Sadie sat with her arms clasped around her knees, her brow furrowed in concentration. “We’ve got to come up with a plan of attack,” she said. “Just in case Polly doesn’t come back here with the bobbies.” She lifted her head as a thought struck her. “I’m so stupid. If Polly does bring the bobbies back with her, she’ll go to the windmill. I should be up there waiting.”
“And what if she doesn’t?” Nellie demanded. “You’ll be at the windmill and we’ll be here on our own when those morons get back here.”
Sadie thought about it. “All right. Florrie will have to go to the windmill and wait there. You and I will have to tackle the boys.”
“Two against three?” Nellie laughed. “That’s not giving us much of a chance.”
“You said they were only schoolboys.”
“They were bloody big schoolboys.”
“Bigger than me,” Florrie agreed.
“I still say we can do it. After all, we will be surprising them. They think you’re up there on the ledge.”
“What if we let the air out of their tires?” Florrie suggested. “They wouldn’t get very far on their bicycles that way.”
“I say we ride their bicycles back to the village,” Nellie chimed in. “That’s what we should have done in the first place.”
“And lose the chance to grab them ourselves?” Sadie laughed. “Just think how they’re going to feel when they’re captured by women.”
“That’s if we can capture them.” Nellie got up and brushed the straw from her skirt. “I think-”
“Shhh!” Sadie held up her hand. “I hear a Jeep.”
“Oh, ’eck,” Florrie said, her voice quivering with fright. “They’re coming back.”
“Well, it looks as if we’ll have to do this by ourselves.” Sadie got up and brushed her hands together. “Okay, everyone hide. You go over there behind that old tractor, Florrie. You over there, Nellie.” She pointed to a pile of hay in the opposite corner. “When I yell ‘Now!’ everyone jump out at once.”
“And do what?” Florrie asked hoarsely.
“Go for their legs.” Sadie positioned herself behind a bale of hay next to the door and switched off the torch. “Get them on the floor and then sit on them.”
“What if we can’t see their legs?”
“Use your flipping noggin!” Sadie muttered fiercely, just as the noise of the Jeep’s engine cut out. She froze, praying the other two wouldn’t open their mouths now.
For a long, agonizing moment there was nothing but silence, both inside and outside the barn. Then, slowly, the doors slid open and three figures slipped inside.
“Now!” yelled Sadie. She charged out from behind the bale of hay and slammed into a large body.
“Oof!” said a male voice.
Sadie dropped to her knees and shoved her shoulder hard against her opponent’s knees. This time the voice yelled in pain, and went down with a satisfying thump.
Still unable to see clearly, Sadie dumped her backside onto a broad chest. The commotion going on nearby was deafening. Shrieks and screams rent the air, dust flew everywhere, and bodies fell in a tangled mess to the floor.
Then, suddenly, an eerie silence fell over the combatants. The body underneath Sadie didn’t move a muscle.
Florrie’s voice came out of the dark, high-pitched and shaking. “Sadie?”
Surprised that her opponent had given up so easily, Sadie said quickly, “You all right, Florrie?”
“Yes.” A long pause followed, then Florrie spoke again, in a weird voice Sadie hardly recognized. “But this isn’t a boy I’m sitting on.”
“Of course not, you blithering idiot,” another female voice snapped. “It’s me, isn’t it.”
Hardly able to believe her ears, Sadie turned her head in that direction. “Polly?”
“Yes!” Polly’s voice sounded strangled. “Florrie, get off my chest before you suffocate me.”
Florrie squealed apologies, amid a lot of scuffling sounds.
“Then who am I sitting on?” Nellie demanded.
To Sadie’s horror, she heard Lady Elizabeth’s hoarse voice answer, “I’m rather afraid it’s me.”
“Oh, blimey,” Nellie muttered.
Sadie briefly closed her eyes. It hadn’t been a Jeep at all she’d heard. It must have been her ladyship’s motorcycle.
