by Wendy Vella
The day had seemed unusually bright and sunny to James from the first moment he had opened his eyes. Letting people inside his heart had not resulted in the pain he had once thought it would; in fact, the opposite had happened. He felt lighter and unburdened.
They entered the park and walked along the path.
“Oh look, James!”
At his sister’s squeal of excitement James followed her gaze and found the Sinclairs. They had set up the picnic beside a pond and under a large tree, which would offer shade from the sun when it reached its peak in the middle of the day. A long table was laid with a bright blue cloth and loaded with food and drink.
The twins were dressed in blue, pink, and white. Seeing them approach, their little legs started running. Releasing his hand, Samantha did the same.
“Ahhh,” Cam sniffed the air. “The smell of food.”
James smiled as he found Eden. She was sitting on a blanket with a book in her hand and Warwick pressed to her side.
“Hello, my love.”
Her chin rose at his words, and the smile she gave him made his heart thud.
“Have mercy, Raven, I am due to eat, and that look you and my sister are sharing is making me nauseous.”
“Go away, Cam,” James said, making his way to where she sat and dropping down before her.
“Hello, Warwick,” he said with his eyes on Eden. Beneath the shade of the tree with dappled sunlight all around her, she looked almost magical.
“We have just finished reading the adventures of Captain Vesely, James, and now I am going to eat.”
The boy got to his feet and without a backward glance ran to the food-laden table.
“I dreamt of you.” James said cupping her cheek. “And woke up wanting you.”
“Soon,” she whispered, and he closed the distance and brushed his lips over hers in a brief kiss. “I love you, James.”
“And I you, Eden.”
He wanted to hold her, lay her down on the blanket and cradle her close, but of course he could not.
“Come.” James got to his feet and held out his hand. It was not done to be overly demonstrative with one’s fiancée, especially in public, and yet these were the Sinclairs. Very little was proper and correct with them, so he retained her hand as they walked.
“Happy birthday, Dorrie, Somer.”
“Oh, James,” they said in unison, holding up the necklaces Samantha had selected for them. “These are beautiful.”
They threw themselves at him and he caught them because they were his family now too, and besides, he rather thought he enjoyed being hugged.
They ate as the family teased and annoyed each other. He joined in when he could think of something to say, but for the most was content to watch. Samantha sat between him and Eden, and were it not for the man intent on killing him, James could say he was the happiest he had ever been in his life.
A game of hide-and-seek was decided upon once their food had settled.
“But you will not go far, and use the trees closest,” James cautioned the children and adults. “No one is to move out of shouting range, and I want the children in pairs.”
There were a few grumbles but surprisingly no one challenged him. It was decided that Lord and Lady Wynburg would stay by the tree and watch proceedings to check for any cheating.
“Of which there will be a great deal,” Eden told him. “We can’t do anything without cheating,” she added.
“I have much to learn it seems.”
“I shall teach you.” She gave him a secret smile.
“Watch and learn, James. I am something of a legend at this,” Cam said, as he jogged by with Warwick.
“What you have is an overinflated ego,” Eden said.
Lord Wynburg counted, Dev was to find them, and the rest of the party hurried to find places to hide. The three little girls were allowed to hide together, but only because Eden said she would be able to hear them wherever they wandered, simply because the twins had never worked out how to keep their voices down. James, Essie, and Eden were to hide alone.
“How does one choose a hiding place I wonder?”
Eden smiled as James spoke to himself, or perhaps her. He knew she had taken out her earplugs as the game began, believing it important to keep track of where everyone was. She hadn’t added that she liked to cheat if given the opportunity to do so.
Slipping behind some bushes, Eden forced herself inside one, ignoring the leaves and branches catching in her hair. Appearances were given no consideration when competing with family members. She settled in the middle and then listened. Warwick was grumbling that Cam was being too fussy, and any old tree would do. Dev was counting, their aunt and uncle chuckling over the goings-on. Essie was close, because she was humming softly. The little girls were giggling, but were some distance away.
She heard Dev stop counting and declare his intentions loudly, that he was coming to find them. Listening as the voices hushed, Eden tensed as she heard a scream. Forcing her way from the bushes took seconds, but once free she listened again, and this time heard the twins running, their voices raised in fear.
“Come quickly!” Eden cried as she picked up her skirts and ran in their direction. It was a matter of seconds before she rounded a tree and found them, legs pumping, hair flowing behind them. Dorrie and Somer were crying, their distress obvious. Eden’s heart chilled as she realized Samantha was not with them.
“A man, Eden!”
James arrived first, followed by the others.
“Where is Samantha!” he bellowed.
“The man, he grabbed her and ran, we t-tried to stop him!”
“Which way?” Dev bent to haul his sisters close.
“That w-way,” Somer managed to get out before bursting into loud sobs.
“Go to Aunt and Uncle, tell them what has happened, then insist they return to the house, Warwick.”
The boy nodded at Dev’s words, then taking his sisters’ hands, he started running.
