by Rebecca King
“Right, off to work we go,” Barnaby declared cheerfully. “Good luck everybody. Stay safe. Connor; don’t forget to invite us to the wedding.”
Tahlia felt her cheeks blush but grinned at the mention of Connor marrying her. She wondered what they had discussed while they had been in the library, but couldn’t turn around to ask. With this hood she was struggling to see her own feet.
“Don’t look down,” Connor chastised as he watched Barnaby tug his own hood up. “Keep your eyes on the path ahead. Your hoods need to be tucked up as far as you can go. Ladies, make sure your cloaks cover your skirts. You don’t want anybody being able to identify you are a woman.”
Wrapping herself up, Tahlia tucked her hands into her sleeves and followed everyone out of the door. It was the most surreal moment of her life, but she stepped out into a completely different world of adventure. It revealed a new side to Connor, and the life he had led. She suddenly began to understand him, and how the events of the past had transpired the way they had. She felt as though she was being pushed along on a tide of orders, driven by danger, that she had no strength to fight.
On the pavement they split into groups of four and went in opposite directions without saying a word. She wished she had the time to say goodbye to Oscar and Cecily, but couldn’t before she was practically marched down the road. Nobody spoke as they left the house behind. The only sound that could be heard was the rapid clip of their boots on the pavement. People they passed stopped and stared at the rather sinister sight of them, but nobody challenged, or spoke to them.
At the end of the road, the four became two as each group split up again. As last time, the groups went in opposite directions.
Connor and Tahlia were on their own now.
Tahlia’s heart was pounding. From the depths of her cloak she studied each carriage that rumbled toward them. She half expected each one to stop beside them and its occupants to make a grab for her or Connor. Thankfully, as one mile passed after another, nothing untoward happened, and she began to relax.
“This way,” Connor whispered. “We need to cross the road.”
“What? Again?” Tahlia gasped. “But we have just done that.”
“Yes, I know,” Connor sighed. “But I need to keep checking behind us. I can’t keep stopping and looking behind us. It is too suspicious.”
“Have you seen anybody yet?” she asked quietly.
“I think I saw someone trying to pretend they weren’t there half a mile back, but I need to see if they are still behind us.”
With that he guided her across the road.
“Well?” she asked when they reached the other side.
“Yes,” was all he said.
Tahlia sighed and fought to quell her frustration. Talking to him was nearly impossible if all she was going to get was one word answers. She wondered what he wasn’t telling her. When she tried to look at him, all she saw was her cloak. Panic began to build.
“Connor?”
“Here. Just keep walking.”
The steady calmness in his voice reassured her. She wished they could hold hands or something, but knew that would then look even more unusual than they did right now.
They continued in silence for several more miles until Connor decided that enough was enough.
“Up ahead, there is a tavern. The road is relatively quiet. Don’t go into the tavern. We are going into the coaching yard beside it. Once inside there, we will remove the cloaks. We can go into the tavern through a side door,” he breathed.
Tahlia thought her heart was going to pound right out of her chest. She visibly shook with nerves. The need to look behind her was almost desperate, but she daren’t. Connor had said not to. She had little choice but to do as she was told. If she didn’t, they could both die.
Connor knew that this was most probably the ultimate test of her faith in him. If she did exactly as he instructed her to do without question, he knew that theirs would be a happy union full of mutual love and respect. If tension and fear got the better of her, he knew he was going to have the mother of all battles on his hands to get her to surrender some of her independent lifestyle to him, and agree to marriage.
“Is this it?” she asked as she eyed the tavern up ahead.
“Yes,” Connor said.
Once they had turned the corner, he risked a quick glance behind them and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the road was completely clear.
“Quick,” he ordered as he bundled her into the coaching yard. He snatched her cloak off her as she passed him, bundled it up, and shoved it behind the huge gate out of sight. “Inside.”
Within seconds, Tahlia found herself standing inside the tavern dressed as an ordinary person.
“What now?” she asked nervously as Connor guided her through the patrons gathered around the main tap room.
“Now we wait until they pass. Then, we are going to leave and follow them for a change.” At the back of the room he stopped her and stared deeply into her eyes. “Do you love me?” he asked huskily.
“Pardon?” Tahlia’s stomach clenched with nerves. She didn’t quite know what to say and felt incredibly vulnerable yet desperately reckless at the same time.
“Tahlia, I love you. I always have and always will,” he whispered. “Nothing can part us now, but what we are about to do will require your ultimate trust. If you don’t think you trust me that much then we need to stop this here and now. Two men have been following us and they are armed. Are you with me?”
Tahlia studied him. Everything rested on this moment. It wasn’t quite the location she would have hoped it would be but then nothing with Connor had ever been usual in any way. She was getting used to it. It hinted that life with him would never really be mundane or boring with Connor around.
“I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you back,” he replied.
Resting his forehead against hers, he grinned when a group of men beside them began to beat their mugs on the table and whistle. Happy to oblige, Connor swung her around, bent her backwards over his arm, and landed a kiss on her that left nobody in any doubt that she was his.
