Annie's Song (20 page)

And when he caught her? That didn’t bear thinking about. Eggs, Annie knew, broke very easily. She doubted hers could withstand the crushing force of his arms around her waist.

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As he led her out into the hall, she frantically searched her mind for some way she might tell him she hadn’t sneaked outside. All she’d done was go to the secret place for a little while. Where was the harm in that? At home, she’d done it all the time. Nearly every day during the rainy season. Her mama had never cared, let alone been angry.

Pulling her along behind him, Alex walked with a loose-hipped, powerful stride that made her blood run cold. Watching the sway of his shoulders, she recalled the morning she’d seen him without a shirt. All that strength, and now he was about to unleash it on her.

Annie expected him to take her to his study as her papa had usually done. Instead, when they got downstairs, he headed straight for the entry doors. Keeping a firm hold on her wrist, he used his other hand to fish in his trouser pocket. Within seconds, he had drawn out a key, unlocked the doors, and pulled her onto the porch.

Guessing his intent, Annie’s heart began to kick violently against her ribs, and she glanced wildly around.

Where did he plan to take her? In her estimation, there could only be one reason why he was taking her outside; he didn’t want anyone in his household to see how severely he punished her.

Oh, God... Annie was so frightened she could scarcely think. She threw him a pleading glance, but he was too preoccupied with looking around to notice. Suddenly he smiled, his expression decisive, and led her down the front steps, angling right when they struck the drive. As they went around the corner of the house, they entered a beautiful garden, artfully crisscrossed with white stone paths. Roses bloomed in profusion, the varying shades of pink and red making brilliant splashes against the deep green backdrop of sculptured shrubs and grass.

Drawing her abreast of him, he slowed his pace, for all the world as though he wanted her to enjoy the stroll. All Annie could think about was the beating that was in store for her. Sneaking glances at hie dark face, she saw the breeze catch his molten hair, whipping it into lazy waves across his high forehead. As though he sensed her regard, he turned and caught her studying him. She quickly looked away, then jumped with a start when he brushed gently at her cheek to push a tendril of hair from her eyes.

Their gazes locked. Annie’s feet suddenly felt numb. If she didn’t watch where she was going, she knew she might stumble. But for the life of her, she couldn’t look away from his gleaming amber eyes.

“Do you like roses, Annie?”

Roses? He was taking her someplace to beat her, and he expected her to admire his roses? Her attention became fixed on his smile—a lazy, slightly crooked grin that flashed his white teeth and deepened the creases at the corners of his mouth. He didn’t look angry, not in the least, and that frightened her more than anything else. A man had to be utterly coldhearted to inflict pain on someone when he wasn’t even mad at her.

Averting her face, Annie saw the stables up ahead of them, and her footsteps faltered. Once, a long time ago, her papa had taken her to the woodshed to punish her. In her recollection, that trip to the woodshed had preceded the worst licking of her life. A watery sensation attacked her legs. Between that and the numb feeling in her feet, it was difficult for her to remain standing, let alone walk.

As she expected, Alex headed directly for the outbuildings. When they reached a long, narrow structure with an open-ended alley running lengthwise through its center, he turned to her and said, “I understand you like animals.”

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Only if they had four legs, she thought acidly, and caught the inside of her cheek between her teeth, hoping the pain might distract her from worrying about what he might do to her. The entrance of the building yawned before her like a gigantic mouth. A little hysterically, she remembered the story her mother used to read to her years ago about Jonah being swallowed by a whale.

Left with little choice because his grip on her hand was relentless, she followed him into the alleyway. As the shadows fell over them, Annie’s nostrils were assaulted by a strong but not entirely unpleasant blend of scents, that of animals and hay, grain and leather, all adrift on a current of fresh air. As her eyes grew accustomed to the dimness, she glanced nervously around. Hanging from large nails along the wall to her left were all manner of riding accessories and grooming tools—gig saddles, brushes, mane combs, blanket pins, muzzles, harnesses and lunging lines. Taking a fast inventory, she spotted several leather straps. A bead of sweat broke loose near the nape of her neck and trickled icily down her spine.

