by Rebecca King
“We have to search that property,” she whispered.
She knew she didn’t have the confidence to go alone, but with Monika beside her, though, Charity knew she could indeed find out what was going on inside that house.
Armed with the knowledge that she had a very important job to do, Charity gathered her cloak and shawl and left the house. She looked at Mrs Vernon’s home as she passed but couldn’t see anything untoward other than the familiar face of Mrs Vernon was no longer in the window. Now that was most disconcerting because it was so uncharacteristic of the elderly lady that Charity knew she had to ask her friends if they had heard something. She also hoped that one of the ladies would be able to tell her what happened to the men from the Star Elite as well.
“I do hope people stop disappearing. I am getting really tired of this,” she muttered. Determined to get some answers, Charity set out for Mrs Applebottom’s house.
Angus watched Charity leave her house and cursed bitterly.
“What’s the matter? Head hurting again?” Oliver murmured from behind him.
He slid the drawer he had just been searching closed and turned to face his friend. Angus was paler than usual, with dark eyes and tension evident on his handsome features. Whether that tension was because of the unusual shape of the back of his swollen head or his discontent with the situation with the stunning young woman next door Oliver didn’t know but didn’t really want to ask. It was personal and private to Angus, but only so long as it didn’t involve the work Angus did for the Star Elite.
“The head is fine,” Angus bit out. He paused and heaved a sigh. “She is going out.”
“Charity?” Oliver moved to the window to get a better look.
Angus shoved away from the window and stalked toward the door of Mrs Vernon’s somewhat basic bed chamber. It was a far cry from the distinctly feminine room he had spent the last several days in at Charity’s house. Not only did Mrs Vernon’s room not smell of roses the way Charity’s did, but it had none of the feminine touches Charity used to make her house feel like home. Mrs Vernon’s abode could only be described as utilitarian.
Without thinking about what he was doing, Angus raced down the stairs and slammed out of the house. He vaulted over the gate at the end of Mrs Vernon’s garden and stalked angrily down the narrow cart track toward the village. He was annoyed that Charity, the woman he strongly suspected he was starting to love, had expressly gone against his wishes and left the house. He had believed the women when they had said they were going to return to Charity’s house this morning to speak with Oliver. Clearly, they had had a change of heart, and had no intention of meeting with the men from the Star Elite for another telling-off.
Well, Charity is going to listen even if the other ladies don’t, damn it, he muttered to himself as he turned out of the cart track and began to follow Charity through the village.
“What’s wrong?” Jasper asked when he fell into step beside him.
“She has gone out,” Angus snapped.
“Charity is going to see one of the ladies,” Jasper explained reasonably. “At least if she sits with company she is safe. What do you expect a stunning young woman like her to do? Sit at home all day staring into the fire, waiting for death?”
Angus glared at him and sighed. “Are you saying you think it is all right for her to walk down the street where she can get snatched from right under everyone’s noses?”
“No, but we are all here. She cannot move without someone watching her. If you hadn’t left the house, I would have followed her,” Jasper argued. “Or don’t you trust me to do my job?”
“This has nothing to do with you,” Angus bit out.
“I am afraid that it is personal to you, Angus, my boy, and that is dangerous given the work we are here to do. It is never a good thing to mix your private life with your professional one, you know that,” Jasper warned in a voice that was far too quiet.
Angus opened his mouth to protest. “I can get the job done,” he growled.
“Just make sure you keep your mind on the job and not on her. If you truly are smitten with her then do what you need to do. Others have made their professional lives work while they have settled down to matrimonial bliss. There is no reason why you shouldn’t do the same. Just remember that in a village like this you will only be able to do so much before her reputation is ruined. Her friends are providing her with a safety net now, not only for her personal safety but for the preservation of her reputation as well. Don’t forget that. She is also a single young lady in a frightening situation. It is only fair to expect her to seek out the company of her friends, or the reassuring strength of someone like you, don’t you think?”
“Are you saying she only wants me for my protection?” Angus demanded angrily.
“No. It is quite clear that she is smitten with you, the man,” Jasper replied calmly. He was concerned because he had never seen Angus like this and struggled to know what to say to him.
“I just want her to be safe,” Angus whispered.
Together, the men stopped and watched Charity disappear into Augusta Applebottom’s house. Angus was relieved to see the door close behind her and know her friends would keep her company, for the time being at least.”
“I have no idea what the Hell is going on. I have never been affected this way by a woman before,” he muttered to himself.
“Every man is doomed to be affected by at least one woman in his life; one who will leave a mark upon you that you cannot ignore. If you don’t then you truly haven’t experienced live and can never find true happiness. Living in a man’s world is fine, but what happens when the day comes that you must leave it behind? What happens if you fall sick, and cannot work? What happens if you get injured and can no longer fight? What happens when age catches up with you and you can no longer work in the shadows? Do you really want to go home to a cold and empty house and spend your days listening to the crackling of the fire, while your only company is the reminiscences of the past?” Jasper snorted. “I don’t care what it takes, or what I have to sacrifice, I would rather die doing this job than condemn my life to one of barren nothingness and aged decay in solitude. If that means sacrificing a little of my life to share with a woman, and maybe a child or two, then so be it.” Jasper pointed to the door that had just closed at the Applebottom’s residence. “Women like her don’t come along more than once in your life. Be careful about what you do before you close that door because you won’t ever be able to open it back up again if you walk away from her when this part of our investigation is over. Neither she or her friends will ever allow you back in.”
