“Time enough to face that later; we have more pressing problems.” Sabrina tossed the dagger to the floor and eyed the side of the pit speculatively. The footholds were now an arm’s reach above her head. “Let’s see if this will work. Boost me up, Wynne.”
Wynne locked her fingers together, and Sabrina wedged a booted foot in Wynne’s clasped hands. Bracing herself between the wall and the woman, Sabrina slowly inched upward. Gingerly she settled one foot into a hold they’d dug and gradually allowed her weight to settle on it. It held. She pulled her other foot from Wynne’s grasp and placed it in a second hold. It too supported her. They had not cut footholds more than a few feet above her head and she could climb only a short distance. But it was enough to show the plan would indeed lead eventually to escape. Elation and confidence swelled within her.
Sabrina lay plastered against the side of the wall like an insect in a windstorm and grinned down at Wynne, a scant few inches below her. “I believe this will yet work.”
Wynne beamed back. “I had no doubts.”
Sabrina’s optimism restored, she scanned the walls above her. “However, I shall need to cut more holds while clinging like this. It’s not that far to the top so I suspect we shall be—”
“Mother!” Belinda’s shriek echoed around the pit. “There’s a snake! A snake, Mother, a snake!” She stared wild-eyed at the side of the pit.
Sabrina leaped off the wall, and she and Wynne tumbled to the floor. Her heart pounded in her throat, and frantically her gaze searched the earthen walls for the serpent. She snatched the knife off the ground and spied the golden-skinned, undulating creature a bare moment later. Instinctively she hurled the dagger, praying that her skill with a knife had not dimmed with the years.
A sickening thud reverberated around her. The knife stuck in the earth, neatly skewering the snake to the wall. Sabrina pushed her hair away her face with a shaky hand and forced a weak smile to her lips. She’d done it. She hadn’t lost anything. Not skill, not speed, not courage. A sense of satisfaction surged through her. With or without Nicholas, she would survive.
She turned to the others. Belinda stared speechless. Her gaze traveled from the serpent pinned to the wall to her mother. “Mother,” she said in a voice hoarse with shock. “Where did you learn to do that?”
She wasn’t sure if it was relief or the stunned expression on her child’s face, but Sabrina wanted nothing more than to laugh hysterically. She bit her lip and choked back the mirth. “Darling, it’s just one of those handy things one picks up here and there.”
Belinda blinked in silent astonishment.
“That’s an odd-looking snake, Sabrina,” Wynne said thoughtfully.
Sabrina studied the creature and cautiously edged closer. A moment later the laughter she’d suppressed burst forth. Belinda and Wynne stared as if she had surely lost her mind.
“It’s not a snake.” Sabrina gasped through uncontrolled gales. “It’s a rope. I’ve killed a bloody rope.”
“Belinda?” The low whisper dropped from above, stilling Sabrina’s laughter with the swift surety of a sharpened blade.
“Erick?” Belinda said hopefully.
The silhouette of a familiar head appeared at the rim of the pit. “Belinda, are you all right?”
Belinda stared upward, and excitement rang in her voice. “Oh yes, yes, Erick, I’m fine. We’re all fine. Now, please, please get us out of this nasty place.”
“Erick,” Wynne called to her nephew. “We greatly appreciate your assistance; however, Sabrina and I were just about to—”
“Wynne,” Sabrina said sharply and pulled Wynne away from the wall. “Hold your tongue.”
Wynne turned toward her, eyes wide with surprise. “I was merely going to tell him that his rescue, while extremely thoughtful, is also unnecessary.” Wynne drew herself up in a gesture of supreme confidence. “We are more than capable of rescuing ourselves, and given a bit more time, would have accomplished that feat quite nicely.”
“I know that, and you know that, and very likely Belinda realizes it as well. However, your sea voyage and Erick’s unfortunate reaction to ocean travel has somewhat dimmed the glow of young love, at least in Belinda’s eyes.” Confusion still registered on Wynne’s face. “Do you not understand? This rescue of his, this gallant gesture as it were, is just what she needs to forget her distaste of his illness. This allows Erick to be her knight, her savior, her hero.”
