by Mari Carr
“Ben has gone to find her.” The man placed a hand at her elbow to help her stand. Her legs wobbled unsteadily with the effort. “Perhaps you should continue to sit. You were in quite a lot of pain just now.”
“No, I’m fine. Prescott has a knife. He’ll kill Ben.” She coughed, wincing at the soreness in her throat.
“Jack and Ben have dealt with worse villains than that groomsman. Your throat is likely to be sore.” The man offered her a sympathetic smile. “You were screaming loud enough to wake the dead.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m Alex McCormick, marquis of Dorset. And you’re Vee, the governess?”
“Actually, I am Victoria Elise Hamilton.”
Her memories were fully restored at last.
“Tori,” Alex murmured awestruck. “The last June girl.”
Tori looked up into his face, recollection dawning. “Yes, and you are Erin’s Alex. She married you.”
“Yes, she did.”
Tori could see why her friend had been so drawn to the handsome marquis. “And Hayley?”
“Married to my good friend, Jack Campbell.”
“Yes,” Tori replied. “I read about that too.”
“You did?”
“It took me awhile, but I found both Erin and Hayley in my research of this time period. This time period!” she repeated, realizing what she’d said. “Is it really—?”
“The nineteenth of August, 1819.”
“Wow.” Tori’s astonished reply was interrupted by the arrival of a young man in livery.
“Ah, Charlie, excellent timing. Please escort Miss Hamilton back to the Grange. I’m afraid my assistance is needed at the moment in finding a young girl who is missing. When you return to the Grange, please gather every available man to comb these woods in search of a seven-year-old girl, but warn the men to be wary. There is an armed man who intends to do harm to anyone who tries to stop him from finding her. Have my wife and the countess of Wilshire returned from Lady Linley’s home yet?”
“Not to my knowledge, milord.”
“Just as well. Please inform them upon their return they are not to leave the house. I will explain why when I return. Do you understand?”
“Yes, milord.”
“Very good.” Alex glanced back at her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, Miss Hamilton. Please return to the house with Charles and I will do my utmost to return Chelsea and Ben to you safely.”
With that, he rose and disappeared into the woods.
Tori started to return to Fernwood Grange, Alex’s home—her home, when something the marquis said flashed through her mind.
“August nineteenth, 1819. The fire. Hayley, Erin.”
“Milady,” the young footman called, but she was already running toward the woods in search of her friends. She had to find them before it was too late.
Chapter 19
V is for Villainy
Tori was on her way to becoming well and truly lost when she finally stopped to catch her breath and take stock of her bearings. She’d been foolish to waste so much time running around the woods aimlessly. Regardless of how well she thought she knew this area, these woods were very different from the ones surrounding her house nearly a hundred and ninety years in the future.
Doubled over and breathing harshly, she cursed herself for the second time today for letting herself get so out of shape. How many times had Hayley sent her articles about different types of exercises she should try? Grinning at the thought of Hayley lecturing her about her inactivity, she felt giddy, ecstatic. She could remember. Unfortunately, it was the return of her memory that had her traipsing in the woods looking for her two dearest friends in 1819.
Good God, it would take her ages to get her mind around that little fact.
“I need a game plan.” She tried to recall the specifics of the article she’d found about the murders of Hayley and Erin. Rubbing her head, she remembered her notebook flying away in the crazy windstorm that had blown her through the tree. The article, written in old-fashioned language, hadn’t been very helpful at all as far as she could recall. She remembered the date and the names of her friends, and that no suspect had been found. Her search for subsequent details had been unsuccessful.
“Wait a minute,” she exclaimed aloud, “there was something else.” The bodies had been discovered in a cabin on the outskirts of the marquis’ property. She knew where that cabin was or at least where the ruins of it were in future. The cabin had long ago crumbled and collapsed on itself until all that was left was the foundation and a bit of one of the walls. She had gone to see the ruins before embarking on her trip through time.
Glancing back in the direction she’d run, she tried to establish where the cabin would be in relation to the oak tree.
Ben, Jack and Alex had all taken off in the opposite direction, heading back toward the road that led to Waterplace. Feeling confident she was on the right track, she continued through the woods as quickly as she could without taking one of her all-too-frequent tumbles. The last thing she needed now was to fall down and break her leg. She’d walked less than ten minutes when she spied the log structure, still standing in this time, about fifty feet in front of her. Slowing down, she took care to make as little sound as possible in case Prescott was nearby.
Circling around the cabin from a safe distance, she approached from the rear as there were no windows at the back of the structure and it would be less likely someone would see her. Her heart was pounding by the time she reached the back wall, fear and desperation taking over.
What if she was too late? What if no one was inside and she’d wasted precious time following the wrong lead? If she had half a brain in her head, she would have gone straight after Ben and told him everything she knew. He and his friends were far better able to fight Prescott than she. All her instincts warned her time was running out, and her fears and questions were laid to rest when she heard voices coming from inside the cabin.
“Damn interfering women!” she heard a man shout. Positive it was Frank’s voice, the next voice she heard made her heart race even faster.
“You bastard. Let us go!” said a haughty female.
