“How many more of them have there been?”
When the prisoner didn’t immediately reply, Harry beat his fist down on the table and made him jump. Instinctively, Cragdale began to talk. His words came out in a hurried rush, as though his very life depended on him telling them everything as quickly as possible, and everyone listened in stunned silence.
“About three years now. They have been doing it about three years. I don’t know how many people they have moved because they pay me to look the other way. I only found out from Taylor what happened when I noted that one of the girls was particularly pretty. About last year it was. Taylor made a snide remark about life on her back wearing her out early and that her beauty wouldn’t last long. She told me then.”
“So Taylor is in on it too?”
Cragdale nodded.
“Masterson and Murphy?”
Cragdale nodded again.
Harry swore and looked at the Head Jailer. “I don’t want him to go anywhere until you have the complete list of names of everyone who is involved.
“What about Bolsworthy?”
Cragdale stared at him blankly. “Who?”
“The woman who heads this organisation.”
It was clear from the frown on Cragdale’s face that he hadn’t got a clue what Harry was talking about. Harry didn’t bother to ask him anything else, and turned toward the door with a rather sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, and a burning desperation to get to Stepney Mallet.
Now that he had all of the information he needed, it was imperative that he got to Stepney Mallet, and Tilly.
At the door, he paused and looked back at the prisoner. “What about Zack? The young lad they have them?”
The prisoner turned haunted eyes on Harry, but didn’t say a word.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Zack had started to cry by the time they reached the small hamlet of Bopple just after nightfall. As predicted, they could barely see their hands before their faces, but at least they had finally reached somewhere that might have a place to stay overnight. Since darkness had fallen, it had become evident that they weren’t able to continue to walk to the next town.
“What now?” Suzanna whispered as she tried to peer through the darkness for any sign of outbuildings they could take shelter in and rest for a while.
Unfortunately, after ten minutes of wandering aimlessly around in the dark, they could still see that there was really nothing in the tiny hamlet apart from a few small cottages, none of which had any lights on inside.
“There is nowhere to stay,” Zack whispered morosely.
Tilly shook her head. “We have to keep walking.” She eyed the lights in the distance and knew, deep in the pit of her stomach, that it was Tooting Mallow. She had no idea how she knew, she just did.
“What do we do about getting to the Rectory without being seen?” Suzanna asked after several minutes of thoughtful silence.
They both knew that Dandridge must have been watching the house, and waiting for the perfect opportunity to kidnap them. Given that he must now also know that he had lost them again, it was inevitable that the man would return to the Rectory to look for them.
“We will just have to be careful, won’t we?” Tilly replied firmly. She tipped her chin up and pointed toward the lights in the distance. “There is warmth, and somewhere dry to sleep over there. The Rectory is there. The men are there. We are not going to turn around. There is nowhere to go to. We are not going to just stand out here all night; not now that we are this close.”
“What if it isn’t Tooting Mallow though?” Suzanna asked with a frown.
“Well, at least we will have some outbuildings to shelter in while we decide what to do. Out here, we have nothing.”
Neither Suzanna nor Zack could really argue with that. They already knew that they couldn’t stand out on the track all night.
With a sigh, they all began to trudge toward the lights.
Harry tugged his cloak around him as he rode through the rain, and allowed his thoughts to wander. It was going to take a good couple of hours to get to Stepney Mallet but, if they rode through the night, they could reach it a few hours before dawn, get to know the layout of the area, and the Dog and Crow, and find somewhere suitable to wait.
It disturbed him greatly to think that the handover might already have taken place. He had no idea what he would do if it had, but he daren’t think about that. The only thought that was keeping him sane was being able to get her back into his arms where she was safe. He couldn’t contemplate any other outcome.
He needed her by his side, and not only to keep an eye on her. The Rectory was empty without her. He was empty without her. Life would just never be the same if he didn’t share it with her. In such an incredibly short space of time, Tilly had turned his entire world upside down, and he really didn’t mind one bit.
As far as he was concerned, Tilly was not going to spend the rest of her life in any kind of service to anyone, especially him. She was going to share his life, and his bed, as his equal. They were going to live out their lives in happily married bliss, and raise their children together. It was as simple as that. He would not contemplate any other outcome.
“Are you alright?” Barnaby murmured as he drew alongside him.
Harry threw him a dour look, and suddenly sneezed.
“I am soaked to the skin, frozen, and have lost Tilly. I have no idea where she has gone, or how she is. She could be injured, hungry, and is undoubtedly terrified. I won’t be alright again until we have her back where she belongs, and Dandridge and Cruickshank are where they belong, over at Battlington with Bolsworthy and the others,” he growled.
There was nothing Barnaby could say to that really, and so they lapsed into thoughtful silence as they rode through the night.
“Psst.”
Tilly’s heart leapt and she turned wide eyes on Suzanna, who flicked her ear.
They all stopped, and listened to the sound of horses’ hooves in the distance.
“They are heading toward us,” Tilly whispered. She felt hot and cold at the same time, and began to tremble with a mixture of cold and fear.
Zack, already traumatised by his ordeal, began to whimper.
