“Does your mother live far away?”
“Both she and my father have passed on. It is only Charlotte and I now.”
“Charlotte is fortunate to have you,” I said, thinking about Jack, and how he had helped me when our father died.
“I am the fortunate one. Charlotte loves me, despite my faults.”
“That is what sisters are for, Mr. Mason.”
“Sam, please,” he said. I could feel him looking at me, but I was staring toward the house.
“Very well, Sam. And you may as well call me Bess since I know you will regardless of what I say.”
Sam laughed, soft but deep. I leaned forward, my hands pressing against the stone seat as I admired the serenity of his garden. We did not have anything like that in Philadelphia; our house being built against two others.
“Please allow me to thank you again for bringing my mother to Charleston.”
His hand pressed over mine, and my gaze shot down to his hand, for I could no longer see my own, and then to his face that was masked by the darkness. He picked up my hand and held it, guiding it and me closer to him.
“I thought only of you. Bess, I meant what I said. There is nothing between Miss White and me. Nor could there be.”
“I believe you,” I whispered, for it was impossible to raise my voice above that.
He raised my gloved hand and kissed my fingers, lingering with his lips pressed against my hand, until I was sure that all the air had been removed from my lungs. He held out his other hand and without thought to the impropriety, I gave him mine.
My anger at him had been masking my hurt upon hearing about Guinevere, about Sam not coming to see me when he returned to the city. It was true when I told my mother that my good opinion could not be bought, but it could be won. When Sam looked at me as if I were someone he wanted to cherish, love even, my carefully constructed defenses around my heart were crumbling faster than a dry crumpet.
With both my anger and hurt evaporated, I realized how much I had missed him; how much I enjoyed being near him. I even missed our quarrels. Without my knowing, Sam had become my anchor, mending what I thought was destroyed beyond repair. My heart.
“There is so much that I want to tell you,” he whispered as he placed my hands on his shoulders. Our thighs were brushing against each other through the material of our clothing. He leaned toward me, and I felt myself leaning in return, without a thought beyond the need to kiss him again, to discover if his wonderful curls were as soft as I was sure they must be. Our foreheads were the first to touch, then our noses. Feelings both hot and cold assaulted me at the same moment when he did not immediately kiss me. His lips hovered over mine, when he spoke.
“Forgive me, Bess.” He pulled back, his gloved fingers brushing down my arms until they stopped at my hands. He brought my hands away from his shoulders and kissed each palm before releasing me. “You are not mine to kiss, and no matter how hard I fight it, I am doomed to be a gentleman.” He rose and took a few steps, then turned back to stare at me. The moon was shining through the trees, and I could finally see his regretful expression. “Andrew Madison is a fool, for you are the best kind of perfection.”
Chapter 10
Bess
The best kind of perfection.
What was that supposed to mean? I had laid awake most of the night thinking on it. It did not surprise me that he had heard about my break with Andrew, for my mother would have told him, but what did his words mean? I was far from being any kind of perfection. My nose was too long, my eyes too brown, like dirt. I spoke my mind more than was seemly and I accepted any challenge tossed my way. There were so many more pleasant, beautiful, and docile females littering the town. Try as I did, I could not understand why he would like me. And, if he thought me so perfect, why had he not come to see me during the three days since his return?
Putting such thoughts aside, I focused on the port as the carriage halted. The ship bound for Savannah was the Queen’s Reward, which my mother had sold to Captain Carter last year. He greeted us merrily as my mother’s trunk was taken aboard the ship. I thanked the captain for transporting my horse, which I had been informed was what Sam had arranged when they met in Baltimore. Sam had somehow discovered that my mother meant to join me, and he had traveled to Philadelphia to offer her escort. He arranged to have my horse taken to Baltimore where Captain Carter’s ship was docked. It came out that Sam had gone to my mother before going to Boston. That was why my horse arrived the same day as my mother, Captain Carter’s load taking longer to transport.