More scuffling followed, with Nellie mumbling over and over, “I’m so terribly sorry, your ladyship. Really I am.”
By now Sadie had a really nasty feeling in the pit of her stomach. She shifted her weight and closed her eyes when she heard a groan. “Oh, Gawd,” she muttered. “Don’t tell me.”
“That’s George,” Polly said, confirming Sadie’s worst fears.
Scrambling to her feet, Sadie tried to make the best of it. Flicking on her torch, she said cheerfully, “Well, if you had been the boys, we’d have done a really good job of bringing them down.”
“Boys?” Lady Elizabeth sounded bewildered. “What boys?”
“The boys what captured me and Florrie.” Quickly Nellie explained.
With heavy grunting, soft cursing, and general thumping, George climbed to his feet. Seconds later, a second bright beam from a torch in his hand swept around the barn.
“Sorry, guv’nor,” Sadie said cheerfully. “We thought you was the boys coming back. We were going to capture them and march them back to the village.”
“Always supposing they survived your attack,” George said dryly. “What do I have to do to get through your heads that it’s dangerous to take police matters in your own hands? You all could have been really hurt tackling three thugs like that.”
“Well, George,” Lady Elizabeth said, “we have to commend them for trying.” She looked a little like a scarecrow with straw sticking out of her hair and clinging to her cardigan. “The thing is, what do we do now?”
“Well, I reckon we wait until they come back.” George’s voice was doubtful. “If they come back, that is.”
“They’ll come back for their bicycles,” Nellie said. “They’re over there by the wall.”
George grunted. “Let’s hope they bring the Jeep back with them, that’s all.”
“Wonder what they were up to on the base,” Polly said.
“I reckon we’re going to find out in a minute.” Sadie tilted her head to one side to listen. “Isn’t that a Jeep I hear out there?”
“You thought you heard a Jeep just now,” Nellie reminded her.
“That was my motorcycle,” said Lady Elizabeth. “It does sound awfully like a Jeep at times.”
“All right, everybody.” George switched off his torch. “Stay out of sight. Nobody move unless I tell you to. Is that clear?”
Feeling somewhat disgruntled at being done out of capturing the hooligans, Sadie turned off her own torch and went back behind her bale of hay. The roar of the Jeep’s engine grew steadily louder, then cut off, leaving them all in silence.
Once more the doors slid open, and three shadowy figures filled the doorway. “Just grab the bicycles and get out of here,” a gruff voice ordered.
“What about them women up there?” This voice was quite different, soft and whiny.
“Shove the ladder up to the ledge. By the time they get down and walk back to the village we’ll be back home.”
“What if they tell the bobbies?”
The gruff voice laughed. “So what? Them stupid idiots in Sitting Marsh are too bleeding old and doddery to do anything about it.”
“Oh? Sez who?”
Sadie jumped as George’s voice rang out. Once more the light from his torch lit up the barn, the beam focused on the wide-eyed faces of the boys transfixed in the doorway.
Then, as if jerked by an invisible rope, the three leapt back, turned tail, and ran off into the darkness, with George in hot pursuit.
“Come on!” Sadie yelled. “Don’t let them get away!” Turning on her torch again, she charged out into the night air and ran as hard as she could after George, accompanied by pounding feet behind her.
She caught up with him at the gate. He leaned over it, panting for breath, the torch limp in his hand. Seconds later Nellie came up behind them, wheezing like an old bicycle pump.
“They got away,” Sadie said, her voice flat with disappointment.
“Went over that gate like they had bloomin’ wings,” George said breathlessly.
Polly appeared from out of the shadows, breathing hard. “What happened?”
“They’re gone,” Nellie told her. “We won’t catch them now.”
“After all that,” Sadie added.
“Well, best get back home.” George straightened up. “Her ladyship was kind enough to give me a lift on her motorcycle. But seeing as you, Nellie, and Florrie have been through such a terrible experience, I think you should ride back with her ladyship to the village. I’ll take one of those bicycles in the barn and the other two women can ride back with me.”
