No. I do not belong to Pratt.
“Well, out with it girl,” Uncle Jared said in frustration.
“She’s a mute, dear,” Aunt Sarah said gently. “See how she grasps her throat? That’s a sign that she cannot speak.”
She’d been grasping her throat?
Aunt Sarah patted Keelan’s arm. “It’s alright, child. Just go about your duties. Thank you for the wine.” She smiled sweetly and Keelan’s stomach took another guilty twist.
Dear, dear Aunt Sarah…
Well, now, everything worked out fine, except now she wasn’t able to ask Jared about Twin Pines. Drat, again. That information could have removed one more bone of discord between Landon and her especially if the plantation belonged to Jared. Not wanting to put her disguise in any more jeopardy, she bobbed a quick curtsy and once again made her way to the back of the house.
Under the pretense of cleaning the spilled wine off her tray, she entered the kitchen, placed the tray on the table, grabbed a rag and wiped the tray clean. Seeing a plate of canapés, she swapped the tray for the plate and headed for the dining room, hoping she wasn’t too late.
“My, you have a healthy appetite, Miss Ronnie,” Pratt was saying.
“You’d think I never fed her,” Landon responded, a sardonic twist to his mouth.
Ronan had a plate piled with food even as he was eating a small tea cake with his fingers. Ronnie turned his attention to Landon. “You don’t have a cook half as talented as Leon’s,” he said before stuffing the rest of the tea cake into his mouth.
Pratt accepted the compliment with a smile and added a sweet roll to both his plate and Ronnie’s.
The boy’s eyes lit up. “Thank you, you are so very kind, Leon.”
Pratt’s men had moved closer to the dining room doorway and now leaned against it like two twin pillars.
“Do finish your story, Miss Ronnie,” Pratt said. “You had reached the part in the play when the hero reaches for his sword as the pirate jumps from the yardarm.”
“Oh, yes,” Ronnie exclaimed, stepping closer to one of Pratt’s guards. “Our hero reaches across his body and grabs the handle of his sword.” While holding his plate in his left hand, Ronnie imitated the move with his right. “Then he pulls it from his scabbard so quickly, all you could see was a flash of silver!” Ronnie flung his arm wide in an arching blow left to right, catching the guard square in the nose with the back of his fist.
The move caught Pratt’s man by surprise and he stumbled back into the hall, holding his nose with both hands.
“Oh dear!” Ronnie cried. He clutched his hand to his chest. “Oh, Landon, I fear I might have broken my hand!”
Keelan wasn’t sure how he did it, but Ronnie managed to appear as if he would break into tears any second.
“Now Ronnie, don’t panic. Let’s have a look.” Landon stepped forward and put his arm around Ronnie’s shoulder. “Perhaps you should sit.”
Ronnie gestured at the man cursing under his breath in the hall. “I’m terribly sorry. He was standing so still and quiet, I didn’t even notice he was there.”
Pratt smiled at Ronnie. “Don’t apologize, my dear.” He stared at the man holding his nose. “If he was being inconspicuous, he wouldn’t have gotten in your way.”
His man ducked his head and reached into his pocket to pull out a handkerchief to staunch the blood streaming from his nose and the tears from his eyes.
Ronnie’s eyes widened. “Is that…is that…b…b…blood?”
Ronnie collapsed in Landon’s arms, the plate of food still in his hand.
“Oh, my!” Pratt exclaimed. He fastened his glare on the bleeding man. “For God’s sake, man, get the hell out of here until you can make yourself presentable to my guests!”
The guard nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.
“Perhaps you have a bedroom where I can take my sister while she’s indisposed?” Landon had scooped Ronnie up in his arms.
“By all means.” Pratt led them toward the stairs.
Landon paused and addressed Keelan. “Would you mind coming along to attend to her needs?”
“Of course, sir.” She followed the men upstairs.
Pratt led them into a bedroom and hastened to light a lamp. Keelan noted that the second guard had followed them up and now stood outside the door.
“Sir,” Keelan addressed Pratt. “Miss Ronnie will probably need some water, clean cloths and an extra chamber pot.”
