by Brianna York
The innkeeper stumbled out to meet them, and Matthew dismounted to secure rooms for them. Tess slid stiffly to the ground, her feet crying out sharply in protest as they connected with the hard cobbles of the yard.
“We shall see to our own horses,” Matthew informed the innkeeper as he handed the man the required fee for stabling them overnight.
“As you wish yer Lordship,” the man said blearily, tugging at his forelock a bit sloppily.
“See that there is some sort of food in our rooms when we get to them,” Matthew ordered the man, pressing more money into his hand before turning away.
“Yes, yer Lordship,” the man repeated, turning and shuffling away.
“Let’s put these horses up and then get what little sleep we can manage,” Matthew told them, leading Deuce into the stables. They trailed after him and began walking the horses up and down the long aisle to allow them to cool out. They all held silent as they marched back and forth with their horses. They were too weary to do much else.
When the horses were breathing normally and had cooled somewhat, they led them into stalls next to one another. Tess slipped the saddle from Hermes’s soaking wet back and unbuckled the noseband and throatlatch of his bridle before sliding it off his head. He glanced at her with a grateful little snort, then sank into the straw and rolled thoroughly. Tess laughed softly at him, then left the stall to put her tack out of the way. She glanced toward Hercules’ stall and saw Rob struggling with the straps of the gelding’s bridle. Smiling, she slipped into the stall.
“Would you like some help?” she asked Rob.
He smiled at her in obvious relief. “Yes, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t,” she replied agreeably, taking his place and working the wet leather from its keepers. “Would you be willing to begin rubbing Hermes down while I do this?” she asked.
“Not a bit,” he replied.
She shook her head a bit, still smiling and slid the bridle off of Hercules’s head. “There you go, my good man,” she whispered to him as she stepped back to allow him space to roll.
Forrest had climbed up into the loft and was distributing hay to the horses by this time. They were beginning to dry now that they were out of the rain, steam rising from their coats and fogging the air. By the time that they had been rubbed for a half an hour, they would be dry enough that the little party of rescuers could go to bed.
“I see that ye found the hay wi’out my ‘elp,” a voice said as Forrest climbed down from the loft. He turned around to see one of the stable boys blinking sleepily from behind the soft halo of light cast by the lantern he carried.
“That I did, lad,” Forrest replied.
“Nice for a change to ‘ave travelers who knows their way around ‘orses,” the boy said approvingly, watching Matthew rubbing down Deuce. “The other blokes who arrived t’night just handed me and Andrew the reins and left.” The boy shook his head ruefully. “Ye’d think, wi’ all that blunt and that fancy carriage and all that they’d wanter be sure all was taken care of right and proper.”
Forrest glanced at Matthew sharply at the boy’s mention of the carriage. “Could you show me this carriage, lad?” he asked the boy.
“‘Course,” the boy replied, looking a bit perplexed, but not of a mind to question his betters. “Foller me.”
Forrest glanced again at Matthew, then followed the boy out of the stable. Matthew’s mind was working furiously. It was simply too good to be true. He attempted to stop himself from hoping that the carriage was Marcus’s, but he did not succeed. Tess caught his eye, the expression on her face an echo of his. It was only a minute before Forrest returned, walking briskly, his eyes ablaze in his face.
“They’re here,” he announced. “The boy says that they arrived about three hours ago with a broken harness that is being repaired and that they left orders to have the horses prepared at dawn.”
Matthew nodded. “That should give us a little time to come up with a plan.” He slipped from Deuce’s stall. “I will go and wake the innkeeper again so that I can find out what rooms they are in.”
With Matthew gone, the others worked in an anxious, feverish fury getting the horses properly cooled out. There was little else for them to do in any case and moving made them feel better. By the time that Matthew returned the horses were cared for and Rob and Forrest were standing with Tess in the dimly-lit aisle way. They all glanced up at Matthew when he reappeared, their faces mirroring his own tension.