Despite her fear, Tori had to stop herself from giving a hoot of joy at the sound of Hayley’s irritated tone. Prescott better watch out. It was never wise to piss Hayley Garland off. The woman was a powerhouse.
Tiptoeing around the side of the house, she spied a small window cut out of the log walls. There was no pane of glass, merely a rough piece of cloth covering the opening, connected to the wall with hooks. There was a slight breeze blowing and through the crack in the curtain she could see into the room. What she saw made her blood run cold.
Hayley and Erin were tied together in the center of the room. They were back to back with a large rope wrapped several times around their waists and upper torsos. Clearly, Hayley’s bravado was just that. There was no way Tori could rely on her friends to help her defeat Prescott.
Then a soft whimpering caught her ear. Bending down to cross below the window without being seen, she looked into the rear of the room. Cowering in the corner was Chelsea. The small girl was not bound in anyway, but she was clearly terrified of the man pacing around the room, muttering in anger.
“More trouble than you’re worth, you damn brat.”
Chelsea winced, becoming completely silent again.
“You were supposed to be in the house with that bitch you called a mother.”
Hayley, never one to condone the bullying of a child, spoke up at Frank’s tirade. “Hey, asshole,” she yelled. “Why don’t you try picking on someone your own size?”
“Hayley.” Erin was clearly more aware of the danger they were facing. “It might not be wise to make this any worse than it is.”
“Yeah, bitch,” Frank screamed in Hayley’s face. “Shut yer trap.” He slapped her across the face, hard.
Fury replaced the fear in Tori’s blood. There was no way she would let this man terrorize s
weet little Chelsea or hurt her friends. Glancing around for a weapon, she spied a large, sturdy stick. Better than nothing. At the very least, perhaps it would help her disarm the man. He was still wielding the knife she’d seen him pull out of his boot at the carriage before she ran off.
Frank continued to pace the room, five steps toward Chelsea, then five steps back to the June girls. Clearly he was deciding how to proceed. She could only assume that murdering a marchioness and a countess had not figured into his original plan, and he was now working up the courage to do the deed. Apparently he’d had no qualms about killing a child and her governess.
Moving stealthily to the front of the cabin, she glanced toward the surrounding woods. If only Ben would arrive. She could definitely use the cavalry about now. The total sum of her life’s troubles cast her as the victim, never the hero, and quite frankly, considering her current circumstances, she wasn’t so sure she didn’t prefer the first role.
This hero stuff was the pits. She was in the midst of a full-blown panic attack. Her stomach was rolling so strongly, she wasn’t sure she could keep from vomiting, and her knees and hands were trembling hard enough to shake the ground. She was light-headed and not at all sure she could do anything, short of pass out. This superhero stuff was Ben’s territory or even Hayley’s, certainly not hers. She was a clumsy, shy, elementary school librarian.
What would the heroine in one of her romance books do? Oh, hell. Typically they were the victims, too.
“Okay, enough panicking.” She took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. She didn’t travel all this way only to fail. She’d come to protect Hayley and Erin, and if she’d known about Chelsea, she was sure she would have come to help her as well.
Peering in the front door, she saw Frank pacing and muttering threateningly. Erin was facing the doorway, while Hayley was facing the back corner where Chelsea was huddled into a ball. The small girl was silent now and so deathly white, Tori worried that if she didn’t get her away from Prescott soon, the poor little thing would slip into a state of shock.
Counting Frank’s heavy footsteps, she could tell when he was facing the door and when he had his back to her. She tried to catch the rhythm of it. Her plan was simple and consisted of sneaking in when Frank had his back turned and whacking him on the head as hard as she could. Lame plan, but the best one her terrified mind could conjure.
Peeking in again to make sure she had timed it right, she saw Frank’s back once again. However, Erin caught a glimpse of her this time. Her astonished gasp captured Frank’s attention and he turned back to the marchioness.
“Damn,” Tori whispered.
“What’s wrong with you, yer highness?” It appeared Frank found the courage he’d been lacking and he wasn’t willing to waste another second. “Is the pampered princess tired of sitting on the dirt floor? Maybe you’d prefer to be buried under it!” As he spoke, Frank walked toward the June girls until he was standing directly in front of Erin. Blessing the fates, Tori noticed he had turned his back to the door.
Without a second to spare, she rushed into the room like an avenging angel just as Frank raised his knife. Tripping over a piece of firewood on her way across the room, she fell heavily into Prescott’s back, taking him down hard. To her dismay, she dropped her stick on the way down.
Prescott fell forward hitting his head hard on the corner of a trunk while Tori landed on top of Erin.
“Tori?” Hayley yelled as Erin and Tori attempted to unwind themselves. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Rescuing you.” Looking around, Tori spied Frank’s knife, which he’d dropped in his unexpected fall.
“That’s a new one,” Erin added with a giggle. “I can’t believe you’re here. What amazing timing.”
Tori used the knife to saw at the thick rope surrounding her friends. “Actually, I knew you were in trouble. That’s why I came.”
“How did you know we were here?” Hayley was surprised by her words. “I mean, you do know what year it is, right?”
“Yep,” Tori said. “1819. God help us all. When the June girls get lost, they get lost!”
