“But what if the militia should happen to take you for those notorious highwaymen we all hear to be haunting this area?” Bill asked acerbically.
“If there are frame-breakers abroad, they will be the only concern of the militia,” Len said. “You bring the threat of revolution from France, we merely inconvenience travellers.”
“True enough,” Bill replied, laughing good-naturedly.
Stephen still appeared sceptical. “We all know the ringleader of the highwaymen rides a black stallion,” he pointed out. “If you are captured you will bring danger to all of us.”
“Do you suspect I would give you away, should they drag me to the county gaol in chains?” Len asked him. She did not disguise her disgust at his suggestion she would betray them. She drew a calming breath to enable her to continue with less anger. “You do me little credit. But I tell you again, we will not be captured. You have there another reason why we must take Miss Foxe with us. The militia are hardly likely to take her for a highwayman. A lady with her groom, brother, and a manservant will be trusted and able to direct the militia as we wish.” Her expression was triumphant. That Lucia’s presence would lend credibility to their disguise had only just occurred to her, but the observation was valid.
“And Miss Foxe can now fire a pistol,” Julian put in. “She will not need anyone to defend her.” Len grinned and looked to Lucia, who smiled back. She clearly knew Julian’s mockery was good-natured. Len was pleased to see the animosity between Julian and Lucia had faded.
Bill laughed and slapped Julian soundly on the back. He shook his head, looking at Len, “Who’d have thought?” he said, as if to himself. “But very well, you have your way, since I see its advantages.” Stephen Dale’s smile was weak, but he obviously sensed his protests would fall on deaf ears and said nothing.
Len looked at Lucia. Though she smiled, her blue eyes were wide and a little apprehensive. She had, after all, just learned what roles she would play in a frame-breaking raid. And yet Len saw the fear fade as she caught Lucia’s eye. Lucia was brave, and what was more, she trusted Len completely. It was a weighty responsibility. But Len was honoured to bear it. She knew then, she would give her life to keep Lucia safe.
*
As night fell, the men sat in the glow of the fire, uncharacteristically silent. Their thoughts were no doubt beginning to turn to the action before them, which Lucia understood was the largest and most risky raid they had yet undertaken. The anticipation seemed to be affecting Len too. She rose to her feet and made for the cottage early. Lucia waited a few minutes, during which she grew agitated and Julian eyed her curiously, before rising herself and following Len into the dilapidated building.
She found Len perched on the edge of the bed, her hands clasped in her lap, the lantern not yet lighted. Lucia went to sit next to her and the bed groaned beneath them.
“Is something the matter?” Lucia asked, unsure whether she should intrude but compelled to comfort Len if she could.
“Not really.” Len’s voice was quiet.
“Then what is it?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Are you worried about the raid?” Lucia ventured. She had no real idea what emotions Len would be feeling on such an occasion.
“No.” Len said shortly, and Lucia wondered whether to press any further. Then Len continued unprompted, “I am not worried by what we will do, or the dangers. But I have not returned to my father’s property since he cast me from my previous life.”
“And you are worried by this?”
“Not worried. Only it gives me a little more to contemplate than I would like.”
“You remember your family?” Lucia longed to comfort Len. Yet Len did not seem to be mourning her former life.
“I think of them. Not with fondness. But my lack of affection in itself is pause for thought, do you not think?”
“They treated you badly.”
“No worse than many are treated, as you pointed out, Lucia.”
“But you could not settle for that. You wanted to choose for yourself.”
“So I did.”
“You do not regret that, I know it.” Lucia wanted to tell Len just how much she admired her for her lack of regret, for her freedom. How much she loved her.
“I do not Lucia. But when I look at you, the sacrifices you have already made, I am frightened. I see how far I have come from what I was. I would not force you over the same difficult path.”
“You do not force me anywhere. I choose my path.”
“You are my prisoner. You choose nothing.”
“You contradict your own words. I am no prisoner. I could return home now and you would allow it.” Lucia was confident in her words, mildly indignant Len would suggest she had no option in her present circumstances.
