell of blood and fear, wishing for Trallwyn’s warm humidity while trying to calm down.

Callum drummed his fingers on his thigh and examined the horizon. “Town’s south. The Atlantic’s west. North is the mountains—it’s home, and east is grazing area—no cover. We head north.”

We each grabbed a pack and followed him. After we cleared the tree line, we slowed to a hike. The first hour was spent burning off adrenalin. The second hour we walked. No one spoke much, and if I had to guess, I’d say we were in some type of shock.

Lisette put a hand to her side and gasped. “Stitch. I think I need a break.”

“We should get beyond that ridge.” Callum pointed. “More cover.”

The grey outcropping appeared to be at least a mile away, a mile straight up, through dirt and brambles. I stopped and sank to the ground beside Lisette, uncaring of the silk dress. “Break.” I nodded at Lisette. “Did we bring any water?”

She pulled a plastic bottle from the pack and passed it to me.

“Thanks.” The cool drink eased the dryness of my throat. “Anyone bring chocolate?” I asked. “Maybe milk chocolate in solid squares? Or caramel ones?”

“No chocolate.” Callum looked down at me, and I liked the mix of colors in his dark eyes: grey and blue, it made being close extra rewarding.

Callum said, “You like chocolate?”

I nodded, and some of the heat in my face had nothing to do with hiking. I passed the water to him.
Sit by me, handsome.

Callum drank from the bottle while standing.

“We don’t have the supplies to go too far,” Austin said. “We have to make some decisions.”

“I can go back,” Sean said, facing the way we’d come. “You hide, and I’ll return for you.”

“We’re safer together,” Callum said.

No one disputed that.

“My cell’s not getting a signal.” Austin screwed with his phone. “I don’t know why I’m trying. I don’t have international service. Give me yours.”

Callum handed over his phone. While Austin tried to get a signal, the two batted ideas around, naming places and people we didn’t know. Each idea met with resounding refusal from the other.

Callum pointed further up. “We can make it home.”

Sean’s eyes shifted. “The castle? They could expect us to go there. There could be an ambush.”

I didn’t get into their conversation. I drank in the forest, trying to calm my breathing. Each body part that wasn’t numb felt bruised. The helicopter’s rinse cycle, sleeping in a chair, and this mad hike up a hill had left me wiped out.

Callum clapped his hands in a sharp swat. He stared into the distance and his voice took on a somber tone. “Church of
Clochán na bhFomhórach
.”

Sean crossed himself. “It’s forbidden. Cursed.”

“Which is why they won’t expect it. No one goes up there. No tourists. No press. No assassins. No one living anyway.” Callum shoved his sleeves up. “When we get there, we can rest and determine our next course.”

“The phones don’t work in these backwoods,” Austin said, handing the phones back. “I’m up for the haunted place.”

I rose, reluctant to be moving again, but feeling more centered now that we had a destination. I helped Lisette up and off we went.

Green grass gave way to hexagonal tan stones. Some rose above others like steps as we progressed. The higher ones formed pillars and gave us a view of liquid midnight-blue crashing waves topped with white.

Austin bounced up the stones without care for their slickness. “Cool. They’re like stop signs.”

“The stones are made of basalt from a long ago volcanic eruption,” Callum said, climbing without effort though the rest of us were about to drop.

My foot slid, and I reached to steady myself on one of the columns. While the flat cobblestones under my feet looked like the surface of a pedestrian’s thoroughfare back home, I’d never seen anything like these taller columns. I leaned into one and watched the horizon.

Big white seagulls squawked overhead and dove into the crashing waves. Black birds too, with white bellies and red beaks, like Asian art come to life.

“Puffins,” Callum said, following my gaze.

“Cute.” The sea breeze whipped around, making me shiver, reminding me I should keep moving. Callum was only a few columns up. I could reach him.

“The baby ones are called pufflings,” he said.

The trivia made me smile.

Austin examined the ocean. “We’ll have fish tonight.”

Before I could explain that I’d rather be eating pretzels and chocolate dip on a plane home, I caught sight of something cupped in Callum’s palm. I stilled and everything in me froze. He held a small plant. The thin stem had three rounded, slightly fuzzy-looking sage-green leaves. I scrambled toward him without care, ignoring the poking rocks and uneven edges. I climbed until I stood one higher than him and grabbed his wrist to get a closer look. “What have you done?”

Callum’s eyelids half-lowered, and he moved to withdraw.

I wrapped my second hand around his wrist and raised my accusing gaze to him. “You picked it. You picked the solo bluebonnet from Trallwyn.”

“I’d not seen one. We don’t have bluebonnets here.”

“That plant is native to and only grows in Texas. It doesn’t belong here.” I looked at its small roots and swallowed. “And now it won’t grow anywhere.”

“It was alone in a planter in the lab and despite the Texas common belief, it’s not illegal to pick bluebonnets.”

“We planted the seeds two years ago. We did everything to make the seeds grow. We nicked some. We froze some. We rolled some in sandpaper. And none of them germinated. Except one.”

His eyes brightened, and he touched the corner of a leaf. “It was probably a lack of sun or water, more climate control than seed preparation. You should have left it in its natural state.”

I shook his wrist. “One grew. One grew out of two years of work and
you
picked it. Was it shoved in your pocket this whole time?”

He smiled. “It’s nothing like the silk flower you gave me before the decathlon.”

Austin climbed a step toward us. “What do you say, guys? Think we can drop a fishing line?”

Hide the evidence.
I didn’t know why I felt the urge to protect Callum, but I covered the bluebonnet sprout with my hand and spun toward Austin. “Maybe. I don’t know how far it is.” I urged Callum’s hand down behind me so Austin wouldn’t see what he’d done.

“What you got there?” Austin asked, eyeing our hands.

“Nothing,” I said, my voice pitched high.

Lisette caught up to Austin. “What are y’all looking at?”

“Nothing,” I said again. I looked at Austin, searching for a distraction. “Coach is going to be pissed that you didn’t make the game.”

Austin nodded. “Yeah, looks like Prep had a chance after all.”

Sean made a cut-off sound and abruptly stopped. He gazed off in the distance and his expression twisted. “There it is.” Awe and fear shook his voice. He jerked his head
no
and wrapped his arms around his body.

I pressed on Callum’s hand. “We’ll talk about this later.” I let go and moved around an outcropping of rocks to see what Sean had spotted.

Above us, a medieval church hung on the cliff, grey stone composite patched with bright green moss. Weird. The moss in Texas was pale green; this was almost neon. I moved higher, invigorated now that our destination was in sight. The others hurried too, all but Sean, who’d slowed to a hesitant walk. Austin got there first, and then me.

I bent to go under a gap in the broken wall surrounding the grounds, stilling on the other side. I couldn’t decide what was more fantastic: the partly ruined structure or the ancient Irish crosses bordering the path. A circle lay in the center of each traditional cross, marking them as Celtic. The place felt foreign and magical.

“We made it,” Callum said.

Sean stood behind him, shaking his fair head. He crossed himself before moving forward with wide, fearful eyes and pinched lips.

I walked slowly too, but not out of superstition; I was taking in everything. We went under an arched doorway. I didn’t know how old the church was, but as I crossed the threshold, the dense wooden doorway held steady.