“Only one way to find out.” As a man, they began to walk down the track to meet the youth. When they were within hailing distance, the lad, Billy Walker, as Will told David quietly, “Not all there, but willing and able,” began to run.
David caught him as he stumbled and coughed. “M’lord, m’lady said to say it’s the dragon,” Billy gasped. “She said to hurry to tell yer, there’s only me able. Lady Josephine and young Rose have gone to see.”
“The dragon?” Will asked as David gave Billy some water and urged him to sip. “You sure, Billy?”
Billy nodded, gulped his mouthful of liquid and cleared his throat. “That were her words. The dragon, oh and a castle and treasure.”
“Whose words, Billy?” David asked gently. “Take your time and tell us everything.”
“Joe Mannion was left in charge of t’stables, and young Rose and Lady Josephine went for an ’oss. Lady Foster said Lady Josephine ’ad ’eard Rose say she were sure lads went to find the dragon by the castle to get the treasure and she’d show the lady. So she, my lady, told ’em to go get an ’oss and she’d send someone to tell you. She sent me, ’cos Joe were better to stop in case more ’osses were needed. I came as fast as I could. I left me ’oss down there acos I’m not good enough a rider to come up ’ere. I thought of ’oss, you see, and tied him backaways.”
“You did well,” David told him. “I’ll remember. But, bloody hell,” he added explosively, “Dragon’s Den. How the hell could we have forgotten it? Would they have gone there?”
Will hit his forehead. “The buggers, I bet they have. They’ve been so full of chatting about caves and stuff I forgot that t’gorge would call to ’em. Best we go there, eh?”
David nodded. “We need to send someone back to let the household know.” He turned and scanned the men present. Who seemed most tired and therefore more use back at the house?
“Now, Billy, when you are fit, you go back with…let me see.” He named half a dozen men. “Take Mr. Dempster with you. He’s at the end of the bridleway.”
“Ah, I saw ’im. He said to say he’d do as you wanted.”
“Good. Now, we’ll probably need gates or a barn door, and water and bandages from the big house. Tom, you’re in charge.”
Tom Bryars, a burly farmer whose land was nearest to where they stood, nodded. “I’ve got a couple of new gates waiting to be put up in my barn, and I’ll get the missus to hunt out some food for everyone.”
“Lady Foster will have that in hand, I’d think. Perhaps Lizzie could go there?”
“I’ll sort it. Where do you want ’em? Top of gorge?”
David nodded and waited until the party had departed. Then he turned to his friends. “So, Dragon’s Den, I can understand, but a castle and John’s treasure?”
Bert sighed. “A few years back, the farm around there was bought by a bloke called Cassel. We knew it as Fiddlers, the youngsters as Cassels. But he was Don, not John.”
“Could they have heard wrongly?”
“Mebbe, who knows with lads, but he were just an ordinary bloke, not anyone with more than the rest of us.”
David nodded. “No doubt when we find them, we’ll find the answer.”
* * * *
“Now, Rose, I want you to wait here until I shout and tell you what to do. All right?” Josephine wriggled back from the edge of the gorge, where she had spent several minutes stretched out on her front to study the best way to get to the ground below. She dusted her dirty hands on her already mucky skirts, took hold of Rose’s hand and looked at the little girl. “It’s very important you do exactly as I say, sweetness. I won’t know what I need until I get down.” She looked at the rock face and wished she’d been more adventurous as a child. However, she was fit and agile and needs must. It was a pity she had a dress on and not pantaloons or breeches like the men, but she couldn’t take it off. It would not be seemly, and her chemise would be scant protection against scratches and scrapes, to say nothing of gorse and nettles—or worse.
Since that first cry for help, they had heard nothing more. “I’m going to wrap these last three rags around my waist, under my dress, in case I need them.”
“Mebbe’s you should wrap ’em round your fingers so they doesn’t get too scratched, or would that make it hard to hold on?” Rose asked. She seemed in a much more positive frame of mind now she had something to concentrate on. “Acos you’ll ruin your gloves else. And tie the water bottle in one and sling it over your back.”
