A Matter of Circumstance and Celludrones (20 page)

“That can’t be good,” she muttered, tripping down the stairs after
him. “What on earth did you and Lily get up to at Cragloden?”

He jumped the last two steps and turned, watching her with hooded eyes
as he shrugged out of his coat.

“Well, something must have brought this on,” she said, raising her
voice at the frustrating man. “Does Lily know you were at Cragloden when her
mother was killed in that gas explosion?” she demanded as she reached him.

“Why don’t you ask her? She’s at the stables with Neco, waiting for
you.” He held out his coat, ready for her to slip into and high enough to
shield her from his eyes.

Evelyn quickly threw off her cloak in favour of the less troublesome
coat. She’d barely pushed her arms through the sleeves when he deftly spun her
toward the front door. “Button up on the way out.”

“Puppy!” She spun herself around again and started in the opposite
direction. “He’s in the kitchen yard.”

Greyston grabbed a handful of coat and yanked her back. “I’m going
there for Jean and Paisley. I’ll get the damn puppy. I promise,” he added at
her dubious look. “Now go.” He turned from her and straight into a sprint.

“Grey, wait,” she hollered.

He skidded to a stop, his voice like thunder. “What?”

“Paisley’s outside with Neco,” she said, taken aback at his
impatience. “I just thought you’d like to know.”

And he was off again, without so much as a thank you. Honestly, she
understood the urgency if that dreadful ostrich lady had indeed discovered
their whereabouts, but Greyston was acting as if someone had set fire to his
trousers.

Evelyn made her way outside to a similarly impatient Lily, who was
pacing a short line at the bottom of the entrance steps.

“Evie, thank goodness.” She beckoned Evelyn to move faster. “Lady
Ostrich has found us.”

“So I keep hearing.” Evelyn glanced around the courtyard, half
expecting Lady Ostrich to be lurking in the shadows with the way Greyston and
Lily were going on. Still, she didn’t linger, although it was no small feat
doing up the chunky silver buttons and chasing after Lily at the same time.
“Where is William? Have he and Ana returned? They went—”

“I know where they went,” Lily snapped. “Do stop fretting about them.”

“I wasn’t fretting,” she snapped back. “I was only asking.”

Lily sighed, but her voice softened. “Greyston won’t leave them
behind.”

Neco and Paisley were around the side of the house, waiting by the
gate. Neco looked his usual decorous self, seemingly impervious to any
impending calamity. Once he’d ascertained they were right behind him, he broke
out into a full-on sprint across the meadow and reached the ship a good streak
ahead of them.

Paisley’s eyes shone with excitement. “Did you arrange this ruckus so
Grey would have to take me up in his ship?” she asked Evelyn.

“Unfortunately not,” Evelyn informed her, injecting an urgent note
into her voice for the girl’s benefit. She may not quite appreciate all the
fuss herself, but she was relatively certain Greyston and Lily had their valid
reasons. “This is all very serious.”

By the time they’d crossed the uneven ground at the brutal pace,
Evelyn was panting. She clutched the cramp spiking at her side. Clearly she
needed to engage in more sport, not less.

The hull door was down, providing a short ramp into the boarding cabin
where Neco stood with the red-bearded Jamie.

“Fire the steam-pump and crank her all the way up,” Jamie barked at
two men she didn’t recognise. “Hoist the sails. We’re lifting as soon as Grey
boards. Ladies,” he greeted, ushering them to the bunk on the far side of the
cabin.

The mood was not conducive to settling into the padded seat, but they
moved in that direction to huddle out of everyone’s way.

Lily nibbled her lower lip with jittery teeth, not unlike a nervous
beaver. “Where
is
he? What is taking so long?”

An image of Greyston chasing Puppy’s tail round and round the kitchen
garden popped into Evelyn’s head. She said nothing.

 
“What is the panic all about?”
Paisley butted in.

“It’s Paisley, right?” Lily pushed the girl down gently onto the
bench. “There’s no panic, we’re just in a bit of a rush.”

A few minutes later, Greyston charged up the ramp with Jean in tow.
“Raise the door,” he instructed Neco on his way to dump Puppy, swaddled like a
mummy from muzzle to tail in kitchen rags, into Evelyn’s arms.

