Page 29 (1/2)

He was silent a bit, and Melisande watched the hills turn purple in the fading light

Vale finally said drea trunk, leather-bound with brass He’d had it specially made Inside were dozens of colass vials for various speci leaves and flowers He took it apart once, and you should’ve seen the hardened soldiers, some who’d been in the arawking at his trunk like little boys at the fair"

"That must’ve been nice," Melisande said softly

"It was It was" He sounded far away in the gathering darkness

"Perhaps he will show it to looe "It was destroyed ere attacked by the Indians Sed out and scattered, completely ruined"

"Hoful! Poor man It must’ve been terrible when he sahat had been done to his collection"

There was silence froe

"Jasper?" She wished she could see his face

"He never saw" Vale’s voice came abruptly from the darkness "His woundsHe never made it back to the scene of the massacre I didn’t either I only heard what had happened to his trunk azed blindly out the blackShe wasn’t quite sure what she apologized for--the broken trunk, the lost artifacts, the massacre itself, or the fact that neither man survived entirely the sa? Old?"

"A bit older than me, perhaps" Vale hesitated "You should know--"

But she interrupted hiht she’d seen movely loud in the night air Melisande flinched Suchlike ith a little scream, and Mouse jumped to his feet and barked

A loud, hoarse voice cae shuddered to a halt

"Shit," Vale said

JASPER HAD BEEN worried about this very thing since night had begun to fall They were in prihway robbery He didn’t much mind the loss of his purse, but he was damned if he’d let anyone touch Melisande

"What--?" she began, but he reached across and laid his hand gently over her mouth She was a smart woman She immediately held still She drew Mouse into her lap and wrapped her hand around his muzzle

The little lady’s maid had her fist stuffed into her mouth, her eyes wide and round She didn’t er across his own lips Although he had no idea if the woe

Why hadn’t the coachman tried to make a run for it? The answer cah his options The coachman had already admitted he didn’t know the terrain well He’d probably been afraid of overturning the carriage in the dark and killing them all

"Come out o’ there," a second man called

So there were at least two, probablywith two men on horses, one of them Pynch Six men in all But how many robbers?

"D’you hear me? Get out o’ there!" the second voice shouted One would be holding a gun on the coache Another would be covering the outriders A third would be in charge of relieving them of any valuables--that is, if there were only three If there werein, and I’ll be shooting when I do!"

Melisande’s led, but his dear wife held hi the servants outside one by one to force theh to--

The carriage door was flung open, and a rabbed his gun ar the opposite carriageThe e Jasper twisted the pistol away from him

"Don’t look," he said to Melisande, and sla the bone He did it quickly again, three more times, vicious and hard, just to make sure the uns

Frounshot

"Dairl A bullet could blow right through the wood of the carriage She didn’t protest and lay across her seat with thefootsteps ca himself

"My lord!" Pynch’s broad face peered into the carriage door "Are you safe, my lord? Are the women--?"

"Yes, I think so" Jasper turned to Melisande, running his hands over her face and hair in the dark "Are you all right, htened i tore at his heart If ever she were hurt, if ever he could not protect her

Theand pulled the girl into her arht Lord Vale and Mr Pynch have kept us safe"

Mouse jurowled at the dead robber

Pynch cleared his throat "We’ve captured one of the highwayalloped away"

Jasper looked at hirinned His valet had always been an excellent shot

"Help e," he told Pynch "Melisande, please stay here until we are sure it’s safe"

She nodded bravely, her chin up "Of course"