Pratt cleared his throat and waved his hand at the guard. “Hawkins, go fetch what is needed.”
Landon gently placed Ronnie on the bed. “Thank you Mr. Pratt. I’m sure my sister will be very grateful for your hospitality and discretion. She so hates to make a public spectacle like this. I’m sure she’ll be mortified when she wakes.”
Pratt cleared his throat. “I assure you, not a word of this will be mentioned.”
“You are kind.” Landon turned back to Ronnie and placed his hand on the boy’s forehead. “Please don’t let us detain you any longer from your guests. I’m sure they eagerly await your company.”
“Yes, well…yes.” Pratt clasped his hands behind his back and stepped toward the door. “I do apologize for the ineptitude of Tucker. Stay as long as you wish.”
Once Pratt closed the door, Ronnie jumped off the bed and Keelan frantically worked at the buttons on the back of the dress.
“We have to get you both out of here, now,” she said. “I’m still unsure if Pratt was convinced Ronnie was your sister. He may be simply pulling you away from the other guests and potential witnesses.” While Keelan unbuttoned the gown, Ronnie finished what was left of the plate of food he’d wedged between his body and Landon’s when he collapsed.
Landon strode to the window. “If we make it out of here alive, I’m going to kill both of you for putting yourselves in this…this situation.”
“If we hadn’t put ourselves in this situation, you’d be hanging from a rope tonight.” Ronnie peeled the front of the dress down, releasing his rolled up shirt which Keelan had used to create a false bosom. After he shimmied out of the silver silk, he slipped his shirt over his head. “The fires of hell can’t heat a man faster than a tightly cinched dress.” He kicked the garment away from his feet, wiped his brow with his sleeve then picked up the fan and fanned his chest. After noticing the quizzical expression on Landon’s face, he dropped the fan back on the bed as if it was a hot coal.
Landon gave a soft laugh and shook his head. A movement outside drew his attention. “Pratt has posted a man beneath the window.” He huffed out a breath.
Keelan open the door and peered out into the hall. “Quickly!” She gestured for them to move. “Go into the room across the hall and climb out the window.”
“I’m not leaving without you,” Landon said.
“I’ll sneak out the servant’s door behind the house and meet you. Ronnie knows where we hid Ole Poke. I’ll meet you there. Go!”
Landon and Ronnie darted across the hall. The voices of a woman and Pratt’s other guard drifted up the stair. There was no time to follow or dash down the hall to the servants staircase. She caught her breath. The door across the hall was still swinging shut as the two cleared the top step.
She hopped into the hall. “Thank goodness!” Keelan pressed a hand to her chest. “I feared you wouldn’t be in time.” The door across the hall eased shut. She snatched the chamber pot, shut the door and leaned against it. There was no place to hide or escape.
She was trapped.
The silver ball gown was still in a puddle on the floor. Could she possibly make it out of the house posing as “Veronica?” She bit her fingernail. It was too great a risk. There was too much disparity in their appearance. Hopefully, Landon and Ronnie had made it into the woods behind the barn. The image of Landon swinging from a rope sent a shiver rippling across her shoulders.
How would she get out of this room without being stopped or followed? She stared down at the chamber pot still in her arm
s. An idea began to form in her mind. After coughing loudly several times, she opened the door a crack and reached out for the rags and water bucket. The thick chested man handed them to her silently. She nodded her thanks, careful to avoid eye contact and closed the door again.
Keelan picked up her gown, reminiscing about the ball she attended at Twin Pines. She had escaped the stifling air of the house and strolled to the lake. The moon had illuminated the sky that night, creating shadows everywhere. Landon had followed her and insisted on a waltz. They danced in the garden and he had teased and goaded her into kissing him.
Keelan had never been able to back down from a challenge and when Landon told her that he doubted she knew how to kiss a man with passion…well she had shown him he was wrong. Then, he asked her to run away with him. She sighed, unable to prevent the tug of longing that followed that last memory. The idea of eloping with Landon had made her heart happy. Then of course, her cousin spotted them sending the entire house into an uproar. Such was her life when in the close proximity of Landon Hart.