She took one look at the bedevilled glint in his eye and refrained
from commenting on the delivery. He strode from the room, calling Neco to his
side and commanding the rest of them to stay put in a tone that defied
argument. Evelyn unwrapped the wriggling sausage and used the same rags to
leash Puppy to the leg of the table bolted to the floor.

Jean had joined her daughter on the bench, one arm thrown around
Paisley, their heads bent close together in quiet conversation.

Evelyn looked to Lily. Their eyes met and, in silent agreement, they
started for the door that took them to the cubic passage of wire mesh floor.
Muffled voices came through one of the closed doors opposite, but they caught
sight of a booted foot just before it disappeared at the top of the steel-rung
staircase and headed up instead.

Neco was cranking the lever to peel open the deck. As sunlight
streamed in, Evelyn noticed the powder-white pallor of Lily’s face. “You look
as if you’ve seen a ghost,” she declared.

“Make that a demon.” Lily leaned in and lowered her voice. “We met
Kelan McAllister at Cragloden—”

“Who is Kelan McAllister?”

“The Earl of Perth and laird of Cragloden Castle. He spoke of demons,
Evie, of training to fight them. Think about it, with everything Lady Ostrich
is capable of, what else could she be?”

“A demon?” Evelyn sighed. “It’s this castle. It positively reeks of
death. Next thing, we’ll be seeing ghosts.”

Lily threw her hands up. “How does he do this all the time? It’s like
living life in déjà vu.”

“I knew that visit to Cragloden on top of everything else was too
much,” Evelyn said, now genuinely concerned.

“Never mind.” Lily crossed the deck to Neco. “Are we searching for Ana
and William?”

“Yes, m’lady, we’ll stay low and trawl the river bank from above.” He
lifted a miniature brass horn from its hook on the inner wall and handed it to
Lily. “This connects to the pilot cabin. If you’re here to help, you can pass
on messages to Jamie.”

Lily put the wide, curved opening to her ear.

“The speaking horn relays information only, m’lady, you cannot hear
anything.”

Evelyn left them to it and made her way to the railing. She peered
over the edge. “We’re sailing up the river already,” she cried over her
shoulder, amazed at how little awareness they had of anything when stuck in the
belly of the ship.

Neco joined her, able to lean much further over the edge due to his
impressive height. He pointed to a shadowed copse that started at the base of a
grassy knoll and crept up the small slope. “That’s were the apples grow wild.”

“What’s that?” Lily called out, the horn plastered to her mouth. “Do I
need to be relaying anything?”

“Not yet,” Neco assured her. “And you need not shout into the horn,
m’lady, it already amplifies the sound.”

Evelyn returned her attention to the search below. The sun had slid
behind the range of mountains at the source of the Tay, leaving the glow of
daylight but taking most of the warmth.

On deck, it was quiet except for the hiss and hum of the engines
vibrating in the walls. They were sailing too slow for rushing wind and so low,
the ship had had to set a course directly above the river so that the bottom of
the hull occasionally skimmed water rather than the trees.

She shifted further along the railing to get a better view of the
wooded copse, hadn’t yet seen a sign of anyone when Greyston arrived, a hefty
length of rope ladder slung over his shoulder.

Greyston glanced at Lily and instead of berating their disregard for
his earlier instructions, he directed, “Stay right there and pass my orders to
Jamie. We can’t afford to waste a second.”

“I see them,” Neco said, pointing to a clustered ridge of trees.
William and Ana were approximately halfway between Forleough and the apple
forest. A path of gnarled, stumpy trees gradually thinned to open field with
staggered patches of bush and slightly more majestic oaks and elms.

“Tell Jamie to put us onto a true north bearing,” Greyston barked at
Lily, “and to take us lower if possible.”

“They’ve seen us,” Evelyn said excitedly, waving at the pair who’d
stopped to stare up at the ship’s manoeuvres. The Red Hawk circled slowly and
sailed into a channel of grass and shrubbery. She cupped her hands around her
mouth in a makeshift trumpet and bellowed louder than any lady should be
capable of. “Everything is okay! We have come to fetch you!”

Greyston was more precise. “Prepare to board.”

He dangled the rope ladder over the edge, tying the end around his
hips and bracing himself against the railing to take the weight. Ana tossed
aside the basket she was carrying and sent William climbing up first.