He drew to a halt before them, searching their faces for fear or regret and saw none. “They have two rooms on the second floor,” he told them. “The innkeeper did not know who had intended to stay in which room.”
“That is a problem,” Forrest said in a flat monotone. He rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger as he thought. “We shall need to know who is in which room before we can proceed.”
Matthew nodded, then shook his head hard and gripped the back of his neck with one hand. “Damn.”
“Agreed,” Forrest replied, falling to pacing back and forth up and down the aisle.
Rob watched Forrest pace for a moment, then cleared his throat. “I think I may be able to be of some service,” he announced before shivering and wrapping his greatcoat tighter around himself.
Forrest halted with an attentive expression on his face and Matthew stepped closer to his friend. “Tell us, Rob,” Matthew prodded.
“Well,” Rob cleared his throat, “I assume that in order to see into those windows, one would need to gain some altitude.” He glanced at Matthew and Forrest briefly. “If you two remember, I was a fair hand at climbing trees when we were in school together. I doubt that I have forgotten my former talents.”
Matthew was grinning at Rob now. “Of course!” he exclaimed. “How could I have forgotten such a thing?”
“Come, Rob,” Forrest said. “Let us hope that there is a convenient tree for you to utilize behind the inn.”
Alone with Matthew, Tess turned to look up at him across the few feet that separated them. “I am so terribly sorry for all of this,” she whispered, her eyes too large for her face.
Matthew shook his head and stepped into the void that stretched between them. Tess wanted to laugh at how easily he had demonstrated that there never could be any distance, physical or otherwise between them that he could not conquer. He came to a halt directly in front of her, but he did not touch her. His eyes were very golden as he looked down at her. “You are not responsible for the actions of your brother, Tess,” he reminded her. “And I am not sorry that you are here.”
She thought that she should cry, but she felt instead a sweep of pure, relief that pushed aside the tears. “You shouldn’t still care about me. Not after all of the wrong that I have done you.”
He smiled down at her, that lopsided grin that was somehow worldly and innocent all at once, and still without touching her with his hands, kissed her. She was first to draw back, placing a finger over his lips and shaking her head gently. “There is work yet to be done, love.” He smiled ruefully and nodded once before stepping back. It was then that Forrest and Rob reappeared.
“There is indeed a tree well suited to our purpose behind the side of the inn their rooms are on,” Forrest informed them briskly, slipping off his gloves and blowing on his fingers.
“I am afraid that I shall have to climb quite a ways up into it before I shall be able to see, however,” Rob said with some regret. “There are no branches conveniently located at the same height as the windows.”
Matthew waved a hand dismissively at that. “A few minutes here or there shall not make or break us,” he replied.
“We shall need to know which room Alex is in before I can formulate a plan of any merit,” Forrest told them, “So I suggest that we get Rob into that tree posthaste.” This required no verbal reply and the small group hurried in the rain and the dark across the cobbles and around the back of the inn. Tess saw at once the tree that Rob intended to use. It was an old oak with a
massive trunk and plenty of thick branches that would easily support Rob’s weight. They slipped beneath its spreading boughs and Tess smiled with relief as the tree thinned the rain to little more than an occasional splatter.
“Ready Rob?” Forrest asked.
Rob nodded, slipping out of his greatcoat so that it would not trip him up. He handed it to Forrest, then glanced at Matthew. “I shall need a boost up to that first branch,” he said and Matthew obliged, bending his knees and lacing his fingers together. Rob stood before him with his hands on Matthew’s shoulders and his left foot in Matthew’s hands.
“Ready?” Matthew nodded. “One, two, three!” Rob gathered momentum, bouncing with each count, then launched himself into the air and caught a hold of the lowest branch. He swung back and forth a few times, then swung himself up and around the tree limb. He pushed himself up off of his stomach and onto his feet on the branch, his hands already grasping for the next limb. Tess watched this display of dexterity with pleasure.