When my mother was aboard the ship and we had waved farewell, I instructed Abe to drive me to St. Philip’s church.
Usually on Sundays, we would all attend Gideon’s church together, except Sam, but since I had a meeting, I was going to meet them at Rose’s house later in the day.
When the church loomed ahead of me, I pushed thoughts of Sam completely away to focus on my surroundings and Guinevere. Abe was going to wait for me, keeping his eyes open for any sign of trouble. As I climbed the front steps entering the church, I was searching for her among the crowd. The sanctuary was filling up quickly, but I saw her almost immediately, seated in the second to last row, and still wearing the blonde wig.
As I slid onto the seat beside her, I spoke softly. “Know that if this is a trap, I have come prepared.”
“So, too, have I,” she replied.
As the service began, we neither of us spoke. It was not until the rector, a young man named Reverend Frost, started to speak that Guinevere whispered to me.
“If I do this, I want your word of honor that you will absolve me of all my sins.”
“I am not a priest, Guinevere.”
“No, but you hold the ear of authority.”
She watched my eyes. I remained a blank canvas, so she would not know that I was asking myself if I could ever forgive her for what she had done. I was unsure, but I was willing to discover the truth.
“Very well, Guinevere. Give me what I want, and no harm will come to you by the hands of a Phantom.”
She smiled and faced forward. “Then, you should know that the Holy Order is meeting today.”
We remained quiet for the rest of the sermon, but when the congregation rose, she said, “Be outside the Corner Tavern at half past noon, and I will take you to them.” She started to leave the pew, but turned back to say, “Bring your team.”
Losing sight of her in the crowd, I found Abe and asked him to take me to Rose’s house.
When we arrived, I found Levi there. He was playing chess with Charlotte. Betsy sat on the sofa, and Rose sat at her escritoire, all unaware of the possible danger ahead of us. There were still some things that I had yet to teach them, but they were each intelligent women, and I knew they could only grow from experience. Though some experiences I wished I could shield them from. Sam would expect me to take them, for that was the reason of my training them.
Levi moved a pawn before looking toward me. He was the first to notice my presence.
“I require your attention,” I said. “There is work to do, and we must make haste. Abe is bringing around the wagon. Rose, I need you to help Betsy and Char with their attire. Levi and I will collect weapons. You have fifteen minutes to be at the wagon, or you will be left behind.”
Levi was the first to jump up, knowing that I meant what I said. Charlotte followed Levi, jumping up and knocking the chess board out of her way. Levi followed me into the foyer and toward the cupboard behind the stairs. Char, Betsy, and Rose went up while we removed the fake backing from the cupboard wall and started pulling out weapons.
Levi hauled the weapons out the back door while I ran upstairs to my chamber. Mrs. Beaumont was there to help me remove my gown and dress in my work clothes. My chamber was disordered, but Char had asked earlier to borrow some of my knives which were in my trunk. Mrs. Beaumont promised to chastise Char later for not putting my belongings back where she found them.
Once my boots were in place,
my wig removed, and my short hair tied back and tucked under my cap, I moved quickly down the stairs. Rose was the only one downstairs, and she was dressed in her black clothes with the spectacles perched on her nose and the large and rather disgusting mole beside her nose.
Charlotte and Betsy came down the stairs like two wild horses, and the four of us went to the back door leading down into the yard. We moved past the cook house to an iron gate built into the back wall of the property. Levi and Abe were awaiting us on the street beside the wagon. We were headed to Shepherd’s Tavern on the corner of Broad and Church.
When we reached Shepherd’s Tavern, it was not an establishment such as I was accustomed to. It was more refined than some of the haunts my team had frequented while on missions.
As we climbed out of the wagon bed, Guinevere was nowhere around. A large man as tall and wide as a door stepped away from the front of the tavern.
“Raven?” he asked.
Stepping forward, he held out a folded paper, then turned and went into the tavern. The note was short with an address only. It triggered a familiar thought in me, but I could not place where the address was.
