He’d never been in love before, but Annaliese appealed to him in a way no other lady had ever done, and...
“Anything I should know about this gun torch?” his mother asked, her question pulling him directly back to the situation at hand, and a situation that now had his mother no longer on her donkey but standing beside it, holding the gun torch in a practiced hand, something that implied she knew her way around a weapon.
“Since when did you learn how to hold a pistol?” he asked.
“Since just now, although I’m fairly sure I’d be a credible shot if this was a real pistol because I’ve read numerous books on the subject, although I’ve never actually shot a gun before.” Louisa gave the gun torch a bit of a perusal. “Unfortunately, you said this only shoots sparks, but there is the chance that Paulie will mistake this for a real pistol, which might come in handy. Although...” She moved to his rucksack, rummaged around in it, then withdrew his pocketknife/revolver gadget.
“I think I’ll take this as well just to be on the safe side because I’m relatively sure that the automatic nail thingamajig is something Flick might have a talent with since it’s rather heavy to wield, quite like all those weights he told me he uses in hisstrongman act. But speaking of Flick...” She nodded to something behind Seth. “It appears he’s finally stopped his donkey from bolting through the trees, so what say we get back to the business of finding Norma Jean.” She smiled. “Considering it’ll be four against one once we catch up to this Paulie character, I predict it’s not going to be as difficult as you’re probably imagining it’ll be to relieve the man of your sister, especially not when we also have a monkey thief, a ferocious ferret, and don’t forget Pierre on our side as well.”
Seth glanced at Pierre, who’d refused to stay behind and was once again clinging to his mother’s shoulder.
“I’m not sure how useful Pierre’s going to be since her feathers are still splinted,” he said.
Louisa’s nose shot into the air. “Have a care with what you say, dear, as I’m convinced she understands more than we think, and she may very well need to come to our aid if Paulie turns tricky. I doubt she’ll be motivated to do so if you continue speculating about her deficiencies.”
Having nothing at his disposal to respond to that, Seth settled for sending his mother a nod before he nudged Cantankerous into motion. As he struggled to maintain his seat when Cantankerous decided to delve into some kicking up of his heels, he forced all thoughts of love to the far recesses of his mind as now was hardly the time for romance and concentrated on figuring out what the odds of retrieving Norma Jean with little difficulty would be.
He wasn’t actually surprised when the dismal number of thirty-two percent sprang to mind, since riding off on a mission where a monkey, a ferret, and a feather-challenged parrot were being considered part of the rescue team wasn’t exactly a formidable threat, especially against a man even Flick was afraid of.
Eighteen
To say the day was turning beyond peculiar was an understatement, especially after Seth and Cantankerous went careening past Annaliese, Flick’s donkey at their heels, both men bobbing about and looking quite as if they were about to tumble to the ground, a sight that was already drawing attention from two men sitting in a wagon that was parked off the side of the road.
Those men then took to gawking at Harriet as she went trundling past them on her donkey. She sent the men a wave of her monkey paw, something that left both of them staring after her with their mouths agape.
“Have you checked to make certain your pistol’s readily accessible?” Louisa asked as she jostled up beside Annaliese, Pierre swaying on her shoulder, the sight of the parrot leaving the two men gawking even more as Annaliese and Louisa rode past them. “We don’t want to arrive on the scene anything less than prepared.”
“I assure you, my pistol is within easy reach, but...” Annaliese frowned. “I thought you said that you didn’t think it was going to be all that difficult to rescue Norma Jean.”
Louisa waved that aside. “That was simply me channeling the attitude of my oh-so-optimistic heroine Pierre the Pirate.She’s always doling out optimism when times turn daunting, just as she doles out romantic advice whenever she feels the need.”
“Why do I get the distinct impression that you’re champing at the bit to channel your heroine again in order to lend me some of that romantic advice?”
“Because you’re obviously a very astute young lady.” Louisa smiled. “With that said, know that Pierre would take this particular moment to say that when a couple is on the brink of embracing a budding romance, care should be taken when it comes to a first kiss.”
Annaliese wrinkled her nose. “Should I ask why you’re thinking about first kisses right now?”
“Because kissing always springs to mind when a couple smiles at each other like you and Seth have been doing.” Louisa’s smile turned knowing. “If you missed it, Seth was smiling at you as if you were a tasty bowl of ice cream he wanted to savor, and I have to say that you were smiling at him in quite the same fashion. I’d wager that the two of you were contemplating kissing just a scant few minutes ago, but now is hardly the moment for that.”
Heat immediately took to curling up Annaliese’s neck and a ready retort was nowhere to be found because—she wasn’t surprised she’d been smiling at Seth in a way that suggested she’d been considering kissing the gentleman since, well, she had been. Nevertheless, it wasn’t as if anyone could blame her for thoughts of kissing since his decision to name a quarrelsome donkey because he’d obviously really been listening to her views regarding animal names and that had made him more than appealing.
Granted, it had been a rather odd time to contemplate throwing herself from her donkey and kissing the man, but ... She gave herself a small shake when a thought took that moment to spring to mind, which had her returning her full attention to Louisa.
“I find myself a tad confused right now, because if I’m not mistaken,” Annaliese began, “you’ve been determined to help Phoebe and the girls arrange a match between me and Seth. And while you haven’t been obvious with pushing that agenda since we’ve been on the road, I find myself curious as to why you’d discourage us from sharing a kiss.”
“I’m not discouraging anything of the sort, dear,” Louisa countered. “I’m only trying to steer your romance in a manner that will leave you with some extraordinary memories of your courtship when you and Seth are old and gray.”
“We’re not actually in the midst of a courtship.”
“Perhaps not formally, but that’s only due to your current circumstances.” Louisa caught Annaliese’s eye. “Take it from me, a woman who reads more than a fair share of romance novels, and not simply for research purposes for my pirate novels. You’re definitely on the path to a courtship, or perhaps we should call it a courtship quest—with Seth as the treasure you’re seeking at the end of that quest.”
“I don’t remember mentioning a thing about me wanting to go on any romantic quest.”
“It was implied.”
“Because I looked like I might have been contemplating kissing your son?”
“You weren’t contemplating, you were already committed to kissing him, as he was committed to kissing you, until I interrupted.”
