If He's Daring (9 page)

“That will do,” Orion said. “Now we shall hunt the man down.”

She glanced at the boy who sat under a tree watching them, and nodded in greeting before she hooked her arm through his and they began to walk through the town with Giles, keeping to the shadows and blending in with the crowd to shield them as much as possible. “You do not think Morris will recognize you?”

“If you had not noticed, I am not dressed in my usual finery.”

“Oh.” She looked over his attire, clothes more suited to a prosperous businessman than a knight from a large family riddled with titles. “I just thought that you wished to save your good clothes from becoming too travel worn.”

“There is that advantage, but this is a clever mask for the most part. Everything is of good quality but not too fine. Dull in color so not apt to catch the eye. Even the hat”—he touched his tricorn hat—“is good, but not a single thread of embellishment to make it fashionable. The same with my coat.”

He was right. If one came up to him and really studied his clothing, they might perhaps notice that it was made by an excellent tailor, one not many men could afford, but people rarely looked that closely at someone just strolling down the street. For once she, dressed in the rather plain serviceable gowns she had packed for this journey, did not feel dowdy standing near him.

She began to look around as subtly as she could. There were a lot of people wandering the streets, taking advantage of such a fine day. It would not be easy to see the unremarkable Morris in such a crowd. Catryn knew she would see her son, however, if Morris did not have him hidden away somewhere.

They had turned and were idly strolling back in the direction of the carriage before she finally saw Morris. Alwyn stood next to him, and she actually took a step in his direction. Orion’s grip on her arm immediately tightened and Giles stepped up so that he walked on her other side. It was hard not to push them both aside and run to her child, grab him up, and then flee with him. As her companions walked her across the road and into a shadowy alley between a dress shop and a hat shop, she fought to get a firm grip on her common sense. To run after her child would be idiocy, for Morris had four big men with him. All she would do was allow him to capture her as well.

“We need to make a plan,” Orion said as he lightly pinned Catryn between him and the wall of the hat shop. “Morris and his men outnumber us and outweigh at least two of us.”

“I know. I
know
,” she repeated with a little more force as she nudged Orion aside and moved so that she could look at Alwyn across the street. “I have been repeating that to myself since I first saw him and took a step toward him.”

“The boy looks hale,” Orion said as he moved to stand beside her.

“Yes, he does. That makes it easier to be cautious. It appears Morris is having some difficulty arranging a berth on a ship.”

Orion looked at the almost too thin man dressed in bright finery arguing with a burly, hairy sailor. The little boy stood by his side, a big man on guard on his other side, and appeared to be watching the boats. Then the boy said something and Morris glared at him. From the way the man was waving his hand in the child’s face it was obvious he was scolding Alwyn. The sailor just frowned at the boy, the look on his bearded face one of confusion.

“I gather he has given up on the idea of getting his hands on me as well,” Catryn said. “After all, he is obviously planning to leave the country.”

“That would depend on when he wants to sail,” replied Orion. “The carriage is a quick run from here through those trees, but I’m not sure what would be the best way to separate the boy from Morris so that we can grab him and have even the smallest chance of escape.”

“I can get him,” said Giles.

Orion turned to look at his son. “You may be a few years older than he, but he looks a healthy lad. Not sure you could catch him and run very far with his weight in your arms.”

“I will not have to.” Giles looked at Catryn. “The boy can run, aye?”

“He can,” she answered. “He can actually run very fast for someone with such short legs, and it is something he dearly loves to do.”

“Then all I need to do is to lure him away from Morris and his men, and get him just far enough away that he and I can run for it.”

“That could work.” Orion looked at the pub near the docks where Morris stood. “Wait here a moment.”

“What is he doing?” Catryn wondered, watching Orion stride away and disappear into the pub.

“My guess is he is seeing if there is anyone he can hire to step between me and your son and Morris and his bully boys,” said Giles. “Would not have to be a big delay or even a fight. Just enough time gained for me to get Alwyn to you and all of us to get to the carriage. That would be what I would do.”

“It would?”

“Aye. Used that trick on the streets a lot to stop the one we just lifted a purse off of from catching the one who did the lifting.”

“Oh.” Catryn could not stop herself from reaching out to smooth her hand over his hair, as if she could smooth away the memories of that hard life he had lived.

“I just need to think of a way to catch your boy’s attention,” Giles said, moving a little closer to her and tilting his head slightly so that she could stroke his hair more easily.

“You just have to get near to him,” Catryn said, pretending not to notice his silent bid for more affection, continuing the idle stroking of his hair as she spoke.

“What do you mean?”

Catryn sighed. “Alwyn is so drawn to be with other children that just seeing one is enough to have him moving closer. At the house in the country I let him play with the servants’ children when I can, although his father did not like that so we had to be circumspect about it when he was alive. In the city it is much harder to find him other children to play with, although I can get lucky on some days in the park. Alwyn wants to be with other children very badly, so smile at him, maybe wink, but act welcoming and he will do all he can to slip away and get closer to you.”

