Fear Familiar Bundle

by Caroline Burnes

  * * *

  MARY'S GROPING fingers moved from Chancey's leg along the hay until her fingers found the large knife the stable boys used to slash the twine that held the bales together. The blade was so dull she could almost pass it over her palm without concern for a cut. But it was heavy, and if she struck at Kevin in the dark, she might be able to surprise him.

  "Don't even think about the knife," Kevin said matter-of-factly. His voice was a harsh whisper. "Just sit still and listen. If you want William alive, listen."

  For all of the fact that he had just knocked a woman cold, Kevin's voice was still calm. He spoke to Mary as if he were reasoning with a child.

  "What have you done with William?" Mary demanded.

  "Nothing yet, but if you don't lower your voice and hush, you're going to cost him his life."

  The totally reasonable tone was infuriating. Mary tightened her fingers around the knife handle. She was dealing with a maniac. She'd just have to take her chances.

  Just as she was about to lunge across the short distance and try to stab Kevin, she felt Familiar's weight on her arm. His claws dug into her tender skin and he effectively pinned her entire hand and arm.

  "Listen!" Kevin's whiplash command and the sudden sound of another voice made her complaint die in her throat.

  "Ye must ride after Lisette, Slaytor. She's escaped from the turret room and headed home. If you don't stop her, she'll go back to England and you'll never see her again."

  "The lass will never escape me. She's mine. I am her husband and her master." William's voice swelled.

  "Aye, you're the master, but not for much longer." Instead of anger, Erick's voice was filled with sadness. "I didn't want it to end like this, William. I did everything I could to frighten you or Mary away. But once you wed, Mayfair is yours. There'll be a child, just as planned. I thought if I could stop the wedding, I might have a chance."

  "We are wed! Well and truly!" There was the sound of a fist banging into a wall. "I want Lisette back within the keep of my castle before the moon is full up."

  "And you shall have her." There was no satisfaction in Erick's voice. "Before this night is over, the two of you will be together. Forever."

  "And you?" William's voice was suddenly cunning.

  "I don't know." There was the sound of something being dragged about. "Now, sit here while I saddle Blaze for you. Mary almost caught me the last time. You're eager enough for the ride, but you lack a little on getting there."

  "I can saddle my own horse." William was belligerent.

  "Sure you can. But I'll help." Erick shifted along the barn until he'd brought Blaze out of the stall and hooked him in the cross ties. "I think she went toward Dundee. That's the road I'd take."

  "What about the creek? Are the waters not over the bridge?"

  "If she made it, so can you."

  "He's going to try to drown William." Mary had given up all idea of trying to stab Kevin. At the first sentence of the dialogue between Erick and William, she'd known who was behind it all. She knew who and why.

  "Yes, he is." Kevin's agreement was quietly put.

  "What are we going to do?"

  "Distract him." Kevin touched Mary's arm. "If you can draw him away from William, for just a few moments, I can take him."

  "Why are you doing this?" Mary asked.

  Kevin squeezed her arm. "William may well be my half-brother. But he is without a doubt the Lord of Mayfair. Abby said you knew about my birth claim. You should also know that no part of Mayfair is worth the price of William's life. At least, not to me."

  "And Erick?"

  "I believe he's a sick man. Abby told me that she's been getting prescriptions for him from Dr. Sloan. Medicine to help him sleep because he couldn't rest. He wouldn't go to the doctor, so Mother faked his symptoms. Ever since William decided to come back to Mayfair, it's been downhill for him. And there's more. I found some boots of his. There were lifts in them, to make him taller."

  "He wants Mayfair for himself."

  "I believe he thinks he deserves it, Mary. I've been doing some checking around. All of those stories about a woman he loves, his life so busy away from here. They're all lies. Mayfair is the only thing he has. And there's no telling what other kinds of medications he's been taking. Some of the medicines I use on the horses have been tampered with."

  "My God," Mary whispered. "He could be completely irrational."

  "I think that's the assumption we're going to have to take."

  "Irrational and very cunning. He must have put something in William's champagne. The same thing he's been putting in his food. It had to be the champagne."

  "He's almost got Blaze saddled up. Now we have to intervene before William leaves the barn. Once he starts riding, I don't think there's another horse that can match Blaze."

  Mary nodded, drawing a lungful of air before she stepped away from the safety of the hay and into the aisle of the barn.

  "Let him go, Erick, and we'll leave Mayfair. You have my word. Leave William alone, and I'll see to it that you inherit."

  "Too late, too late," Erick said. He turned to Mary, and she almost let a cry escape. His face was painted in the red-and-black mask that had terrified her in the passageway.

  "It isn't too late. We'll leave. No one will be the wiser."

  "It's too late!" Anger choked him. "This is your fault. You should have left when you could. But you wouldn't. You stayed and stayed and stayed. William would have followed you back to Edinburgh. He loves you more than he loves Mayfair. But I love Mayfair. I could have married. Chancey would have finally had me for her husband— if I had inherited. We could have taken care of Mayfair and lived here forever."

  The singsong quality of his voice let Mary know that he was high, or completely unbalanced.