“I left my bicycle at the manor,” Polly protested.
“You can have one of the boys’ bicycles,” Sadie told her as they trudged back across the field to the barn.
“I can’t ride a bicycle with a crossbar,” Polly said, sounding really tired.
“Well, then, you can ride mine and I’ll ride the boy’s one.” Sadie linked her arm through her friend’s. “How’d you lot know we was in the barn, anyhow?”
“When we got to the windmill and no one was there, George remembered as how one of the farmers told him he kept hearing a Jeep near one of his fields. We saw the barn and decided to have a look, just in case.”
“I hope Lady Elizabeth forgives us for knocking her to the ground,” Nellie said mournfully.
Sadie chuckled. “She will. She’s a good sort. I just wish we could have caught them buggers.”
“Too bad they weren’t the real musketeers,” Nellie said. “Just think if we’d caught them. We’d have had our names in the newspapers.”
“Well, we couldn’t even capture three schoolboys, so I don’t think we’d have much chance against the musketeers.” Sadie lowered her voice as they reached the barn. “Just be glad it weren’t the musketeers. You and Florrie could be dead by now. Like that poor bloke at the wedding.”
“Yeah, I’ll be glad when whoever did that is caught and in prison.”
“Me, too.” Sadie shivered. “I just hope we don’t meet up with him in the dark on the way home. I think we’ve all had enough excitement for one night.”
“I’ve had enough to last me a year,” Polly murmured. “I think I’ll stick to the Tudor Arms for my excitement from now on.”
By the time Elizabeth got back to the manor, Violet had already gone to bed. Which was just as well, she told herself as she wearily made her way to the conservatory. Violet tended to get extremely testy when Elizabeth left without telling the housekeeper where she was going.
She badly needed a glass of sherry to settle her nerves. The incident in the barn had upset her more than she was willing to admit. When those bodies had come flying at her out of the dark, she’d been certain they were the musketeers bent on destroying her. Nellie’s weight had crushed the air out of her lungs, and for a moment or two she thought she’d taken her last breath.
Predictably, her thoughts had gone immediately to Earl. She’d wondered how long he would mourn her passing, and how soon he would find someone else to take her place. Visions of the brief times they had spent together had flashed through her mind, and she’d been filled with a deep sadness at the thought that she would never be able to enjoy such moments again.
She smiled, wondering what he’d say if he knew how foolish she was where he was concerned. Reaching the door of the conservatory, she pushed it open, then paused in shock.
He was there, lounging in his favorite rocking chair, his head back, his eyes closed.
For a second or two she wondered if she’d conjured up a vision out of her dreams, but then she heard his rhythmic breathing and knew he was really there, sound asleep.
She crept into the room and gently closed the door. A half-empty glass of Scotch sat on the table next to his elbow. In sleep his face looked younger, less tense, his strong jaw relaxed. She had to fight the urge to lean over and kiss his mouth.
They had an agreement, she reminded herself, as she had done so often. Until his divorce was final, they would keep their distance. Or at least try to do so. She smiled again at the memory of the kiss they’d shared on the cliffs… was it only a couple of days ago? It seemed like weeks now.
Very carefully she poured herself a glass of sherry and settled down on the white wicker couch. She was prepared to wait all night for him to awaken. He needed his sleep, and the escape that it afforded him from the hell he faced every day.
Only a few minutes passed, however, before his eyelids flickered. She’d heard the change in his breathing and was watching him when he opened his eyes.
His boyish smile warmed her as no fire ever could. “I’ve died and gone to heaven,” he said softly. “There’s an angel sitting next to me.”
“A rather tarnished angel, I’m afraid,” she said, choosing to cover her confusion with her usual dry humor. “What are you doing here?”