Josephine thought over Rose’s words. “I might need the rags to be clean. They’d be best tucked under my dress.” She suited her actions to her words. “My gloves will do. But what a good idea about the water. I’ll take one and leave one for you. Now, if they shout again, then tell them I’m on my way and ask if they can show me where they are somehow. Maybe wave. And you shout to me as well. Yes?”
As soon as Rose replied in the affirmative, Josephine scanned the rock face to determine her route. Although at first glance it had appeared sheer, she could tell that, in fact, it wasn’t so. There were outcrops and cracks with more than enough foliage to give her decent handholds. She could see how tempting it would be for young boys to climb down the scales of the so-called dragon, but for her own descent, she noticed many more less dramatic but probably safer routes to take.
The first few yards were the worst. There the rock face was steep and crumbly. Several small—and not so small—rocks and stones tumbled down the scree with a noise like thunder. Twice one bounced off her shoulder and she was glad of the thickness of her gown. No doubt she would be bruised.
“Miss, you all right?” Rose shouted. “I ain’t heard any more.”
“Fine,” Josephine called back. She risked a quick look around and gulped. There was still a long way to go. “About halfway down.” She was breathless and her body ached from the effort of stretching for hand and footholds. Without haste, she moved downward in a careful step-by-step, steady manner. If only one of the boys would call out again, she would be a lot happier. At least she would know she was climbing to the proper area.
A brisk wind teased her skirt and she uttered a word her mama would have washed her mouth out for. It was difficult enough to move without her skirts hindering her progress.
This stretch was tricky. For a couple of yards, the hand and footholds were scarce and at one point she had only the roots of a spindly bush to hold her. She struggled on and breathed a sigh of relief when her feet settled into a deep and wide crevice. She let her body sag for several precious moments then took another look down. “Only a few yards now,” she shouted, and hoped both Rose and the boys—wherever they were—could hear her. No one replied. Undaunted, she set off again and a few minutes later was rewarded by her feet touching solid ground.
At that point, the gorge was around a hundred yards wide, she supposed. To one side of her, it narrowed to end in a semicircle, where a trickle of water showed on the mainly bare rocks. Josephine presumed it would be a proper waterfall in the winter, although now there wasn’t even enough water to create a pool at the base let alone a stream over the valley floor. Probably just as well. She didn’t want to have to cope with a paddle and wet feet as well as taking care she didn’t twist her ankle. Nearer to where she had climbed down was the so-called dragon, and at the far end she rather thought the gorge opened out. No doubt if she had known the area she could have walked in via a track or some such thing. However, as far as she could tell, there wasn’t one nearby, so presumably it would have taken an age to get to. Plus, she had now achieved two new things that day. Riding astride and climbing down a cliff, neither of which was to be sneezed at.
“I’m down,” she called, even though she had no idea if anyone could hear her. “Going toward the dragon.” She had to start somewhere. Very carefully, Josephine began to pick her way across the uneven floor of the gorge. It was chillier there. Very little sunlight reached over half of the area, and the shadows were longer, more menacing than those that danced
through the trees above. The goosebumps on her arms were of the unpleasant something-isn’t-quite-right sort, not those delicious ones David’s touch had given her.
David!
She prayed he would somehow turn up like a knight on a white charger and not rescue her exactly, but aid her. However, unless someone had managed to find him, it was likely the next however long was up to her.
She cast her mind back to remember the youngsters’ names. “Sam? Freddie? Can you hear me?”
Silence. She took several steps toward a crack in the rock, very near the base, and shouted again.
Was it an echo or did someone really answer? Josephine scanned the area. “Sam? Freddie? Where are you?”
“Down ’ere.” The faint shout appeared to come from a few feet in front of her. Almost as if it originated underground.
“Keep calling so I can find you. I just need to shout up to people at the top.” She thought it sounded better to say people rather than one little girl. Josephine checked her position, walked back to where she’d scrambled down the gorge sides and cupped her hands. “Rose? Can you hear me?”
