She interrupted him, “Is law around here. You already said that. But your sainted Ghost is wrong in this instance. If he thought he was kidnapping some lady from a rich, titled family, he was mistaken. He’s not going to get rich on ransoming a lowly lady’s maid, and that’s what I am.”
“Ye might not be called Lady Tucker, little miss, but if Ghost claims yer a lady, that’s what ye be. Long as ye be within these walls. Now, stop yappin’ and finish cookin’. I’m a might hungry.”
Chloe glanced at him, suddenly serious. “What was that sound during the night?”
He merely stared at her. “What sound?”
She stared back. “I heard a ghostly sound during the night, and when I looked out the window, there were shadows…” She realized she sounded as if she created a fantasy, and her voice faded out.
“If it were a ghostly sound, ‘haps it was our ‘ghost’.”
“I’m not joking.”
“Who said ye were?”
If he knew, Chloe decided, he wasn’t going to tell her. She sighed and finished, picking up one of the clean plates lying next to the sink. Moving things around after she finished cooking, she made her companion a plate overflowing with food.
“Have you seen my cat about?”
He looked back at her and glanced over at the pot she had just pulled from the fire. When Chloe’s eyes grew wide and horrified, he took pity on her instead of enjoying the moment. Shaking his head, he quickly tried to soothe her fears. “Pity’s sake, girl, don’t go weepin’ and messin’ up me kitchen. I was just teasing ye, is all. Yer snooty bit of fur come prancin’ in here this mornin’ demandin’ food. I fed him before shooin’ him outside afore he could get under me feet.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Chloe fixed herself a portion of food. “Purr is not snooty, nor is she a he, you cranky old goat. She is a fierce ship cat, charged with protecting food from rats in kitchens better than this one.”
“Egad, another female about. All we need. Bad enough puttin’ up with Althea fussin’ about how we scratch an’ sayin’ we don’t bathe enough and don’t know how to control our bodily urges.”
For a moment, Chloe’s fork stopped mid-air. “Bodily urges?” Was her virtue at risk? How foolish of her not to consider such a thing.
“Get yer mind out the gutter, missy. I mean belchin’ and passin’ vapors. There’s more room out than in, I always say.” He finished his eggs and got up to get another scoop.
“I take it you enjoyed the eggs?” She smiled and tried to hide it as he purposely banged his wooden leg on the floor. Taking another bite, she savored it as she watched him. “I could share some other things my father’s bloody cook does to make the most of food available.”
“As if ye need be takin’ up space in me busy kitchen... Tell me, how does he handle cookin’ mash so it don’t get lumpy?”
“You need to cook the potatoes until they break apart when you pierce them,” she instructed. “Don’t let the damn things overcook, but sure as bloody hell, don’t pull them off the fire too early. It’s bloody impossible to mash undercooked potatoes.”
A loud roar of outrage rang out behind them. Before Chloe could even turn toward the sound, strong arms reached around to lift her from behind. She was tossed over a large shoulder, the air knocked out of her lungs for a few seconds. Looking back to the table, she saw Smiley forking up another serving of eggs.
“Told ye not to curse,” he said, winking at her as she was carted away, back up toward her prison.
He held her over his shoulder now, kicking and groaning and pounding on his back continuously. Every other word was a curse word this time.
“Chloe? Keep it up. I’m telling you, I’ll put a stop to it any minute now. And stop the cursing, before I decide to smack your bottom. Do you hear me?”
But she continued it—all of it. He had her almost to her room when he planted a hard swat on her bottom. She shrieked.
“I told you,” he growled. A moment later, he carried her through the doorway and closed it. A few seconds after that, he brought her down on her bed, lying on her belly. The air whooshed out of her, and he held her there with a firm hand to the small of her back.
“Let me go,” she said irritably.
“Young lady, I’ll tell you this only once. There will be no cursing coming from your lips in this house. Do you hear?”
“No. I don’t. What gives you that right? Tell me!”