Keelan smoothed the gown across the corner of the bed, making sure it was visible if someone decided to peek inside. She stuffed some cushions under the covers. It wouldn’t fool anyone for long, but she only needed a few precious minutes.
All she required now was a little water in the chamber pot. That done, she balanced it against her hip and sidled out of the door, closing it firmly.
She started for the servants’ stair then paused and spoke to the man at the door. “Mr. Hart requested us to leave him and his sister alone for a while. You may tell Mr. Pratt that Miss Veronica is awake but terribly embarrassed and will not return to the party. If it is quite all right, Mr. Hart has accepted Mr. Pratt’s offer for himself and Miss Veronica to stay the night as his guests. He told me to tell you that he will seek out Mr. Pratt in a couple of hours, once his sister has fallen asleep. She is very, very upset at the moment.”
The man gave her a nod and a thin smile. His expression resembled that of a cat holding a trapped mouse under his paw. She swallowed and headed down the stair, careful to avoid looking over her shoulder to see if he still stood his post. She’d bet that he’d quickly departed to find his employer and relay the information. No doubt, trapping Landon upstairs would fall right in with their plans to kill him.
She walked straight through the busy kitchen and out the back door. Had anyone considered delaying her, the chamber pot she held in front of her along with her wrinkled nose would have discouraged them. It wasn’t until she rounded the corner of the first barn that she released her breath. Slipping inside the back door, she noticed Orion in the corner stall. No! He shouldn’t still be in the barn. Landon and Ronnie should have taken him and fled the plantation. A quick glance told her that his girth strap had been tightened and he was ready to ride.
“Keelan.”
Startled, she whirled to find Ronnie standing behind her.
“Where’s Landon?” Had he been caught?
Ronnie pointed to the second shed a couple hundred yards from the barn. “He’s trying to pick the lock. Simon and Ruth are in there. He has me keeping an eye out for him.”
“He should not have sent a boy to do a man’s job.”
At the sound of the strange voice, the hair on the back of Keelan neck tingled and her breath caught in her throat. The thick bulk of a man stepped behind Ronnie and put a pistol to the boy’s head.
Two more appeared at his flanks and by the widening of Ronnie’s eyes, there were probably more behind her. She recognized the man holding the pistol to Ronnie’s head as the guard who’d been outside the bedroom door, Hawkins. Her shoulders sagged. He must have followed her, rather than locate Pratt.
Hawkins leered at her. “I’ve been trailing Hart since he made port. I knew he’d lead me to you eventually, Keelan Grey. It wasn’t until he told you to accompany him upstairs that I realized who you really were.”
A jolt of panic pierced Keelan’s chest.
“I have no use for the woman, Hawkins.” Pratt’s voice came from behind her. “You may take her after your job is completed.”
“I’ll take care of it as we agreed,” Hawkins said, pulling back the hammer.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Keelan worked harder to wiggle her hands out of the ropes around her wrists. Hawkins and his men had tied her and Ronnie to a horse. The men hadn’t searched her as they had Ronnie and using the short, thick blade hidden in the small of her back, she’d been sawing through her bindings during the ride. With Ronnie sitting behind her, he blocked her activity from view. They were now about a mile or so from the stable, in a wooded area, far from the main house and the eyes of the party guests.
A sense of dread seeped into her stomach. Whatever Hawkins and his men were going to do, they were going to do it well away from any witnesses. The dim light of a fire flickered through the trees and it wasn’t long before they reached it.
Keelan nearly cried out when she spied Landon, Simon and Ruth all bound hand and foot, crumpled together against a large tree. Above them, three ropes dangled from a branch the size of a man’s torso. Were they alive? Had they already been hanged? She fixed her gaze on Landon’s chest. It moved. He wasn’t dead; he was unconscious. A trickle of blood ran from a gash on his temple.
Landon stirred, moaning and blinked his eyes open. Cursing, he attempted to sit up, but one of the men raised his booted foot and pushed him back against the trunk of the tree.
“Toss one more rope up there,” Hawkins ordered, yanking Ronnie from the horse. “We have a fourth.” He shoved the young man toward the tree where he landed on his knees next to Landon’s feet, his eyes wide with fear.