“Yes, miss.” The reply was faint but there. That was one thing less to worry about.
“I’ve found them. Tell whoever arrives to come down the way I did and head to the left then look for a hole near the bottom of the cliff.” She thought that would be the simplest way to describe where she was. “Can you remember that?”
“Course, miss. You be careful, acos I’m all by m’self up ’ere. S’long walk ’ome.”
Bless her.
“I will, and you won’t be alone for long. You’re a big, brave girl.” Josephine took a deep breath. Right, get on with it, it’s all down to me for now. She made her way slowly across the uneven ground toward the spot where she had heard the lads. “Boys? Time to shout again. Can you give me a clue where you are?”
“Down the hole. At bottom of dragon. But who are you?”
That was as clear as mud. “I’m a friend of Lady Foster’s. Are either of you injured?” Josephine walked with care toward the fissure, which she now noticed extended from the cliff face into the ground. The ground was uneven, boggy and rocky in turn. The last thing she needed was to hurt herself. Little use she’d be then.
Behind her, the sun rose over the horizon and gave her more light. She didn’t spare a second glance to see if the sunrise was spectacular.
“Did you fall?” It was hard to keep her voice level and not appear as anxious as she was as she called down to the boys. “And are either of you hurt?”
“Not down it, miss,” the speaker, presumably young Sam Bonsall, said with what sounded like a sob. “But Freddie slipped and some rocks and stones and muck fell on ’im when we was in ’ere and nows I can’t move him. An’ he just sorta groans a bit.”
That didn’t sound good.
“Ah, well, hold on.” She reached the edge of the hole, pleased to see the sides did not slope too steeply, even if on first glance there were few hand or footholds. “Can you tell me if you can see this?” Josephine unwrapped one of the rags and dangled it over the edge.
For a few worrying seconds there was silence.
“Ah, yes, miss.” Sam’s voice echoed up to her.
“Now, how far above your head is it? Can you touch it?” She held her breath.
“Nah, it’s mebbes higher than I could ever jump.”
Damn. She supposed it was too much to hope it would be that easy.
“Quite far then?”
“Um, a bit, but I reckon if Freddie were able to move and I stood on his shoulders I would. But he can’t.”
“Never mind. Now, if I come down, I won’t land on Freddie and squash him, will I?”
Sam almost chuckled. “Nah, he’s back a bit and I’ll keep out of the way.”
“Good, then let me just make sure that our rescuers know where we are, and then I’m coming in. Put the kettle on.”
Sam did chuckle then.
Josephine tied one of her remaining rags around the nearest tree and, after a swift scan of her surrounds, rearranged a few rocks into a rough arrow pointing to the cave-hole. She closed her eyes and offered up a brief but heartfelt prayer, ignored the butterflies in her stomach and the fact that she’d never done anything remotely similar before and stretched out on the ground. Slowly, and with great care, she twisted until her feet, then her legs dangled over the edge of the hole.
* * * *
The small girl with a tear-streaked face who stood next to a horse screamed as she saw the riders approach her and jiggled from one foot to the other in impatience.
“Dad, Dad, it’s our Sam. He’s down near the dragon, though Miss says there aren’t any left no more, but she’s gone to rescue ’em and I’ve got to be a big girl and look after Ruby here and wait for you and tell you…” She sobbed. “Tell you…they ain’t dead. It’s all acos of Boy John and his castle.”
David let out the breath he hadn’t realized he held as he slid to the ground and wrapped his horse’s reins around a sturdy branch. Ever since Billy had come upon them, an icy fear had gripped him and a huge lump of dread had lodged in his stomach. Worry for the boys, fear for his lady and an urge to put her over his knee for giving him such a fright and placing herself in danger all vied to be the uppermost emotion. Along with the desire to kiss her senseless.
Then carry her off and make love to her until she agreed that they were made for each other.
“Boy John?” he said quietly. “Not just a mistake for ‘Don’, then?”
Will shrugged. “Who knows except them young rapscallions?”
