Picture Perfect (28 page)

‘Sun’s setting, we’ve gone far enough, we’ll turn and go back now.’ Muffled footfalls followed and the boat started to veer over on one side.

‘Easy does it,’ someone else called, ‘send the boom across at the end of this tack.’

Annabel was about to speak, they sounded busy out on deck but Jack held up one finger and she understood he was telling her to wait just a moment more, then the boat swung suddenly upright, began to turn and Jack spoke rapidly. ‘When you hear me say the words
pity the moon’s not full tonight
I want you to be pretend to be seasick, make a lot of noise and call out, you must be convincing if they’re to let you on deck.’

Then what?
Annabel desperately wanted to ask but the boat shuddered and then settled into a smooth course and their last chance to communicate was over. She ate the rest of her stew not taking her eyes off Jack as if she could somehow read his thoughts if she looked into his eyes for long enough, and it seemed as if he felt the same for he looked steadily back at her and she felt comforted. As he took her bowl and spoon from her his fingers brushed hers, their warmth electrifying and she wanted so much to throw herself into his arms that she could feel herself trembling. He noticed and for a moment his determination seemed to waver, but he had been right to be so cautious so far and resolutely she withdrew her hands and folded her arms, a glimmer of a smile lifted the corners of Jack’s mouth and then he was gone.

Night fell, Annabel could tell from the rushing sound of the water that they were making rapid speed downstream, she didn’t know if heading back towards London was part of Jack’s plan or not but she hoped fervently that it was. She tried to keep still so that she would hear his signal, but time after time she found herself pacing the confines of the cabin. She peered out of the window in vain, both hoping and not hoping to see the moon, what if Jack had made a mistake and it was full tonight, what would he say then?’

Then the boat slowed and at last she heard it, Jack was speaking out across the water but she heard him clearly. ‘Pity the moon’s not full tonight,’ he seemingly observed.

Annabel leapt to her feet, ‘Oooh!’ she cried, and made a strangled, gargling noise, ‘Oh, I’m going to be sick!’ She debated whether to add a plea to be let out but decided against it for the moment, it might invite suspicion.

‘
I’ll bring you a bucket,’ one of the men called, that wasn’t the response she wanted, she let out another wordless cry of pain and almost missed Jack’s casual reply.

‘
Over the side’s best,’ he said.

‘
The boss said we weren’t to let her out of there,’ the first man argued and Annabel could almost see Jack shrugging.

‘
Seasickness is messy,’ he said, ‘I’m not cleaning it up if she misses the bucket.’

Annabel gave what she hoped was another realistic moan of pain, ‘Quick,’ she shouted, ‘I can’t wait much longer.’ That seemed to decide the other man, he unlocked the door and she rushed past him to the side where she leaned over and pretended to be sick. Before she had started to wonder what she was supposed to do next there was a swishing noise overhead and the boom swung over her so close it’s cool breeze fanned the back of her neck.

‘
What happened?’ one of the men shouted out.

‘
The mainsail’s come undone!’ another answered and in the confusion Jack arrived at her side.

‘
Well done,’ he said in an undertone, ‘now jump in the water.’

‘
What?’ Annabel threw her head up, startled.

‘
It’s shallow here, if you just keep walking you’ll reach the shore.’

‘
But how do you know?’ Annabel asked, breathless with shock, this was not what she had expected.

‘
There’s no time to explain,’ Jack said. ‘Do you trust me?’

For a moment Annabel looked at him, it was dark, all she could see of his eyes was a glimmer of light where the lantern caught them and the riverbank was a grey line, there was no way to tell how far away it was, but she trusted him.

‘
With my life,’ she said and jumped into the water.

It was cold, icy cold, and much colder than she had expected given the bright, sunny days they had been having, and it closed over her head. For a moment she panicked, it was far too deep and she couldn’t possibly hope to swim to the surface, laden as she was with her ankle length dress and petticoats, then her feet touched the pebbly surface of the river bed and she knew that the only thing to do was to walk forward and pray that Jack was right. Her clothes hampered her movement, but doggedly she struggled forward thinking she’d as good as promised Jack she’d try, she couldn’t fail and let him down now. One step after another, she thought her lungs would burst and then a wave caught her hair and the top of her head was out of the water. Flailing her arms to gain extra height she jumped and gasped a mouthful of air, it was just a little, but it was enough, she forded her way forward and after two more steps she was able to get her head above water.

The sound of angry voices vied with the water in her ears for her attention and looking back Annabel saw that the boat already seemed some distance away then she became once more aware of how the cold was biting into her and she pushed on, glancing over her shoulder, hoping desperately to see Jack. Then to her horror a gunshot rang out fragmenting the night, followed only a moment later by a splash as if a body had toppled into the water. The men must have realised Jack had helped her to escape, but had they shot him or had he dived in? She had no way to tell. Her heart was beating painfully and she forced herself to go on, it seemed to take forever, her feet stumbling on the stony bed of the river, the intense coldness contracting round her but these were nothing compared with the horrible fear that Jack might have been killed, the only thing which kept her going was the feeling that she couldn’t let him down and give up now. At last she reached the shore and discovered to her surprise that she was on a small gravel beach bordered by a high wall, exhausted she began walking along it looking for a way up, all the while the terrible question beating in her mind, was Jack dead or alive?