“Hades, Phoenix, search the tavern.” As they went in, I turned to Rose. “I have a feeling she wants to lead us on a chase.” As she read the letter, her face drained of color.
“Raven—”
“She’s not here,” Levi said, stepping out of the tavern door.
Rose lowered the note. “This address, is it not where your minister friend is staying?”
Levi and I exchanged a shocked look, and then we started to run. We were only two blocks away, but fear pumped my blood, as my feet pounded hard against the ground. If the Holy Order harmed Gideon, I would destroy not only their secret society, but every person who laid a hand on him.
We neared the parsonage and slowed. There were no carriages waiting, and all was quiet on the street. His two story brick house appeared as it always had, peaceful.
Looking around the silent street, there was movement in between two houses across the street from Gideon’s house. A flash of blonde hair and a bonnet swinging from a hand before it disappeared around the back of one of the houses. I started forward, but Levi grabbed my arm.
“No, Raven. I will go after her. You get to Gideon.”
Not looking away from where Guinevere had gone, it appeared to me that she had lied about the Holy Order, and I wanted to thrash her, but if Gideon was in trouble, then he needed me. Finally, I looked at Levi.
“Be careful, Hades, she is crafty for one so small.”
“Aren’t we all,” he replied before flashing a wicked smirk. He pressed my arm. “I will be well, Raven. Now make haste.”
Moving through a small white gate to the front door, voices coming from around the back of the house caused me to change directions.
Walking around the side of the house, the first thing that came into view was a cookhouse. Many houses had a cookhouse not attached to the main house. They were usually situated at the back of the property, and this one was no different, but the door to the cookhouse was closed. A man stood before the door, dressed in plain brown clothes and a serpent ring on his finger. He saw me and shouted as he reached for his gun.
Only thinking of saving myself, I pulled my pistol from the belt at my waist, pulled back the hammer, and fired. The ball struck his chest. He dropped his gun as he stumbled back, hitting the wall of the small cookhouse, but his shout had brought forth the others.
Four men came from behind the cookhouse, each with the barrel of their guns raised toward me. For a fear filled moment, I stood there facing their weapons, knowing I was outnumbered, but they did not shoot me. They advanced, proving that they wanted to capture me, not kill me.
Quickly appraising the situation, I knew that I could hit at least three of them with my knives in the time it took one of them to shoot me. There was the dilemma. One could shoot me.
They moved toward me with their shoulders nearly touching, like a military line.
The door to the cookhouse opened, and two more men stepped out. They were all dressed alike, as if that was not conspicuous. My heart was beating rapidly and only increased when I saw Gideon step out of the cookhouse with a man on each side of him. Gideon’s lip was bleeding, and there was a gash over one of his eyes. His gaze met mine, and he nodded as if he knew I would come for him.
Being Phantoms, we knew when we were defeated, we knew when to surrender. I was not there yet. I pulled two knives from my belt and slashed at the men before me, hitting one in the arm, one in the stomach, and one across the forearm as he tried to strike me with the butt of his pistol.
“Raven!” Charlotte’s scream came a moment before shots went off in the small yard, the sound nearly deafening.
My ears were ringing, as I jerked around the blade of a dagger that was being swung at my head. I caught a glimpse of Gideon ducking back into the cookhouse, into safety. That relieved my mind enough to focus on the fight.
The man with the dagger caught my arm with his hand and twisted it back, causing pain to shoot like sparks through my arm. I struck his jaw with my fist. I hit him again, but it only grazed his shoulder as he dodged around, getting a hit to my stomach. My body jerked down as a pain assailed me. In my bent state, my gaze fell on Rose, Char, and a figure with a full face mask and hood that could only be Abe, fighting. A hand clamped onto the back of my neck, and my head was pulled back so that I was staring into my opponent’s face. He placed a blade against my throat.
“Hvor er ma belle?”