“If only he rode like that,” she commented, causing Forrest to bark with laughter. They watched him make his way nimbly from limb to limb until he had gained enough altitude to see what he needed to see. To Tess he looked terribly high up in the air and she chewed her thumbnail nervously as she watched him slide out to the farthest limit of the branch and lay on his stomach. He stayed that way for a long moment, then rose to the balls of his feet and slipped back along the length of the branch to begin his downward climb.
“Who knew that his skill with trees would come so in handy?” Matthew observed drily, shaking his head a bit.
Rob had reached the second to last branch now and he slipped down onto his stomach to allow himself to hang so that he could drop onto the last branch. He hung for a moment before his questing feet found the branch below him. He made sure that his feet were well placed and started to let go of the branch above when his right foot slipped.
His friends watched in horror as he started to overbalance backwards into space. He threw out his hands in an attempt to catch a hold of the branch above him again, but it was slick with rain and his hands slid off. In terrible silence, he slowly leaned backwards and fell to the ground with a sickening thump.
“Rob!” Matthew cried out, running quickly to his friend’s side. “Rob, are you all right?”
The wind had been knocked out of Rob’s lungs and he raised a trembling hand to request Matthew’s silence as he struggled for air. Once he had managed to take a few deep breaths he whispered, “I think that I am fine.” He smiled ruefully. “Ruined all that fine work at the last moment,” he wheezed.
“Nonsense,” Matthew returned impatiently. “Anything hurt?”
Rob took a quick inventory of himself, then shook his head. “No. I think that I am fine. Help me up.”
“Are you quite sure that...” Matthew began but Rob cut across him.
“Help me up, Matthew.” Sighing, Matthew did as Rob had bade him, supporting his friend first to a sitting position and then to his feet.
“Still feel all right?” Forrest asked Rob once he was on his feet.
Rob nodded and smiled with relief. “I do. I had thought for a moment that I could not possibly have escaped injury, but obviously I was wrong. Let me go Matthew, I am fine.”
Matthew drew back obediently and Rob grinned at them. “Let’s go rescue Alex,” he said jauntily, shifting his weight forward as if to take a step. His eyes widened with shock and he cried out as his right ankle gave underneath him and he started to topple forward. Forrest’s lightening reflexes rescued him from crashing to the ground for the second time. He carefully righted Rob, allowing his friend to lean upon his shoulder so that he would not have to stand on his right foot.
“It seems,” Rob managed to say through gritted teeth as nausea roiled within him, “that I have injured my ankle.” Tess thought that if the sickly pallor of his face was anything to go by, he must be injured very badly indeed.
“Let’s get you back to the stables,” Forrest said. “Can you make it if I help you?”
Rob nodded firmly. “I can.”
The group set off toward the relative warmth of the stables, Rob hopping along beside Forrest and Matthew and Tess following closely behind. Tess glanced to her left at Matthew once and saw that his face was drawn and grim. Not a single one of them remained uninjured at this point and Tess did not think that was a very good omen. On the other hand, she thought with a mental shrug, not much more could go wrong at this point.
Thirty-Nine
F
orrest settled Rob gingerly onto a bale of straw that was lying in front of Deuce’s stall when they were inside the stables, then went and retrieved a lap rug from Marcus’s carriage for Rob to wrap up in. “What did you see?” Forrest asked once Rob was wrapped up in the blanket.
“Marcus is asleep in the room that you will come to first and Alex is tied to a chair in the other one. I could make out someone in the bed in that room as well, so we shall have to assume that is Dartmoor I suppose.” He winced at a sharp pain that originated in his ankle and speared its way all the way up to his knee.
“I have something that will help you with the pain, Rob,” Matthew said, going to where his saddle was sitting and rummaging about in the saddle bags for a moment. He returned a moment later holding out a silver flask.
“Ah! Thank you, Matthew,” Rob said gratefully, removing the cap and taking a large swig of the contents.
