~~~~
Snelling gave all of his fighters the day off out of respect to Nails. Most of them went to get drunk, but not Gareth.
He found Bull O'Rourke sitting in the Old Bell Inn, bent morosely over a pint of ale. Bull had, by all accounts, been drinking more or less steadily ever since his humiliating loss to the younger, less seasoned Gareth and was not much help when Gareth questioned him about events preceding their match. All he could tell him was that he remembered feeling "bloody strange" just after the first blows were exchanged, but he'd attributed it to the strength of Gareth's hits. Gareth pursed his lips and made a mental note of what he'd learned.
On Monday, after his morning's training, he paid a visit to the local chemist. His questions turned up nothing, but then he didn't think the perpetrator would be so stupid as to buy the drug in Abingdon. On Tuesday afternoon he borrowed a horse from Becky's brother Tom and went to Wallingford to see the chemist in that town. Nothing. On Wednesday he tried the one in Wantage. Nothing.
He was beginning to think he was pursuing a dead end when he finally found what he was looking for. It was late on Thursday afternoon when he walked into the small shop in Oxford and asked the apothecary the same questions he'd put to the others. Yes, a man with a narrow face and close-set eyes had recently bought a large amount of laudanum. No, he didn't know who the customer was.
But Gareth did.
And as he rode home that night, he recalled Lucien's words:
Just promise me one thing... That if you get in over your head, you'll contact me.
His brother was right. Sometimes it did take more courage to put aside your pride and ask for help than try to do everything yourself.
Arriving home, he immediately wrote to Lucien.
The Wild One Page 69
