Rescued By The Forbidden Rake

‘Is Claire in the shop?’ Faye tilted her head to see past a few customers congregated in the doorway of the confectionery shop. The merchant kept his premises open quite late in the summer months to sell to those playing games on the village green.

‘Haven’t seen your sister, Miss Shawcross,’ Peggy said, edging away.

‘Are you sure about that?’ Faye lowered her voice to demand, ‘Have you and Claire been meeting some gypsy lads on the sly?’

‘Don’t tell me pa, will you, Miss Shawcross?’ Peggy whimpered. ‘He’ll take the stick to me back.’ She dodged past, running towards her home.

Faye was no mean sprinter and quickly caught up with her; grasping her elbow, she whipped the girl around. ‘You had better tell me where Claire is, or I’ll come home with you now and you can tell your father and me everything that has gone on.’

‘We went to the fairground earlier. I came back, but Claire stayed with Donagh because they’re packing up to travel on and she wanted to say goodbye.’

‘Donagh?’ Faye echoed with subdued alarm.

‘Donagh Lee is the chief’s son. He’s keen on Claire...’

‘Is she keen on him?’ Faye whispered, her mind jumbling with all sorts of imagined disasters.

Peggy nodded. ‘I told her to come back with me or she’d get in to trouble. But she said she’d stay just a few more minutes, then head home. They were by the copse where the ponies are tied up.’

‘Thank you, Peggy.’ Faye could feel the prickle of shocked, angry tears as she hurried back to the trap and climbed on board. At the back of her mind whirred a constant mantra. How could you be so stupid and selfish, Claire? How could you?

As she set the trap to a fast trot out of Wilverton her heart was thudding crazily beneath her bodice. She clung to the hope that her sister had gone home and was impatiently waiting for her to return so they could eat supper.

Home or not, Faye knew that she would tear a strip off her sister. She prayed that Peggy and Edward would keep what they knew to themselves in case their father found out they’d also risked trouble with the gypsies.

As the trap bumped and rattled over dry ruts Faye saw that her fiancé and Anne Holly had a point when warning her that the burden of her siblings might prove to be too much for her to cope with. She put up her chin, instilling fresh courage. She must not let this calamity intimidate her, but draw strength from it. Then in the spring when her sister went to London Claire would surely find a husband.

Faye blinked anxious tears from her lashes and flicked the reins, urging the pony on. Too late, her vision cleared and she tried to avoid a pothole just a yard or two from Daisy’s front hooves. The animal veered left to avoid it and the trap tilted precariously, then bounced up and down. It landed with a crunch as a wheel buckled and Faye was flung from her seat. She landed on the parched ground on her back with enough force to knock the breath from her body. For a second or two she was lucid enough to be furious at her own carelessness and then the sky above spun and turned black.

Chapter Six (#u8cea3a97-8897-5431-9da8-484ee3998bcd)

‘Miss Shawcross? Can you hear me? What in the name of God’s happened here?’

The urgent questions filtered into Faye’s mind through the drumming in her forehead. She tried to rise, but every limb seemed under attack from fiery pain and she sank back to the earth with a groan.

‘Stay still now...let’s see if you’ve broken anything.’

Faye felt the pressure of long firm fingers investigating her limbs in a swift scientific manner. Her collarbone and shoulders were also subjected to a smoothing massage, then two strong hands slipped beneath her shoulders, easing her upwards.

‘Look at me...do you recognise me?’

A strong hand grasped her chin as it started to sway towards her chest.

‘Open your eyes and look at me.’

The rough command penetrated her daze and Faye obeyed, blinking until a dark visage ceased shimmering like a mirage and she was staring into a pair of piercing blue eyes. ‘Mr Kavanagh...’ she murmured, then gasped as a pain shot through her from attempting to get up.

‘Be still...let me help you...’ He’d been squatting by her side, but now rose, drawing her gently to her feet with him.

‘I don’t think you’ve broken anything. But you’ll ache like the devil for days.’ He touched a finger to a bloody scratch on her ashen cheek. ‘I take it you hit that pothole. Your animal is injured. Your rig’s in a bad way, too.’

Faye stumbled around to see the trap listing dangerously to one side. But it was the sight of Daisy favouring a front leg that made a sob burst from Faye. The little pony had served them well over many years and she had hurt Daisy. The reason for her reckless speed burst into her mind like a thunderbolt and all else was forgotten.

‘I must get home, sir,’ Faye implored. ‘There is an emergency. She attempted to throw off his restraining hands to stumble on in the direction of Mulberry House. She’d managed only a few steps when her knees buckled.

Ryan caught her sinking form, swinging her up into his arms. ‘You little fool. Are you after killing yourself? You’ve suffered a bad accident and should thank your lucky stars you’re not in a worse state. A doctor should take a look at you.’

‘I have no time for that. Put me down, I beg of you, sir.’ Faye squirmed in his unrelenting hold. ‘It is critical that I reach home. It will be the worse for us if I do not.’

Ryan had been carrying her towards his horse, but he came to an abrupt halt, gazing down into her tortured expression.

‘What’s put you in such a panic that you’d risk your life flying along in that little contraption?’

Faye pushed tangled blonde locks from her brow and squeezed shut her eyes. ‘I can’t tell you, sir. It is a private matter concerning my family.’ Faye felt tears prickle behind her lids. ‘Would you take me home, please, so that I may deal with it without delay?’

‘If you don’t take care of yourself, my dear,’ he replied in measured tones, ‘you won’t be able do anything at all to help your family.’ Ryan put her carefully atop his horse, holding her trembling form in position while swinging up behind and anchoring her spine to his chest.

Faye knew he was right; her unwise race to find Claire before she caused an outrage had resulted in a fresh problem. As Kavanagh turned the stallion towards the meadow she was aware that he wasn’t allowing the horse its head as he had on their last ride together; a jolting gallop would be agony for her bruised bones.

Mulberry House hove into view and never had Faye felt more relieved to see that Mr and Mrs Gideon had not obeyed her and gone to their own home situated along the lane. The couple were stationed in the kitchen doorway.

The sight of her mistress being returned home on horseback by Kavanagh for the second time caused Nelly to rush forward to confront him over it. The scolding died on her lips as she noticed her mistress’s pallor and the smear of blood on her cut cheek.

‘What in heaven’s name have you done to her?’ she whispered, aghast. ‘Bertram! Come here this instant,’ she yelled for her husband’s protection.

Mr Gideon shuffled up on his arthritic legs, shovel in hand.

‘Your mistress has had an accident on the road,’ Ryan explained, dismounting and helping Faye down. Undaunted by Bertram shaking the shovel at him, Ryan strengthened his grip on Faye as a wave of giddiness made her totter.

Nelly crossed herself, elbowing Ryan aside to embrace her mistress. ‘Oh, what next! Is Miss Claire hurt, too? Where is she?’

‘Is my sister not home?’ Faye gasped in dismay, disentangling herself from her housekeeper’s hug.