Time After Time (7 page)

She stopped, panting and glassy-eyed.

At last, he pushed off the wall and pointed a booted toe at a grain bag. “You know, at the Davenport farm we put one bag on top of another. That way you don’t have so far to lift to get it into the wheelbarrow. Try it. You might find the technique useful.”

Then he knocked the ashes from his pipe and sauntered away.

If Ellie’d had the strength, she would have throttled him. Instead, she kicked the bag on the floor, tripping herself on its dead weight and falling to her knees in a pile of sacks. “May he rot on the gallows.”

• • •

Eleven
A.M.
rolled around and Ellie longed for a bath and a pretty white muslin dress.

“Toby, how are you holding up?” came a cheerful bellow as Hugh entered the far end of the barn.

She pasted a smile on her face. “Doing just dandy, my lord.”

“That’s grand. Now, go round up Manifesto when you’ve emptied that wheelbarrow and meet me in the paddock.”

“All righty,” said Ellie.

“All righty what?” Hugh replied.

“All righty, my lord.”

Blessedly, Manifesto didn’t need to be persuaded to leave his pasture. He trotted up and dove his nose into the bucket of bribery grain she’d brought. She slipped a halter over his head, let him finish his treat, and led him toward the paddock.

As she rounded the corner of the barn, she noticed Hugh and a few men standing around a pretty mare who nickered to Manifesto and moved her tail to the side.

Manifesto surged forward, so eager to do his duty as a stallion, he tried to jump the fence. Ellie dragged him to the gate, struggling to keep his attention as he trumpeted his love call. “Wait, big boy. Stop,” she pleaded.

“Hold him now,” said Hugh, as Manifesto dragged Ellie across the paddock. “Give us a chance to tie her up.”

“Easy boy, easy,” Ellie begged. She tried to circle Manifesto away from the waiting mare but with her weakened arms he simply toted her along. The men scattered as he reared to mount. With her head free, the mare bucked and moved aside, causing Manifesto to miss. He snorted and bit the errant mare on the neck, holding her firmly in place as he mounted again.

Ellie averted her eyes.
Damn Uncle Sebastian,
she thought.
Riding astride is fine for a woman, but breeding he protects me from?

She tried to look at anything but the eager, grunting stallion. That’s when she noticed the grin plastered across Hugh’s face. “You’re the only one who can handle him,” he said, and shrugged.

Humiliation and embarrassment competed in her soul. Ellie gritted her teeth, steeled herself, and looked again at Manifesto. But the horse was so … so … thoroughly engaged, she had to turn away.

A groom laughed his fool head off. Hugh turned his back to her, but his shoulders shook.

“Scoundrel, rake, rogue, rotter,” she muttered. She’d loathed Hugh Davenport before, but now she out-and-out despised him. Leading the satiated stallion back to the barn, she whispered, “I’ll get you out of here, Manifesto, if it’s the last thing I do.”

• • •

“There’s a Mr. Coopersmith here to see you, my lord,” the butler announced, with a tinge of regret. Hugh tossed aside a newspaper he’d been reading. “Send him right in,” he said. He couldn’t wait to hear her complain about the morning’s activities.

The bedraggled wench stepped into the library.

“Ah, Toby, how can I help you?” he asked, lifting Sport, his spaniel, from a cushioned chair and motioning her to sit down.

She lowered herself onto the upholstery, lost her balance in the deep cushioning, and tipped backward, her legs flying into the air. Heat suffused her cheeks as she scrambled for the edge of the chair, clinging to the arm rests. Hugh coughed to cover his laughter.

“You ought to do something about that cold,” she said, eyes icy.

“Drafts — they’re a nuisance.” Even dusted with barn dirt and wearing raggedy breeches she was attractive. He decided he liked her caustic wit — irksome, but exciting.

“I’m asking permission to leave, sir,” she said.

That was a shock. He’d thought she had a little more spunk. “I was hoping you could stay on a bit longer,” he said. “It’s going to be harder taming Manifesto without you.”

“I didn’t mean leave permanently,” Ellie snapped. “I need to get back to the Albright stables to give notice and return their gelding.”

“Oh.”

“And when I return, I’ll expect to have a room ready for me.”

“You will, eh?” Remembering her white skin, the water droplets coursing down her slim figure, he wondered if finding her a room could be postponed. “Just get back as quickly as possible,” he said. “I’ll work on finding you suitable accommodations.”