Tahlia was red-faced and fanning herself by the time he allowed her to stand upright again.
“Cheeky,” she protested laughingly.
Connor merely laughed, and was still grinning when, to the crowds delight, she captured his head in her hands and kissed him straight back. To the catcalls, whistles and cheers of the patrons, she then sailed out of the tavern with all the regal elegance of a princess, and left a bemused Connor to follow in her wake.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Delighted by what had just happened, and secure in the knowledge of Connor’s love for her, Tahlia tumbled out onto the street.
Her smile sparked with such joyful radiance that she stole his breath. Connor’s grin widened as he walked up to her and possessively threw an arm around her waist. Yanking her forward, he swallowed her smile in a very thorough kiss that was as loving as it was daring.
“We are out on the street,” she chastised him weakly.
“I love you,” he murmured.
It was a new phrase for him. He hadn’t realised until then that he had actually never uttered the words to another living soul in all of his life before. Tahlia was the very first, and would be the only person he would say it to. He had no fear of rejection. He was revelling in the knowledge that she loved him as much as he loved her. It was there, shining in her eyes.
“I love you too,” she replied.
“Come on, let’s go,” he urged when he felt compelled to return to the tavern, rent a room, and spend the rest of the afternoon with her.
Arm in arm they continued to stare lovingly into each other’s eyes as they wandered casually down the street. Anybody who looked at them saw nothing but a young couple in love. To Sayers’ gang, they were nobody of note, and were ignored by the men who doubled back, and began a second sweep of the street in which they had lost their targets.
C
onnor was oblivious. For the first time in his adult life he forgot the dangers surrounding him, and focused on nothing but the woman who owned his heart. Even so, it was entrenched in the back of his mind that he had to get her to a barge so they could leave London. As a protector, he wanted her safe. As a man, he wanted to get her to the carriage that would take them out of Epping Forest and onto their long, winding journey home.
As far as Connor was concerned, Rutland was now his home too. Wherever Tahlia and Joseph were he would call home. If he had to spend several days in a carriage, alone, with Tahlia for company, and nothing much else to do, then he wasn’t going to waste a second to secure their future together.
She didn’t know it yet but, by the time they arrived in Rutland, she would be his fiancée, the wedding date would be arranged, and their future set.
With a renewed sense of purpose, Connor escorted his beloved down one street and into another on a winding journey toward the Thames. It was only when they crossed the street, and he happened to glance behind them, that he realised that they had found the cloaks abandoned behind the tavern gate.
“We need to hurry,” Connor said briskly.
All trace of softness vanished from his demeanour so swiftly that Tahlia was a little stunned by it. She glanced at him warily and was about to turn back when Connor spoke.
“Don’t. They will know we are aware of them. Just act normally.” He eyed the corner of the road up ahead, and knew there was enough distance between them to find a barge. However, there was no time to barter with a bargeman to allow them on board. Nor could they do anything about the time it would take to cast off and get underway.
Finding a barge to hide in was the only option available to them right now. They had no choice but to take the risk. Connor fingered his gun. As far as he could see there were only two men following. If he had to, he would shoot first and leave the Star Elite to sort out the mess. Barnaby would understand.
“Do you think you can move a little quicker? I am not suggesting we run, but we will turn to the left once we reach the next road. Then we will need to run as fast as you can. There will be barges moored up. We need to find one that will suit our purposes.”
“Move,” he commanded when they rounded the corner.
Tahlia lifted her cumbersome skirts and lengthened her stride.
“God’s smiling on us,” she gasped as they pelted down the towpath toward a barge just about to push away from the riverside.
“Go,” Connor ordered. The bargeman, in the middle of the boat, was focused on steering his craft out of the line of vessels and didn’t see them creep aboard at the bow. “Get in.”
Panting for breath, Tahlia found herself pushed under a large covering. She barely got the chance to move out of the way before Connor climbed in after her. Settling down, Connor secured the cover but left enough of a gap to peer through.
Unfortunately, the bargeman chose that moment to toot his horn. He lifted his hand to his comrades still moored at the riverside, completely oblivious to the two men racing down the towpath. Tahlia’s jerk of fear propelled her into Connor, who drew her into his arms and held her tightly while he tried to take a look at the men on the riverbank.
Connor watched as they slowed to a stop and looked at the long line of boats. He waited for them to decide what to do. They stopped to discuss the options. One of the men studied the barge now chugging smoothly down the river. His comrade in arms began to stalk back down the towpath and stopped a bargeman along the way. The bargeman shook his head and ambled onward, leaving the henchmen to scratch their heads in confusion.
“We are clear for now,” Connor murmured as he eased away from the gap in the covering and settled down beside her.
Now that they were in the flow of the River, and away from all credible threat, Tahlia began to relax. In spite of the smoke and noise from the engine, it was rather intimate being snuggled up together in such close quarters.
“Come here,” Connor ordered huskily, and wrapped her in his arms.
“Are we safe for now?” she asked.
She couldn’t help it; she pressed a kiss to his chin. It was too dark to see his face clearly but she knew he was there and that was enough. When she felt his hands start to wander, she leaned back and tried to peer at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking you are alright,” he assured her.