“Simple. This is my house and I make the rules here. You’re a guest, and you’ll follow those rules, or you’ll face the consequences.”
“A guest? I seem to recall being brought here against my will. That’s hardly the role of a guest.” She hissed, and he popped her bottom, again, hard.
“Ow!”
“And the fact that you’re a lady and I expect you to behave like one. You’d be wise to listen to me, if you value the ability to sit down.”
She tried to turn, to see his face over her shoulder, and he stopped her by pressing her further downward onto the bed.
“Why can’t I see you? Why could I see Smiley but not you? It’s not fair.”
“You’ll see me, eventually. Not now.”
“Then, when? I know your voice. I want to know your face.”
“When I decide. Not before.”
“And where’s Purrsnickity?”
“The little beast you brought with you?”
“She’s not a beast.”
“The last time I saw her, she was in the barn visiting Tiny. Before that, she was talking Smiley out of eggs. He was feeding her.”
“Who’s Tiny?”
“My groom. Both of them happen to like cats, unlike me.”
She paused. “You don’t like cats? What’s wrong with you?”
“I seem to have had a bad encounter with one or two, aboard ship.” He paused, realizing he’d nearly given himself away and stopped.
“Where?”
“None of your business. I swear, my girl, if you keep trying to see me, I’ll put the blindfold back on.”
“I’ll scream.”
“And the gag.”
She sighed. “You’re mean.”
“I never claimed to be otherwise. If you’ll promise to stay in the room until I come for you, I’ll go see if I can find your cat. But cats are funny creatures. She may not want to come back inside. I promise to return for you later, if you’ll promise to behave. However, if I arrive and find you gone, you’ll face a trip across my knee. Don’t doubt me.”
He could see her frowning, even in the darkened room.
“Did you get enough to eat, or shall I bring you something else up?”
“I had enough,” she said irritably. “So, you intend to tell me what I can do and where I can go. And what I can say?”
“Absolutely.”
She put out her chin. “Why? And don’t say because it’s your house. I want a better reason than that.”
“It has to do with the fact that several of us put our own lives at risk to save yours.”
Silence.
He leaned down behind her but did not allow her to look backward far enough to see him. There was no lamp in here now; she likely couldn’t have been able to see him, anyway. There was a scowl on her little face. She was blinking, as if she didn’t know what to say.
“All right,” he said softly, “Stay up here, little one. I’ll go see if I can find Purr.”
She nodded, still silent. And he rose and left the room.
When he came back with Purr in his hands, holding her carefully to keep her from clawing him, he opened the door to see Chloe in the darkness. She hadn’t moved an inch. Purr, however, bit him just as he set her inside the room and then flounced away.
He found himself gritting his teeth. But he waited until he had closed the door before allowing himself to swear.
Chapter 7
Letters…
Chloe was aware it was unusual of a kidnapped victim to make demands of a captor, but she was unable t
o stop herself. If she was to be locked up in here, the least Ghost could do was provide her with company. Since he did not seem inclined to grace her with his own welcoming presence, he could at least make sure her cat was there. When the heavy door opened and shut, she allowed herself to sit up on the bed. Her backside protested from the earlier session with his iron hand.
Purr jumped up on the bed and started purring, her belly round and heavy as she had just been fed. “Was that big bully mean to you, too, poor baby?”
After brushing Chloe’s arm, the cat crept to the satin pillow adorning the bed. With pursed lips, the redhead examined her prison as the kitten settled in for a nap. The room was not all that bad, aside from the lack of the finer touches only a woman would think to add.
Instant shame reddened her cheeks. Well, that lack of detail was her own fault. She’d destroyed all the porcelain and china it had once held.
Falling backward on the bed, she sighed. Purr refused to share the pillow, so Chloe made do with her hands behind her head.
Life had certainly changed in the last twenty-four hours. She had been prepared to take an adventure, but ending up kidnapped was not the kind of adventure she’d had in mind. She had been hauled about like a sack of potatoes, spanked and ordered about. She had even been cursed at. A sly smile slipped out at that notion. Chef Smiley was quite a bossy bit of goods. It had to disappoint the old man when she did not swoon at his colorful vocabulary and threw some right back at him.