Her worst fear was realized when Alex released her hand and stepped over to the wall to take something from a nail. As he turned back toward her, Annie glimpsed a loop of leather dangling from his fist. When she jerked her gaze back to his face, she saw that he was smiling still, his expression oddly tender. That look chased away the last shreds of her courage. If he meant to punish her, which he surely did, how could he stand there and smile at her that way?

Running was out of the question now. Her feet felt as if they had put down taproots. She settled frightened eyes on his shoulders—broad muscular shoulders that blocked out the wall behind him. The loose fit of his white shirt did little to conceal the defined contours of muscle across his chest and along his arms. She didn’t want to think about how it would feel when he struck her, but unfortunately, her traitorous mind could focus on little else.

With no warning, he swung up the hand that held the leather. Annie glimpsed the strap coming toward her face and reacted instinctively, bending forward and hugging her waist to protect her baby.

Alex was so startled when Annie jackknifed forward that for a moment all he could do was stand there and stare at her with his mouth hanging open. He’d been about to take her to the opposite end of the stable. Rosy, one of his mares, had recently dropped a foal. Though the horse was an incurable biter, her colt was a cute little bugger, all legs and ears, with a penchant for suckling on whatever caught his eye, buttons, fingers, elbows, or anything else that looked as if it might yield milk. Alex had thought Annie might enjoy seeing him.

“Annie?” he finally managed to say.

She didn’t look up when he called her name. Judging by the way she was hugging her waist, it struck him that she might be in pain. His first concern was for the baby, and a dozen possibilities chased through his mind. Had she hurt herself while wandering in the woods? Horrible visions of her miscarrying right there in the stable swamped him. Dropping the muzzle he’d just taken from a nail, he grasped her slender shoulders and tried, with little success, to make her stand straight.

She was trembling. Trembling horribly. Alex threw a helpless look toward the house, wishing Maddy were with them. When it came to female complaints, especially those involving pregnancy, he was at a complete loss. Should he carry her to the house? Make her lie down?

“Christ!”

Leaning sideways, he pushed ineffectually at her hair, trying to part the wildly curly tresses so he might
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see her face. He finally resorted to going down on one knee and craning his neck so he could look up into her eyes.

“Annie love? Do you hurt someplace?”

By her pallor, Alex knew she was frightened half to death. Every awful story he’d ever heard about pregnant women miscarrying and bleeding to death came back to haunt him. The thought of Annie dying—God, she was so sweet, so impossibly and wonderfully sweet.

Half expecting to see blood soaking through the pink cloth, he glanced in anxious torment at the knee-length hem of her frock. Nothing. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? No hemorrhaging. Then again, maybe she just wasn’t bleeding that heavily yet.

“Honey, where does it hurt? Can you show me?”

Blue eyes that rivaled the size of saucers stared out at him from her small, pinched face. Smoothing her hair back, he cupped her cheeks between his hands.

“Annie, did you hurt yourself? Show me, honey. Here?” He dropped one hand to touch her waist. “How bad does it hurt?”

She jerked violently away and executed an awkward sidestep. Then she froze, staring at something on the ground. He followed her gaze to the discarded muzzle, his brain not making a connection until she jerked her eyes back to his hand.

His empty hand.

It hit Alex then. For an awful moment, his stomach knotted so violently he thought he might vomit.

Reenacted in slow motion, he saw himself drawing her up from her chair immediately after Maddy had scolded her. Taking her downstairs. Outside. Through the garden. Into the stables. When he had swung the muzzle toward her, he had only been pointing the way to Rosy’s stall, but Annie had thought he meant to strike her.

Rage... It exploded inside Alex’s head in blinding shades of red. If James Trimble had been within his reach at that moment, he would have killed him. He balled his hands into throbbing fists.

