One Enchanted Evening (50 page)

She’d had a brief conversation with Cindi as well. She wouldn’t go so far as to say Cindi had apologized for anything, but she had been speechless when Pippa had promised her the infamous flash drive. Of course, she hadn’t told Cindi that the files were locked, but she hoped to be very far away when her sister realized that. After long conversations with her other sisters, she had spent the rest of her time soaking up every last possible minute with Peaches and Tess.

It had almost killed her, that soaking.

But she was resolved, so she had continued on doggedly with her preparations. She was actually quite grateful for the fire that had destroyed her entire inventory of possessions. That made it somewhat easier to choose what to take, which was basically the clothes on her back and a handful of gold coins Mary had insisted she sew into the hem of her gown. She had been slightly stressed over her lack of dowry, but Kendrick had assured her that Montgomery had buckets of gold and could easily manage to feed her for a couple of years before she was forced to take on sewing to keep them afloat. Genevieve had elbowed him firmly in the ribs at that comment, so Pippa assumed Kendrick was teasing her.

She had filled a rustic sort of rucksack with things she’d thought Montgomery might appreciate, then set it aside to have a final hot shower and a decent breakfast. The very last thing she’d done was share two last eternal hugs with Peaches and Tess.

That had been half an hour ago. Now her sisters, along with Zachary, Kendrick, and Stephen, had come to see her off. She could hardly believe what she was doing, but if she thought about the finality of it all, she would never do what she knew she had to do.

What she wanted to do.

She looked at her sisters one last time, then turned away and walked forward into the midst of the gate before she thought better of it.

And nothing changed. The sea still roared in the background, the day was still overcast, the gulls still cried in the distance. In fact, she was pretty sure she could still hear construction going on near the keep.

Or maybe that was the ring of swords inside the castle walls.

She closed her eyes, wished her most fervent wish for her fairy tale to come true, then turned around.

And she gasped.

Her family was gone. She felt tears spring to her eyes at their lack, but she forced herself to put away her grief for a less perilous time. She blinked, then realized she was now facing a little girl of about seven who was staring at her with wide eyes.

Maryanne de Piaget, as it happened.

“You’re Mary,” Pippa said, stepping away from that big red X so she didn’t, as Zachary had warned, find herself carried off to somewhere she might not like.

Mary’s eyes were huge. “How do you know who I am?”

“I know your uncle, Montgomery,” Pippa said with a smile. That wasn’t how she knew Mary, of course, but there was absolutely no point in saying as much. If she managed to catch up with Montgomery and keep him alive, she was obviously going to be joining him in his secret-keeping activities.

“Who are you?”

“Persephone.”

“Uncle Montgomery’s lady?” Mary asked in surprise and no small bit of apparent delight. “He’ll be so relieved! He said he lost you.”

Pippa closed her eyes briefly, then smiled at Mary. “Your uncle did, for a bit, but I found myself for him.”

Mary looked at her with eyes that saw far too much. “He said his villagers think you’re a faery.”

“I’m not,” Pippa said, suppressing the urge to gulp. That was the sticking point in all of it, something she knew she was going to have to address right off the bat. Zachary and Kendrick had suggested she call herself the princess of Alki, but she wasn’t sure that would go over with any credibility. She decided she would settle for simple. “You can call me Pippa, if you like.”

Mary nodded slowly.

“Why are you out here all by yourself?” Pippa asked.

“The lads were vexing me,” Mary said. “I never have a moment to myself without a brother or a cousin telling me what to do.” She lifted her chin. “I like a bit of independence.”

Having gotten to know Mary for a few hours in the future, Pippa wasn’t at all surprised by that statement. She held out her hand. “You and I, Mary, are going to get along famously. Why don’t we go back to the keep and you can tell me about your horses?”

“How do you know I like horses?”

“Someone, once upon a time, told me that you did.”

That seemed to satisfy Mary. She slipped her hand into Pippa’s and led her back toward the keep. Pippa went with her and found herself rather more impressed with Artane in the past than she had been in the future, in spite of what she assumed was its lack of running water and wireless Internet connections. It was one thing to see an enormous castle sitting on a bluff when it was surrounded by a modern village; it was another thing entirely to see the same place when it was the only civilization for miles.