“Tell me you do not feel bound here.”
“I cannot. But I am not in chains.”
“Then what keeps you?”
Lucia thought for a moment. Len kept her here. But could she be brave enough to say it? “The feel of the wind in my hair. Of the trees all around me—”
“Liberation, you mean?” Len sounded scornful. “What if that is a myth I have spun and pulled you into with me?”
“It is no myth.” Lucia summoned everything she felt for Len. “And besides, you did not allow me to finish.”
“My apologies. Please do.” Len raised curious eyes to Lucia’s.
“I am bound…by you.” Lucia felt giddy as she said the words.
“By me?” Len did not look surprised, though the pleasure in her expression was tempered by a sort of weary concern.
“I cannot—will not—leave you now.”
“I would not have you leave either.”
There was a long pause, heavy with emotions Lucia was sure they both felt but could not express.
“Are you not frightened at all?” Lucia said in the end, when she could not find the words to explain her feelings.
“Maybe a little.” Len reached for Lucia’s hand. Lucia pulled the velvet glove quickly from her fingers and clasped Len’s tightly. “Which is unusual in itself.”
“What is?”
“My being a little frightened. I am not, usually, before we go to work.”
“This is different.”
“Yes.”
“I am more than a little frightened,” Lucia confided.
“I expect you are,” Len said. She turned to face Lucia properly. “What have I led you into, Lucia?”
“I repeat, you have not led me.”
“Yes, I have. You cannot deny it. If it were not for me, you would hardly be about to witness a frame-breaking raid. Nor would you be in a forest hideout with outlaws.”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“Then it is my fault.”
“Yes. But it is my choice.”
“But did I allow you to choose, truly?” There was a strain in Len’s voice.
“Yes, you did.” Lucia was positive of the truth in her own heart. “I made my decision to be here.”
“Do you regret it?”
Lucia squeezed Len’s hand more tightly, certain of her reply. “How could I?”
“But afterwards? What will you do?”
Lucia had no answer for her. The notion of afterwards, the inevitable necessity of her return to her family, was distant, still impossible. And now she did not only fear the loss of this freedom she had tasted. Now she feared losing Len too.
Len’s hand caressed Lucia’s shoulder and her other turned Lucia’s face to hers. Her fingers were in Lucia’s hair as their lips met. As they sank together onto the bed, Lucia pressed herself to Len’s warmth, her strength, and thought, if she had to die, there could be no better time. The cold and dark, the oncoming violence and danger, receded from her mind until there was only Len and the sounds of the forest outside.
Len’s kisses deepened, moving over Lucia’s chin, her jaw, to her throat. Hot sensations stirred deep inside Lucia as she wrapped her arms around Len’s so
lid form, holding her close. She ran her hands over Len’s back and was surprised when Len moaned hungrily into her mouth. To be able to have such an effect, to give such pleasure, to a woman like Len seemed impossible. And yet here was the evidence that it was within her power to do just that.
Len sat up long enough to remove her clothes. Lucia lay breathing hard, missing Len’s proximity. The knowledge that Len was naked when she returned to Lucia’s side was almost too much for Lucia to bear. There was nothing indecent about this, and she did not even consider the morality. To be this way with Len felt more natural and right than anything in Lucia’s previous experience. She was not ashamed. She ached to prove that to Len, to explore her own power over the other woman’s feelings.
Gently, she put her hands on Len’s shoulders. The warm skin beneath her fingertips was smooth and wonderful. She pushed, urging Len to lie on her back on the bed next to her. Without a question, Len obeyed that pressure, sighing as she relaxed against the mattress. Her stomach knotting with nerves, uncertain that she could give Len what she deserved, Lucia could not help but put her mouth on Len. She kissed her lips, then her throat, mirroring the way Len had kissed her. Len tilted her head back and moaned.