Annie was all that mattered, not her bastard of a father. Calm, he had to stay calm. To that end, he forced his lungs to expand, drawing in a shuddering breath. As he exhaled, her face broke through the haze of his anger. He’d never seen anyone look quite so terrified. Wanting desperately to wipe that look off her face, he searched his mind for some way—any way at all—that he might reassure her. The poor little thing didn’t understand anything he said to her. The one and only time he had been successful at communicating with her, he’d had to draw her a picture.

A picture ... Actions spoke louder than words. All he had to do was think of some way to look harmless. No easy task when the girl he wanted to convince was half his size and badly frightened.

Only vaguely aware of his movements or the decision that prompted them, Alex folded a leg under himself and sat unceremoniously on the dirt. It was the best idea he could think of, his hope being that she would feel less threatened if he placed himself at a physical disadvantage. Not that it gave her much of an edge. After working with horses for the majority of his life, he’d learned to move more quickly than most people, an ability that had saved his hide more than once. If she decided to run, he could be on his feet
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before she could execute a full about-face.

Something cold and wettish was seeping through one leg of his trousers. Not caring to think about what manner of muck he might have encountered, he kept his attention focused on Annie. Bless her heart, she didn’t look capable of running. Her legs were shaking so badly, he was surprised her knees weren’t knocking.

Unable to think of anything else he might do to assuage her fears, Alex made a valiant attempt to smile.

A horrible, artificial, crack-your-face smile, but it was the best he could muster. Through the tangled curtains of her dark hair, she gaped at him as if he’d gone mad. And perhaps he had. A grown man, lolling around in horse shit and grinning as though he liked it? If that didn’t qualify him for the madhouse, nothing much would.

On legs that still didn’t look capable of holding her up, she manage to retreat a step. Then she spun and ran from the stable. Alex followed her with his gaze, relieved beyond words when he saw that she was heading for the house. The thought of having to pursue her through the woods right now didn’t hold a great deal of appeal. Neither did the thought of catching her. The little minx didn’t fight fair.

As was his habit when nothing in his life seemed to be going right, Alex started to rub a hand over his face. At the last second, he caught himself short. Something brown was smeared across his palm. He took a cautious sniff. Then, in spite of himself, he snorted with laughter.

“Master Alex?”

The amazed male voice came from behind Alex. He shot a look over his shoulder to see Deiter, his head groom, standing in the tack room doorway. Wiry and gray-haired, the man had a face that resembled a strip of beef jerky. “Yes, Deiter?”

“Are you all right?”

The question made Alex start to laugh again, harder this time. When his mirth had finally subsided, Deiter asked, “What are you doin’ down there, anyhow?”

“I’m really not sure. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Need any help?”

Alex sighed. “As a matter of fact, I believe I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

Despite all of Alex and Maddy’s efforts to prevent it, Annie disappeared nearly every afternoon of the next week, her destination unknown to anyone but her. Maddy tried to keep an eagle eye on her, but somehow Annie managed to sneak away. After each of her vanishing acts, Alex was summoned to the house, the staff was divided up into teams, and the windows on all three floors were checked.

None of them were ever found to be unlatched.

So... if not outdoors, where was Annie going? The question bedeviled everyone at Montgomery Hall, from Alex and Maddy on down to the youngest stableboy. By the end of the week, Alex was so baffled, he was about ready to put in with Maddy and start believing that Annie had a magical ability to disappear into thin air.

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Except for one small thing. How did she get so dirty?

One afternoon, a week to the day after Annie’s first disappearance, Alex was summoned to the house and informed by Maddy that their mystery had finally been solved.

“I outsmarted her,” she told Alex proudly. “Pretended I was preoccupied with somethin’ else, I did.

Waited fer the lass to slip away, and then I followed her. Ye’ll never guess where it is she’s gettin’ off to, Master Alex. Ye’ll never guess in a million years.”