“Of course.” Wynne nodded in agreement. “I had not thought of that.” She turned and stepped back to Belinda’s side. “Erick, dear, we were so dreadfully afraid. And now that you’ve come to save us, all will most certainly be well.”
Sabrina groaned to herself. Subtlety was not one of Wynne’s strong suits. She shook her head and turned to the task at hand. Even while they were well on their way to effecting their own escape, it would be foolish indeed not to take advantage of Erick’s presence. Escape was well within reach on their own, but it would surely take more time than she cared to squander. With Erick’s help, they should be out of their prison in a matter of minutes.
“Erick.” Sabrina tugged at the dagger, pulling it from the wall and allowing the rope to swing free. “I shall wrap this end of the line around Wynne and you may then pull her up.” Sabrina turned to her sister-in-law. “Wynne, use the footholds to help push yourself up along the wall.”
“Very well, Lady Stanford.” Erick’s hushed tones sounded above them. “Let me know when you are ready.”
“Mother.” Belinda’s words rang with indignation. “I feel I should go first.”
“What?” Exasperation churned in Sabrina. How much further could she allow this charming child to push her before she lost control completely?
“Well,” Belinda said with authority. “After all, Erick did come primarily to rescue me, and since I am the one among us who is obviously the most delicate, it seems only proper that I should indeed be the first one out of the pit.”
Sabrina clenched her teeth and willed herself to remain patient. “My darling child. I believe Wynne should go first because she could then assist the rest of us in our ascent.”
“I’m sure I could help just as well,” Belinda said stoutly.
“What happened to being delicate?” Wynne said under her breath.
Belinda ignored her. “Mother, do you give me the rope or do we continue to debate?” Challenge sparked in her eyes, and she glared at her mother.
Sabrina stared back. How she could have raised a child so remarkably stubborn, spoiled, and self-centered? Annoyed, she searched her daughter’s eyes. Realization hit her abruptly, and she bit back a caustic retort. Of course. It was so obvious, Sabrina should have noted it sooner. The girl was scared, terrified. With a mother’s unerring instinct, Sabrina sensed the fear carefully concealed behind Belinda’s obstinate insistence on being the first to escape. Sabrina’s ire vanished.
“Very well.” Sabrina wrapped the line about Belinda’s waist. “Hang on and use the footholds for leverage.” She met her daughter’s gaze, and her voice softened. “Are you quite sure you can do this?”
Belinda jutted her chin out and drew a deep breath. “Yes, Mother, I’m sure.”
Sabrina nodded and tugged on the line. “Erick, you may pull her up.”
Slowly Erick pulled Belinda from the pit. She did indeed follow her mother’s directions and used the holds Sabrina and Wynne had dug. In a matter of moments she was at the top and disappeared from sight. Sabrina heard the murmur of Belinda and Erick’s greeting, followed by the silence of what was obviously an embrace. She counted to ten mentally, the limit of her patience. Young lovers be damned, she wanted out of this hole from hell.
“Erick,” she called. “The rope?”
“Yes, of course.” A sheepish note sounded in his voice. “My apologies.”
The rope dropped into the pit. Sabrina tied it around Wynne, and then she too was lifted out, leaving Sabrina alone in the pit. She glanced around the prison, and for an instant a
bject terror washed over her. This could well have been the beginning of an adventure even Wynne would not have appreciated. Sabrina shivered at the possibilities. They weren’t out of danger yet.
Once again the rope was lowered into the pit. Sabrina gritted her teeth and grabbed the line. Half climbing, half pulled, she made her way to the top, over the edge to collapse on the ground, eyes closed, relief turning her legs liquid. A cooling breeze danced across her fevered skin, heated by fear and labor and, finally, elation.
“Mother?”
“Lady Stanford?” Erick’s voice carried a note of concern. “Are you certain you’re not injured?”