“Everyone quiet!” Eden held up her hand as she started running in the direction her little sister had indicated. She felt James at her side. Dev charged forward, using his sight to search for Samantha’s colors. When they reached the gate, he held out his hands. The siblings quickly took hold, forming a small circle.
“Focus,” she whispered.
She felt the strength of her siblings flow through her as she sorted through the sounds around them. Carriage wheels, the clop of hooves, voices rising over other sounds. James breathed heavily behind her, and then she heard it, the soft whimper that belonged to Samantha.
“Left, there,” she said.
“I can see her,” Dev added. “Quickly!”
They were all running once more. James, Dev, and Cam were faster, with she and Essie at the rear.
Dev held up his hand as they reached another street, and the siblings all grabbed hands once more. Cam sniffed loudly, and Essie closed her eyes.
“She was carried past here, I smell the cherry cake she tucked in her pocket before the game,” Cam whispered
“I taste fear,” Essie added.
Eden lowered her head and focused. She could no longer hear Samantha, but the voice of a man. He was directing someone to drive fast.
“The carriage, it is coming this way and Samantha is inside!” Eden cried.
The three men, and Eden, pulled out their pistols. All lined the road, holding them before them. The driver saw them and yelled at them to move, but no one did.
“Stop or I shoot!” James roared.
Eden watched a head come out the window; seeing them, it ducked back inside. The carriage door then opened, and Samantha was held out, dangling from a pair of hands.
“No!” James ran forward with Eden on his heels. As the carriage drew near, the hands dropped the little girl, and Eden watched in horror as James dived forward, arms outstretched. The breath seized in her throat as he reached for his sister; catching her, he fell, turning so he took the impact with Samantha cla
sped in his arms.
“Eden move!”
Dev’s words galvanized her. She leapt off the road as the carriage sped by. Landing on her feet, she kept running until she reached James and Samantha.
“Dear God, please tell me you are unhurt!” She dropped to her knees. Samantha lay sprawled on her brother’s chest, his arms wrapped around her like two bands of iron.
“James, talk to me.” Eden’s words were desperate.
“I am unharmed.” His words were cold and clipped, anger evident in each.
“Eden, that m-man wanted to hurt me.”
Samantha’s tear-drenched face lifted to look at Eden.
“Oh, you poor little girl.” She stroked a trembling shoulder. “But do you remember what I told you once, about big brothers?”
Samantha looked down at James, who did not look inclined to release her, or indeed move from his current position in the gutter.
“That b-big brothers are very special people, because they t-take their responsibilities very seriously. Especially when it comes protecting their little sisters.”
“That’s right, and didn’t your big brother do exceptionally well today?”
“Oh yes.” The little girl managed a shaky smile. “He is the b-best big brother.”
James sat upright, cradling her. He then kissed the top of her head. “Are you all right, Samantha?” Each word sounded like it was wrenched from his chest.
“Yes, I am not hurt, but that man scared me.”
“He will not do so again, love.”
Eden saw the rage in her fiancé’s eyes as he looked over Samantha’s head.
“Come, you cannot sit in the street all day, Raven. To your feet, so we can check you are uninjured.”
James handed Samantha to Eden and took the hand Dev held out to him. He then silently took his sister back, and the child wrapped her arms around his neck and lowered her head to his shoulder.
“Are you hurt, James?” Eden did not like the ice-cold look in his eyes.
“No.”
Gone was the happy, smiling man who had approached her at the picnic, replaced by the cold and unapproachable Duke.
“Come, we need to get back to your house, Raven.”
Dev’s words galvanized them and soon they were in the park once again.
“The carriage was not about to stop, so we jumped clear,” Eden heard Cam tell James. “It had no markings and was black all over. The driver had his hat pulled low, but I would recognize him should I encounter him again.”
“Can you tell us what happened, Samantha?”
“I don’t think that now—”
“Yes, James, now is the best time, her memory is fresh,” Dev insisted.
Eden walked at James’s side as Samantha haltingly told her story. It seemed the man had come up behind her, picked her up, thrown her over his shoulder and started running. She had heard the twins screaming, but they could do nothing to stop him, even though she hammered on his back.
James soothed her as she talked, running a large hand up and down her spine.
“When we reached the carriage, he opened the door and threw me onto a seat. I bounced, and then we were moving.”
“Did the man say anything to you?”
“Nothing, Cam. He just said to the driver to hurry.”
“Did you see his face?”
Samantha shook her head. “I never looked at him until we were inside the carriage, and when I did, the lower half was covered.”
“Could you smell anything unusual,” Cam said. “Anything at all, Samantha?”
“Manure.” She wrinkled her nose. “The man smelt of m-manure.”
“Enough.” James said the word softly, but they all heard the threat. He did not want his sister upset any further. “Once again I am in your debt,” he added. “Thank you for coming to my sister’s aid today.”
As no one knew how to respond they remained silent. The family had gone; when they reached the picnic area only the servants were there, cleaning up. James continued walking, striding ahead with Samantha, and Eden could not match his long stride.