A few rungs from the top, Neco reached over the edge to grab William
beneath the arms and yank him clear onto the deck.

“Ana’s on her way up,” Greyston called over his shoulder to Lily.
“Tell Jamie we’re set to go.” He looked at Evelyn, a grin tugging at his jaw.
“Once her nose is turned in the right direction, we’ll pump her engines to full
throttle and shoot straight down the river. We’ll reach the headland in less
than ten minutes.”

He made a dashing sight. Sleek thigh muscles clad in black breeches,
tensed against the strain. Leather boots folded over just below the knee. The
high collar of his shirt lay open at the throat, a stark white against his
complexion and dark brown hair. Everything about him was strong, capable and
utterly handsome, and just a little devilish. Her gaze settled on his wide,
firm mouth and she knew his kisses would be wicked right here, right now, with
the after-lash of danger and the promise of speed pulsing through his blood.

She shook her head on that thought, suppressing a smile as she tugged
William aside to answer the questions writ in his bewildered expression. She
also knew that while that kiss might flutter with delicious warmth (she’d had a
certain amount of experience in the matter before her marriage), it wouldn’t
overwhelm her senses until the entire world dropped away, until it was just her
and Devon and the surety coursing through her tingling body that this, right
here in his arms, was her reason for being. Only her husband had ever made her
feel that way and now he’d kicked her out…out of his heart.

There was a time she’d believed nothing could ever break their love.
Now she didn’t know if they could ever fix it, if they’d end up like so many
couples, sparing a moment here and there to produce the obligatory heirs in
between their separate lives.

Ana’s climb was far more cumbersome, her narrow skirts making it
practically impossible for her to bend her knees sufficiently to place a foot
on each succeeding rung. On top of that, the Red Hawk was moving again, gliding
into an ascending arc and causing the ladder to sway precariously.

Lily left her position by the speaking horn, joining them just as Ana
lost her footing, spinning into a tangle as she clawed and scrabbled for
purchase.

“She’s falling,” Evelyn yelped, and then, “Greyston!” as the momentum
dragged him over.

William dived, caught Greyston around the ankles, but Neco was already
there, hauling Greyston onto his feet and then grabbing the ladder to reel Ana
up and haul her on board like a whale snared in a fisherman’s net.

“Bloody hell,” Greyston issued on the rumbling of a hoarse chuckle,
“that was close.”

“Not at all.” Neco hunched low to assist Lily in untangling Ana from
the rope. “There was only a three point five percent probability I wouldn’t
reach you in time.”

“I had you, anyway,” William said, raising his voice to be heard now
that the ship was on course and gaining speed rapidly.

“That was quick thinking,” Greyston told him. “Thank you, lad.”

Evelyn turned from them, her limbs suddenly weak from delayed shock.
She rested her elbows on the railing and leaned in heavily.

Her gaze landed on the oddest spectacle up ahead on the bank of the
river that appeared to be a flickering dome of pure white. As they drew closer,
the dome evolved into white flames threading an invisible framework.

She blinked hard and long. While her eyes were still closed, Lily’s
scream pierced straight to her skull.

“The bitch is torching Forleough,” Greyston yelled. The ever-present
humming in the walls changed rhythm. “Dammit Jamie, faster. Not slower!” He
spun on his heels, racing for the steps and shouting out one last order for
Neco. “I’m charging you with Lily and Evelyn. Do whatever it takes to keep them
safe.”

Evelyn’s hearted thudded in her throat as she now saw the many threads
of the blazing shroud appeared to originate from a single point of source.
“Sweet Heaven, what is it?”

“That,” said Lily in a tight voice, her fingers ice-cold as she
grasped Evelyn’s hand, “is what we’re running from.”

“We need to get inside,” Neco said.

Lily shook her head. Her voice sounded as numb as the cold fingers
clutching Evelyn. “It’ll make no difference.”

As they watched, one of the lightening threads whipped toward them. It
seemed to strike the air alongside the ship, but suddenly the engines were
struggling, grinding in the walls.

They rushed to that side of the railing and peered over.

The streaking fire had glanced the length of the hull and stuck along
the same line, a spider web of white flames creeping over the black metal. The
ship was trapped in the spreading web, the engine spluttering and the shell
fracturing into molten red cracks.