“I cannot give up my work,” Angus sighed as he followed Jasper back toward the Vernon house.
“You don’t have to, do you? Look at all the others who have settled down to domestic bliss. I don’t know how they do it, you will have to speak to them. What I do know is that it is possible, if you want to make it work enough. If you are not sure, then do yourself a favour and stay the Hell away from the woman. It will do neither of you any good to allow any further intimacy if you are not sure that you want to stay in the village when this is all over. Time is ticking, Angus. You don’t have forever here so make your bloody mind up what you want and until you do, don’t risk hurting her. She doesn’t deserve that.”
“I want her to stay safe, but she won’t listen to me,” Angus growled.
“Why should she? You have entered her life, taken over her house and start telling her what to do. This is a young woman who has spent the last several years fending for herself. Why should she surrender her life to your dictates? Is it not a good thing that she does have a higher level of independence than most? After all, you won’t be around all the time the way that most happily married men are. She will have to face most of her life on her own when you are travelling up and down this country fighting in the shadows,” Jasper challenged. “Maybe she is more of a match for you than you realise?”
Angus frowned at that. For the fi
rst time in his life he couldn’t think about what he wanted to do with his life. He had never thought beyond the Star Elite’s next investigation, the next night on watch, the next gang, the next journey, the next battle. It had never occurred to him to think about the day when it might all have to stop.
“Jesus, Jasper, what in the Hell am I going to do?” he whispered, more to himself than to his friend.
“Keep yourself busy trying to find Mrs Vernon and remember you are here to get the job done, not romance the locals. If you find you cannot leave Charity or leave and miss her so much you cannot stay away, then you will have to make whatever changes are necessary. What you cannot do is ignore the way you feel and end up getting yourself killed because you are distracted.” Jasper’s gaze lifted to the lump beneath Angus’s hair.
Angus nodded because he knew he had been thinking about Charity when the attacker had struck him last night. It had almost resulted in his death and had been one of the biggest mistakes a man doing his job could ever make.
“It cannot happen again,” Angus whispered.
Jasper’s gaze was sharp. “No, it cannot happen again.”
Angus had no idea if Jasper suspected he had been intimate with Charity or was warning him not to get caught out again but didn’t bother to ask. Both situations caused significant problems that didn’t do his own reputation any good, especially with the men he fought alongside.
That thought was enough to make him harden his resolve right there and then to keep his distance from Miss Charity Kemble. Thankfully, Mrs Vernon was no longer at home. The Star Elite had decided to use her residence until the day she returned. If she did re-appear, she would be moved quietly away from the area for her own safety, until the investigation was over. Until then, Angus could live next door to Charity, keep his distance from her, but reassure himself that she truly was all right. She didn’t need to know that he was always going to be around her, watching over her, keeping her safe.
Nor would she ever have to know just how much she had come to mean to him.
Love? Is it love? Can I love? Angus couldn’t be sure.
He hated to put any label on the way he felt, not until he could be sure in his own mind that his feelings weren’t driven by lust, temptation, or the delightful allure of the first young woman he had come into frequent contact with for a very long time. Whatever this strong emotion was that he felt, Angus knew it had formed an invisible bond neither he nor Charity could ignore.
“Well, as far as I have heard nobody is sick or anything,” Augusta reported later that morning when the ladies had all converged upon her home for another meeting.
“Do you know something? If we don’t soon go back to our thrice weekly meetings I am going to be as fat as a barrel,” Gertrude muttered as she accepted a heavily laden cake plate off Edwina with a grateful nod. She eyed the heavy gingerbread cake on the plate dubiously but tucked in anyway.
Silence settled over the group while they ate and stared blankly at the rug, the fireplace, even the mantle, and contemplated what they were going to do.
“Well, we are not going to find out what is going on if we just sit here,” Edwina snapped. She slapped her plate onto the table before her. “I say we have to do something.”
“I agree, but what?” Augusta demanded. “We cannot just go around asking people if Mrs Vernon is dead.”
“I think we have to go and see where that Horvat fellow is going. It is broad daylight. We can go blackberry picking or something. It should be enough to convince anybody who sees us that we are just minding our own business. Anybody who challenges us must be suspicious, mustn’t they? If we just happen to wander through those woods to see where Horvat goes, then it is hardly our fault is it?” Monika held her hands out palms upward in an innocent gesture that contrasted with her plans.