  "Just talk to me," Mary begged. "Come into the house and let's talk. Nothing bad has happened. We can work this out."

  "No. This is the only way. William will ride into the creek, and then you'll have to leave. I'll be here. Mayfair will be mine."

  Mary had a sudden thought. "Did Chancey tell you this?"

  "No, not Chancey. Not at all. I told her, but she said it would never work. She said I could never do it. But she'll see, and then she'll marry me."

  "You tied up Dr. Faulkner at Chancey's barn, didn't you?"

  "He found the drugs in the cat. That blasted cat. I should have killed him first."

  "And you tied up Chancey?"

  "She tied up herself. I wouldn't do it, even when she said I should. I couldn't hurt her."

  Mary sighed. So it was Erick who'd brought Chancey's halter back to Mayfair. She could see William slumped against the wall. Blaze stomped the hay-covered ground as he blew and fidgeted in the cross ties. He'd never been a horse with a lot of patience. He was ready to ride.

  "Let's go to the house and talk about this." Mary stepped forward. She could see the confusion in Erick's eyes. "Everyone is locked in the dining room. No one will bother us."

  "No. It's a trick."

  "There's no need to hurt anyone, Erick. William and I will leave. You can have Mayfair. You've worked hard here. Let us go. You can have the estate."

  Erick shook his head slowly. "It's not up to William to give it to me. It's the inheritance clause. He gets it whether he wants it or not. Unless he dies." He looked at William. "He has to die."

  "No! Leave him alone!" Darren sprang out of the loft, landing between Erick and William. Holding the wooden handle of a pick, he assumed the stance of a swordsman. "Get back, Erick. Leave William alone."

  "Darren." Mary breathed his name but couldn't believe what she was seeing.

  "Stay back," Darren warned the stouter man. He stepped forward menacingly, but his foot struck something and he stumbled.

  "Get back!" Erick drew a dirk from beneath his coat and held it aloft. "Don't attack or I'll have to kill you."

  "Erick!" Mary could plainly see that Darren had stumbled. He had no intention of attacking. "Erick!"


  She saw the blade of the knife begin its descent. Everything was happening too quickly, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Familiar take a leap toward Erick. Her own foot moved forward in a long sweep, but she knew she wasn't fast enough.

  She didn't believe at first that William was arcing, head first, through the air toward Darren. Even as she took another step herself, she saw Familiar stretch out, long and lean, a black blur that balanced for a moment on Blaze's withers before bouncing onto Erick's head. The cat struck just as William's shoulder caught Darren.

  The blade of Erick's knife slashed downward, missing Darren by mere inches as he rolled backward under William's weight.

  Mary stopped, unable to decide where she was needed next. Kevin dodged past her, running to Erick and pinning him to the ground.

  "William?" Mary watched her fiancé stand and offer his hand to Darren. In a moment, both men were brushing dirt from their clothes while Kevin held the subdued Erick.

  William caught sight of Mary, poised but unmoving. He opened his arms to her, and she ran into them. "You're fine. You weren't poisoned."

  "I was faking. When I saw his face the minute you showed the ring, I knew it was him. When he got the champagne, I knew not to drink mine. But I pretended because I wanted to get him out of the room, and I felt he'd make his move. I was afraid someone innocent would be injured if we remained."

  Kevin looked up at the two of them. His face showed sadness and relief. "William, you know that Erick is ill."

  "I know," William reassured him. "You have my word that I'll see to it that he gets the best medical care. He could have injured me or Mary at any time. He didn't. Whatever delusions he suffered from, he really did not want to hurt us. And, Kevin, I want to assure you that if your claim to Mayfair is legitimate, you'll share the estate with me."

  Tears stung Mary's eyes, but she blinked them back. Now wasn't the time to get sentimental.

  "I can't wait to tell Sophie," Kevin said. "She assured me that you and Mary would be fair. She begged me to talk with you. She even tried to browbeat me into it. If you can imagine that. But I was afraid you wouldn't take me seriously."

  Mary felt a flood of relief. That had to be the scene she'd overheard. And that went a long way to explaining how her friend had "changed" so radically. She'd misjudged the conversation— and Sophie.

  "Familiar." She called the black cat over and knelt down to stroke his hide. "I don't know how we'll ever thank this rascal. All along he's been here at Mayfair, discovering secret passageways, eating William's poisoned food. If it wasn't for Familiar, William might well be locked in some mental ward."

  "Meow." Familiar rubbed under her hand, stopping so that she could scratch under his chin.

  "How can we thank him?" William stroked the cat's sleek hide. "Maybe Eleanor will give him to us. I think we're going to see about updating the crest of the MacEachern clan. A horse— and a black cat."

  "An excellent idea," Mary agreed.

  "Let's get Erick inside and call Dr. Sloan. We can keep this among us and not press charges," William said, "if we all agree."

  "I don't think that will be a problem." Kevin grinned. "Except for Chancey. I'm not going to admit that I crunched her on the head."

  "Nor I," William said.

  "I will." Darren grinned, too. "It's about time someone other than my mother accused me of doing something wrong."