“Quite.” Sabrina shook off her weariness, sat up, and extended her hand to Erick. He grasped it and pulled her to her feet. “Erick, you have my undying gratitude for your timely arrival.” She swatted at her clothes in a futile attempt to rid herself of the dirt that covered every inch, an effort that did little more than release clouds of dust. “Now I assume you have arranged some form of transportation to get us away from this beastly spot before those despicable villains return?”
“Indeed I have.” Erick grinned with the justifiable pride of a man who knows he’s done well. “I have, shall we say, borrowed two horses. We shall have to double up, and I suggest we leave at once. The sun will soon be up.” He glanced at Belinda, who gazed at him with a look of unquestioned adoration. “Belinda can ride with me.”
Sabrina nodded, turned toward the horses, then stopped in her tracks. She swiveled on her heel and studied the young couple intently. Oblivious to the rest of the world, their gazes remained locked, and even the most casual observer could read love and devotion and desire. In the growing light, Belinda’s night rail was transformed from a virginal garment for sleeping to a sheer, provocative veil that tantalized with unspoken promises of seduction and passion.
Sabrina stepped closer. “I suggest Belinda ride with me. Wynne can share your horse.”
Hot color flushed Erick’s face. “Of course.”
Sabrina smiled to herself. She knew precisely what Erick was thinking. The boy was just like his father.
Erick assisted Sabrina and Belinda onto their mount, then pulled Wynne up behind him. Anxiety gripped Sabrina. The sun would break the horizon at any moment, and surely their captors would then return. They must go, and quickly.
The moment Wynne settled on Erick’s horse, Sabrina’s gaze met the young man’s. “Do you know the course back to camp?”
“I believe so. It’s this way.” He gestured to the left of the glow in the sky that foretold the momentary rise of the sun.
“Let us be off then.” She nodded once and Erick spurred his horse, Sabrina a split second behind. They rode at a fast, even gait until well after the sun broke the horizon and climbed halfway up the sky, then slowed to a less punishing pace. Erick assured her the camp was not much farther. They rode side by side.
“However did you find us?” Sabrina said, curiosity in her voice.
Erick shrugged modestly. “We had just ridden over the hill when Father decided someone should stay to protect the women. He and Captain Madison had a bit of a row about who should go back and who should go after the horses. They really don’t seem to get along at all well.”
Sabrina snorted inelegantly. “That’s scarcely a revelation. Each would like nothing better than to see the other dangling by a fraying rope over a pit of vipers.”
“Oh, I daresay it’s not—” Erick sighed. “You’re right, of course. And it shall only get worse when Father, well, knows everything.”
Sabrina glanced at Wynne, seated behind her nephew. Obviously Erick too knew about Wynne and Matt.
“At any rate,” Erick said, “I volunteered to go back to camp, and as I came over the rise, saw you three plucked off the ground by a virtual horde of heathens in flowing robes. I simply followed on that damnable camel, as discreetly as is possible with a beast of that nature. I suspect I was undetected more because your abductors were confident there would be no pursuit than any skill on my part.
“The hole I located you in is near a small village, and that’s where I was able to liberate these excellent steeds.” Erick regarded the beasts with admiration. “They are wonderful horseflesh.”
“You’re wonderful.” Belinda sighed from behind her mother.
Once again a blush colored Erick’s cheeks, and he sat a bit taller on his mount. Sabrina ducked her head and grinned. She had no wish to embarrass Erick or her daughter. Still, it was difficult not to feel a certain amount of amusement, not to mention satisfaction. Belinda was once more enamored of her fiancé, and Sabrina had no doubt theirs would be a long and happy marriage. As for her own, she would not dwell on that now.
“Mother?” Belinda’s tone was cautious.
“Yes, darling.”
“I am sorry if I’ve been something of a disappointment to you.”
Sabrina started and twisted to face her daughter. Belinda’s eyes were downcast. “Why on earth would you think such a thing?”
“It’s obvious, Mother.” Belinda raised her eyes to meet her gaze. “I have come to see you in an entirely new light. You are not the woman I always believed you to be. You have a penchant for adventure I never dreamed possible, as well as a surprisingly expressive vocabulary.” Sabrina winced at her daughter’s words. Belinda continued without hesitation. “You are capable and self-reliant, more than able to care for yourself, be it with kidnappers or rakes. Beyond that, you seem to have few qualms about flouting convention and doing precisely as you please.” Her voice lowered. “And, Mother, you obviously have had a great deal of experience with lethal weapons.”