“I think we have to go and visit Mr Horvat and look inside that man’s home. I cannot help but have a distinctly uncomfortable feeling about how swiftly Mrs Browning vanished. It isn’t like her to just up sticks and move on. Something must have happened to her,” Gertrude grumbled.
Edwina nodded. “Yes. Don’t you think it is odd that Mrs Vernon vanished in the same way as Mrs Browning? Don’t you think that two mature ladies disappearing in the same street is odd?”
Charity went cold. She tried desperately to think of some logical explanation for what was happening, not least because her neighbours, people she knew, were involved. Unfortunately, all she could think about was Angus.
“It has all happened since that Horvat person appeared,” Monika nodded.
“Has anybody written to Mrs Browning’s relations? You know, to find out what happened to her?” Charity asked.
“I know the vicar did, but I don’t think he has had any response,” Edwina reported.
“We are hardly likely to know, are we?” Alice chided. “He hasn’t spoken to us since he kicked us out of the village hall for causing trouble.”
“We didn’t cause trouble,” Monika snorted. “We found his stash of alcohol in the store cupboard and gave him a lecture on the Devil’s brew he didn’t take too kindly too. He was only looking for an excuse to get rid of us. He is far too secretive, that one. I don’t trust him one bit.”
“God in Hell,” Charity sighed. “Please don’t let’s start that all over again. The vicar is eccentric, I will grant you, but that doesn’t mean he should be suspected of any of the disappearances, if indeed Mrs Browning and Mrs Vernon have disappeared. There might be perfectly adequate explanations for their having left so suddenly. Not everybody has to report to the locals what they do with their lives, you know?” Charity knew her voice was sharp but made no apology for it.
“What is the matter dear?” Augusta asked quietly once Charity had left her seat and taken up position at the window, so she could study the road outside. Nothing moved or stirred. Not a sound could be heard except for the steady thud of her own heartbeat. It was a stark warning that life was passing her by, and all she was doing with it was discussing other people and eating cake.
“I am going to pick some blackberries. I am not coming back until I have found that path Mr Horvat is using and know exactly why he keeps going into the woods at eleven o’clock every night. Then, I am going home to wait until he goes out tonight,” Charity informed them all in a voice that was so hard, so controlled, so determined that the ladies in the room all glanced worriedly at each other.
“Then what are you going to do?” Alice asked fretfully.
Augusta leaned forward in her seat. “Angus is going to be very mad at you.”
“Angus is no longer around,” Charity declared as she whirled to face them. “He left last night with the rest of the men.”
Startled gasps flowed freely about the room.
“Where have they gone?”
“Why?”
“What happened? Did they find Mrs Vernon?”
“Are they going after the culprit?”
Charity lifted her hands, palm outwards, to stave off the questions bombarding her. She took a deep breath.
“I have no idea where they vanished to. There must be a deep hole or something in this village because people keep disappearing and nobody seems to know anything. Wherever the men from the Star Elite have gone they were not in my house this morning, nor have they left a note to tell me if they will be back or not. I have no idea why they left, or even if they were genuinely with the War Office like they claimed. All I can tell you is that now they have gone they are not able to tell me what to do or stop me finding out just how much of a risk Mr Horvat is to any of us. One thing I do know is that Mr Horvat goes out at eleven o’clock every night and leaves his house empty. I intend to find out what is inside that house. If it is anything illegal, I shall report him to the magistrate, if only so we can all sleep in our beds safely at night.”
Charity was physically shaking with the force of her discontent. Tears sprang into her eyes, but she blinked them away and focused on leaving the room. Deep ins
ide, she was incredibly hurt that Angus hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye before he had sailed out of her life just as swiftly as he had entered it. She had no idea what it meant other than she had been used; made a fool of. It was embarrassing, humiliating, and made her want to cry even more, especially when she saw the sympathetic sadness on her friend’s faces.
“Well, no more,” she vowed quietly as she gathered her shawl about her and picked up her basket.
“I will come with you,” Monika suggested. She hastily tugged her own cloak over her shoulders and followed Charity out of the door.
Together, the ladies made their way down the road toward the woods at the back of Charity’s house. Despite her bravado, Charity knew she was heading into trouble. Unfortunately, Angus wasn’t around to rescue her this time.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Trouble is on the move again,” Justin murmured quietly from the bed chamber doorway.
The men within the room froze. Oliver rose out of his seat and looked out of the window. Through the net curtains it was easy to view the street without being seen. His frown was deep when he found the road empty.
“Next door. She is walking toward the woods with a friend.” Justin eyed Angus, who was already out of his seat and heading toward the door. “With that friend of hers, the younger one.”
“Monika,” Angus informed them.
“Whatever. Jasper is onto it.” Justin stepped back to allow Angus out of the room.
“You know what they are doing, don’t you?” Oliver called after him.
“They are sticking their noses into the investigation,” Angus growled. “And it is for the last time, I can tell you.”
By the time he arrived at the edge of the woods, he was just in time to see Charity disappear into the trees across the field. There was no sign of Jasper, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t already ahead of the ladies, in the trees, waiting to see where the women went.