“You can’t hang him!” Keelan cried, pretending to struggle with her bonds. “He’s only a boy!” She slipped the knife into the back of her waistband and hid the cut ends of the severed rope in her fists behind her back.
Hawkins pulled her from the horse and slapped her. “He’ll be hanged for aiding runaways.”
“And you’ll be charged with murder,” she replied, glaring her hatred.
He laughed. “By the time the bodies are discovered, they won’t be recognizable. Anyways, you and me will be long gone and my pockets will be jingling with coin soon enough.” He reached up and stroked a strand of her hair. “Or, I can take a piece of your scalp instead.”
“Let her go, you bastard,” Landon bellowed. The cords of his neck stood out as he struggled against the ropes. “She’s not part of our group and knows nothing of our activities.” His temple was bleeding, along with his nose and mouth.
Hawkins grabbed her chin in his big paw-like hands and continued as if Landon hadn’t spoken. “Although, I heard that the price on your head is substantially higher if I bring you to Captain Gampo still alive.” He grabbed the reins of his horse and led it over to the hanging tree. Hawkins gestured to one of his men. “Bring her a little closer. It would be a shame if she missed seeing this.”
Good, closer was better. The hard part behind them, Pratt’s men relaxed, some sat near the fire, others milled around the horses, waiting to put the nooses around the necks of their captives.
The man leered at her with a mouth full of gaps and yellow teeth. He smelled of horse dung and whiskey and she hoped he’d imbibed the alcohol recently. As he started to drag her toward the fire; she stumbled and fell to her knees. When he reached down to haul her to her feet, she drove the small blade she’d used to cut her ties into his stomach. His eyes widened; she removed the blade and yanked the pistol from his belt. He fell face down as she rose to her feet.
Before any of the other men could react, she threw the blade at the tree. It imbedded in the trunk less than six inches from Ronan’s side. All he needed to do was grab it and hold it tightly enough for Landon to cut his bindings. She stooped and pulled her stiletto from her boot.
“Don’t stand there, like idiots!” Hawkins shouted. “Stop her! Just don’t kill her.”
Landon used the knife to slice thr
ough the rope around his wrists. Freed from his bonds, he jumped the nearest ruffian and shoved him into the fire. The man screamed and flailed while another hopped forward to pull him out. The rest of Hawkins’ men descended on Landon. He pulled Keelan’s short blade from the trunk and threw it into one man’s chest; Keelan’s stiletto sank into the back of another and then used her pistol to shoot a third.
Although still bound, Simon had staggered to his feet and with a bellow like a wounded bull, plowed his head and shoulder into a fourth man. Ruth kicked out with her legs tripping another. Figures lunged and yelled in the general mayhem, the glow of the fire creating grotesque shadows on the surrounding trees.
Keelan was out of weapons.
She picked up a short, thick branch, but before she could swing it, her head was jerked back and the cold steel of a blade pressed against the tender skin beneath her jaw. She dropped the branch and froze. A pistol shot cracked.
“Hart!” Hawkins shouted. The fighting paused.
Landon jerked away from one man and lunged toward them, but was brought down by two more. He glared at Hawkins. “Harm her and I’ll kill you.”
Hawkins responded in a voice dripping with confident malice. “You’ll soon be in no position to make such ridiculous threats, let alone carry them out.”
Landon swung his arm gesturing to the results of their brief resistance. “You’ve lost half your men.”
“Perhaps I should even things out a bit.” Hawkins pressed the tip of his blade until it broke her skin. A warm, slow trickle of blood crept down her neck.
The two men on Landon had retied his hands. This time they bound his feet as well. Simon and Ronnie were dragged kicking and squirming back to the tree near Ruth.
Hawkins’ men, battered and bloodied, reached for the dangling ropes. Simon was unconscious; Ruth’s lip was split and the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut glared at the men in defiance. Blood streamed from Ronnie’s nose.
Four horses were led up to the tree and the opposite end of each rope was tied to a saddle horn. All they had to do was lead the horses away from the tree. The four bodies would be hauled up off the ground by their necks.
Hart's Reward (Pirates & Petticoats #3) Page 12