“He is that lonely for boys his age?”

“Think how you would feel if you did not have your mates.”

“Oh. Nay, would not like that at all. Bad enough we are living in different places now, but at least I know where they are and can go there most times I want to. And they are in London during that season you rich folk have.”

“Careful how you speak of us, my lad, for you have joined our ranks.”

“Damn. Keep forgetting that, but I have.”

Catryn decided not to scold the boy for his language this time and, with Giles at her side, watched Morris and her son. Her arms ached to catch Alwyn up and hold him tight, to check him for any bruises. She had never been parted from him, she realized. From the day he was born, he had been with her, in London and in the country, with only a maid to assist her in the care of him. Or her father and one of the other servants. There would be someone else now, she decided. Even if she believed the threat Morris posed was ended, she would never leave her child without a proper, trained guard again.

Although she knew time passed slowly when one was eager to get something done, she found waiting for Orion to return very difficult. The fear that Morris would get whatever he was arguing for and leave grew with each passing moment. She was actually considering going to find Orion when Giles tensed at her side.

“Here comes my father,” he said and stopped leaning against her to stand straight as a guard at her side.

She watched Orion walk over to them. “Did you find what you went looking for?”

“I did.” He glanced toward the docks as half a dozen burly, somewhat rough-looking men began to wander out of the pub and congregate near where Morris continued to argue with the sailor. “Now, Giles, how do you plan to get young Alwyn to come to you?”

“Our lady already told me how to do it,” Giles replied. “The boy wants to be with other boys. So I will just catch his eye and let him see that I am a friendly sort.” He looked toward Alwyn. “It does not look as if he is being all that closely watched at the moment. The men are too busy arguing with that sailor. Best I get to it.”

“If you sense that Morris or his men guess the threat you pose, get out of there as fast as you can. Disappear and make your way around to the carriage.”

“I will, and getting away fast is something I am good at. But I will get the boy. So the plan is, get boy, run here, and then run for the carriage. That it?”

“That is it. I have also made certain that Morris will not find it easy to get his carriage on the road to come after us.”

“What did you do?”

“Broke one of his wheels. Paid the stable hand to look the other way while I did it. Morris does not endear himself to the workers and servants. He obviously does not see how valuable it can be to treat such people with respect and kindness. Or pay them decently, if at all.”

“A man like that one never will. I will get your son for you, m’lady,” Giles told Catryn before starting toward the docks.

Orion watched his son wander off and wondered if he was putting too much faith in the boy. “This is madness. Giles is only eight.”

“Easy to forget that at times,” said Catryn. “He is also, despite how his life is better now, a boy of the London streets. I do not believe he is given to empty boasting either.”

“No, true enough. Then, too, with his gift he will have ample warning if things turn dangerous for him. This will work.”

She suspected he was working to convince himself, but she prayed he was right.

Her stomach was so knotted up with fear and expectation, Catryn was amazed that she was not hunched over like some ancient crone. It was bad enough seeing her son so close yet unable to grab him, but watching Giles walk toward Morris and his men only made it worse. She had grown very fond of the boy and hated watching him put himself in danger for her sake.

“As you reminded me not a moment ago, he grew up on the streets, Cat,” Orion said quietly and kissed the top of her head before moving to stand in a spot that gave him a better line of sight. “He is skilled in the game.”

Startled by the softly spoken pet name he had just used, it took Catryn a moment to realize he not only stood between her and the docks but he had placed her completely in the shadows. Leaning to the side a little, she could see that his gaze was fixed unwaveringly on Morris, his men, and Alwyn. He held his pistol at his side. Catryn was pleased that this Sir Orion was on her side. There was a strong air of danger around him now and she knew it ought to frighten her. Instead, it made her more certain that this was the man who would help her save her son.

“I cannot see Alwyn with you standing there,” she said, although she knew her soft protest would not make him move. “Or Giles.”

“I can.”

“Were you born with this arrogance?”

He did not chance glancing her way but briefly grinned at the false sweetness of her tone. “I believe I was.”

“How lovely for you.”

With a twist of her body and a little bending, Catryn was finally able to see past him. Giles used a stick to bat pebbles around on the road while he sang a rhyme he should have scrubbed from his tongue. A couple of men unloading fish from a battered boat laughed heartily when they drew close enough to hear him, as did the men Orion had hired. Giles showed no sign of concern, no fear at all. There was a lot of his father in that boy, she decided.

Then she saw Alwyn standing next to Morris, who was still arguing fiercely with the sailor. Alwyn looked so sad, her arms ached with the need to hold him. Then he caught sight of Giles showing off his skill at dancing a jig in front of the men who had laughed at his song. Now he had Alwyn laughing. Catryn promised herself she would give Giles a big hug and kiss as soon as they were safe and riding far away from this place, simply for making her boy smile when he had to have been so scared for too long.