Yet he still insisted she was a lady. It was Ghost who labeled her as such. And, at least in the walls of this manor, what Ghost said was law. Lady or not, Smiley had treated her as if she were just another member of the crew. She rather found that pleasing. The old pirate—chef, indeed—sat down to eat with her. That alone melted any resentment she might have toward a man employed by her captor.
Sarah would laugh aloud at Chloe’s confusing feelings. For the past year, she had been penning letter after letter, expounding her reasons for fantasizing about a dead man. Now, within the span of twenty-four hours, her fickle body was responding to a kidnapper who fancied himself a ghost.
Her hand flew to her mouth, suddenly. “The letters!”
Purr hissed, her slumber disturbed as Chloe jumped from the bed. Biting her lip, she rushed about the room, until she finally remembered where she had seen her pelisse last. Someone had hooked it neatly in the wardrobe. Yanking it out, she ran her hands through the pockets. They were empty. Trying not to panic, she desperately tried to remember what she had done with them. Hadn’t she burned most the letters in the fire at home? Why hadn’t she burned them all?
The knock at the door made her shriek. A female voice called from the other side.
“May I come in, lassie?”
Chloe rushed to the door to usher her visitor in, wondering if the key was on the high-boy. But it opened as she reached for the knob, and she realized it was unlocked. So Ghost had not sealed her in?
An elderly woman dressed smartly in a uniform like those worn by the staff at Lily’s home gave her a friendly smile. Her hair was graying and her eyes a beautiful shade of faded blue.
“So you’re up. I feared you might still be asleep. After the long journey you had on that bumpy path they call a road, you’re likely sore and weary. I’m Althea, Miss Tucker. Ghost has told us all about you, poor dear. You are safe and sound now, you are.”
Perhaps the eggs or cheese she consumed contained some type of mind-altering ingredients, Chloe supposed. Chef Smiley was just mean enough to do it. All he had to do was slip a wee bit of the right type of herbs or mushrooms in her meal to affect her. “I’m safe and sound now?” she parroted at the visitor.
The women sighed deeply and nodded her head. She engulfed Chloe in her arms and nearly fell over as she slapped on her back. For a moment, it was as if Sarah was embracing her. “Aye, it’s true. Don’t you worry about a thing. My laddie, err, I mean Ghost, has everything under control. He knows what needs to be done. Always had a knack for seeing what’s best, though not always quick to take that path, mind you.” The woman rushed about the room, pulling back the curtains and dusting the furniture as she jabbered away. “But he hadn’t grown to a man back then. One has to stumble a bit before he knows how to run.”
Chloe sat on the bed and picked up Purr. Stoking the kitten, she wondered just what Ghost had told this woman about her. “Mrs. Althea…”
“Just call me Althea, dearie. They all do, even that old coot in the kitchen.” She laughed. “Of course, sometimes, they call me other names I care not to share, but Ghost stops it, if he hears it.”
The food must be tainted. There was no other explanation for this odd experience. “You do realize your employer yanked me off the dock, blindfolded me and delivered me here without my consent?”
“Well, I didn’t hold with the notion of the blindfold, mind you,” Althea assured her with a serious glance. “But he had to bring you here to keep you safe. Chubs was the one who insisted the blindfold might be the only way to insure a peaceful journey.”
Chloe was astonished and wanted to bop this Chubs character about the head. “Did he come up with the gag, too?” She stared down at Purr, thinking she could have had a less ridiculous conversation with her cat.
“I’m afraid that was Tiny. He was worried you might shriek and alert others to your presence in the coach. And they couldn’t chance you spooking the horses, now, could they? Tiny adores all manner of creatures, he does. They take to him, too. You best watch he doesn’t take a shine to your kitten. Even Ghost’s stallion ignores his master, if Tiny has a mind to spoil him a bit.”