“It’s alright,” Tilly murmured. “Everything will be alright. Just try to stay calm, and keep quiet.”
“What do we do? Where do we go?” Suzanna’s voice was desperate as she looked around for somewhere to hide.
“Stand still. They are on the road,” Tilly suggested and waved everyone to the side of the road. Once there, they all stood perfectly still and waited to see who else was on the cart track.
It was haunting to watch two riders suddenly appear out of the darkness toward them. Tall and dark in the saddle, they seemed completely oblivious to everything other than the road ahead. Unfortunately, because it was so dark, it was impossible to tell if it was Dandridge and Cruickshank, or someone else. Although Zack didn’t say a word, Tilly felt his trembling grow considerably worse, and squeezed his shoulder in a silent plea to keep quiet.
Tilly’s heart began to pound in her chest as she studied the breadth of those masculine shoulders and the length of those long, masculine legs on one of the riders. A jolt of familiarity suddenly surged through her and she studied the rider as intently as she could as he rode steadily toward them.
Everything within her screamed that it was him; Harry; the man she had just been dreaming about. Her heart yearned for it to be him, but her logic warned her that it couldn’t possibly be. Harry was back in Tooting Mallow, probably looking after his injured colleague, or investigating the activities within the poor house. He couldn’t possibly be riding through the night toward them.
She wanted to step forward and take a closer look, but couldn’t risk that it was Dandridge and remained frozen in place while the riders passed. They were about to step out onto the track, when two more riders suddenly appeared out of the gloom.
This time, she didn’t move so far back into th
e shadows, and studied the rider closest to her a little more closely as he approached. She almost wept with relief as she saw the wonderfully familiar sight of Joseph.
“We know him,” she whispered to Zack, and gave his shoulder an excited shake. “It’s them.”
Joseph cursed when someone suddenly appeared out of the shadows. It was raining so heavily that it was difficult to see much in the way of detail. At first, he thought that his eyes were deceiving him, and Tilly hadn’t just stepped out of the darkness. However, the sight of Suzanna and Zack right behind her assured him that he wasn’t going mad, and it really was the people they had set out to rescue.
“Harry,” he called sharply as he reined to a stop. He peered into the darkness ahead of him toward Barnaby and Harry, but couldn’t see them. He glanced across at Joshua. “It’s them.”
“I’ll go and get Harry,” Joshua growled. He pointed one long finger at Tilly, Suzanna and Zack. “Stay right there. I will be back in a minute.”
“God, are we glad to see you,” Joseph declared firmly. He quickly dismounted and hauled Zack into his arms for a hug. “Jesus, you are frozen.”
He stared in horror at all of them. From what he could see through the rain and the gloom, they were all just as bad as Zack.
Tilly couldn’t keep her tears at bay as she watched Joshua disappear. Her relief was so strong that for a moment, she wondered if she was going to remain upright. The thought that Harry was there, nearby, was everything she wanted, needed, and she suddenly yearned for him to hurry up and come back. She wished now she had stepped forward a couple of minutes earlier.
“Thank God you three are alright,” Joseph growled. He removed his cloak and draped it carefully around Zack’s shoulders before he swept the young lad off his feet. “Let’s get you somewhere warm.”
Further down the lane, Joshua finally reached Harry and Barnaby.
“You had best come back and see this,” he growled as he turned his horse around in a wide circle that blocked their path.
“What?”
“Come and see this,” he urged. “Hurry up man. We don’t have time to waste.”
Harry stared at Joshua’s back as he disappeared down the track toward Tooting Mallow. His curse was loud in the silence, and he glanced at Barnaby, who had already turned his horse around.
He desperately needed to get to Stepney Mallet, but was curious to know what would make Joshua want to turn everyone around when three innocent lives were at stake. With a disgruntled sigh, he turned his grateful horse in a wide circle, and went after his colleague.
The small group of people and horses appeared out of the gloom so suddenly that to begin with, Harry couldn’t understand what had happened. All he could see was Joseph putting someone onto his horse, and Barnaby talking to someone else as he dismounted.
It was only when Suzanna replied that Harry’s heart leapt. His eyes scanned the group, and he almost wept with relief at the sight of Tilly, standing tall and beautiful, if a little battered and bruised, looking steadily at him.
His horse hadn’t even stopped before Harry had dismounted. He couldn’t have spoken for the life of him as he stalked toward her, and swept her into his arms for a huge hug.
“Thank God. Thank God. Thank God,” he whispered as he peppered her face with random kisses. “God, I thought I had lost you. God, I thought you had gone.”
Tilly couldn’t speak. She was swept high into his arms as he swung her around and then held her so tightly that she could barely breathe, but she didn’t mind because she held him just as securely. The feel of him there, in her arms, brought forth such a wave of love that she couldn’t withhold her tears, and they trickled slowly down her cheeks as she peppered his face with tiny kisses in return.
“Harry,” she whispered longingly, only vaguely aware that there were several people only a few feet away, and they were all trying desperately to appear as though they weren’t there.