She tensed when she saw Alwyn begin to shuffle ever so slowly away from Morris and his men. It was as she watched her son take tiny steps toward Giles that she noticed something else. The men who were finding Giles’s antics so enjoyable were also subtly moving, cautiously making themselves a barrier between Morris, his men, and the two boys. Catryn scowled up at Orion.

“I think there was a little more to this plan than I was told,” she whispered.

Never taking his gaze from the boys, the men he had hired, and the enemy, he replied in an equally soft voice, “I could not be certain the men from the pub would do as I asked. There was the small chance that they would just pocket my coin and run. Or simply stand about and not risk putting themselves between the boys and Morris.”

“That is what Giles said you had gone to do, hire men to slow any pursuit.”

“Clever boy, my son. There. Giles has him. Be ready.”

Catryn stepped back to give Orion room, hitched her skirts up so that she could run with more ease and speed, and waited. Morris and his men remained completely involved in their argument with what she now believed was the captain of a ship that Morris clearly wished to sail away on. Giles had Alwyn’s hand in his and was inching his way backward toward them. She took a deep breath to try and remain calm, praying that Giles was as clever as she thought he was and would know just the right moment to run.

 

 

Giles knew the boy whose hand he now held trusted him completely. He could feel it. It made no sense, and that made him falter for a moment. Then he stiffened his backbone before fear could weaken him. This boy had put his faith in him and he would not fail him. It was what his mates had done for him and he would do the same for this child.

“Your mother is near,” he told the boy.

“I know. My father told me.” Alwyn smiled at Giles. “He told me you would take me to her.”

“That is the plan.”

“Good, because I do not like Morris. My father says he is a filthy bastard.”

Moving a little more quickly, Giles kept his gaze fixed on Morris and his men. “So your father is with you now?”

“My mother and Grand-da tell me I should not say so.”

“You can tell me.”

“Yes, I can, and Papa just said that we had better start running our wee legs off right now.”

Giles did not question or hesitate. He tightened his grip on the boy’s hand and started to run toward the narrow alley where his father and Alwyn’s mother waited. The speed of the smaller boy impressed him, but he was wise enough in the ways of small children to know it would not last long. Giles hoped one of the adults was ready to catch up Alwyn and run with him.

Catryn was just holding her arms out to catch her son when one of Morris’s men let out a cry of alarm. She grabbed Alwyn and started to run for the carriage even as Morris’s furious bellow rang out. A quick glance behind her revealed that the men Orion had hired were doing an admirable job of impeding Morris and his men, but she knew that tactic would only work for a little while. She doubted Orion had paid the men enough for them to be willing to die for him.

Orion loped past her as they neared the carriage, tossed several coins at the boy who had been watching it, yanked open the door for her and the boys, and then leapt up into the driver’s perch. Giles was next, passing her and hurling himself inside. She tossed Alwyn in, leapt in, and was just shutting the door when the carriage started to move. Orion was not sparing the horses, either. Catryn wrapped an arm around each boy and tried to protect them from the worst of a rough ride.

“Hello, Mama,” said Alwyn, grinning at her. “I knew you would come. So did Papa.” He saw her glance at Giles and said, “He knows, Mama, and he understands.”

Catryn sighed. “I suspect he does.”

“Papa says Giles is one of us.”

“Well, he is certainly a good man to have on your side.” She felt Giles sit up straighter beneath her arm. “Did Morris hurt you, sweetheart?”

“He slapped me sometimes, but that is all. I did not like it and Papa wanted to gut him, but it is fine. I just wanted to come home, and waited for you to come and fetch me.”

“I do not recall Henry being so, um, blunt in his manner of speaking,” she murmured.

“Papa is not Henry.”

“Of course he is. Your father was named Henry, Henry Joseph Louis de Warrenne, Baron of Cutler Broadhurst.”

“No, my papa is called A-E-D-D-O-N. Aeddon. That is what he says. He says Henry was a bastard who deserved that knife in the belly.”

Catryn did not know what to say. She was ready to accept that her son could speak to spirits, and unusually talkative, cursing ones as well, but that the spirit he spoke to would pretend to be his father was a shock. A look at Giles revealed that the boy was watching Alwyn with interest.

“Whatever this Aeddon says, I would like you to not repeat the bad words, if you please,” she finally said and ignored Giles’s snort of laughter.

