Jenny’s eyes watered, and her mouth hurt. She licked it tasting blood.
He shook his head. “There, I told you not to make me angry.”
She edged as far away from him as she could on the rocky ledge. “You are a monster. Why do this? Leave now and you can get away. If you’re caught, you will hang. That’s the law in this country.”
“I won’t be caught. Be a good girl. Sit quietly there behind that boulder. He’s not to see you until I want him to. And if you move, Miss Harrismith, I have a knife in my boot, and will use it!”
She licked her sore lip again and didn’t doubt it.
He checked his rifle. Her heart dropped at the sight of the guns he’d stored there. He squatted down beside her, but his eyes remained on the path leading back the way they came.
*
As Strathairn’s horsewas being led out, a footman ran into the stable yard.
“Your Grace! Miss Harrismith has been abducted,” George cried. “She was on her way back from the library with a book for Lord William when the German gentleman grabbed her. They left the house through the kitchen. The maids are in hysterics! He threatened them with a pistol.”
“Good lord! Was Miss Harrismith injured?”
“Didn’t seem so, Your Grace.”
“Did the maids see which direction he took?
“No, Your Grace, they were too frightened to move until Cook returned. But one of the gardeners saw him with Miss Harrismith while he was working in the orchard. Said they headed in a northerly direction.”
“George, go and tell Mr. Irvine. He’s upstairs in the coach house with Mr. Forsythe. We’re riding out, heading north.”
Strathairn was already in the saddle. “Any idea why he would go north?”
“No.” Andrew mounted Cicero. “He probably avoided Clovis’ cottage. Wouldn’t have wanted the gamekeeper to see him. That way leads to Spender’s Bluff. Ivo’s been there before.”
“Can he leave the estate lands that way?”
“Not directly. He would have to ride some miles to cross the river. Perhaps I’m wrong, but it’s the only thing we have to go on.”
They rode to the gamekeeper’s cottage. On reaching it, Clovis informed them that he’d seen no sign of them. Andrew prayed his hunch was right. Miss Harrismith! If Ivo hurt her Andrew would tear him limb from limb. “I find myself totally at a loss,” Andrew confessed. “How could someone be so wicked as to try to kill my son? And for what reason has he taken Miss Harrismith? The man must be deranged.”
“He clearly is unbalanced,” Strathairn said. “And such men can be extremely dangerous and unpredictable. We need a plan if we are to get Miss Harrismith back unhurt.”
“John, I must tell you with the rage I’m feeling at the moment, I don’t intend to bring him back alive,” he said, desperation shaking his voice.
Strathairn’s eyes narrowed. “And nor you should.”
They’d traveled another mile when a pair of riders appeared a way behind them. Andrew and Strathairn reined in to wait. Moments later, Irvine and Raymond rode up. “Thought you might like some extra hands, milords,” Irvine said.
“Indeed we would, Irvine.”
Raymond’s pale face was grim. “We’ll get him, Andrew. Have no fear!”
Andrew glanced down. “Wait! What’s that lying on the path?” He reined in and dismounted, then stooped to pick it up. A cameo pinned to a piece of lace. “It’s Miss Harrismith’s brooch.” He buried his cold fury, his mind becoming cool and clear. “We’re on the right path, gentlemen.”
“Might it have come off during a struggle? Raymond asked.
“No, Ivo dropped it there. Miss Harrismith wears the brooch on her bodice, not her collar. He wants us to follow him, gentleman. Let’s oblige the fellow.”
The small hut where Miss Harrismith hid with the children stood empty. They rode on. When Spender’s Bluff rose in the distance, Andrew reined in, as a suspicion answered the question he’d been asking himself. Why here?
“He must have a rifle,” he said to the men. “It’s possible he’s holed up on that shallow ridge waiting to ensnare us in a trap.”
“Is there a way to get up there?” Strathairn asked.
“No. If he’s there. And I believe he is. He’s chosen well. Rock at his back and a good view of the path leading right to him.”
“We need some way of drawing his fire,” Raymond said. “You can nab him when he has to reload.”
“He may have more than one firearm. Miss Harrismith must be our first consideration. We’ll take it slow and careful,” Andrew said, aware of how reckless Raymond could be. “We make an excellent target if we show ourselves.”
