A sullennoechoed out of the hole. “I’m just mad at Galileo. He jumped out and left me behind.”
“Perhaps he felt you would follow him and then you would both be safe. Is that a possibility?” Wolfe knew the boy loved the cat as much as his sister did.
“Maybe if I’d left with him instead of staying behind to pry loose a pretty rock for Grace—I mean—Lady Grace so’s she would let me and Sissy stay with her, maybe then I’d not be in this sorry state. So, I guess maybe I can’t blame him for leaving out of here when the rocks started to fall.”
“Lady Grace would have allowed you to stay with her as long as you had my permission. She would not have demanded payment of any kind.” Wolfe glanced back at Grace.
She rolled her eyes and mouthed,Of course.
Then it occurred to Wolfe that Sissy had said Galileo was trapped with Connor. An ominous dread filled him. Had the cat tried to escape too late and been buried beneath the rockslide? He started to ask Connor to check again for Galileo but feared it would alarm the boy. He glanced once more at Sissy, still clinging to Grace, and decided they could sort it once Connor was safe. If poor old Galileo had used all of his nine lives, Wolfe would get them another cat.
“I’m going to enlarge this opening and pull you out,” he said. “If anything starts shifting, tell me immediately. Understand?”
“What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?”
Connor’s indignance and coarse language made Wolfe smile. At least the lad still had plenty of fight left in him. “Language, young man. There are ladies present.”
“Sorry.” A loud sniffling echoed out of the hole. “Shifting is what got me trapped. I don’t care too much for that word no more.”
“I know, brother, but stay strong.” Wolfe scooped away the smaller rocks by the handfuls and grappled the larger ones one at a time. “I believe the hole is large enough now. Give me your hands. I am going to pull you out.”
“Hurry, Wolfe—something is in here with me. I heard it growl farther back in the darkness.”
Wolfe prayed it was that damn cat. He braced his footing, reached down into the hole, and locked hold of Connor’s wrists. “Close your eyes and duck your head.” He gave a mighty pull, yanking the boy up through the opening and into his arms. “Thank God Almighty. I have you, Connor. I have you.”
“Galileo!” Sissy cried. “Come here, sweet kitty.”
The huge orange cat streaked down the pile of rubble and leapt into Sissy’s embrace.
“I thought he jumped out,” Connor said. “He must’ve turned back when I covered my face ’cause of all the dirt in the air.” He pried free of Wolfe and joined his sister, petting the cat while rubbing Hector’s head as the little dog excitedly bounced around him. “He could have squeezed out that small hole any time he wanted, but he stayed with me. Thank you, Galileo. Sorry for what I said about your deserting me.”
“Such a misunderstanding is very understandable.” Grace pulled the boy into a tight hug and squeezed him until his little cheeks went red with embarrassment. She wrapped an arm around Sissy and tugged her into the frantic embrace as well. “Shame on you both for putting such a fright into us. Shame! Shame! Do you not realize we could never bear it if anything happened to either of you?”
For the first time in his life, Wolfe envied his brother and sister. What he wouldn’t give to find himself in Grace’s tightembrace, bearing a scolding because she cared so much about him.
“Does that mean you love us?” Sissy asked, her voice slightly muffled since she had her face buried in Grace’s shoulder.
Grace gently set them away, then knelt and gave them each a stern scowl. “Of course I love you. You are my friends.”
“Friends?” Connor scowled at her. “But I want to marry you. You need to love me better than just a friend.”
Wolfe couldn’t resist giving Grace a sly grin when she glanced his way. He folded his arms across his chest, interested in hearing what the lady would say to that.
“Connor.” Grace took the boy’s hands in hers. “I can’t marry you, but I will love you as a dear friend and cherish our friendship for all the days of my life. I promise you that.”
Connor’s scowl darkened and his bottom lip pooched out farther. “Why can you not marry me? Give me one good reason. Our ages do not matter. Father had wives that were a whole lot younger than him. We would just be the other way round, with you being the old one and me being the young one.”
Wolfe was impressed with his brother’s reasoning. He tipped his head and winked at Grace. It was her turn to respond.
She narrowed her eyes at him the slightest bit, thrilling him to no end. With a barely perceptible roll of her shoulders, she turned back to Connor. “By the time you reach the marriageable age of one and twenty, I will be a very old five and thirty—much too ancient to marry.”
Connor eyed her for a long moment. “Wolfe is six and thirty, and Lady Margaret still plans to marry him. You should have heard her and her mother at breakfast today.” He pointed at his former rocky prison. “Me and Sissy would rather live in that hole than stay with Wolfe ’cause she is sure to get worse once she is the duchess for real.”
“Your brother needs you now more than ever. You must be brave and stay at his side.” Grace gave the lad such a shaming look that even Wolfe felt a wave of guilt.
Sissy sidled closer to her brother. “We still love him, but we can’t protect him from those mean women. We are naught but children, and they intend to send us away.” She nodded at Wolfe. “He’s heard them say so. All we can do is aggravate them until they get their way and get rid of us.”
“No one is sending anyone away.” Wolfe had heard enough. “And Connor, you should cherish the loving friendship Lady Grace so generously offered. A true friend, one you can trust with your life, is as rare as a priceless diamond.”