Alwyn nodded and then they hit a particularly bad stretch of road and had to concentrate on bracing themselves. Catryn did wonder why Orion was racing away so fast and for so long, since he had crippled Morris’s carriage. Even if Morris hired a carriage or some horses, he had lost a lot of time. Then again, she thought as she propped her feet up against the other seat in an attempt to steady them all, Orion was undoubtedly more accustomed to solving such problems than she was. If he thought they needed to get as far away as possible as fast as possible, she would not argue, just hang on to herself and the boys so that they did not arrive at their destination covered in bruises.

Orion eased up on the reins, allowing his team to slow to a less strenuous pace. He had run them hard, but they did not look too worn. After another mile, he found a good place to pull off the road and let the animals rest for just a little while. He was a little cautious about opening the door to the carriage, for he knew his passengers could not have had a pleasant ride.

He peeked inside, met three sets of eyes, the blue eyes curious and amused and the sea-green eyes not so amused. Catryn had clearly protected both boys as best she could, for neither one looked as if he had gained any bruises. She looked beautifully tousled. He held out his hand to her.

“We will have a short rest here before continuing on,” he said as he helped her down from the carriage and then turned to catch each boy as he jumped out.

“We have lost Morris?” she asked as he began to gather some grass to wipe down his horses and she moved to help him.

“We will find some water, Father,” said Giles as he grabbed a small bucket from the back of the carriage and, taking Alwyn by the hand, wandered off to find a source of water.

“Yes, we have lost Morris,” Orion finally replied as they wiped down the horses. “I wanted to put as many miles as I could between him and us during the time it would take him to fix or hire a carriage, maybe even to hire a few horses. Even took a detour or two to throw him off our trail.”

“And where are we going?” She tossed away the grass and looked around for Giles and Alwyn.

“To my cousin’s. Radmoor. The seat of the Viscount of Radmoor. Penelope married the viscount and cares for a lot of the children her—and I quote her here—‘randy kinsmen’ keep breeding. And it might be best to tell you now that I have two other sons at Radmoor. Paul and Hector.”

Before she could recover from her shock enough to question him, Alwyn and Giles returned with a bucket of water and helped Orion water the horses. Catryn watched her son with his new friend and Orion, and nearly smiled. Alwyn was at ease with both the boy and the man. In fact, the way Alwyn stared at Giles made her suspect her son considered his new friend the hero of the day. Considering all the work she and Orion had done to get him back, it was a little lowering, but she could be magnanimous. Giles had done a very good job as well.

Catryn fetched the basket of food from the carriage, pleased to see that it had been packed firmly enough not to have suffered much from their rough ride. Grabbing a blanket, she spread it on the ground and began to set out all the food. It did not surprise her when Orion and the boys soon appeared. Nothing brought males out of the woodwork like the smell of food.

“This Penelope,” she said as everyone helped themselves to some of the bread, cheese, and cold meat, “is someone you know very well?”

“Oh yes,” said Orion. “She has been taking care of my sons Paul and Hector for several years now, ever since their mothers left them at the Warren.”

“The Warren?” She frowned and felt a trickle of alarm as she wondered just where the other two boys had come from. “You were married once?”

“No.” He grimaced, knowing he was about to tarnish his armor in a way. “Paul was born to a mistress I had for a while. Hector came from a truly senseless frolic about town when I first arrived in the city. Both women were supposed to have the care of the boys, for which I paid well, but they gave them up. At times, and I fear it is happening with greater frequency, children show what their gift is early. Paul’s mother did not like it. Paul is a bit like you, Catryn. He can sense danger, sense a threat as it approaches. He warned his mother or someone she knew just one too many times, and she did not want him near her any longer. Hector has, well, visions of what might happen and draws them out in some very skillful pictures. I gather he drew a fate for someone his mother knew and she could not be rid of him fast enough.”

Catryn shook her head. “I do not understand that. I truly do not.” She looked at Alwyn, who was eating with a lack of delicacy she probably should have scolded him for but she was too happy to see him acting normally to care. “I appear to have a child who speaks to the dead, which means spirits must be wandering about near him, thus me, all the time,” she said quietly, leaning closer to Orion so that her son, busily chatting with Giles, did not overhear, “but I would never, never give him up. He is my child, my blood, my heart.”

Unable to resist, Orion kissed her on the cheek and then grimaced when he heard one of the boys gasp. Glancing their way, he saw his little rogue of a son grinning like a fool while young Alwyn stared at him with wide eyes. He could not stop from wondering if that look of shock was because a man who was not her husband had kissed her, or because the boy had never even seen his father do that.

“Your mother is a very good woman and said something that demanded a reward,” he told the boy, ignoring the way Catryn was blushing.

Alwyn stared at him for a moment more and then smiled. Orion was stunned. When the boy smiled like that he could see so many of his family in that youthful face. Even if Catryn’s father had found no written proof of a connection between her family and his, Orion knew he was looking right at all the proof anyone else in his clan would ever need. The tie was there, and he would have to decide what to do about it, for Alwyn’s gift was so strong that the boy would need some training.