Always searching for Ma belle. “Venter på dig i helvede,” I replied with a menace that filled me every time I was near one of those villains. She may not be waiting for him in hell, but he did not know that. Though I did not like her, I would never give her to the people who had murdered Ben.
He started to press the blade into my skin. I tried to pull back, but his hand held me in place. A loud thud sounded from behind him. He straightened for a moment, his eyes bulging, then both he and the dagger dropped. Gideon was standing behind him holding an iron skillet.
I started to smile, but a figure appeared behind Gideon.
“Gideon!”
He twisted faster than I had ever seen someone of his years move, and he slammed the back side of the skillet against the man’s stomach and then the man’s back as he hunched over. The man dropped down to his knees holding his stomach, and Gideon hit his back once more, sending the man flat on his belly. The man tried to get up, but failed and dropped back to his stomach.
Gideon moved away with his skillet in hand. I followed him, shaking my head and laughing a little. When I neared the others, Abe was surrounded by three men, Charlotte was near the white fence throwing knives at the men surrounding Abe, and Rose was punching on a man like a skilled boxer.
Two of Charlotte’s knives struck one man, and he screamed as he jerked around toward her, his pistol raised. Gideon leapt forward, landing behind him and striking a blow to the back of the man’s head. His pistol went off as he fell, and Charlotte screamed.
My heart lurched. Running toward Char, my mind was praying. She was lying against the fence, red staining her black jacket where a line was burned out of her sleeve. It was a graze but certainly painful. Charlotte’s face was pale, and tears were streaking down her soot covered face.
“Oh, Raven, I’m going to die. I see the white light.” She gripped my arm as I knelt beside her. “Tell my brother I love him, and tell Levi I took his favorite knife.” She closed her eyes. “I meant to return it.”
“You are not dying. It is a graze. Though painful, it is not fatal.”
Her eyes popped open. “In that case, do not tell Levi a thing. I rather like that knife.”
A laugh escaped me as I shook my head. She would survive. As Rose knelt beside Charlotte and began ripping fabric to bind Charlotte’s wound, I stood. There were bodies all over Gideon’s small yard, but only four were deceased. Gideon had his foot on the back of one man wit
h the skillet in hand ready to strike should the man move, while Abe bound the wrists of the man next to him.
“Are you well, Raven?” Gideon asked me as I approached him.
“Well enough. How are your cuts?”
“Nothing a little sticking plaster will not fix.”
Abe, Gideon, and I worked together to move the conscious men to the wagon where Betsy was waiting to guard them with two pistols in her hands. We carried the deceased bodies behind the cookhouse where we left them until Abe could return with the constables that the Charleston Phantoms worked with. Charlotte sat beside Abe on the bench seat, and Rose sat in the bed with Betsy, keeping her own pistols on the men while Betsy’s were hidden down beside her legs. She could not be seen with weapons, or it would go bad for her.
Before they pulled away, Charlotte looked down at me. “Where is Hades?”
“He ran after the white phantom, but I am sure he will return soon.”
Charlotte said something, but my attention had moved to Gideon, who had glanced at me rather sharply when I spoke of Levi. He had news of some kind. When the carriage moved away, and Gideon and I went into his house to clean his wounds and apply sticking plaster, I asked him what he knew.
“Bess, those men were here for a purpose. They wanted Miss Clark, and they had discovered that she visits me weekly.”
“She has been visiting you, and you did not tell me?”
Gideon stared at me in the way a teacher would their student who had given the wrong answer to a question that they knew to be contrary.
“Those men said something that I cannot discern, while they were holding me in the cook house. They were asking me about Samuel Mason and his connection to Ma belle. When I told them that she works alone, they said, ‘She is not alone, she is joined by the wild boy.’”
My thoughts immediately went to Levi, but I did not believe that in the least. They were grossly misinformed if they believe that, or they meant someone else. Levi had nothing to do with Guinevere. He was chasing her, may have even captured her.
The Charleston Chase (Phantom Knights Book 2) Page 10