He nodded. “I’m from York.” It was close enough. “Judge Whimsey has entrusted me with keeping the law and that’s what I intend to do. I’m not here to explain myself to you. I’m here because I need someplace to put this man who tried to kill us on the road.”
“He tried to kill Miss Whimsey?” Some of them began to shout angrily. Miss Whimsey had to quiet them down with few well-placed smiles and reassuring words.
“You can put him in the cellar of the mill,” a young man who looked to be in his late teens called out. “There are rooms with iron doors down there. They are very old.”
“Take me to it,” Michael told him and then pulled his prisoner out of the saddle and hauled him over his shoulder. He followed the man to the mill, surveying him as they went. “What’s your name?”
“I’m called Colin of Ipswich.”
“Well, Colin, I’m called Michael. Do you have experience dealing with criminals?”
The young man shook his golden-curled head, but he appeared more confused than untrained.
Michael sighed. “Right…um…have you ever been in charge of bad men like this?”
The unconscious man draped across his shoulder opened his eyes somewhat and tried to lift himself off his captor.
Colin immediately stepped back and smashed his fist into the man’s jaw, knocking him out again.
“Forget my last question,” Michael said, readjusting his prisoner. “You just answered it. Do you want to work for me, Colin?”
“Aye,” Colin answered without hesitation. It made Michael very pleased. Only one problem. Where was he going to get money to pay Colin?
First, he had to get the man off him and into a cell.
Hidden behind baskets and barrels of grain, the dark, gated rooms in the cellar were perfect for what he needed. He went to one and stepped inside. He dumped his prisoner to the floor and smacked his hands together, as if he were ridding himself of unseen germs.
“I’ll pay you…um…” What did one pay his employee in seventeen twenty-four? “I’ll let you know.”
Colin nodded. “What do you need me to do?”
“Guard him. I’m going to go back to speak with Judge Whimsey about what to do with him.” He patted his back pockets then audibly sighed. “I could use my phone right now.” He smiled halfway and shook his head when Colin asked him what a phone was.
“Forget I said it. I’ll hire another man or two to take shifts watching him and help you out. I’ll return later with everything we need to know. For now, you stay here with him, okay?”
Colin quirked his mouth at him. “Okay.”
“I have to escort Miss—” He realized she hadn’t followed him in. He ran for the exit of the mill with an oath on his lips.
She wasn’t outside. At least, not anywhere he could see her. No one knew where she’d gone. He checked the baker’s shop, a shop with a guy making leather shoes, a blacksmith outside under a tent, the tavern, everywhere in the village.
Damn it! He’d let her escape him. He probably wouldn’t have a job when he told the duke. What should he do about paying Colin? Securing his prisoner? No. She wouldn’t cost him this. If he was stuck here, he needed a means to make money and live—what if he wasn’t stuck here? When he thought about it, there had to be a way back. He wasn’t cut out for this life. He liked the gritty, fast-paced life of New York.
Didn’t he?
His brother wouldn’t have died here in this time.
What he should be doing was investigating how he came here and why.
But there was no time for all that now. He had to find Miss Whimsey. Of course, his horse was gone. She was no fool.
Someone had to have seen her take off on the horse.
He hurried back to the gazebo and called out. “Whoever saw Miss Whimsey leave this area had better speak up now or I’m going to lock youallup!” He repeated his warning a second time when he had all their attention.
A young man wearing tattered brown trousers and leather shoes on his feet stepped forward. Immediately, an older man pulled him back by the shoulder and shook his head.
“I’ll lock you all up for the night and return for you in the morning,” Michael called out. He had to do something to get someone to talk. “Maybe.”
