Horses, more than one or two, and coming fast, he decided, faster than dictated by safety. That meant pursuit. Sabrina’s head turned farther to look over her shoulder. She heard them too, but to Perce’s amazement, she laughed aloud. The expression on her face was the same mischievous delight that he had seen on it all through the years when she engaged in some harebrained and often dangerous adventure.
“Brina!” he exclaimed.
But she had already struck her mare with her quirt and was flying down the road, the loosened strands of her hair streaming behind her like concentrated beams of moonlight. Perce took off after her without even needing to touch William’s powerful gelding. Both animals were fresh, the road was still well lit in the last light of the moon, and best of all it was leveling off. However, their pursuers had obviously heard the quickened pace. There were shouts from the road above and behind them.
Perce pulled even, with Sabrina. “This is crazy,” he shouted as they came into the short, straight stretch of track that preceded the junction with the road to Lousa. “We don’t have to run away. We can just tell them exactly what happened.”
From the road above, where an opening in the trees on one of the curves showed the fugitives, a shot rang out and then another.
“They don’t sound friendly,” Sabrina shouted back to Perce, slapping her mare with the quirt again.
Logic told Perce that the shots were probably warnings. Nonetheless, every instinct screamed that the shots were a bad sign. The pursuers could just as well have called threats or warnings. Shooting implied that Sabrina had already been adjudged guilty. Perhaps Dom José had convinced the regador that if she could be caught and killed, the whole situation could be hushed up completely.
If Sabrina were dead, it might be thought that no one would believe Katy’s story. Certainly no one in Portugal would bother to listen to a maid’s defense of her mistress if the regador would not. As soon as the ugly idea came into Perce’s mind, he found evidence to support it. Why send a whole party of men to stop a woman with one unarmed escort? Party? Where did the party come from, Perce asked himself with startled realization. There had been only three horses on the lawn. There were certainly more than three horses in the group following them. Sabrina was right. They didn’t sound friendly. Not at all.
There was another shout—this time ahead of them from the road that led to Lousa. Without volition, Perce’s head turned left in the direction of the sound, and in the same instant he heard the scrape and rattle of carriage wheels.
“Right!” he called to Sabrina. “Go right!”
Five seconds later they burst out into the road, veering right and narrowly missing the groom from the dower house, who was riding just ahead of the doctor’s carriage and had shouted the warning Perce had heard. Well into their stride, the horses thundered on.
Two minutes later the groom was shouting another warning as he heard Dom José and his men coming down. This time his voice was more frantic, and he roared that there was a carriage on the road. Perforce, Dom José came to a halt. It was impossible, he knew, for horses to get by a carriage on the narrow track without great care. Then he took offense because the doctor did not move aside quickly enough. A shouting match ensued, which caused more delay because the doctor also took offense and would not move his vehicle at all. By the time they were past and had reached the main road, all sight and sound of Perce and Sabrina were gone.
When Pablo had rushed out of the path between the houses and told him what he had seen, Dom José had been overjoyed. It would be far easier to kill Sabrina out in the open than to invade her house, and pursuing her would raise fewer doubts in his men. They already believe her a murderess. They would believe that the regador had told him to capture her alive or dead. They only needed to saddle four horses and find weapons, and while this was being done, Pablo told Dom José that Manuelo had been captured and dragged into the house.
Dom José’s mood began to darken with that information and slipped further into discontent as they rode down the track. As fast as they went, it seemed to him that they were barely moving. After they passed the dower house stables and, could not see horses ahead on any of the straight stretches, he began to fear his quarry had a longer lead than he had expected. A sense of desperation began to torment him. Catching Lady Elvan might not be so easy as he had first thought.
It was that feeling of desperation that caused him to fire his pistol at the fleeing pair when he caught sight of them far below. He realized immediately that it was a stupid thing to do. The chance of hitting anything, even a horse, at that distance was nil. As soon as he recognized the futility of his action, he ordered his men to save their shots, but the order came a second too late to stop Pedro from firing also. At the meeting of the roads Dom José was faced with a bitter choice. To the left was Lousa, to the right nothing but small mountain villages. But would the woman know that? If he went the wrong way, his prey would escape and his revenge would be incomplete. He would have salvaged nothing from the wreck of his life.
Some distance down the road, Perce and Sabrina had pulled their horses to a canter to ease them a little. They expected that their pursuers would soon be on their heels again, since they believed that both the groom and the doctor had seen them go right. Sabrina raised the question of whether it would be worth going back and said she had brought William’s pistols.
“I think we’d run right into them,” Perce replied. Then hesitantly, he asked, “Do you want me to try to disable Dom José? I don’t think the men would be dangerous once he was out of action.”
Sabrina hesitated also. “No,” she said thoughtfully. “No, I don’t want you to hurt him. It was wrong of him to kill poor Charlot, but William… I’m sorry he’s dead, Perce. I never wanted harm to come to him. I never hated him…except for a few days when I first realized what he really was. Then I got over it. I wanted to be free, but not for him to be dead. Still, if it hadn’t been Dom José, it probably would have been another husband. He was getting…I don’t know…careless. I can’t blame Dom José for William’s death.”