He paused and waited, but when she made no attempt to stop him, he ducked his head and claimed her lips before he set about showing her just how much he wanted her.
They were on the barge an age before it stopped. When it did, they remained in place for several minutes while the bargeman moored the craft and shut the engine down. Once silence had fallen, Connor peered out of covering and took a look at where they were.
“Well?” Tahlia whispered, trying to see over his shoulder.
“We are at a tavern somewhere,” Connor replied.
Connor waited for a few minutes before he allowed her out from beneath the cover, but only because he needed to hide the evidence of his desire for her. Their kisses had been the steamiest Connor had experienced in his life. Their passion-fuelled embrace had driven him to the point that his self-control had been pushed to the brink of insanity. It was all he could do to focus on where they needed to go next.
Helping her step onto the towpath, he doffed his cap at an astonished workman walking past as though it was an ordinary thing to do. The man doffed his cap back, but lengthened his stride as he walked away.
“What’s wrong?” Tahlia asked with a frown.
She glanced down at her dress. She was a little smudged, but not tremendously so.
Connor eyed her hair, which he had quite enthusiastically running his hands through, and grinned. It was quite obvious what they had been doing. She looked thoroughly tousled, wantonly so, but he didn’t tell her that. He didn’t want her to become self-conscious about the passion they had for each other. Instead, he pressed a loving kiss to her lips.
“Come on. Let’s find out where we are and then we can work out how we are going to get to Epping Forrest.”
It was already starting to go dark, and with dusk the temperature began to fall. He studied Tahlia’s bare arms and wished he had thought to remind her to bring a shawl. It was too late now, though. They had to keep moving so they weren’t too late meeting Matthew.
Once in the tavern, he sat Tahlia in a secluded corner of the main tap room and went to speak with the inn keeper.
Tahlia’s gaze remained glued on him the entire time. When he stood with one arm propped on the bar like that he blended in casually with the rest of the patrons milling around the tap waiting for their coaches. Only Tahlia knew how special he was. A loving smile curved her lips as she watched him bargain with the inn keeper, who shook his head several times before he finally relented to whatever Connor was offering.
Minutes later, having paid the man handsomely for his agreement, Connor left the inn keeper to count the staggering amount of money he had just been given and joined Tahlia at the table.
“I have managed to secure us a coach. The inn keeper doesn’t usually allow his personal carriage to be loaned but he has agreed to drive us. It is going to be cold, and a bit windy I am afraid, but we have no choice.”
“Let’s just get to the meeting point,” Tahlia replied. She had no objection to a little discomfort. They were on their return journey to Rutland. She would suffer wind, rain, or even a blizzard just to get away from the danger. “Let’s go.”
It wasn’t as cold and windy as she had expected, not once they were inside the conveyance.
“It is a little rustic,” Connor murmured as he took a seat on the narrow bench seat.
“It will do,” Tahlia replied.
At least it was dry, which was something she was eternally grateful for seeing as it had just started to rain. Thankfully, the inn keeper had left a small basket of food inside the carriage for them. They ate hungrily while the carriage rumbled t
hrough the ever darkening evening toward Epping Forrest.
“How long is it going to take to get there?” Tahlia asked once she had finished and was sipping a small goblet of wine.
She sat back to watch the villages roll past and sighed in contentment when Connor settled beside her and drew her into his arms.
There was something romantic about being enshrined in darkness, wrapped in a loving embrace while they watched the world go by. The rhythmic swaying of the carriage relaxed them further as they listened to the steady clip-clop of the horses hooves against the road.
“I don’t know,” Connor replied honestly. “Matthew will wait for us.”
“Alright?” Connor asked when she sighed for about the fifteenth time in half an hour.
“Sublimely so,” she replied.
Connor laughed.
“Sublimely so? Really?” he teased. “Can I remind you, woman; that you are in the middle of a Star Elite investigation.”
Tahlia shook her head. “No, we have just left that behind.”
His mirth dimmed. “Not yet, but we will soon. With each mile that passes the danger recedes. I think we have been incredibly lucky to get away from London unscathed. I hope everyone else is doing just as well.”
“Me too,” she whispered.
As she settled back down to rest her head on his chest, she began to pray for everyone’s survival while Sayers was hunted down and put behind bars.
She had no idea how long they were travelling but it was dark when the carriage pulled up outside a small tavern in the middle of nowhere.
“This is it,” the inn keeper informed them as he tugged the step down and handed Tahlia down. “Are you sure you want to stay here? You aren’t likely to get a room for the night, I will tell you that much.”
“It’s alright,” Connor assured him. He pressed another note into the man’s hand.
“We weren’t followed,” the inn keeper assured him obligingly.
“Remember; if anyone asks, we went to Kent. That’s all you know.”
“Aye, but I am a busy inn keeper. I don’t have time to be fooling around with questions from strangers,” the man retorted bluntly. He doffed his cap at Tahlia and climbed onto his carriage. Within seconds he was on his way home.