Surveying the place didn’t take long. The main room was a combination kitchen, sitting, eating, and dining room. The kitchen area was surprisingly up-to-date, with a hand pump for water and a kitchen fireplace well-equipped with cooking tools. There was a wooden table with several Windsor chairs and an oak settle large enough for two or three people to sit.
Behind the front room was a small bedroom with a wide, sagging bed and a neat stack of ragged blankets set on a small cabinet. Tamsyn guessed that discards from the manor house had ended up here, but the cottage was serviceable and reasonably clean. A narrow stairway against one wall led upward. She climbed the steps and found a slant-roofed sleeping loft.
Returning to the main floor, she said, “This will suit Cade and me and Andre very well. As we rode up, I saw a shed behind the cottage. For the horses?”
Madame LeBlanc nodded. “You should be undisturbed here as long as you create little light or smoke. I’ll have some provisions brought in.”
“Perfect.” With Madame LeBlanc’s permission, Tamsyn transferred all the nonessential items from her saddlebags into the bedroom cabinet. The most important possessions she’d keep with her and bring to the cottage along with Cade.
After closing the cabinet door, she said, “Now all we need is a smuggler who has a seaworthy boat and a willingness to carry passengers illegally to England.”
“I know such a man.” The other woman smiled a little. “This has always been a smuggler’s coast. We politely overlook the trade.”
Tamsyn’s gaze traveled around the cottage. “Once Cade is free and we take refuge here, how long before Andre can reach us? Then how long to make arrangements with a smuggler?”
“Only a few days. Andre is working nearby, and I will speak with the smugglers tomorrow so they can be ready.” She gave a faint, humorless smile. “So many things might go wrong.”
“And if they do, plans will be revised. Wewillfind our way to safety,” Tamsyn said fiercely.
“I believe you will.” Madame LeBlanc studied her. “But be ready to face the unexpected.”
“Hard to prepare for the unexpected, but I’m good at improvising.”
“That’s one of the greatest gifts.” Madame LeBlanc glanced around the cottage again. “It’s time to return home.”
The ride back was a quiet one. Tamsyn concentrated on making mental lists of all that must be done. She wished she could go after Cade the next day, but there were far too many things to do. It would have to be the day after.
When she reached Calais, she left Zeus at a livery stable not far from her boardinghouse. Before returning to her room, she bought a coil of thin, strong rope from a ship chandler and found a sharp knife and sheath in a pawn shop that she could give to Cade since Bastien would surely have taken away his prisoner’s weapons. She also bought a pair of small, sturdy lanterns.
Before that night’s dinner, she talked to her landlady, Madame Bernard, and the house cook. She explained that in two days she’d be returning to Paris to seek employment, but as a thank-you for the kindness of everyone in the house, she’d like to pay for a special dinner the next night. She offered an amount of money sufficient to buy more costly ingredients than were usual at the house, but not so much as to make her look too prosperous. The two women were happy to oblige, and they were discussing menus even before she left the kitchen.
After that night’s dinner, she returned to her room to organize the last of their possessions and double-check her plans. In the middle of her packing, she was flattened by a wave of pain from Cade. Bastien had returned and was once more trying to extract information from his prisoner.
She reduced the pain to a bearable level and then sent Cade to sleep again. As his consciousness faded, she whispered, “Very soon.”
He returned the wordsoonwith relief, gratitude, and love.
As she fell into an exhausted sleep, she prayed that within the next two days they’d be together, safe, and preparing to leave France, perhaps forever.
* * *
The next morning, she collected Zeus and rode along the beach to their refuge cottage. Madame LeBlanc had supplied more bedding and basic foodstuffs as well as several bottles of wine. Tamsyn smiled at the sight. Leave it to a French woman to make sure they would drink like civilized people.
She checked the provisions to see if anything vital was missing, but all seemed to be in order. She wondered what Andre Jameson would be like. With luck, he’d have his grandmother’s good practical sense.
On her way back to Calais, she stopped under Château Bastien and entered the cave with her coil of rope over her shoulder. She made her way up to the door that entered the lowest level of the château. As she had the day before, she pressed her palms on the door and scanned for inhabitants. A small number of servants; Bastien wasn’t at home.
Next, she laid her hand over the lock and called on Bran to help her with his lock power. He touched her mind instantly, glad to help with Cade’s escape. Joining his gift to her own talent, she pressed her hand over the door lock and quietly focused on it.
It was impossible to describe how Bran shared his gift for locks with Tamsyn. Was it the closeness between her and Bran? Was it knowledge? Magic?
Whatever the process was, she felt a click under her hand and caught her breath with relief. Cautiously she turned the knob, and it moved, though sluggishly. She fought down the desire to break innow, but it was too soon. She needed to make sure that she would leave no traces of this temporary life behind.
She sent Bran the knowledge of success, then added “tomorrow.” In return, she felt him pledging to support her with his power, and Merryn would as well.
She used her new gift to lock the door again, and it worked without effort. Then she cautiously made her way down the cave passage, tying lengths of rope at different secure points. Most were iron brackets that had been used to attach railings. The wooden railings had deteriorated, but the iron brackets held when she pulled the rope as hard as she could. She wasn’t sure if they’d hold Cade’s weight, but it was the best she could do.
When she reached the bottom of the passage, she gave a sigh of relief, then mounted Zeus and returned to Calais. The thank-you dinner was lovely, with generous portions of beef braised in red wine until it was falling-apart tender. There was fresh bread and sliced potatoes baked with cheese and cream as well as other vegetables, along with good wine and sumptuous desserts.
