Page 86 of So Wild A Heart

At the top of the stairs, the trap door opened and fell back with a crash. A moment later, a man’s legs appeared, then the rest of his body. It was Rupert, carrying a lantern that cast light around the small dank room. Down the stairs behind him came Strong, looking distinctly unhappy.

“I don’t know why we can’t just leave her,” Strong was saying, his voice close to a whine. “She will die without our help.”

“Yes, but what if my nephew takes it into his head to search the abbey?” Rupert snapped. “It seems just the sort of thing he would do. We can’t risk anyone finding her before she’s had time to die. She could tell everyone all about us. We just discussed this, Strong.”

“Yes, but…”

“Buck up, man,” Rupert went on impatiently. He had reached the bottom of the stairs now and turned his lantern’s light on Miranda. “Well. I see you’re awake.”

He did not look happy about that fact. Miranda supposed it would have been much easier to finish her off if she were not awake and watching. She sat up, trying to appear groggier than she felt. “Uncle Rupert…”

“Oh, don’t try to get around me by being all female and helpless now,” he said, his voice cantankerous. “If you were like other women, this never would have happened. I don’t understand why you had to be the way you are. Always poking and prying into everything…If you had just left it alone, there would have been no problem.”

“True,” Miranda replied dryly. “You could have continued robbing Devin blind. No doubt you were hoping you could do the same to my fortune, as well.”

“Well, it isn’t as if he noticed…or cared,” Rupert argued petulantly. “Devin never had any idea what went on up here.”

“Made it easier to embezzle money from him, I’m sure,” Miranda said sarcastically. “But, you know, I think you have gone too far this time, Rupert. Devin is bound to notice that something is amiss when his wife dies in yet another mysterious accident. He will begin searching for what reason someone had to kill me. Don’t you think eventually he will find out?”

“Nonsense. He will be the main suspect. Who else would want to kill a rich wife except the husband? I am sure it is he who Mr. Upshaw will concentrate on.”

Miranda’s hand tightened on the rock. “So you are not content with stealing from your nephew? You intend to get him sent to the gallows for murder, as well?”

Behind Rupert, Strong made a noise, turning pale.

Rupert frowned at her. “No. Of course not. With luck, no one will suspect anything. This wouldn’t even be necessary if you were not such a damnably prying, bullheaded female! Pushing me out of the way. Taking over. Having to go see the tenant farms yourself. And going to Apworth Mountain! Who would have dreamed you would take it into your head to see that godforsaken place!”

“Apworth Mountain.” Miranda stared at him. “You mean…you have to kill me to keep me from seeing Apworth Mountain? Is that it?”

“Of course,” Rupert replied pettishly. “Devin knows nothing about the contract. Even he would be bound to notice the mines.”

“The mines? My God, of course! I was right. There are minerals there, aren’t there? You have been mining it, and Devin doesn’t have any idea.”

“Oh, stop yammering,” Rupert said irritably, bending over to grasp her wrist and pull her to her feet. “As if Devin deserved any of it anyway. He is a wastrel and—”

Miranda did not resist the older man’s tug at her arm. Instead, she came up with it, propelling herself forward with all her strength as she whipped her hand out of her pocket and flung it upward. The sack of rocks connected smartly with Rupert’s head. He made an odd noise and collapsed, going over backward under the force of her forward movement.

She tore past him and up the stairs, blasting into a surprised Strong on the railingless steps. He staggered backward, flailing his arms, and fell off the side of the stairs, landing with a thud a few feet below on the earth. Miranda did not stay to see what happened to either him or Rupert. She was already up the stairs and out onto the ground.

The bright sunlight outside blinded her, and she staggered forward, shading her eyes. Where were the horses she had heard? She heard a noise behind her and whirled around. Two horses stood just beyond the low stone wall, loosely tied to a bush. At her sudden appearance, however, they skittered nervously, and when she whipped around and rushed toward them, they broke and ran, tearing free of their loosely tied reins. Miranda ran after them uselessly, cursing herself for her impetuous plunge toward the animals. Behind her she heard a roar, and she knew that Uncle Rupert must be up and after her.

She took her to her heels, jumping over the low stone wall and darting around another higher wall. It was not long before she was completely lost in the ruins. She stopped, panting, and leaned against a wall, listening for the sounds of pursuit. She heard nothing, and cautiously she edged around the corner of the wall. If she could just get away from the abbey and into the woods, she felt sure that she could elude Rupert and Strong.

As she slipped around the corner, however, she heard a cry. She whirled around and saw Strong in the distance, running toward her. Rupert was not far behind him. Miranda whirled and took off at a run. She was in the large open square that had once been the abbey courtyard. A half-fallen wall loomed before her, and beyond that, she knew, there was a large empty field between her and the hiding places that the woods offered. She thought she might be able to outrun Uncle Rupert, who was, after all, getting up in years and had also been hit in the head. Strong, however, was a different matter.

She scrambled over the wall and ran full tilt. Behind her she could hear Strong yelling. And then, in the distance, she saw the figure of a horseman approaching them. Joy swept over her.

“Devin!” she cried and ran toward him now instead of the woods.

The horse leapt forward, bearing down on her in a run. Miranda dropped to her knees, sobbing for breath. She felt the rush of air as the horse tore past her, and she turned to see Devin launch himself off the steed straight at Strong.

After that, it was all over in a matter of moments. The force of their collision knocked the air from Strong, and Devin followed it up with a right upper cut to the chin that sent him into unconsciousness. He leapt to his feet and ran toward his uncle, who decided to turn and run in the opposite direction. It was of no use. Devin was on him in a moment, and he, too, hit the ground, unconscious.

Miranda staggered to her feet as Devin turned and ran back to her, sweeping her up in his arms.

“Are you all right?” he asked, holding her so tightly to him that she could hardly breathe and kissing her all over her face. “Oh, my God, Miranda! To think I almost lost you! Tell me you’re all right.”

Laughing, gasping, she managed to answer in the affirmative. “Yes. I’m fine. Thank heavens you got here in time. But how did you know? How did you get here?”