She tried to look as noble as possible as she walked under the barbican gate. No one seemed to take much notice of her. Well, except the boys that ran down the front steps followed by who could only have been their father, Robin de Piaget. He looked enough like Montgomery that she had no doubt as to his identity. She would have hesitated, but Mary kept hold of her hand and pulled her forward to meet them.

“Pappa, this is Pippa,” Mary said brightly. “Kendrick, Jason, look what I found! She walked out of the sunlight and almost into me.” Mary paused, then leaned close to her brothers. “She says she isn’t a faery, but I’m not sure.”

“Oh, no,” Pippa said quickly. “I was wandering away from my, um, company full of very fierce guardsmen, and they seem to have been left behind in a sudden panic.”

Kendrick, Zachary, and Stephen were very fierce and they had been her guardsmen, so that wasn’t entirely untrue. She had also been in a sudden panic, so that hadn’t been a lie either.

Robin was only watching her without any expression of disbelief or irritation, so she took a moment to look at his kids. She realized, with a start, that she was looking at a very young incarnation of the grown man with six children she’d met in the future. She looked at Kendrick, blinked, then looked at his father, Robin.

Weird.

She took a deep breath, then made Robin a deep curtsey. “My lord Robin.”

Robin stroked his chin. “Persephone Josephine Alexander, I presume?”

Pippa smiled in relief. “The very same.”

Robin tilted his head. “Are you not a noblewoman of some sort?” he asked. “I’ve heard tell that your bloodlines are enough to leave those in England who know of you quite desperate to make your acquaintance.”

She couldn’t imagine Montgomery had come up with that whopper, so someone else had obviously been doing some thinking at the keep.

“Good thing Uncle Montgomery found her first,” Kendrick interrupted. “Don’t you think, Father?”

“Aye, son, I think it is a good thing.” Robin sent his sons off to think about other things, hugged his daughter and sent her back into the hall, then remained where he was and folded his arms over his chest. “It isn’t too late to avoid a life of misery with my youngest brother, you know,” he said with a straight face.

Pippa had been warned about Robin’s rather warped sense of humor, so she answered him with an equally straight face. “I am afraid, my lord,” she said, “that it is too late for me.” She paused. “Unless your brother has changed his mind.”

“Oh, don’t worry about him,” Robin said dismissively. “He’s completely besotted. In fact, he’s gone back to Sedgwick to try to put his keep back together so you’ll have somewhere safe to lay your head. Why you’d want to lay your head there with him, I can’t imagine, but I suppose if you’re determined—”

“Rob, leave off,” said another male voice as its owner approached from the stables. A tall, handsome man made her a bow. “Jackson Kilchurn,” he said, holding out his hand to shake hers. “I married Robin’s sister, Amanda.”

Pippa shook his hand automatically, then realized something that seemed completely out of place. Her mouth fell open. Jackson Kilchurn was speaking in English.

Then again, so was Robin.

Robin sighed deeply. “Another council of war, I can see. In my solar, friends.”

Pippa looked around her, just to make sure she was in the right century. “I’m confused,” she said.

“Join the club,” Jackson said with a smile. “It’s chilly out, so why don’t we go sit by Robin’s fire and chat? Amanda and Anne have been hoping you would come through Artane. I think they’re eager to meet the woman who captured Montgomery’s heart.”

“Or offer her their sympathy,” Robin said with a snort. “Then again, I suppose that task falls to me. Whatever the case, we should sit and have speech together. There are plans to be made.”

“I don’t mean to rush either of you,” Pippa put in hesitantly, “but I really have to get going.” She took a deep breath. “If I don’t get to Sedgwick soon, Montgomery’s going to die.”

“Will he?” Robin asked, looking very interested. “Cousins do him in, is that it?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I just know someone does and I have to get there in time to stop it.”

“A mystery,” Robin said, rubbing his hands together. “One of my favorite things and, I suppose, reason enough to hurry. But let’s have supper first. I always plot and scheme with more success when I’m not hungry.”