Who may or may not have been found by Josephine. Who may or may not be injured. That unwanted thought sent a slither of apprehension down his spine.
Do not even think about that. She will be fine. She had to be.
David didn’t have time to dissect his thoughts. He knelt on the ground next to Rose.
“You’ll get all dirty,” Rose said. “Your mum won’t half go on.”
“Never mind, you’re more important,” David said. He had other, more pressing things to worry about than his buckskins. The boys, Josephine and how to rescue them for a start.
“I’m so glad my lady thought to bring you,” he said in a soft, unthreatening voice. “What can you tell us?”
Rose sniffed as her papa gathered her into his arms and sat with his back to a convenient tree trunk.
“Miss and me heard the boys so she went to see if she could get to them. She said she’s gone down near the dragon so you’ve got to do it as well, and look for a hole near it. And now she’s got into the hole and what if the dragon eats ’er?”
“Didn’t she say dragons don’t live anymore?” David spoke to soothe Rose, even as his throat closed up and his skin went clammy. She’d done what? He’d like to lock her up for a month.
“Ah, she said. I forgot.”
“Not anywhere. So it’s not a dragon’s den. Just a pothole.” That potholes often led into caving systems with a myriad of tunnels and rivers, he didn’t dare think about.
“Yes, she said that, but the boys are in the hole and so she had to go and help them. I’m gonna be like her when I grow up.” Rose sounded very definite. “And you need to go and help her, acos even if we hate to say it, we ain’t as strong in body as you men, even if we is in mind,” Rose finished in triumph, as she obviously repeated something she’d been told or overheard. “But without us, you’d’ve been stumped.”
“I don’t doubt it for a second.” David slanted a swift look at Will. “When Bert gets here, ask him to keep an eye open for the rest with the trestle. I’ve a feeling we will need it. Otherwise I would have wagered my last guinea they’d have reappeared before now. I’ll go down, you take Rose home and come back. The others will stop here with me.”
“I aint goin’ back. Miss said to stop here so I will,” Rose said in an obstinate voice David didn’t expect from one so young. “I promised.”
David glanced helplessly at
Will, who shrugged. “She’s as strong-willed as your lady, I reckon.”
“Miss made me promise not to move.”
David doubted Josephine had meant it so literally, but thought it best not to upset Rose. “Then you must stay here, but now do exactly as your pa tells you. Agreed?”
Rose bit her lip. “’Til Miss comes back?”
David nodded. “Until she comes back. Would you do that?”
Rose sighed in a way David would guarantee she’d heard her mother do. “All right then, but hurry up, will you? I’m fair clemmed.”
When was a child ever not? David indicated his saddlebags. “There’s a pie or two in there. Just save something for the boys.” He gathered up everything he thought he might need, including his hip flask, and slung a bag over his back before he glanced at Will and the other men standing around.
“Can one of you come to the top of the slope? Listen out for anything I might shout. I’ll check what’s what and let you know what the status quo is.”
One, Davy Flixton, nodded. “I will. What else do you need?”
David mentally checked the contents of his bag. “Apart from the trestle, nothing except positive thoughts and good luck.” He made his way to the edge of the gorge, checked how crumbly the soil was and levered himself over the grass roots and scree. “I’ll need plenty of that. I’ve not been over this edge for nigh on twenty-five years.”
Will let out a bark of laughter. “And it were a lot easier in those days, even if it did seem like the side of a mountain.”
It might not appear so high these days, but he was a lot heavier and the scree less firm. As if to reaffirm that thought, loose stones accompanied him as he climbed lower. Several hit his head and arms and one bounced off his shoulder so hard he cursed under his breath. If he got down in one piece, it would be a miracle.
Miracles did happen—didn’t they?
* * * *
Josephine washed her mouth out with the tiniest amount of water she could manage and passed the container to Sam. She sat back on her knees as she surveyed the two boys in front of her. The amount of light from the hole above and behind her was negligible and ahead all she could discern was a yawning blackness.
The Viscount Meets his Match: A Regency Romance Page 17