Finally freed from their bonds, the June girls grabbed each other in a fierce hug, laughing and rejoicing at being together again.
A small cry from the corner reminded Tori of the trauma Chelsea had just faced.
She rushed to embrace the small girl. “My poor Chelsea, it’s okay now.” She held the girl tightly in her arms. “I promise I won’t let that hateful man hurt you anymore.”
“Speaking of hateful men.” Hayley looked down at Frank’s inert form. With a vindictive gleam in her eye, she soundly kicked him in the stomach, delighted to be able to get her own bit of revenge against the man.
Hayley’s kick revived him, and he reached out, grasping her ankle and roughly pulling her to the ground.
Like a pile up on the one-yard line of a football field, the three June girls pounced, hitting the evil man with everything they had. Erin was flailing her fists into his back as he attempted to rise, while Hayley, from her position on the ground, was kicking his legs continually, preventing him from standing. Tori, scrambling for her lost stick, pummeled Frank’s head with one fist as she continued to fumble for a weapon.
Finally able to escape the onslaught, Frank ran to the door of the cabin fleeing as quickly as his battered legs would carry him.
The women, winded from their attack, started to pursue him until they heard Chelsea’s quiet cry in the corner.
Shocked by the anguished sobs pouring from the poor girl, Tori froze, looking down into the little girl’s frightened eyes. “Chels.” At her words, the other June girls halted the chase as well.
Rushing back to her side, Tori gathered the girl in her arms, holding her as the pain and sorrow of the past few months poured out of her. No doubt these were the first real tears Chelsea had shed for her dead mother. She felt the girl’s pain like a gunshot wound to the chest.
“Oh, angel,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. So sorry for everything.”
Several quiet moments passed as the three women comforted the grieving girl. After a quarter of an hour, Chelsea finally cried herself to sleep in Tori’s arms. Sitting in the relative silence, Tori explained to her friends about the circumstances surrounding Chelsea’s presence in Ben’s home as his ward. She had begun to explain her role as governess when she was interrupted.
“It would appear we’re too late to play the conquering heroes,” came a deep voice from the doorway.
“And when have I ever needed a man to play hero?” Hayley replied teasingly to the speaker.
Tori could only assume the tall, handsome man was her husband, Jack. One glance confirmed this man was certainly more than up to the challenge of dealing with Hayley’s opinionated, headstrong ways.
“Are you sure you want me to answer that, firebrand?” Jack walked toward his wife. The look in his eyes said that while his words were light and teasing, he was far from happy that his wife had been in danger. As he bent down in front of her, he grasped her chin, looking at her reddened cheek.
“Someone struck you,” he said darkly.
Hayley quickly attempted to calm him down. “I’m fine, Jack. In fact, I’m better than fine. I’m over the moon.” She gestured over to where Tori leaned against the back wall with Chelsea. “Tori saved us.”
“Your Tori?” Jack asked.
“Tori?” Ben repeated from the doorway.
Rising slowly, Tori approached him, uncertain how she could explain who she was and how she’d arrived there. Hell, she didn’t even know. Sheer dumb luck, she figured.
“Victoria,” she said softly as she halted before him. “Vee stands for Victoria. My father is British, and he thought I should have a name fit for a queen, hence my namesake Queen Victoria.”
She felt silly rambling on about her name, but Ben’s blank stare left her uneasy.
“There is no Queen Victoria in British history.” Confusion covered his face.
<
br /> “Not yet.” She winced. There was no way Ben was going to believe she was from the future. He’d think she was crazy.
“Tori,” Erin said. “When did you get here?”
She turned slowly, eager to escape Ben’s searching, intent gaze. “On your birthday. I figured out where you were at Christmastime.”
“How?” Erin asked.
“You told me,” she answered with a shy smile. “You left a message in a book.”
Erin giggled. “I should have known you’d find it eventually. It was the reason I wrote the message in every book at the Grange.”
“Much to my dismay,” Alex added with a grin.
“Oh, you and your precious books, Alex.” Erin elbowed her husband in the stomach before continuing to rub the sore spots on her arms left from the rough rope that had bound her. Noticing her movements, Alex’s eyes narrowed before he took her arms in his hands and gently massaged the raw rope burns.
“I figured if anyone would find a message in a book, it would be my sweet librarian friend who forever has her nose buried in one,” Erin joked. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you, too. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you. To see both of you.”
“Oh, jeez,” Hayley said laughing. “Here we go with the mushy stuff.”
“Erin,” Alex interjected, “perhaps if it’s not too much trouble you could explain to us exactly what occurred here. I, for one, do not like finding that my wife has been tied up.”
“I agree.” Jack looked at Hayley. “What the hell happened? I thought the two of you were paying a call on Lady Linley.”
“We went to her house,” Erin said, “but she wasn’t home. On the way back, Hayley and I took a little detour here. This cabin holds rather fond memories for both of us, as you know.”
“We were discussing fixing the place up,” Hayley added. “Perhaps making it our own little hideaway.”
“We left our carriage at the turn before the entrance to the Grange drive, so I suppose no one was aware we’d returned. We bid our driver and footman to stay with the horses while we walked here,” Erin added.