Len’s skin against her lips made Lucia’s temperature soar. She had never felt so hungry, and she knew only Len could fulfil her appetite. She kissed lower, finding the soft fullness of Len’s bosom, that sure evidence that Len was as much a woman as she was. She felt the way Len’s body reacted to her, felt her own response as an ache burning low in her abdomen.
Len was breathing hard. Lucia kissed over her rib cage as it rose and fell, tasted her skin, salty on her tongue. Her lips found the softer flesh of Len’s stomach, close to her navel. Lucia had never been in such proximity with another person, and kissing Len’s stomach felt just as intimate as running her lips over her breasts.
Len shifted beneath Lucia, parting her thighs slightly. Lucia caught her scent and grew even hotter. She was lost in her desire, hardly knowing what she would do next, just needing Len. She moved her kisses lower still.
Len’s hands took hold of her hair gently and raised her head. “What are you doing, Lucia?”
Lucia felt embarrassed with the idea she had displeased Len in some way. “I apologise. I…I couldn’t help myself—”
Len’s finger stroked over her lips and silenced her. “I was not suggesting you stop. I was simply wondering if you have any idea what you are doing.”
“I confess, I do not. I simply need you. I am so hungry, it is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I like the way you taste…” Her face was hot as she spoke the words she knew she should be ashamed of, but somehow was not.
“Your kisses are like heaven,” Len said. She paused, and Lucia wondered what she was considering. Her voice was thick and slightly tentative when she spoke again. Her fingers moved in Lucia’s hair. “I would have more of your kisses.”
“I would kiss you more.”
Len’s hands pressed Lucia’s head lower. Lucia allowed Len to guide her, given confidence by that gentle touch, knowing she did nothing that was not wanted. Len’s slender thighs were warm as her shoulders brushed them, and all of her senses were filled with the moist scent of Len’s desire. Lucia’s first kiss of that silky, warm skin was tentative, but the sensation was too much to resist. She kissed harder, allowing her tongue to taste, as Len pushed her hips towards her and stroked her head. Massaging with her lips, she drew a deep sigh from Len’s lips and marvelled at her own power. Lost in Len’s body, in pleasures she had not known could exist, all fears of the future vanished into the night.
It might have been freezing out of doors, but Len and Lucia were warm in their small, creaking bed. Under cloaks and blankets and with limbs entwined, Lucia’s head on Len’s chest, they eventually slept peacefully.
*
Time passed slowly, yet all too quickly. Len was anxious for the night of the raid to come. With every hour the tension in the clearing was growing. The plans had been changed and then changed again. She trusted Bill Wilcock, but she did not like relying on him, when she was used to depending only upon herself and her men. Still, her error of judgement in trusting all of her men implicitly had in part led her to this place, and she tried very hard to allow that she was not the only one who clearly saw the correct path ahead.
Though her instinct was to will time to take her quickly to that decisive night, in her heart she would have commanded time to cease ticking away. She knew with a certainty she wanted to diminish, and still could not, that she was going to lose Lucia. Even if the raid on her father’s workshop went entirely to plan, that loss was inevitable. And she knew Lucia would take a part of her heart off into her old life, a part she would never be able to retrieve. She could not trespass into that world any more. She was a creature of secrets and shadows, a threat in the night-time. Lucia, with her purity and goodness, belonged in the light. Len would not drag her into the murk. And yet she craved to keep that light in her life in a way she did not even want to acknowledge to herself.
The evening of the Thursday was just beginning the descent into twilight when the sounds of wood striking wood followed by a single pistol shot rang out through the trees. Len started, was bewildered for a moment as the frame-breakers in the clearing rose to their feet as one, their expressions stricken with panic. It took her only a second to realise that the sound they had heard was the warning signal agreed between the frame-breakers to signal the approach of someone who could discover their whereabouts. As the frame-breakers scattered into the woods, Len looked for her own men. William was with one of the frame-breakers on lookout duty. It was probably his pistol they had heard fired. Julian was already striding over to where the horses were tethered, preparing them to be ridden. She started in his direction but stopped when Lucia gripped her arm tightly.