“And I’ll not be mucking stalls again, will I, my lord?”

“Not necessarily.”

“So you’ve got your stable boys back then? I witnessed quite a crowd of them at supper.”

“Yes, well … ”

“And your trainers seemed fairly spruce for having lifted dung all morning. Unlike myself, my lord.”

“The other barns weren’t affected by the shortage.”

“You see, at the Albright stables, the trainers train the horses. When I came here, I expected the same treatment. If I was mistaken, we need to re-negotiate my employment.”

Impudent chit, I ought to boot her out the door and say farewell,
he thought.

“And you won’t be racing Manifesto without me,” she added, predicting his thoughts. “He won’t move for you.”

She spoke the truth and Hugh knew it — and he wasn’t anxious to give Manifesto another chance to shred his clothing. Besides, he had a few life lessons he’d like to teach her. “Very well then, on your return, you’ll be riding, not shoveling.”

“Thank you, my lord. Now, I’ll need one of your horses to ride back from the Albrights’.”

“I’m sure my coachman can find something for you. Won’t be as spirited as Manifesto, but he’ll find something.”

“Any nag will do. I’ll be leaving right away,” she said, standing. The spaniel jumped back into his spot on the chair, sinking deep into the upholstery.

“Excellent,” Hugh replied. “I’ll accompany you to the barn and see that you’re taken care of.”

• • •

Hugh signaled his coachman. “Could you bring out Old Nell for Toby, Mr. Roger?”

Ellie thought she saw a look of surprise on Mr. Roger’s cratered face, but Hugh escorted her swiftly from the barn.

The sound of an angry whinny followed. Ellie wondered just how old Old Nell could be to make such a racket.

Furious horse sounds were followed by a chorus of cursing, as Old Nell burst through the barn door dragging three men behind her. Two held a lead on one side and a man as huge and pink as a side of beef clutched the other. Old Nell bucked and snapped like a thing possessed. Ellie glared at Hugh. He averted his gaze and scratched his knee. “I guess she’s in a bad mood today,” he said.

“That would be my impression,” she shot back.

“Old Nell’s not usually like this.”

“She’s not, eh? What’s she usually like — a cyclone?”

Hugh pressed his lips together and a flicker of guilt crossed his face. “Boys, take Nell back to her stall,” he shouted above the din.

“That’s all right,” said Ellie.

“No. No it’s not. The horse isn’t fit to be ridden. Take her back, Mr. Roger.”

“My lord,” she hissed, “you made me look a fool in front of your men today. I can handle this vixen. The least you can do is let a chap save face.”

Hugh shook his head. “Manifesto taught me the hard way to respect limits. I’m trying to warn you of Old Nell’s.”

“I consider myself warned,” Ellie said. “Mr. Roger, please put that horse into your smallest paddock.”

The men moved the mare into an enclosure where Ellie directed them to unbuckle the reins and put up the stirrups. After a considerable amount of sweat, dust and swearing, they let Old Nell free. As they dashed out, the mare chased them, bucking, snorting, and rushing at anyone who dared come near the rails.

“Let’s all leave her alone for a few minutes,” Ellie said, walking away.

The men and Hugh looked disappointed. Reluctantly they gathered at a cistern by the barn where they conferred in low, worried tones. Ellie couldn’t hear them, but she knew they were talking about the upcoming battle with Old Nell. She decided to ignore them and went to the tack room.

Digging through a few trunks, she found a piece of thick rope and a square of oil cloth. She tied the cloth to the end of a long whip.

About twenty minutes later, everyone reconvened at the paddock. Old Nell had calmed down and was searching for blades of grass in the dust. Ellie parked the beefy groom at the gate. “If I start running for it, you’ll let me out good and quick, right?”

The groom nodded his massive pink head. “Got it,” he said.

Hugh took up a position along the rail.

Old Nell raised her head and fixed a wary eye on Ellie as she entered the paddock. She swung the thick rope around and around above her head, and simultaneously rattled the oil cloth at Old Nell’s eye. The horse flattened her ears and charged, running straight into the whirling rope. The mare got a powerful smack on her face for her troubles. She bolted out of rope range and stopped to eye Ellie again. “Come on, Old Nell, I want you to trot along the outside rail,” Ellie commanded, turning her body in the direction she wished Old Nell to go. The horse looked skeptical. Ellie shook the oilskin again. The sound unnerved Old Nell, so she trotted away and started circling.

