“We didnae stay in this part of the country all that long, but I did notice that.”
“Da called it temperamental,” said Robbie. “Bloody temperamental, just like home.” He winced and shifted a bit in the saddle. “Mither liked it.”
Geordie nodded. “I remember. She especially liked the rocky hills that rise up from the beach in so many places.”
“So do I.” James nodded toward one. “We can tuck in against some of the rocks to shelter from the rain coming.”
“True enough,” Geordie said as he moved closer to the rocks and guided his horse to walk along the base until he noticed something that looked like a staircase. “Someone wanted an easier way down.”
James looked down the beach. “The rocky hills get smaller soon.”
They kept walking until Geordie spotted another set of steps. This hill was low enough to see the grass growing at the top. He dismounted and sat on one of the steps and looked out at the ocean. The wind had definitely gathered some strength, and that bite of coolness still clung to the breeze, so he suspected the rain was rapidly approaching.
A strange moment of silence allowed voices to be heard. Geordie frowned. He heard an angry male voice. He listened for a while but could not hear any precise words, so he turned, secured his horse, and slowly climbed the steps. At the top he saw a long, low house with one section two stories high. Seven men faced a small woman standing in an open door. He saw the weapons they held and crouched down.
A moment later James came up and took a place by his side. “Trouble?”
“Sounds like it. Hell, looks like it, too,” answered Geordie.
“Seven armed men, big fellows against one short female, also armed,” said Robbie as he squirmed into place on the other side of Geordie. “Aye, I would call that trouble.”
Geordie stared at a sign nailed to a post at the top of the steps. A road ran along the top of hills and he would wager the sign was clear to anyone riding by.
He sidled up to the verge and turned to see the sign more clearly.Rooms to let. Clams. Anadama bread. Goats for rent. Nurse.The sign gave them a good excuse to walk up to the house, if only to inquire what anadama bread was. Geordie got slowly to his feet and stepped off the stairs onto the grass.
“Planning to charge to her rescue?” James snapped.
Geordie ignored the voice in his head that told him to stay back, even to hide. He straightened up, grabbed his gun out of its holster, and started walking toward the house. Robbie and James hissed at him to get down. James cursed him for thinking he was some white knight who had to ride to a woman’s rescue.
He had barely gone a few steps when Robbie and James stood up to follow him. The men at the house yelled at the woman when she leveled her rifle at them. He aimed his gun at her again. Geordie moved a little faster and got close enough to poke his rifle into the big man’s back. When he heard the sound of two more rifles being readied to fire, he knew he was now flanked by Robbie and James.
The big man tensed as did the men with him. They all lowered their weapons, but the woman only eased her stance a little, still firmly aiming her rifle at the man. Geordie knew she saw him, but the tense silence continued and he began to feel uneasy.
When she glanced his way, Geordie was stunned, for the look from her wide golden eyes hit him like a hard punch to the belly. It was then that he took a good look at the woman. She was short, as Robbie had said, but she was also small in other ways. Despite her size, she stood firm, and her hands on the rifle may have been delicate but they held it firm and steady. Her gown was plain, but it fit well over some very tempting curves.
“Did you hire some new hands, Belle?” demanded the man.
“I think a better question would be why would I hire some hands.”
“For the same reason everyone does, to do some work for you.”
Geordie wondered if the man knew how his condescending tone put him in danger. He saw the woman’s eyes narrow, and her grip tightened on the rifle. It was clear this confrontation between the two was not a new one, and he watched her struggle to fight down her anger.
“Working at what? Herding my four goats? Caring for well-caged chickens? Perhaps tend to my two horses and one donkey. Or my two milk cows. I suppose I could have hired some of them to dig my clams. Or, just maybe, I hired them to get the trash off my lawn.” She spoke harshly and glared at him.
Bennet growled a little and stepped closer. The woman just smiled. “If I were you, Bennet, I would toddle home and leave me to talk to these men. Or, I can step aside and you can have a chat with Thor. Did you not hear him growling from behind me? I am the only thing holding him inside. Dogs don’t forget the person who shot them. Not sure how much longer he will tolerate that.”
“Ye shot her dog?” Robbie burst out. “Bastard.”
“Aye, disgusting behavior,” Geordie agreed. Now aware of the deep growl coming from behind her, he realized it was not the cute little dog.
“He leaps for my throat again and I will not miss,” Bennet snapped, then marched off toward the back of the house.
Geordie noticed four of his men hurried after Bennet, but two gave the woman a grin and a wink and meandered after the man. He thought back over the scene and realized those two men had stood behind the others and he had not noticed their guns aimed at the woman.
“He does not realize those two fellows are relations of yours, does he?” asked James with a grin.
She grinned back. “Bennet never did pay attention to family lines. My cousins are Murphys, but Thomas Murphy married my aunt, who is an Ampleford. I am Mehitabel Ampleford. Everyone calls me Belle. How can I help you gents? Bread, clams, or goats?”