“Let him alone now, love. He is hurting and angry, he needs time to deal with all that emotion, as he is not a man used to it.”
“But I am to be wed to that man, Dev, and as such he should talk to me, surely? Or am I to live my life ‘giving him time?’“
The Sinclairs walked behind the Ravens, keeping them near the entire journey back. Once they reached James’s town house, Eden ignored her brothers’ efforts to stop her and hurried to reach him before he entered his house.
“James, shall I stay? Would you like me to help you with Samantha?”
He turned at her words, his eyes cold and distant.
“No, go home, Eden.”
“James, I am to be your wife, I want to—”
He glared. “I am aware of who you are, but at this moment, my sister takes precedence over everyone else in my life.”
“But I want to comfort her also.” Eden felt as if the ground were moving beneath her feet. She could not reach him, his intent only to push her away.
“She is my sister,” he snapped. “I do not need or want a Sinclair to help us.”
Eden stepped back at the fury in his words.
“Eden, that came out wrong, I did—”
She saw the moment clarity returned to his brown eyes, but she did not stop, instead turned from him to follow her family out the gates.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Eden had slept badly. She was now sitting in her bedroom watching people pass by on the street below. Her thoughts were of course settled on James, and how he had turned away from her yesterday. “I do not need or want a Sinclair to help us.” Lord that had hurt.
Of course she had understood what he was dealing with; the intense reaction to nearly losing the sister he had only just learned to love had shaken him badly. But Eden had wanted him to turn to her in his pain. She was to be his wife. Was this to be their future together? Whenever something challenged the foundations of his life, was he to turn away from her?
Eden knew she could be a demanding person, but then who would not learn to be when they had been raised one of so many. She had understood early that to be heard she had to speak the loudest, had to ask the questions until she received the right answers. She also knew she could not live with a man who would not allow her into his life, a man who refused to share his burdens.
She had heard her brothers leave the house early, and knew they had gone to have a meeting with James about what must be done to find the man who intended on harming the Raven family. She was not included, supposedly because she was a woman whose opinion was of no consequence. The woman, she thought, who was to become a Raven.
With distance and hindsight, Eden realized she had not handled yesterday’s situation well. James was a novice at dealing with strong emotion, and she the exact opposite. She knew her faults, and patience had never been something she’d cultivated, so she had pushed him, instead of giving him time.
“Enter,” she called in answer to the knock on her door.
“I have brought us tea, and then you must change, as Lord Laurent is taking us driving in the park.”
In direct contrast to Eden, Essie looked refreshed and happy. Her green eyes sparkled, and she knew that love was the reason.
“Of course I should love to accompany you.” The distraction would do her good.
Essie lowered the tray to a small table, then pulled her chair close to Eden’s.
“You love James, and he you, Eden.”
“I know that, and I know I should not have pushed him yesterday. But I am to be his wife, Essie. I do not want him to pull away from me every time a situation arises that challenges him.”
She took the hand her sister held out to her.
“You are the most loving, passionate person I know, Eden. You give so much of yourself without a care of how it affects you. I have faith that you and James will come to understand each other,
and in time he will not turn away from you when he is gripped by strong emotions.”
“Are you sure, Essie?”
“Very. The man loves you to distraction, and if that alone is not enough, then Dev will beat him into submission.”
“I hope you are right,” Eden sighed. “Not about Dev beating him up, but the first part.”
“I know I am right. Now enough of this moping. It is a beautiful day, and I wish to go driving with Lord Laurent.” Essie regained her feet and headed for the door. “So ready yourself, and put on your prettiest dress, as I may direct him to drive by James’s house in the hope he is standing at his window.”
Eden laughed as her sister wanted her to, although they both knew her heart was not in it. She then called for Grace and got herself ready.
…
“You look beautiful today, ladies.”
“Thank you, kind, sir,” Essie smiled across the carriage to where Lord Laurent sat. The look in his eyes confirmed everything Eden already believed. The man was in love with her sister.
Looking out the window, Eden let the couple talk while her thoughts returned to James. She would send him a note upon her return home, and ask that he pay her a call. She loved him, and with love came compromise, so she would make the first move to breach the gap yesterday’s events had placed between them.
“Are you to attend the Langley Ball, this evening, my lord?”
“I am afraid I have other plans, Miss Essex.”
Eden knew Essie had a new dress to wear tonight, and that she had chosen it expressly to please Lord Laurent.
“I shall miss you, my lord.”
“And I you.”
Eden managed to swallow her sigh. It was not easy feeling low and listening to two people so obviously in love.
You are pathetic Eden Sinclair!
They had been driving a while, when she noticed they were not heading toward the park. In fact the streets were not familiar to her at all.
“Lord Laurent, I believe your driver has taken a wrong turn.”
Unease suddenly gripped Eden as the smile fell from his lips at her words.
“All will be explained in due course,” he said bending to retrieve something from under the seat, and as he straightened, in his hand was a pistol.
