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.Her foot hit his stomach instead.―Bitch!‖ He backhanded her and split her lip.Only the rough hands gripping her kept her from falling.Geddes gripped her hair, forcing her face back.―Your dear da is payin‘ us to see ye delivered to him.He did no‘ tell us in what condition you had to be.‖Rose tried to hang on to consciousness.Her swollen mouth stumbled to form her next words.―Why would my father do this?‖Geddes laughed.― ‘Tain‘t you Hereford wants, my thorny Rose.‖Chapter 24Rose came awake in slow stages, aware of the rocking movement of the wagon, and felt sick and momentarily disoriented.She turned on her side, attempted to see through the slats in the wagon, and saw that the sun had nearly set.A lazy twilight had settled over the sky.She saw two of Geddes‘s henchmen trailing the wagon on horseback.Ruark would know she was gone by now.She fell back and let her eyes adjust to the dark.She lay atop smelly furs and blankets in a gaily painted trader wagon, filled with an assortment of wares.Pots and pans dangling from the roof clanked and rattled along with crockery, teacups.Nostrums and remedies jostled in their glass and tin containers, all neatly set in wooden brackets near the tailgate.Though she was bound, Geddes had tied her hands in front of her this time, not at her back as he had all day yesterday, since she had worked up a few tears and pleaded for his mercy today.Geddes enjoyed her groveling.Bastard.She was confident in her ability to outwit her captors, who seemed more nervous today and less attentive to her, and ignored her still tender and bruised mouth, now chafed with rope burns as she had gnawed through much of the knot.But in her exhaustion, her mind touched on Colum, and her throat tightened as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to think about him.She was sure the boys had survived.Geddes had not bragged about finding anyone else at the falls, and he didn‘t have time to search, taking the extra horses instead.Jack must have seen Geddes in time, she realized.Jack would know him and was smart enough to take Jamie and hide.Ruark would have already found the boys safe.She knew even now Ruark was coming after her.Ruark had been correct when he‘d told her they were connected.She could feel his heartbeat inside her as he must feel hers.Aye, he was coming for her.Geddes Graham and her father would rue the day they had been born.The clatter of dozens of horses alerted Rose.She knew Geddes sometimes left the group to scout ahead for a hidden place to camp.After a while, the wagon lumbered to a halt.She felt it dip, then heard footsteps in the dirt as someone walked to the tailgate.A bolt slid back on the thick wood, first on one side then the other.A creaking sounded.The door came down and the canvas covering slid back to reveal Lord Hereford.She could not sit straight for all the goods hanging above her.He took one look at her.―Get her out of there,‖ she heard her father say to someone just out of her vision.The mountebank appeared.She scooted, desperate to be free of the tomblike enclosure.He pulled until she could sit on the tailgate.A chill wind hit her.As the rough hemp on her ankles was hastily removed, she glanced briefly at the mottled magenta and amber-stained sky before focusing on the hand that helped her stand.The mountebank wore the same tatty loose-fitting frock, waistcoat, and greasy leggings she‘d seen him wearing in Castleton.As she struggled for balance, she faced her father.He captured her chin between his thumb and his forefinger and tilted her face.―Who struck her?‖When no one answered, he dropped his hand and turned to face Geddes.Without warning, her father‘s arm swung in an arc and backhanded Geddes across the mouth.―I don‘t care what you bloody do to the other women in your life, but this one is my daughter, and you will not lay a fucking hand on her again.‖Geddes‘s lank brown hair hung in his eyes as he pressed the back of his hand to his bloody mouth.―She ain‘t te be trusted,‖ he said.―Of course, she isn‘t to be trusted! But I want Roxburghe cooperative.See that she is fed and cleaned up.‖Geddes grabbed her arm.―Why are you doing this?‖ she demanded of her father.―Why did you go to all the trouble to send me my mother‘s things and ask to visit Stonehaven.‖ His actions were so cold.So utterly.cold.Hereford‘s gaze swung back around to her, his smile unpleasant.―Roxburghe reneged on every agreement we made.A week ago, I received notice from his solicitor that he has made a legal claim upon Kirkland Park on your behalf.No one.I mean no one betrays me.‖―Can he do that?‖ she whispered.―Oh, aye.‘Tis called blackmail.He can tell the world I am a pirate, I can tell the world he is a pirate.We can both produce proof against the other and most probably be hanged for it all.And he can face a tribunal for kidnapping and raping you.‖―But you forced our marriage.‖―No jury will deny a father‘s need to protect his daughter any way he can.And I will see it annulled.‖More powerful at that moment even than despair was fury at her father as he turned on his booted heel and strode across the camp, where he conversed with two red-coated dragoons setting up a tent.She shouted after him.―It cannot be annulled!‖Geddes tossed a blanket on the ground at her feet.His contemptuous gaze swept her tangled hair and crumpled clothing.―Many pardons, m‘lady, that we cannot offer ye a more accommodating bedchamber.One I‘m sure you‘ve grown accustomed to these past months.‖―My husband will come for me,‖ she said casually, as one might announce a change of weather.―He will hunt the lot of you down.But you, Geddes Graham.he will take special pleasure in killing.And if he does not, I will!‖She derived enormous satisfaction as she watched a momentary flash of doubt in his eyes.―My father will not protect you.Let me go now and I will see that at least your life is spared.‖Geddes sneered.―If only I could, me thorny Rose.Lord Hereford and me.Let me just say we got us a special understanding.‖Her eyes swept his swollen mouth.―I can see how much that special understanding means to him.‖Geddes walked away, leaving her to sit on a rock and absently rub her ankles where the ropes had burned into her skin.The mountebank presented her with a bloated skin that looked as if it had been recently filled in the stream.―We‘ve stopped fer the night, Miss Rose,‖ he said.―So ye can rest now.‖Rose numbly accepted the skin.Her hands remained bound and they trembled despite her best effort.As she drank, she looked over the rim at the mountebank.He had a face like a shaggy brown cow with large sad eyes and an underbite that made his lower jaw protrude.More so now with his emotions in his eyes.Wiping his greasy hands on his frock, he shifted from foot to foot.―I‘ll bring a bowl and a rag fer ye to clean up.‖She watched him rummage through the back of his precious wagon filled with nostrums, throwing items this way and that.The sun was almost gone for the day.Rose looked up at the indigo sky and could not help the path of her thoughts as she thought desperately of Ruark [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]