“You count your horse as company? Or do you have an imaginary friend? My sister Claire had one, made us all sit down to tea with it. Even Father indulged her. Two months later, she patched up the little rift she had with my other sister, Evelyn, and never mentioned the invisible friend again.”
Now why the deuce did he volunteer that? Something silly to make amends for the insult? But the boy didn’t comment, he was busy saddling his great beast of a horse and attaching his belongings to it. It suddenly occurred to him that an extra boy in tow, even one around the same age as his ward, might be good camouflage for his little group. And the lad was heading away from London as they were, so he might agree to join them if asked—if Montgomery stopped trying to drive him away with insults.
He went over to the quieter miscreant, who must have hit his head when he fell off his horse because Montgomery could see now that he was unconscious. The shot had grazed his left shoulder where his jacket was torn. After Montgomery trussed him up, he dragged him off the road to where his partner was struggling to free himself. He considered leaving the noisy one gagged to delay their rescue even longer, but, in the end, removed the ribbon, letting loose more angry gibberish. He would take their horses instead and have a look inside the saddlebags later. Either way, they wouldn’t be catching up to him.
He headed back to the road, but paused when he saw the boy was about to mount, curious to see how he would accomplish it on a horse that size. Shires were reputed to be the tallest horses in the world, and this one certainly aspired to match that record. But the lad, even as short as he was, accomplished it with ease, hopping up to grasp the pommel and lifting himself high enough to reach the stirrup, then the rest was a normal mount.
“Considering you’re not done growing, I’d think you’d want a horse more your size,” Montgomery said when he reached the boy sitting atop the white beast.
“I like the view from up here.”
Montgomery choked back a laugh, since the boy was looking down on him when he said it. There was probably a grin on his face, but with the light from the road behind the boy leaving his entire figure darkly shadowed, Montgomery couldn’t tell for sure.
“He’s a good extra weapon, too, if I need one,” the boy added. “He would think nothing about charging into another horse to unseat its rider. He would have made a magnificent warhorse in olden days.”
“Know your history, do you?”
“I know a lot of things.”
The boy walked Snow King out to the road. Even light steps like that fluttered the hair on the horse’s legs.
Montgomery followed, remarking, “I should just turn those two over to a magistrate in the first town we reach since they attempted to rob us. They’d have a devilish time trying to defend themselves when they can’t speak English.” He stared at the top of the coach with no room on it for trussed-up bodies and amended, “Too much trouble and time wasted. And where are you going now that you’ve snubbed your nose at London?”
“Anywhere else.”
Montgomery raised a brow at the boy’s disagreeable tone. He didn’t try to change the boy’s mind about his fair city. Besides, riding a giant horse and brandishing pistols, the boy might prove to be entertaining, whereas the lad he had to protect had been nothing but annoying so far.
“Since you don’t have a particular destination in mind and appear to be going in our direction, you’re welcome to join us. Safety in numbers, as it were.”
“I’ve no desire to go south.”
“So anywhere except south? Well, as it happens, we’re not going to Portsmouth. That was just misdirection for the benefit of the robbers, so the offer stands. We’ll be riding north most of the week, and it’s possible more highwaymen might try to delay us along the way.” And for good measure he added, “They’ll stop lone riders, too.”
“They’ll be surprised if they do.”
“Oh?”
The boy ignored his query and actually yelled, “Joining you is an excellent idea!”
“Keep your bloody voice down,” Montgomery growled. “If the gunshots didn’t wake the countryside, you just did.”
“I was letting my imaginary friend know I’m in safe company.”
“Were you now?” Montgomery looked into the woods, but seeing nothing, he snorted. “You can ride in the coach with us.”
“I’ll ride Snow alongside you. The appearance of a guard will deter other robbers.”
Guards didn’t come in such small packages, but he merely said, “Suit yourself, but it’s likely to rain sometime today. This is England, after all.”
Chapter Six
IT WAS A MISTAKE. Vanessa knew it even as she agreed to ride north with the handsome man whose coach had been attacked. Her guards would be annoyed because she’d refused to allow them to ride alongside her. But the man and his ward were interesting and had supplied the first little bit of excitement to what had been an uneventful journey so far.
Besides, by yelling her reply to the man’s invitation, she’d let her guards know that it was her decision to follow the coach and its occupants. It might be a silly way of communicating, but she was sure it had worked.
She had been surprised when the two huge Highlanders, brothers who looked like a pair of mean bears, arrived the day before she was to leave for England. She rarely argued with her father, but this time she did. He’d hired them to accompany her to her mother’s house in Cheshire. She was certain she could protect herself and didn’t need them. But William was adamant, saying, “I’ll never sleep a wink again for worry if I don’t know you have protection in case you need it.”
She’d finally agreed, but with her own stipulation that the Highlanders keep their distance from her during the day and guard her discreetly at night.