Less than a lap around the paddock, the mare charged again. And again she got a hard smack in the face from the rope. Old Nell bucked, moving backward towards Ellie, her hind legs working like deadly pistons.

“Get out!” yelled Hugh, clambering half way over the fence.

Ellie sidestepped Old Nell’s haunches, but let the horse back into the swinging rope. Whack! The sting sent Old Nell bolting to the safety of the outside rail. This time Ellie didn’t ask nicely for a trot. She shook the oilskin at Old Nell’s eye, driving her into a full gallop. Deciding it was safer, the mare stayed on the rail.

• • •

“By God, it’s working,” Hugh said to himself, shaking his head in amazement.

He studied the precision of the girl’s encouragement and disapproval of Old Nell’s moment by moment behavior — her coordination in swinging the rope and shaking the oilskin. Then his focus strayed to her tightly clad thighs, and he could not drag his eyes away.

The late afternoon sun pierced dust-thickened air in beams of light. Old Nell flashed in and out of the glare as she cantered around the paddock. Hugh watched the girl’s slim figure follow the mare through the fractured sunlight. He remembered her alabaster body lit by the fire of the hurricane lamp, the pearl orbs of her breasts, the water tracing curves down her stomach.

Ashamed, he gripped the fence rail and shook his head, forcing himself to focus on her eyes. Piercing blue – and concentrated on the horse. Nothing else existed for her.

He craned to see the nape of her neck.
Blast that floppy hat
, he thought.
It’s hanging too low.

His gaze went back to her thighs.
I wouldn’t mind seeing more women in trousers, he thought. She takes long strides. Girlish strides, though. Wouldn’t do for a man to be walking like that. Popinjay, they’d say. She ought to be careful.
It startled him that he cared.

Old Nell bucked as she circled the pen, but the girl made her gallop – kicking became an impractical waste of energy.

Finally, at the girl’s command — a quick shake of the oilskin — Old Nell stopped, changed direction, sped up, and slowed down.

Lowering the oilskin and rope, the girl turned away from the mare.

Hugh tensed, waiting for Old Nell to charge. Instead, the horse stood still, waiting for a command. When none came, the animal walked to her trainer where she accepted a carrot and lowered her head for the bridle.

“Gad, that wretched beast is docile as a well-fed dog,” Hugh said to no one in particular.

The girl’s hands moved behind the bit
. Does she have her finger in that horse’s mouth?
He wiped his brow. She stroked Old Nell’s tongue, breathing gentle words into the mare’s velveteen nostrils. Heat grew in his groin.

Quite a crowd had formed along the fence rail. Realizing he would have to congratulate her on her training skills, he swiped his handkerchief over the back of his neck and across his brow. If he left the fence, everyone would see the excitement that refused to abate in his groin. “Excellent!” he cried, choosing to stay behind the rail. He started a smattering of awed applause from the farmhands.

The girl seemed not to hear. She buckled the reins back on Old Nell’s bridle and mounted. The horse stood still. “Could someone fetch the gelding for me?” she asked.

“Mr. Roger,” said Hugh, “Could you fetch the gir — ah, Toby’s horse please.”

By the time the gelding was ready, Hugh had regained his control. “Here you are, Toby, ready for the hike,” he said, handing her the gelding’s lead. Before he knew what he was doing, his hand closed around her thigh just above the knee. The muscle was deliciously hard, encased in a soft layer of flesh. He gave what he hoped was a masculine shake to the leg. “With training skills like that, Toby, we’ll miss you even for a night. Hurry back.”

• • •

Hugh’s farewell shake of her thigh sent a zing to every fiber in Ellie’s body. She touched her heels to Old Nell’s side, and gripping the gelding’s lead, rode swiftly out of the paddock. “I’ll be back soon, my lord,” she said, urging the horse into a canter.

But as Hugh and Cowick Hill disappeared from view, the spot where he’d touched her continued to tingle, as if her thigh had taken on a life of its own. Try as she might, she couldn’t stop thinking about the warmth of that hand.

Do men touch each other like that?
she wondered. She’d seen them slap backs in a hale, hearty way, but on the thigh?

“What a rogue.” Her voice surprised her. “A rogue in sheep’s clothing. He pretends to be a gentleman, but he’s a rogue.” The thought pleased her. It had the right note of disdain. Still, the feel of his strong fingers persisted. She tried to concentrate on the road, but the tingling grew.