Wings of the Morning (Kensington Chronicles) (32 page)

newest resident of Klink Prison.

What kind of place is this, Smokey asked herself not for the

first time, that they starve people to death? Smokey could think

of no crime so heinous as to deserve this.

The morning stretched on. Just when she thought she

would go mad for want of food, a light appeared from somewhere

down the cavern. It hurt her eyes as it neared, but she

forced herself to look anyway, hope pounding in her breast.

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/ Two men appeared, one carrying a bucket and cups, the

other a basket of loaves. Keys jingled, and the cell door was

opened Two loaves of bread were thrown in, and cups of

some type of gruel were scooped up and set just inside the

door before it was slammed shut again.

Smokey scrambled for the bread as fast as she could move,

cramming it into her mouth in a frenzy, but the other woman

stayed her movement.

"Easy, go easy, child, or lt*ll make ya sick."

Smokey stopped in midchew and forced herself to calm

down. She reached for the other loaf and set it beside the

other woman's pallet.

The woman's laugh was low and had a rusty sound to it.

"Ya must be something special when yer not in 'ere. Anyone

else in this 'ole would 'ave eaten 'em both."

Smokey moved to the cups then and ignoring her own,

took one to the other pallet. She held it while the old woman

took a sip and left it within reach next to the bread

Her hand shook so violently as she drank from her own

cup that she nearly spilled the contents. The gruel was thin

and gritty, but Smokey didn't know when anything had tasted

so wonderful. After she'd taken a few sips, she looked over to

see that the other woman had at least picked up her cup.

"What's your name?" Smokey asked her.

"Aggie."

"Why are you in here?" Smokey asked around a mouthful

of bread Again the older prisoner laughed.

"Now I can really tell that yer new to this. There's two

things ya don't ask down 'ere--the first is why yer 'ere, and the

second is if yer deserve to be."

"Oh" was all Smokey could think to say as she tried to eat

slowly.

"You're an American?" Aggie asked, although it was more

a statement than a question.

"Yes" was all Smokey said.

They fell silent after this small exchange, both now working

on the food Smokey was nearly done with her bread when

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she thought she should save some for later. She didn't want to 1

think about the next two days, but forcing herself to do so, she

reached to put the small crust into the pocket of her tunic

"Don't do it," Aggie said, making Smokey aware of the fact

that she'd been watching her. "Eats it all, or the rats'll come

lookin' for it."

Smokey's breath left her in a rush, and she couldn't stop

the shudder that ran over her frame as her eyes searched the

dark corners of the cell and cavern. She took the bread back

out and, after eating it, finished her gruel as well.

The older prisoner went back to sleep as soon as she was

done, but Smokey only sat on her pallet, a new shudder

running over her frame every time she thought of Aggie's

words.

ever seen. The landscape was perfect, ana ooin manual Run* Dallas thought they could have used their imaginations and

been in any number of small villages in Italy.

The front door was opened without hesitation, and both

men were greatly encouraged to at least gain entrance to the

grand home. Only seconds passed, however, before their

hopes were dashed.

"Lord Lynne is not here at the moment," a stuffy butler

informed them, looking down the length of his long, well-shaped

nose.

"Can you tell us where he might be?" Dallas questioned

politely, just barely holding his temper at being treated like a

commoner.

"I'm sorry," the man began, not sounding sorry at all.

Before he could go on, a petite but lovely woman appeared on

the stairs behind Brandon and Dallas. They turned when she

spoke in perfect Italian to the servant.

Brandon, who was fluent in French and German, caught a

smattering of her words, but missed whether she was pleased

or angry over their presence. She stared at them a momenf

before moving down to the floor, across the entryway, and

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into an adjoining room. The butler motioned to the men to

join her.

Once inside, the room proved to be a somewhat neglected

library. Brandon held every one of the myriad questions running

through his mind. He assumed the woman would need

an interpreter before they could communicate, but only a

moment passed before she put that wrong assumption to rest.

"I wish to know your names, gentlemen," she spoke in

English, her accent very subtle.

The men supplied her with the information before she

took a seat and asked them to join her. They did so cautiously,

thinking this situation felt a little more bizarre with every

passing moment.

"I am Lady Constanza Lynne. Mario tells me you were

inquiring about my husband"

Brandon's face showed his shock, and Lady Lynne smiled

with a bitter twist to her mouth.

