Timeless Desire (38 page)

“Not me, I assure you,” she said. “The statue’s been there since the library was built. I assumed it was given by one of his descendants.

“The librarian he bedded was the founding librarian, a hundred years before me,” she explained. “He presented himself as a descendant of John Bridgewater, and he gave the library a lot of money.”

Undine shifted on the mattress, and Panna saw the bruises on her legs. What sort of brute would do that to a woman?

“He visited three times. When he returned here the third time, the passageway was closed to him forever. That’s how I knew. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when you came to me,” Undine said softly. “I try to keep men’s secrets. If I had known you were in love with her . . .”

“Don’t worry yourself. But Adderly came to you?”

“Aye. This morning. He wanted to know what you knew. I didn’t want to tell him.”

“And he beat you?”

“Aye. He thought I was dead.”

She tried to lick her cracked lip, but the swelling was so large her tongue couldn’t reach it. Panna held a glass of water to Undine’s lips so she could drink.

“That’s the only thing that saved me,” Undine said, giving Panna a faint smile. “After he left, I made it as far as Drumburgh, looking for you, but I must have fainted. The next thing I knew, I was lying in a wagon on the road to Bowness.”

Jamie squeezed her hand.

“I’m sorry,” Undine said. “I didn’t want to tell him that you were asking about time travel, but he made me.”

Jamie’s jaw clenched. Panna put her hands on his shoulders and squeezed.

“William and Sarah will see to it you are cared for,” he said. “You’ll stay here until you’re well. Everything will be taken care of.”

“Jamie, he is so jealous of you. In the end, you both lack the same thing: the acknowledgment of a father.”

Jamie hung his head. “How much I should have liked to have a brother.”

He unfolded himself from the bed and led Panna out. Sarah was stacking the dishes from dinner.

“Will you and William—”

“Of course,” Sarah said. “We’d be happy to. Don’t worry.”

Jamie put a handful of coins on the table. “It’s all I have.”

“It’s more than enough. I haven’t forgotten what you did for Robert.”

William was nearby, gathering apples in his small orchard, when Jamie and Panna emerged. The warm violet of twilight had been replaced by the blue-black of night. “I fear every moment we stay in this time,” he said under his breath. “Adderly will stop at nothing until he possesses you.”

“But I hardly know anything about this time—or what comes after.”

“A little will be all it takes. A man like Adderly measures himself only by the power he possesses or the fear he strikes in other men. The possibility of knowing even a little of what the future holds would be a more powerful lure than gold.”

“You’re scaring me.”

“I mean to scare you. Adderly is a dangerous man. We must get you out of Cumbria.”

“I can’t believe he was a war hero.”

“A war hero?”

“At the Battle of Ramillies.”

Jamie gazed at her blankly.

“There’s a statue of him in my library that says, ‘Hero of the Battle of Ramillies.’”

“The statue you thought was of me?”

“Yes. And I had . . . well, developed a certain level of interest in finding out more about him.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I see.”

“When I looked him up, it said he really was the hero of the Battle of Ramillies—that the French called him ‘ Le Fantôme Rouge’ because he’d managed to carry so many wounded men on the front lines to safety without being hit.”

Jamie chuckled. “I’ll be damned. I suspected he’d started the stories. I had no idea history would have gotten her grip on them and held on.”

“You’re saying it didn’t happen? There were no wounded men?”

“Oh, it happened. Only Adderly wasn’t ‘ Le Fantôme Rouge.’”

She saw the truth in his eyes. “You were.”

William walked up, lugging a basket of crabapples. “First of the season,” he said, and offered one to the horse, who took it happily. “How’s the lassie?”

“Her name is Undine,” Jamie said. “Sarah said she would take care of her.”

“Aye, I thought she might. The mother in her, you know. You needn’t worry, lad. Sarah checked her when she came in. Several of her fingers are broken and a rib or two, but she will recover.”

“Thank you, William. Tis time for us to take our leave.”

The man put down the basket and picked up the sword and sword belt he had set against the door frame. “Take this. Please.”

Jamie lifted the weapon from the scabbard and balanced it in his hand. Panna could see the name ‘Robert Hillier’ engraved on the hilt. Jamie bowed deeply. “You do me a great honor.”

Sarah appeared in the doorway with the red coats in her arms, and a stillness came over her as she watched Jamie swing the sword in a gentle arc.

He slipped the sword back into the scabbard and undid the belt, buckling it around his waist. He shrugged on one of the coats and helped Panna into the other. Then he lifted Panna onto the horse.

“Take care of yourselves,” William said.

“We will.” He shook William’s outstretched hand. “Thank you.”

Jamie was silent as they made their way toward the main road, Panna on the horse, Jamie walking beside her.

“Robert is their son?” Panna said at last.

“Aye.”

“What did you do for him?”

He sighed. “I buried him.”

E
VEN IN THE DARKNESS AND DRESSED AS SOLDIERS
,
THE FEAR OF BEING
discovered put Panna on edge. Jamie walked a good distance in front of her horse, as if she and he were strangers.

“There are enough new soldiers in Cumbria from the south that an unrecognizable one should not cause any concern,” he’d said. “Just keep your hair tucked into your hat and your coat buttoned. If you’re stopped, grunt an answer and keep on going.”

But she was more worried about him. He
was
recognizable, not to mention wanted, which was why he had insisted that they walk to the castle separately.

Jamie gave the signal to leave the road, and she followed him to the bank of the river, where the horse waded in far enough to drink. The firepots were burning, giving the castle a menacing look, and she could see the silhouettes of soldiers along the ramparts and clustered at the front gate. She couldn’t imagine how they would manage to get past them all.

