The Scent of Jasmine (Edilean 4)
“I will not! You’re a criminal!”
“So are you now. Either you follow me or I’ll pull you off that horse and put you across my saddle.”
She was tempted to test him to do that. She could see that he was thin under his raggedy clothes, and she was much younger than he was, but he still might be strong enough to pull her. “All right,” she said at last, and in the next second he took off, seeming to expect her to follow wherever he led. She wanted to turn and ride away, but she heard another shot in the distance, so she went after him. Maybe he knew of a safe place to hide. Didn’t all people who were put into jail know such things?
She rode behind him for what must have been a mile, then he seemed to disappear in the darkness. As she pulled her horse to a halt, she looked around her, but she didn’t see him. She heard a bird whistle, but there were few other sounds. In the next moment, she heard a horse’s hooves pounding on the road, and when the man appeared, even with all the hair on his face, she could see that he was angry.
Marveling at his ingratitude, she moved her horse into the bushes at the side of the road, and dismounted.
“Ah thooght ’at coz ye coods kin me, ye micht hae a wee bit ay sense tae ye, but nae, yoo’re as dumb as a bairn.”
“I can understand every word you say,” she said, “and I don’t like any of it. When I get back—”
“Quiet, girl,” he growled as he pushed her to the ground, his arm across her back.
Cay was about to protest when she heard the horses approaching. As she lowered her head, she felt the man’s arm slide up over her. He smelled vile, and she wondered if he had lice and other vermin on him. If he did, she’d never get them out of her hair.
Four horses and riders stopped not far from them, and she held her breath as she waited for them to go on.
“I tell you, it was
that red-haired girl staying with T.C. Connor. I saw her face when she looked back,” one of the men said loudly, and Cay gasped.
The Scotsman put his hand over her mouth. He was very close to her, his long body pressed against hers, one of his shoulders over hers, holding her to the ground.
She moved her head to get his hand off her mouth. He removed it, but he gave her a warning look to be quiet.
“A girl?” one of the men said. “Why would a girl help a murderer escape?”
“She’s probably the reason he killed his wife, and now they’re runnin’ off together. Everyone knows he married Miss Grey for her money.”
“What a fool to have killed a beauty like her.”
“You two sound like old hens discussin’ the gossip. I think we should go back to Connor’s and see if the girl is there. If she ain’t, then I say we should ask him some questions.”
With that, they turned their horses and left.
Instantly, Cay moved toward her horse, but the man grabbed the bottom of her cloak and pulled her back down.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Back to my godfather’s house to warn him.”
“And that means T.C.’s house?”
“Of course.”
“You do that and they’ll catch you and put you in jail for helping a murderer escape.”
She glared at him as he got up. “I guess that means you’re not planning to give yourself up to protect your benefactor?”
After giving a snort, as though to say she was the dumbest person alive, he got up and went to his horse. “Connor can take care of himself. From what I’ve heard of the man, he’s outrun Indians, bears, and a shipload of pirates. I think he can handle a few locals looking for a pretty girl to terrorize.”
“Yes, but . . .” Cay didn’t want to take the time to argue with him. “All right, then I’ll go home.”
“And that means . . . ?”
“Edilean, Virginia.”