"I can see, Lord Hawkesbury, that you have listened to the

rumors around London--that I am a bedridden termagant. As

you see for yourself, I am not bedridden, and as for the charge

of shrew, let us just say that at times I have cause."

"Please excuse my behavior, Lady Lynne/' he apologized

immediately. "We are looking for your husband Can you help

us find him?"

"Why do you wish to see him?"

Brandon answered without hesitation. "He was arrested

just days ago for piracy and has since then been freed An

American woman, a friend of mine, has now been arrested for

the same charge. I wish to question your husband myself as to

whether or not he had a hand in the matter."

"This woman--she is accused unjustly?"

"Yes, she is."

The regret they saw in her eyes was very real.

"I wish you would tell me everything."

Brandon hesitated then, knowing he could not sugarcoat

the truth in any way and wondering if that was fair to her.

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"Please," Lady Lynne beseeched him softly when she saw

his reluctance.

Brandon nodded and began. He explained the pirating of

his own ships and how he had come to meet Smokey. Dallas

took over whenever the story moved to the seas and shared

his knowledge of Smokey's capture. Brandon recounted a few

details of the case he was building and also informed her in

no uncertain terms that her husband would answer to the

charges.

Constanza listened without comment. Neither man had

spared details, and even though they were both calm, she

could see that the woman, this American sea captain, meant a

great deal to them.

"This Captain Simmons--you say my husband abducted

her?"

"That is right," Dallas told her.

"Is she all right?" the woman asked with genuine concern.

Both men were amazed that she didn't seem to doubt a single

one of the allegations against her husband

"When we saw her last, yes, she was well, but prison is--"

Brandon let the sentence hang and shrugged regretfully. "Can

you help us, Lady Lynne?"

She hesitated for only a moment. "I am speaking the truth

when I say I do not know the whereabouts of my spouse. I wish

that I did"

Brandon's and Dallas' disappointment was obvious. Thinking

she would be a lead, they had spent valuable time here only

to again encounter another dead end They both stood, Brandon's

voice a bit curt as he excused them.

"I won't ask you to report him should he come home-- that might not be fair. We must take our leave now."

Dallas did little more than nod in Lady Lynne's direction

as they both started toward the door. Brandon's hand was on

the knob when Lady Lynne stopped them with a few words.

Brandon turned back and nailed her with a look and one

question.

"Can you explain what you just said to me?"

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Constanza swallowed hard and nodded. She gestured

with a slim hand for the men to be reseated. Brandon and

Dallas didn't leave the Lynne library for another two hours.

When they did leave, they talked of nothing but the case

all the way back to London. On entering the city, they went

directly to the Tower in order to inform Smokey of the newest

information. Both men were momentarily silent with shock

to learn that she had been moved the night before.

After recovering, Dallas watched once again as Brandon

went into action, this time to locate her. Dallas had to fight

panic such as he had never experienced before, when, after

several hours, Brandon told him that not even he could find

out who had moved Smokey or where she had been taken.

The day after Aggie and Smokey had been fed someone

else came down the caverns with a light. Smokey's heart

leaped with hope that there would be more food, but a darkly

cloaked figure, hood pulled completely over his head, stopped

outside the cell.

The Jailer held his lantern high, and both Aggie and Smokey

squinted and turned away from the bright assault. Smokey

was still squinting when the keys rattled and the door swung

open.

From her place on her pallet, the man looked huge as he

entered Smokey could not think who would be coming to see

her. Brandon or Dallas would not have been so mysterious.

The big man hung the lantern on a nail and spoke over his

shoulder to the guard

"Leave us."

Smokey stiffened at the sound of his voice and used what

was left of her quickly fading strength to come off the pallet

and move against the far stone wall. Her breath quickened as

fear pounded in her chest.

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"This place does not t Cx/df your beauty and

talents, my dear. Already I ca*/ -** (^/taking a toll."

The hood came off then, ana auiokey stared into the face

of her abductor, his smile and scar still in place

"What do you want?" she asked softly.

"What I've always wanted--you."

"Get out," she ordered him, but he only smiled

"I should have known a woman of your spirit would need

more time, but I hoped."

"Hoped for what?"

"Why, that you would see reason, my dear." He spoke as

though addressing a slow child "My offer still stands. I want

you and the Aramis. I'll have you out of here in an hour, and

we'll be married by the week's end"

Smokey's lip curled in disgust, but Haamich Wynn only

smiled.

"Will we live with your wife, or have a home of our own?"

Smokey's voice dripped with scorn, and the smile vanished as