“Is it the warning? Is someone coming?” Lucia asked. Len could see fear and panic in Lucia’s expression and felt a pang of remorse. What had she exposed Lucia to now? She turned to look into Lucia’s frightened gaze properly. She could not shield Lucia from the truth. “Yes. Which means we are in danger. You will ride with me.”
“But what about the raid? What about Julian and William? What of Bill and his men?”
“We have made plans for this eventuality. For now, trust me to keep us safe.”
“I do.” Len’s heart beat just a little faster at the fullness of Lucia’s faith in her. But she could not allow herself to dwell on such things now.
“Then come, onto Oberon with me.”
Lucia followed her quickly to the horses. Julian was already mounted, holding Oberon’s reins ready. Len aided Lucia to mount then took the reins and climbed into the saddle herself. Her senses on edge from the very real danger that threatened, she found a strange comfort and reassurance in Lucia’s warm body in front of her, in her arms. That wouldn’t do at all, she reprimanded herself. Lucia’s presence increased the danger rather than reducing it, and she had to remember that.
“You remember the plans?” she called to Julian. His eyes met hers and she found reassurance there. Julian’s trust, his solid faithfulness, gave her courage.
“Of course.” Julian nodded. Len saw him glance at Lucia briefly. He knew what was between her and Lucia, though she had not told him in so many words. And she felt his blessing in that glance. He would stand by her. She returned his nod then pulled Oberon’s reins and nudged him forward, just as Julian steered his mount in the opposite direction through the trees.
She kicked Oberon into a gallop, taking a route which hurtled them deeper into Sherwood Forest. Soon, the thudding sound of Julian’s horse thundering in another direction died away, and there was only the whistle of the wind past their ears and the thunder of Oberon’s hooves on the forest floor. Len held Lucia tight in her arms and allowed Oberon his head. He was better at guiding them through the trees quickly than she was.
Len’s sense of direction was good, but she was not entirely sure which par
t of the forest she rode into. She could only hope she had chosen the correct direction to keep them safe. It would be necessary to emerge from the cover of the trees at some point, to find landmarks and make their way to the place where they would be reunited with the men. But for now, while the daylight remained, Len was content to be deep in the woodland, away from the clearing and all evidence of criminal activity.
When the trees began to thin, Len slowed Oberon to a trot, looking about her cautiously, trying to get a grasp on her bearings.
“What is it?” Lucia asked.
“Hush,” Len said in a whisper, close to Lucia’s ear. “I’m uncertain where we are, and that is a danger.” She removed one hand from the reins and wrapped it around Lucia’s slender body before she’d even thought about the action. She knew it was not only to reassure Lucia. The feel of Lucia’s body, of her real, living warmth, steadied Len. It reminded her what she had to protect.
Len peered ahead through the trees. She could clearly see that they had come upon one of the tracks that led through the forest. They were seldom used since the bigger road through the woods had been cleared, used so little, in fact, that Len and her men gained no profit in stalking these tracks. However, it was possible the track would lead them out of the woods safely, to a place Len knew. Cautiously, she walked Oberon forward and onto the track. It was no wider than three yards and very rutted, overgrown at the edges. It was almost hard to tell it was intended as a route to anywhere. Len looked to her left and then to her right. She saw trees and shadowy undergrowth. Evening was fast becoming night. The sky to the left was vivid orange, to the right it was blue, cold and forbidding. She was not sure where they were exactly, but at least she knew which way was west now.
“We need to find our way to a crossroads beyond Kirkby by nightfall tomorrow,” she told Lucia. Lucia reached up with her hand and gripped Len’s fingers. “I believe Kirkby is to the east of here, which means we must turn right. However, if I am correct, east is also the direction from which our pursuers approached. Therefore you must help me, Lucia. Keep your senses keen and tell me at once if you hear or see anything which could be a threat.”
The Locket and the Flintlock Page 20