“Well, I’m glad about that because, to tell you the truth Brina, I’m grateful to the man. It’s no use my pretending. I did want Elvan dead. I would have killed him myself except I knew he wouldn’t challenge me, and if I had forced it on him, you would never have forgiven me.”
“No, I wouldn’t have,” Sabrina replied seriously. “I would have been his murderer, even if you pulled the trigger, Perce. I couldn’t have lived with that. As for Dom José, I guess it was his right, and anyway I’m as much to blame as he is.”
“Don’t be a fool!” Perce snapped, his voice harsh. “You had nothing to do with Elvan’s chasing.”
“Yes,” she insisted bleakly. “I could have stopped him, but I didn’t care enough. That’s why Dom José dragged me off to his house.”
“Dom José is quite obviously insane,” Perce interrupted, even more angrily. “Are you trying to tell me that Charlot should have tried to stop Elvan too? Or Katy? Don’t you start beating your breast over him. He was no child and no fool—at least, in a general way. And I’ll say this, too, Brina. I don’t mean to hurt you. You’re more beautiful than any other woman I know, but you couldn’t have stopped him forever. Sooner or later you would have run out of ploys to keep him interested.”
“I suppose so.”
Her voice was low but not tearful. Sabrina would always blame herself, whatever anyone said, but Perce was right in that it was no use beating her breast over it. What was really important was that she had never wished her husband dead, not even after she began to love Perce. She had always wanted William to be safe and happy. Thus, she felt free to be glad she was alive, glad to be with Perce, quite able to enjoy this crazy adventure on which they were embarking.
“Where are we going?” Sabrina asked curiously.
“Back to Lisbon, as soon as we can shake whoever is on our tail. I’m sorry, Brina. Now I think you were rig
ht. It must be because I convinced you to run that they assume you’re guilty.”
“I’m not sorry.” Her voice was light and full of mischief again. “I’d rather be here than trying to explain what happened over and over again. The regador is no fool. The minute he stops to think—”
“You know him?” Perce interrupted.
“I’ve met him several times at the homes of acquaintances in Lousa. He’s a very good regador, from everything I’ve heard.”
“But if he knows you, how could he think you would be involved in a triple murder?”
Sabrina giggled. “Not everyone is as convinced as you are that I’m an angel.”
“I never thought you were an angel,” Perce riposted with dignity, “and extended acquaintance has convinced me that you are more likely to have come from the nether regions. However, on first sight, if he didn’t know you, the regador might feel it unlikely that you would blow off three people’s heads.”
It was necessary for Sabrina to hold back a shudder. Perce’s teasing remark came too close to the horror she had seen in the bed and in the dower house, but she didn’t wish to hurt him by letting him see the reminder still frightened her. To shut out the memory, she concentrated on what she knew of. Senhor de Sousa. She remembered him grave and courteous, rather slow of speech, and conservative in ideas and manners. A frown wrinkled her broad forehead.
“All joking aside,” she said, “I don’t think the regador is the kind to shoot at anyone. Well maybe at a crowd of bandits, but he couldn’t have thought that. And I’m sure he wouldn’t shoot at a woman without warning, no matter what Dom José told him.
“Then it isn’t the regador behind us. There were only three horses at the house. I’m pretty sure no law officer would leave Sergei and Katy alone under the circumstances, so that leaves two to chase us once they knew you were gone. But there were more than two horses.”
“It could be Dom José. He has servants who would obey him.” Sabrina repressed another shudder, remembering how she had screamed when she saw the bodies, but no one had come. It did not occur to her that no one had heard her.
“Even in something like this?”
“Wouldn’t Sergei obey you?”
“Oh, certainly,” Perce replied, smiling. “But only after arguing for so long that anyone I was pursuing would have escaped hours before.”
But he didn’t feel much like smiling. If it was Dom José behind them, then those shots took on a really ugly connotation. An officer of the law might fire a shot in warning if he thought his voice would not carry. When a triple murderer—quadruple in intent—fires, the purpose is not likely to be warning. Perce listened intently but could hear nothing. Near Lousa the harder surface of the road and the noise of his and Sabrina’s mounts had masked all other sound. Now the road was little better than the track that went up to La Casa des Ermidas, but he still heard nothing.
“Do you know where this road goes?” Perce asked.
The horses had dropped into a trot, and it was obvious that they were climbing.
“No. There must be a village or a few villages somewhere ahead, but I can’t think of any large town in this direction. Not that that means anything, because I haven’t been here long and my Portuguese isn’t good enough to have learned much geography. No one really wanted to talk about anything except what Boney would do, and whether they should try to fight him or accept their fate and try to enjoy it.”
“Then I think we’d better try to circle around and get back to the road we know. The whole damned country is only about one hundred and twenty miles wide, and I think Lousa is near the middle. The last mistake I’d want would be to ride into Spain unknowingly.” Perce pulled his horse to a stop, and Sabrina’s mare halted also.
She laughed. “We’d be very welcome, but I think the invitation to stay might be more pressing than we would like.”
