A Terrible Misunderstanding (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 6)

“Don’t get too complacent, gentleman. It is not time to celebrate yet,” Atticus warned. “We have another problem to face before we can focus on finding the missing women.”

“What’s that?”

Atticus turned to look at Niall. “It appears that Smidgley’s thug hasn’t heard about his boss being on the run.”

“What do you mean?”

“He is back and watching my house.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

By the time they reached Atticus’s house across the village, the thug had already struck again.

“Mother of God, when will this end?” Atticus cried as he dismounted his horse and dropped the reins unconcernedly onto the floor. He swore roundly when he saw the smashed window of the French doors which now stood wide open.

Even as the men approached, they became aware of the commotion coming from within the property. Phillip, Will, Niall, Atticus, and Rhys, all drew their weapons and edged closer. Niall’s thoughts immediately turned to Clara. As he listened to the din, he thought he heard her voice, but it was too hushed for him to be sure.

“What do you think we should do?” Flo asked. “Oh, dear. I do wish Atticus was here.”

“Well, he isn’t,” Clara snapped.

“Do you know something? You really have been quite miserable of late,” Flo informed her dourly.

“Well, being kidnapped tends to make a person reassess their life,” Clara retorted. She sighed because she saw her aunt’s hurt look and immediately felt awful for having caused it. “Look, I am sorry, all right? I just cannot be the same again.”

“Well, he won’t be the same again. He is going to wake up with a frightful headache,” Flo mused.

“Do you really think I care? I am sick of men thinking they can accost me. I am not some flotsam and jetsam they can just snatch whenever I float by. I am sick of my life bringing me toads,” Clara cried.

She looked around the silent room for inspiration before she eyed the now unconscious man at their feet. He was the thug who had tried to drag her off into the bushes the day she met Niall. Immediately, her thoughts turned to the man who she still felt was her Knight in shining armour.

“He might be physically and mentally strong, but he is an emotional coward,” she sighed.

“Who is, dear?”

“Nobody.” Clara saw her aunt’s rueful look and knew Flo knew exactly who she meant.

“He will come around in time I am sure,” Flo murmured.

“I don’t care. I am not waiting around for him, and I am most certainly not going to allow men like him to keep trying to drag me off with them,” Clara snorted with a nod to the thug at their feet.

With that, she hurried out to the hallway and yanked a shawl off the coatrack whereupon she returned to the room. When it came to approaching the man, though, she eyed him warily. The last thing she wanted to do was touch him. He was a veritable stranger, and even unconscious he posed a threat to her.

“What do we do if he is just pretending to be asleep?” She asked cautiously.

“Well, he can try to accost you again but shall have me to contend with.”

While her aunt held her stick aloft in preparation to strike, Clara edged closer to the man and cautiously tugged his hands behind his back before she tied them together with the make-shift restraint. Once he was tight as tight as she could possibly manage, she fetched another shawl and did the same with his legs.

“Now what?” Clara asked.

“Just what in the Devil’s name are you doing?” Atticus blustered when he stepped into the room only to find his daughter standing under an unconscious thug. To add to his disbelief, his sister was waving a stick over her head in preparation to attack anybody who ventured near them.

“What does it look like?” Clara snapped.

“It looks like you have caught yourself a prize,” Atticus growled.

“Well, this prize you can take to gaol because he has just broken in here or have you missed the huge gaping hole in the window?”