“Giving you a nice surprise, I hope.” He stretched his arms above his head, presenting her heart with yet more cause to flutter wildly.
“It’s a wonderful surprise. I didn’t see your Jeep outside.”
“The boys dropped me off on their way to the pub.”
She found it impossible to remove her gaze from his face. “I was under the impression this morning that you would not be able to get away from the base anytime soon.”
“So was I, but our mission was aborted due to the bad weather, so here I am.”
“Wonderful.” She beamed at him. “How long?”
“Just for tonight. I have to be back in the morning.”
Oh, if only she could spend the night with him. The forbidden thought popped into her mind, shocking her to the core. She had never been that kind of person, having been brought up by the strictest of parents.
Her divorce had caused her agonies of embarrassment and had brought shame on her prominent family. She had yet to live that down in the village. She could only imagine the reaction if she should give in to her wanton thoughts. At the same time, she had to marvel at the effect this one man could have on her. Love like this was a powerful thing indeed.
“You’re looking very serious,” Earl murmured. “Was it something I said?”
She managed a light laugh. “Heavens, no. It’s just that I’ve had rather an exhausting day.” She filled him in on the events of the past few hours.
“I was getting a little worried about you,” he said, when she was finished. “Violet didn’t know you’d gone out. She invited me to wait in here for you, but I could tell she was worried, too.” His gaze probed her face. “So the kidnappers disappeared?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. I would have liked to see them punished for what they did to Nellie and Florrie, and then there’s that Jeep they destroyed on the beach. We still don’t know what damage they did at the base.”
“I’ll probably find out tomorrow,” Earl said, sounding grim. “What about the murder case? How’s that coming?”
Elizabeth sighed. “It’s complicated. False leads, mixed signals, not much evidence to go on… I’m really no closer than I was at the beginning.”
“I guess the constables aren’t much help, either.”
“Your guess is right. I do have one more person I want to talk to tomorrow. Other than that, I really don’t know what to think.”
“Well, I really don’t want to waste my one night at home talking about murder and other unpleasant things.” He smiled at her so sweetly her heart ached. “Tell me what you were like when you were little.”
“Precocious.”
He laughed. “I figured that.” He took a sip of his Scotch and put it down. “No, really. Tell me. I want to know.”
“I’ll tell if you tell me what you were like as a little boy.”
His grin widened. “You’ve got a deal.”
She settled back to enjoy what she knew was going to be a fascinating conversation. If only she could go on like this forever-sitting so close to him, listening to his deep voice, getting to know him, watching the laughter light up his blue eyes, and feeling as if she were seventeen once more and so madly, madly in love.
It was late when she finally said good night to him. She could tell he wanted to kiss her. She had never wanted anything more in her life, but she knew once they gave in to the temptation, others would follow. That path was too dangerous; it was still too soon.
She lay awake for a long time thinking about him and their nebulous future. She’d tried to avoid as much as possible thinking about what would happen to them when the war eventually ended. He would be sent back to America, of course.
Would he ask her to go back with him? Could she go if he did? Those two questions were unanswerable. She could only hold on to what they had now, watching the days slip away, waiting for his divorce to become final.
What if the war ended before that happened? What if he had to go back a married man? Would they ever be free to love as she so desperately wanted? Was she being a fool clinging to protocol, wasting what little time she could have with him with her vague fears of further besmirching her tremulous reputation?
Perhaps, but her values and heritage were impossible to ignore. She flung herself over onto her side and buried her face in the pillow. She had to stop tormenting herself with her doubts. Her emotions were at war with her morals, and there wasn’t much she could do about it. Sooner or later she would have to face the inevitable, and one or the other would win. It was only a matter of time.
She could either abandon her legacy and all it stood for to follow the man she loved halfway across the world, or wallow in regrets for what she had missed for the rest of her life. Only she could make that decision. When the time was right. Until then, all she could do was pray that whatever she decided, she would choose the right path.
For both of them.