Then she fell silent, and both listened intently. Aside from the song of the night insects and the chuckle of a small stream nearby, all was silent.
“Perhaps they’ve gone on to Lousa or given up,” Perce said.
“I don’t think Dom José would give up,” Sabrina replied. The regador would, but the more I think of it, the less I can believe that he would shoot at me even if he believed I was a murderess. Why should he? He only has to send word down to Lisbon.”
Perce knew there were reasons why an official might prefer to have a “criminal” safely dead rather than to report the escape of that person. However, from what Sabrina had said, the regador did not seem to be that type of official. Then it was the madman who was pursuing them. It did not seem to Perce, under the circumstances, that they should take the risk of turning back along the road. He looked around, but he could hardly see a few yards in any direction. The moon had finally set, and it was very dark.
“Yes, it might be Dom José,” he replied to Sabrina’s remarks,” and I think it would be best to get off the road here. We’ll have to lead the horses, but the moon’s set now and we don’t have to go far into the woods. There won’t be any way to tell at what point we left the road—I hope—or whether we left it at all. Now, do you know whether it would be better to go north or south?”
They were speaking very quietly, listening between phrases for the sound of oncoming horses. Perce dismounted, looped the reins of his gelding over his arm, and helped Sabrina down. She was frowning thoughtfully, trying to remember anything anyone had told her about the region. At last she shook her head.
“I’m not sure of anything, but if we go south, I think we’ll come up against the mountains. Also, it seems to me that someone said there’s a road that runs to Coimbra to the north. There was something, though…no, I don’t remember, but I think it isn’t easy to reach that road from here.”
“More mountains, I suppose,” Perce said. “Do you want to decide, or shall I flip a coin?”
“Dom José would guess we would go toward Lisbon. That’s south. Why don’t we go north. I know the slopes of the Sierra de Lousa are too steep for horses in this area. Perhaps it’s only foothills to the north.”
“Right,” Perce agreed without hesitation. “It doesn’t matter much anyway. We won’t go very far. Maybe we’ll be able to see something in the morning.”
They moved together to the left of the road and walked slowly, looking for a break in the brush. There was nothing completely cleared, but in one spot the trees were particularly large and dense, so that the undergrowth was somewhat more sparse. Perce led the way in, aware that they were leaving a trail but unable to do anything about it. He and Sabrina could have been careful not to break and crush the weeds and low bushes, but there was no way to explain stealth to a horse. Even if there had been, Perce thought, amused by the concept, the horses were just too big to avoid all the obstacles.
Farther in under the trees there was even less undergrowth, but here they could not avoid what little there was. As the canopy of leaves above them grew thicker, it cut off all light from the sky. Even the slight visibility provided by the starshine to their dark-adjusted eyes was gone; it was pitch black. Perce felt his way with one outstretched hand and his feet, calling soft warnings to Sabrina. In spite of this help, she was little better off. Although she did not need to worry about running into trees, Sabrina promptly bumped into the rear end of Perce’s horse.
Having thought of the way to solve this problem by seizing the gelding’s tail, Sabrina became overconfident and tripped into a hole. She had forgotten that Perce could not detail every irregularity in the ground. Her cry of surprise brought him back at once to fumble around for her. When he found her, she was already getting to her feet. Nonetheless, he held her tight inquiring anxiously whether she was hurt.
Sabrina did not answer directly. Except for their initial embrace, which was caused more by fear than passion and the brief touch of Perce’s lips on her thigh before they had gone to the stable to send a groom for the doctor, there had not been a personal touch bet
ween them. Now she clung fiercely.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Perce assured her, blaming himself for leaving her alone.
“I’m not frightened,” she murmured. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”
Perce looked back in the direction from which they had come—at least, he thought that was the direction—but he could see nothing, not even the slightest reduction of the darkness that surrounded them. He looked all around, in case he had turned and was mistaken in the way he thought they had come. Nothing. No difference, no sign of darker trunks against the lighter background. Sabrina was warm and soft in the circle of his arms. The desire he had subdued several times rose in him again. He dropped his head, seeking Sabrina’s lips, and found them reaching for his.
“God, how I’ve wanted you,” he sighed.
“And I you. But I didn’t let myself think about you. I couldn’t bear it. I was so worried about the war.”
“I told you not to worry.”
He kissed her again, but this time briefly because the gelding decided that he might as well have a bite to eat if they were going to stand still. His reaching for a tidbit yanked at the reins Perce held and almost pulled him off balance. Perce looked around again and realized he had lost all sense of direction. If they moved now, he might be leading them back toward the road as easily as away from it. He cursed himself for being a fool, but Sabrina only snuggled closer into the arm that held her.
“If we can’t see out, no one could possibly see in, Perce. It’s harder to see from light into dark than from dark to light. And even if they found the place we came in, it’s so dark they could never follow us. Anyway, we’d hear them. We might as well stay here as anywhere else.”
“Right,” he agreed with indecent haste, then chuckled. “If I can find a place flat enough to sit down.”
“Find one flat enough to lie down,” Sabrina suggested softly.
“Darling, are you faint?” Perce asked, tightening his grip.
The Kent Heiress Page 36