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her with a ferocity that seared them both. All of the unspoken love he felt for her; his deepest fears; the worst of his regrets, were poured into that single kiss.
She could do little except cling to him and savour the knowledge that he was there at last.
“Ahem.”
Neither of them noticed. It was only when a cold gust of wind made Tilly shiver, that the sensual fog of desire was broken, and Harry realised that the woman in his arms desperately needed to get warm. He lifted his head and rested his forehead against hers for several long moments as he quickly removed his cloak and settled it over her shoulders.
“Let’s go home,” he murmured gently and, without giving her the chance to answer, swept her off her feet.
Once she was seated on his horse, he mounted behind her and tucked the cloak tightly around her, before securing the folds into place with his arms. He dipped his head for one last, lingering kiss as he wheeled the horse around. Once he was sure that the rest of the group were with him, he nudged his horse into a trot and, together, they made their way back to the Rectory.
Tilly was soaked to the skin, hungry, thirsty, frozen, but so blessedly happy. In spite of the rain, she leaned up as far as she could reach and kissed his jaw.
He groaned and ducked his head so he could capture her lips with his.
“Don’t ever do that to me again, darling,” he ordered gently. “Don’t ever leave me.”
“I won’t,” she promised.
He drew her closer, and kissed the top of her head when she snuggled against him with a soft sigh.
“How is Marcus?” she asked with fearful eyes when they reached the outskirts of town.
“He is wounded, but will make a full recovery sweetheart,” Harry growled. “You all will.”
It humbled him that, in spite of everything she had been through, Tilly’s primary concern was for someone else.
He couldn’t help it. He couldn’t stop kissing her; her cheek; her hair; her lips. Random pecks here and there. When he did pause to study the road ahead, she quickly drew his head back down to hers and returned the tender caresses. It was wonderful. It was everything he needed right then, to assure himself that she really was alright.
The passion that surged between them; the sensual awareness; seemed to only emphasise the fact that they should be together and that nothing, and nobody, could tear them apart.
“Are you alright, darling?” he whispered tenderly. “Did they hurt you?”
He studied her shadowed face in the darkness of the night. She didn’t appear to be too badly hurt but he would feel considerably better once he had her back at the Rectory, and he could take a good look at all of her in the candle-light.
“I just had a hit on the head, that’s all. Zack is absolutely frozen, but Suzanna is just shaken. It was Mr Dandridge and Cruickshank. Zack said that Mrs Dandridge caught him by the side of the house once Marcus had been shot.”
“They can’t hurt you now. We got caught out,” Harry admitted reluctantly and looked down at her with a frown. “They won’t do it again,” he promised.
“I know. They just caught everyone off guard,” she sighed, and told him about how that washing basket had moved so suddenly down the line. “Nobody could know what they were planning.”
“I don’t know what the hell I would do if I lost you.”
“I love you,” she whispered suddenly.
Given everything that had happened, she understood now just how fragile life was, and that it was foolish to take life, and the people in it, for granted. She had to make the most out of every situation that presented itself to her and, right now, wanted to savour every moment she could share with Harry.
Harry opened his mouth to speak only to sigh deeply when Barnaby reined his horse alongside theirs.
“What do you want to do about the target?” Barnaby asked, completely oblivious to the precious moment he had just interrupted.
Harry gave Tilly a rueful smile, and placed a gentle kiss on her lips before he tur
ned his attention to the investigation.
“We are going to get back to the Rectory, so we can all get warm and dry, and get a good night’s sleep. In the morning, we will decide what to do about getting Dandridge and Cruickshank behind bars where they belong.”
Both Tilly and Harry watched Barnaby re-join the rest of the group.
“Sorry,” Harry whispered.
“It’s alright,” she sighed, a little disappointed that the moment had been lost. “Do you know where the Dandridges’ have gone?”
Harry shook his head. “Stepney Mallet,” he admitted. “Given that they have lost you though, I am not sure if they are there or whether they have retraced their steps to look for you. How far did you get, and how did you manage to escape?”
Tilly winced and looked a little sheepish for a moment. Harry’s brows rose and he knew that he wasn’t going to like what she was going to tell him. He had no idea how he knew, but he just felt a connection with her that was unlike anything he had ever had with anyone before.
“I’ll explain everything when we get back to the Rectory,” she murmured reluctantly.
Harry studied her for a moment, but nodded and pulled her even tighter against him.
It was nearly an hour before the door to the Rectory closed behind everyone. The horses had been safely stored in the field beside the house, and the doors locked firmly against intruders. The men discussed who was going to keep watch overnight, which left Tilly, Suzanna and Zack free to go to bed.
“We need to ask you what happened, Tilly,” Harry murmured quietly.
He hated to push them because they all looked thoroughly exhausted, but it was important that he and his colleagues find out what happened to them.
“Where did they take you?” Barnaby asked. He stoked up the range and placed a pan of milk on to warm through.
Everyone was soaked, especially Zack who, although he was seated directly in front of the roaring flames, had yet to stop shaking.
Together they explained what had happened to them from the moment they had been dragged off into the woods until their arrival in Bopple.
Shattered Dreams Page 21