“Are you all right?” He was crouching by the water a dozen feet from her and making a show of washing his hands.

“Yes.”

He chuckled. “Every soldier says that before a battle. I know you’re scared. You should be. Twill help keep you safe. Do you know the ruins?”

“Yes.”

“There’s a door there behind a pile of rubble upon which three almost perfect cubes of rock sit.”

“That’s the door I went out on my way to Clare’s house.”

“Aye. However, there is no handle on the outside. On either side of the door are stones carved to look like friars. The one to the left of the door can be removed. You’ll have to work it with your nails. Try catching the man’s nose. Once removed, you can reach the inner latch and let yourself in. Just remember to return the friar to his proper place.”

“Won’t you be ahead of me?”

He hesitated. “That is the plan.”

But plans do not always work as they’re supposed to, and he wanted her to be able to escape if something happened to him.

“Once you’re inside, throw the bar across the door. It will keep anyone and anything out for a good ten minutes.”

She understood, but whether she’d actually do it if Jamie was on the other side was another matter.

“We’ll leave the horse tied here. We may need him again. Otherwise, the army will find him in the morning.”

“Got it.” She slid out of the saddle and tied the lead around a nearby branch. She knew she couldn’t give Jamie a kiss. And she understood quite painfully this might be the last moment they’d have to speak freely before they went through the passageway in the chapel.

He stood and gazed at her, as always completely attuned to her thoughts.

“In a quarter of an hour, all of this will be behind us,” he said.

“I know.”

“We will never be separated. I won’t let it happen.”

“Nor I.”

“Look.” He pointed to the sky. “Do you see the Butcher’s Cleaver?”

The heavens were a swirling sea of sparkling stars, and the double star he had shown her that night seemed to sparkle when she found it. “Yes.”

“That is us, lass. We shall dance as they do, be as close as they are, and someday we will collapse upon one another, our eternities melded just as our lives once were.”

She didn’t have the heart to tell him that the stars were six trillion miles apart and would never, ever get any closer. “I love you, Jamie.”

“And I you.

She held her open hand out to him and slowly squeezed it closed—as close to a hug as she could give. He did the same.

“I have never met a woman like you, Panna. You have certainly lived up to your name.”

She laughed. “My mother would be pleased to hear you say it.”

“Are you ready?”

She nodded. “Let’s do it.”

Jamie went first, walking purposefully down the road, around the castle, then up the rise to the ruins. She followed, taking care to walk as much like a man as possible. An actress friend of hers once told her that all she had to do was walk as if she owned the world and sported a pair of mangoes between her legs.

Jamie disappeared among the ruins. She could hear the buzz of distant conversations, laughter, and footfalls. The troops were out and in force everywhere around them.

She passed the half-wrecked walls of a room standing amid the rubble, fifty or sixty feet from the door.

“You there.”

She froze. Two soldiers were lumbering up the hill toward her. She lowered her tricorne to hide as much of her face as possible.

“Are you from around here?” the heavier of the two said, eyeing her more closely.

“Mm-mm.” She nodded. They stank of alcohol.

“We’re new in town,” the other said. “Where do you find the whores?”

“In Bowness,” she said gruffly. “Down the road a bit.”

“Who’s the cheapest?”

“Ask for Clare. You’ll get a workout.”
Of course, you might be dead when it’s over, but you’ll get a workout.

“Can she take us both at once? We’ve only got three shillings between us.”

“Clare can definitely take you both at once.”

He elbowed his companion happily. “Head or tail?”

The other laughed. “Toss a coin, my friend.”

The first bowed to Panna. “Many thanks. Oh, and you’d better hurry if you’re on duty. The colonel was just about to call the duty roster.”

She nodded her thanks.

Jamie was probably already through the door. She walked quickly through the scorched stones then remembered the mangoes. With a hitch at the pocket of her breeks, she slowed to a stroll and made her way past the mound with the three cube-shaped stones, her hands clasped in lord-like fashion behind her back. As soon as she was out of sight, she ran to the door. It was locked, and the friar was in place. Where was Jamie? She prayed he was waiting for her on the other side.

With effort, she wiggled the little man free, clutching his nose for the final pull, and reached into the hole revealed behind him, every hair on her body standing on end.

She found the latch and opened it. Slowly she pushed the door open, holding it ajar with her foot while she slipped the stone back in place.

Panna stepped cautiously into the darkness. Someone slammed the door behind her, and she leapt a foot in the air.

“It’s me.” Jamie slid the bar across to hold it fast.

“Oh, thank God.”

“Let’s go.”

He led her up the circular stairs, and though her eyes had long adjusted to the night, the only thing she could see was the edge of the center wall and the outline of Jamie’s coat.

They emerged in Jamie’s hidden room. They waited until their eyes adjusted to the dark, then Jamie dug briefly in the sacks and pulled out a pouch. He shook it. “More gold,” he said, before slipping it into his pocket. “I wish I had another pistol here. I left the two I carried at Nunquam.”

From the window, she could see inside the bow window containing the surveying seat one floor below. No one was there and the space was dark, but that didn’t mean no one was in the library.

He led her back down the stairs, down the passageway under the library, and up to the door opening into the hallway in front of the chapel. “I’ll go first. Count to twenty, then follow. If you hear a noise, throw the bar and go to Clare.”

He lifted the bar, opened the door, and slipped out.

She began to count. At ten she followed. The hallway was empty. The door to the chapel was open. She ran inside.

A hand went over her mouth, and the room brightened with a whoosh. Adderly put the torch he’d lit into its holder and lowered his pistol.

“You see, Captain. I told you if you kept quiet I wouldn’t shoot her.”