“Did Alex look unharmed?” Tess asked in a small voice. She would tear her brother from limb to limb with her bare hands if Alex had been hurt.
Rob shook his head, but he looked skeptical. “I think that she was all right for someone tied to a chair. She looked to be asleep, but I suppose that she might be unconscious as well. I cannot really be sure. The windows were rather grimy and the distance made such details unreliable with moonlight as my only guide. Sorry.”
Tess nodded. “We shall know soon enough how she is I suppose.”
Forrest nodded. “We shall indeed. I think that we need to stage a two-pronged attack in this situation.” He glanced at Tess thoughtfully. “I shall need your help with something rather risky Tess. Are you willing?”
She nodded immediately and Matthew grit his teeth. His first instinct was to prevent her from taking part, but without Rob, he knew that they would need her assistance.
“Good,” Forrest replied with a shadow of a smile. “Do you know how to shoot?”
She surprised them all by nodding again. “My brother taught me.” She noticed that they were all staring at her in shock and she laughed. “We did not live under the best conditions once my father died. It was necessary that I know how to protect myself should I find myself alone and in danger.”
Forrest nodded. “We can thank Dartmoor for that favor at least,” he said. “I shall need you to go into Marcus’s room and secure him so that he cannot get in the way while Matthew and I liberate Alex. Marcus is the heaviest sleeper that ever lived, so you should not have much trouble sneaking up on him.”
She nodded. “Right.”
“You will be needing this,” Matthew said quietly from behind her. She half-turned to see him holding out one of his silver pistols to her. She knew from the slightly desperate look in his eyes that he wanted her as far away from Marcus and her brother as possible, but she was powerfully moved by his respect for her decision.
“Thank you,” she said firmly, taking the pistol from him, unable not to admire the fine workmanship of its silver inlay. It was as beautiful as any instrument of death could be. She found that she felt better with its solid weight in her hand.
“Will you be all right until we return?” he asked Rob.
Rob nodded firmly. Tess noted with relief that he looked a little less pale. “I shall be quite all right. Do not worry about me.”
“Let’s be off then,” Forrest said to Matthew and Tess and the little band of soldiers hurried out into the darkness together.
“We shall make certain t
hat you have Marcus taken care of before we go on to rescuing Alex,” Forrest said to Tess as they jogged through the rain.
“Right,” Tess replied with a crisp nod.
They slipped down the dark hallway on nearly silent feet. Tess admired the way that the two larger men maintained eerie silence. Forrest especially moved with such smooth and supple stealth that Tess shivered. She recognized suddenly that Forrest’s training as a soldier had rendered him just as much a weapon as the pistol she held firmly in her cold fingers.
When they reached the door to Marcus’s room, Forrest halted and motioned Tess forward. Taking a deep breath, she crept around him and paused with her hand on the doorknob. Gathering herself, she turned the knob slowly and then pulled the door open inch by inch.
She was assaulted first by Marcus’s snores which seemed to fill the whole room and would more than likely render her silence unnecessary. Still, she crept slowly and methodically up to the edge of the bed, her eyes firmly affixed to her victim. Bending at the waist, she leaned over a bit and pressed the gun to his temple. She thought with some annoyance that she was going to have to waken him, but then his eyelids flickered and he opened his eyes. He stared at her in shock for a long moment, his mouth slack before she saw him preparing to speak.
“Shush,” she ordered him in a harsh whisper. “If you wish to live to see tomorrow you will be silent.” He appeared to consider this, then closed his mouth. She smiled with grim satisfaction at him and nodded reassuringly. Good fellow, that nod said.
Forrest heard her speaking to Marcus and knew that she had him well in hand. He passed the doorway and took up his position by the door to the room that contained Alex. Matthew followed him, but he glanced first into Marcus’s room to make certain that Tess was all right. Seeing that she was, he forced himself to cease thinking of her and focus on Alex.