  "Who knows?" Kevin remarked slyly. "Chancey may decide she likes a man who exerts a little authority over her."

  "She'd be a match for Mother," Darren agreed.

  "That's out of the frying pan into the fire," Mary warned.

  "I think I'm ready for a different kind of roasting," Darren said as he helped Kevin lift Erick to his feet. "Watching you and William tonight made me decide that I'm going to move to the city. I'm going to start my own life, before it's too late. But we'll discuss all of this later. We'd better take care of Erick."

  With a nod from Kevin, they started toward the house.

  William's hand restrained Mary. "Wait a minute. The ring! Where did you find the MacEachern wedding ring? It's been missing for decades."

  Mary watched Kevin and Darren lead Erick toward the bright lights of Mayfair. The mystery was solved, or almost. "I didn't find the ring. Someone left it for me on the door of my room. On the chain. At first I thought it was you. But it wasn't, was it?"

  "No." William caressed her cheek with his fingertips.

  "Do you think it was Erick?"

  He shook his head. "No, love, I don't. I think that once, a long time ago, a MacEachern fell in love with a woman with all of his heart. Slaytor was willing to risk everything to have Lisette. I think our love, as strong as the bond between my kinsman and his wife, made Slaytor return the ring."

  "You think Slaytor left the ring for me?" Mary snuggled into William's arms. She couldn't be certain if he was teasing her or not. She didn't care. All that mattered was that they were together, and the future stretched before them.

  "That's one thing we'll never know," William answered. He turned her to face him. "But now that we have the ring, we should return to our guests and set out the plans for a real Mayfair wedding. Then I have other matters to…discuss with you."

  "Meow." Familiar closed the subject, twining about their legs.

  * * *

  SO ELEANOR and Peter are late. I'm all packed, got my best black suit on, and I'm ready to travel. I've avoided Mary all day. William was bad enough, but if Mary lets those crystal tears leak out of those big green eyes, I'm undone. I'd rather just walk into the sunset like John Wayne. You know, cast a big shadow and get out of town.

  Damn! Here she comes, and her eyes are already red. They want to adopt me, but I'm a traveling kind of cat. Besides, I can't keep my mind off my Clotilde. It's been a long time since I've seen her, and I have this nagging kind of feeling that she needs me at home.

  Ah, here comes the car. And Eleanor is as beautiful as ever. I've known some classy broads in my day, but none will ever compare to the Dame. Even Dr. Doolittle looks good to me. I must be suffering from some Scottish fever to think that.

  Too bad we can't stay for the wedding. Mary's going to make a beautiful bride. And reports of Erick are that he's improving with some new type of mineral therapy. He was more than a little unbalanced, but they think they may be able to put him back on line. And Kevin and Sophie can't keep their hands off each other. It may be a double wedding here at Mayfair.

  Okay, Mary, don't rumple the fur, and God knows, salt water might spot my coat, so don't drip on me. Just put me down and answer the door. That's a good girl.

  "FAMILIAR!" Eleanor dropped her purse and knelt on the cold stone floor as the black cat darted across the room and jumped into her arms. "Let's go home."

  Familiar Remedy

  by Caroline Burnes

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter One

  I never really knew my father. That's a sad fact of life for plenty of youngsters in this day and age. It's not that I actually feel sorry for myself, but hiding here, on the White House lawn, I can't help but wonder if maybe I could have been the First Cat if I'd had a dad. Well, there aren't any easy answers to that one. As it is, I haven't done so bad for myself. I am sitting on the White House lawn, even if it is to spy on a young chef. Well, spy is an exaggeration. Watch might be more accurate.

  I have only Clotilde, my calico queen, to blame for t
his predicament. That and my own tender heart, and more than a smidgen of patriotic fever. After all, how many detectives get invited to help the First Cat?

  That's right. I'm here by special request of Socks himself. One of his friends is being accused of a dastardly deed, and because of his prominent profile, he can't do much to help her.

  Clotilde, who visits the White House regularly with her two humans, somehow convinced Socks that I was the feline he needed for this particular job. Clotilde is such a complete charmer, and she absolutely idolizes me, if I do say so myself. At any rate, Socks sent word that he would be more than grateful for a little help with this special problem. Naturally, I agreed to help. Who could refuse the First Cat?

  I had only one request. An official title. Agent 009— for my nine lives, of course. Socks was very agreeable to the idea, though like all political creatures he wanted to argue whether I actually had nine whole lives left. I suppose I might be Agent 0071/2. Jeez.

  Okay, there's my signal. Socks has moved to the second floor window. He's taking a seat. His tail is twitching twice! Yes! The game plan is on. The door to the kitchen has been left open so I can enter and snoop around. Imagine, looking into the president's refrigerator. I wonder if Socks gets his daily cream in a bowl bearing the presidential seal?

  I see a bright future ahead of me on the talk shows. Oprah, you'd better practice up on your kitty talk.

  Time to hustle these old bones across the lawn and slip in the door. It's midnight and I have to get home before the dame wakes up and finds me missing. Eleanor gets a little overprotective sometimes. Foolish woman. She forgets that I'm the superior being.