Belinda sighed. “I am nothing like you. I have found nearly everything since I left London to be irritating and inconvenient. Even Erick’s aunt has leaped into this venture with enthusiasm and a great deal of enjoyment. What is wrong with me?”
Sabrina laughed softly, relieved her daughter’s concerns were not more serious. “My dearest, there is nothing wrong with you. You are exactly what you are expected to be. A properly raised young woman, the daughter of a marquess, who understands her place in society and the world. The fault, my child, is not with you but with me. I am the one who is not as she appears. The one who has never quite lived up to the expectations the world has had of me.”
Belinda pulled her brows together in a frown of confusion. “I don’t understand. You have always appeared the epitome of propriety.”
Sabrina shrugged. “It was an act. For years I pretended to be what the ton thought was appropriate. And I have no regrets about my behavior. However, the freedom I have tasted on this quest has changed me, I fear forever. I feel again as the woman I once was.” She shook her head. “I cannot give up that woman again.” Her voice softened. “But you, my darling, are exactly as you should be. And I, and Erick, love you.”
“Thank you, Mother.” Belinda fell silent for a moment. “Still, I feel as if I have failed you in some way.” Her eyes lit. “What if I were to … well … perhaps…” She drew a deep breath. “Wear men’s clothing too.”
Eagerness stamped her face, and Sabrina stifled a smile. “Only if you would feel comfortable doing so.”
Belinda squared her shoulders as if the simple act of changing her garments was a formidable challenge that required courage beyond her years. “I believe I would, Mother, I believe I would.”
“Lady Stanford.” Erick’s tense tone interrupted them. He reined his horse to a stop, and Sabrina followed. “I do not wish to alarm you, but I fear there are riders heading in our direction.” He nodded at a rise that loomed before them.
Sabrina’s heart lodged in her throat. A cloud of dust puffed beyond the rise. The faint sound of hooves pounding parched ground sounded in the distance. The din grew nearer and louder.
“Erick, what are we to do?” Belinda’s eyes were wide with fright.
Even Wynne appeared anxious. “Surely they’re not the same men who kidnapped us?”
“Or worse,�
�� Sabrina said under her breath.
Erick leaned across his horse toward her and spoke in a low voice meant for her ears only. “I suspect we have few options. We cannot go back the way we came. Whoever this is will top the rise in a matter of moments, and I do not see any means of escape. Unfortunately, I am also unarmed.”
The pressure of Wynne’s knife in Sabrina’s boot where she had secured it was scant comfort. She could only hope those who approached were neither kidnappers nor any other variety of bloodthirsty desert dweller. A hope she feared was futile. Erick was right; there were few options.
She drew a deep breath and willed the trembling in her hands to cease. Regardless of what happened, she would not give in to fear. After all, she had once been a successful smuggler and leader of men. Sabrina could face whatever came next.
Swift as the desert wind, the riders appeared on the ridge and pounded toward them.
She tightened her grip on the reins and bit her bottom lip. “Bloody hell.”
Chapter 17
“Where in the name of all that’s holy have you been?” Nicholas’s roar sounded above the din of the horses’ hooves. Sharply he reined in his mount so close beside her, the air sizzled with the heat of the beast. “Don’t you know better than to take off in the middle of a blasted desert? Have you no sense, woman?” In the back of her mind she noted that Matt and a rather motley army of attendants mounted on camels accompanied Nicholas.
“I see you recovered the horses,” she said mildly.
“The bloody horses can go straight to hell.” His eyes flamed with anger. “You have not answered my question. Well?”
Perhaps it was the already stifling heat of the morning. Perhaps it was simply her filthy, exhausted state. Or perhaps it was his self-righteous, outraged manner. Whatever the reason, something snapped within her. She would not put up with even the mere implication of wrongdoing on her part.
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