The thought of anyone taking Purr away made Chloe distraught, and she hugged her pet a bit tighter than she meant to. The kitten protested with a loud hiss and leaped off her lap.
“Is that where you were this morning, you ungrateful cat? Hanging about with a man who abides gagging unsuspecting women?”
The kitten turned her head, and Chloe rolled her eyes.
“The next thing we need to do is to find you some clothes.” Althea had opened the door to the wardrobe and was staring inward at the only item of clothing it held, the pelisse. “I wouldn’t mind sharing some of my own, but besides being three times your size, they’re not befitting a lady such as yourself. I’m a fair seamstress, though. After my laddie left home, I had no reason to stay on with his father. My sister took me in and taught me a thing or two about sewing. I imagine I can make you some gowns. Nothing you’d want to wear around company, of course, but the nearest neighbor is a long way off.”
“As I’m not allowed outside this room, company is the last thing I need worry about. You left home to work here? For a man who rips unsuspecting women away from their lives and locks them away?”
Glancing back at the door, Althea pointed out the obvious, “The door wasn’t locked when I came in. And who says you must stay in this room?”
“Your beloved laddie. Ghost. I’m to wait until he deems it convenient to come take me out, as if I’m a dog.”
When the other woman chuckled at the disgruntled tone in Chloe’s voice, she realized she could easily come to like this welcoming woman.
“Don’t you worry, lassie. He’ll soften, once he can trust you’ll stay where he tells you.”
Chloe sighed. “I shouldn’t have to stay someplace I don’t wish to be. At all.”
“Ghost knows what’s best,” the woman announced, folding her arms under her ample bosom. “And his word—”
“Yes, I heard. His word is law.” Maybe it was not wise to show her pique. She would need an ally if she hoped to escape this place, somehow. “You seem to have Ghost’s ear, Althea.”
“I raised him, so I expect he listens to my counsel. Course, he does what he feels is best in the end, but at least, he hears me out.”
“Althea.” Chloe turned to take the elderly woman’s hands in her own. “Please talk to him? I’ll go crazy if I have to stay in here. My pet gets to stretch her legs, going outside fo
r fresh air and company. Shouldn’t I have the same benefit?”
“I’ll talk to him, dearie. He’s a kind and noble man. Life dealt him a terrible hand, but he made the best of it. Trust him to know what’s to be done.”
Frowning, Chloe obliged as the woman insisted on taking measurements for the clothes. “Where will you get material to make these dresses?”
“One of the men will fetch what I need. How and where they get it, I dare not ask.”
Chloe bit her lip, before she made another comment regarding blindfolds or gags, and merely said, “Please seek Ghost’s approval, then?”
“Your eyes twinkle a bit when you say his name. Did you know that? I think perhaps your heart is softening to him, already.”
Chloe waited until Althea had closed the door behind her, afraid to admit that perhaps the woman was right. Was her anger toward him abating?
“I refuse to answer, for fear she might not carry my plea to him,” she muttered.
Purr walked over to the door and glared at her mistress.
“All right,” she sighed. Getting up, she stomped across the room to let the kitten out. She stood there a moment, looking down the hall with longing. Purr turned back, as if wondering why Chloe didn’t follow.
But Ghost had told her to stay. Since her bottom was still uncomfortable from his last display of displeasure at her, she made no attempt to leave the room.
Ghost was sitting downstairs in the kitchen with Smiley when Althea entered.
“I just came downstairs,” she said softly. “And I found this at the bottom of the steps. It must have fallen from her pocket.”
He reached for it, frowning. “What is it?”
“It looks like a letter.”
He turned it over, frowning. “The seal is broken. Did you read it?”
She shook her head. “No. But I think you should. And she asked that I tell you she feels like a caged animal in the room. I promised to tell you she begs to come out.”
He scowled and nodded toward Smiley. “I’ll go and get her, soon. I have no intention of keeping her there long. But there is need to be able to trust her before I allow her to roam free about the house.” He rose. “I’ll be back.”
Conquered by the Ghost Page 6