That sounded familiar so she didn’t protest. She did, however, venture one last question. “You believe me?”

He winked at her. “I’ve been to Sedgwick, you know, and I know my reprehensible cousins there. Do you know which cousin it is that does Montgomery in, or should I guess?”

“Rob, leave off with that,” Jake said seriously. He gave Robin a shove for good measure, then took Pippa by the arm. “Come inside, Persephone, and we’ll make plans. Ignore Robin. Sometimes he just doesn’t know when to quit.”

“ ’ Tisn’t that,” Robin said, striding along on her other side. “I’m just so tenderhearted that I’m always afraid that if I show too much emotion, I might unman myself in front of my men. It wouldn’t do to have them see me weeping over my youngest brother who is perfectly capable of slaying anyone who vexes him. I will ride to his rescue, however, only because I feel honor bound to deliver you there safely.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Unless you’ve come to your senses during that complete baring of my soul. You’re not wed to him yet, you know.”

Pippa only smiled.

“And if I’m allowed to ask, how is it you know our wee Montgomery’s life is in danger?”

“A ghost told me.”

Jake laughed out loud.

Robin looked at his brother-in-law, then shook his head. “My life,” he said with a long, drawn-out sigh, “is very strange.”

Pippa had to agree. She had, in the past hour, been in two different time periods that spanned almost eight centuries, spoken with ghosts, and taken a leap of faith into a life where her only anchor was a man hours away by horse who might not live long enough for her to rescue him.

She suppressed the urge to wring her hands. She would trust Montgomery’s family because they had just as much reason to want him alive as she did. She watched Robin excuse himself to take care of some brief business, then took the opportunity for a little look around inside the gates. She tried without much success not to gape at the fully functioning medieval stables, blacksmith’s forge, and garden where the gift shop had once been.

Jake elbowed her very gently. “I have a few current-event questions to ask you.”

She looked up at him. “I’ll just bet you do.”

“I’ll even tell you stories about your beloved if you want—after you tell me who won the World Series this year.”

She frowned. “I have no idea. I just know it wasn’t Seattle.”

“You don’t know,” he mouthed in shock. “Woman, you don’t follow baseball?”

“No. It’s appalling, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely. I suppose that leaves me no choice but to pepper you with questions about other important statistics before we round up men and take off.” He smiled briefly. “Don’t worry. Montgomery’s a pretty clever guy all on his own.”

“I know,” she said. “I’m just afraid he won’t be looking where he needs to.”

He smiled wryly. “Riding to the rescue, are you?”

“He brought me shoes I’d left in the past. I thought I would return the favor.”

“Very romantic.”

“It was,” she agreed. She hesitated, then cast caution to the wind. “There’s one more thing.” She paused. “Montgomery’s garrison knights think I’m a fairy. Well, so do his cousins.” She paused. “And most of the villagers in the surrounding environs.”

“At least they don’t think you’re a witch,” Jake said ruefully. “Don’t give it another thought. We’ve been talking about that very thing. We’ll think of some way to introduce you as a girl with a medieval pedigree, perhaps from obscure but very desirable locale in southern France. No one will dare argue, especially if Robin is your escort.”

“That would be very nice of him.”

“He loves his brother and his brother loves you. Besides, the paranormal overtones to the adventure will give him something to complain about for months. Everyone wins.”

She sincerely hoped so. She followed Jake into the hall and across it, then looked at him as he stopped in front of a particular doorway. “We can hurry, can’t we?”

“I imagine we’ll leave before dawn,” he said, smiling reassuringly. “Montgomery left yesterday, but even though he’ll no doubt ride hard, he still has to stop at Segrave and gather up his men. We’ll ride just as hard and be at Sedgwick well before too much mischief can be afoot.”

Pippa closed her eyes briefly, unable to even express gratitude. She didn’t want to sound melodramatic—Peaches would have enjoyed that far too much—but every moment that passed was another moment where Montgomery’s life hung in the balance.

She couldn’t bear the thought of getting there twenty-four hours too late.