Chapter 15

Annabel heard a splashing a little way ahead of her, she tried to peer through the darkness, hoping against hope to see Jack, but the darkness was too deep and she could see nothing. With difficulty she stumbled along the shore, her wet skirts hampering each step. ‘Jack,’ she called, hearing her voice come out as a watery croak, ‘Jack are you there?’ but no one answered. Frantically she looked out across the water, the lamps on the boat were visible in the distance but they cast no light on the water lapping at her feet. Then suddenly a black shape reared up in her path, large and menacing, Annabel gazed at it, frozen with trepidation and tried to remember if there were seals in the Thames, but her brain didn’t seem to be working properly.

‘Annabel,’ the seal gasped, ‘thank God you’re alive!’ and Jack threw his arms around her crushingly.

‘
Jack!’ she cried and wrapped her arms tightly around him, almost unable to believe he was safe, she had been so sure he had been shot and had sunk to the bottom of the river never to be seen again, but here he was and she could hardly breathe for happiness. Then he kissed her, on and on and Annabel knew she was his forever. ‘It’s no good,’ he said murmured, ‘if you’re an art thief I’ll just have to become one too. You’re freezing,’ he added prosaically, leaving Annabel wondering if she had heard him correctly. ‘We must get you home.’ He wrapped his arm around her and guided her down the strand until they came to a staircase set into the wall. ‘Good,’ Jack said, sounding relieved, ‘we’re not far from Charring Cross, we should be able to take a hackney from there, if we can find one which will have us in this condition.’ As he helped her up the stone steps Annabel realized they were both still dripping wet and would not be viewed as ideal passengers, but she did not seem to be able to hold onto the thought, climbing up to the street above took all the concentration she had.

When they reached the road she was momentarily surprised out of her stupor when she saw that the street lights were still lit, the night had seemed so deep down by the water and somehow she had not expected to find civilisation waiting for her so close by. ‘Come on,’ Jack said, supporting her as much as he could and Annabel’s field of vision narrowed so that it was all she could do to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other as they headed away from the river. She seemed to have lost all sense of direction and had no idea of where they were going but Jack had got them both off the boat alive and she trusted him completely, he would get them safely home. ‘Bedford Square,’ she heard him say after what seemed like a very long time and she was about to rouse herself to answer him and say that he was right, that was where she lived, when someone else answered.

‘You’ll ruin my seats,’ a man said dubiously and never had the London accent of a cabbie sounded more welcome.’

‘Oh, sir, you are so kind!’ Annabel said in relief, she wouldn’t have to take a step further and in a very few minutes she would be home, her ordeal was over.

‘Well, if you put it that way,’ the cabbie said grudgingly and Annabel found herself being swept up in Jack’s arms and lifted onto the hackney seat. Jack sat down beside her and wrapped his arm around her once more and at last she started to warm up.

‘Bedford Square,’ he said again, she heard the exhaustion in his voice and wondered at how he had managed to guide them both this far and then they were off.

The clip-clopping of the horse’s hooves and the swaying motion of the cab, coupled with the perfect rightness of being snuggled up next to Jack made Annabel so comfortable that she could almost have fallen asleep if she hadn’t wanted to savour every moment of having Jack next to her like this, but all too quickly they arrived in Bedford Square. Jack made her wait in the carriage while he rang the bell and Annabel was grateful, she felt she wouldn’t have had the strength to stand on the front step and wait while the door was answered, but almost the moment he rang it was flung open. ‘I’ve brought Miss Black home,’ Annabel heard Jack say and then her father charged down the steps, her mother flying closely on his heels.

‘Annabel, we thought we’d lost you forever,’ her father said while her mother wordlessly hugged her, then Annabel found herself being half carried into the house, into warmth and light, Jack had brought her home at last.

When she woke up Annabel’s first thought was to wonder where Jack was. She was snugly tucked up in her own bed, dressed in a clean nightgown, with fluffy white blankets over crisp white sheets pulled up to her chin, and she had never felt more bereft, soaking wet but at Jack’s side had felt far more right than this. It seemed impossible that her parents would not have offered him a bed for the night, soaking and exhausted as he had been. With this thought she leapt up to dress and find him. But the moment her feet touched the floor she found herself swaying dizzily and she clutched her bed frame for support. Laura, her maid, must have been listening for her, for at that moment she rushed in.

‘Miss Black,’ she said, looking quite shocked, and her solicitousness was such a contrast to that of her kidnappers that Annabel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, ‘please get back in bed at once, I shall bring you breakfast, but your mother was quite clear, you must not even think of getting up today.’ Another wave of dizziness swept over Annabel and much as she wanted to find Jack she saw that breakfast in bed might be rather nice and meekly she obeyed.

She had barely finished her tea and toast, served with sizzling bacon, when Laura came in again. ‘Lord and Lady Beresford are here to see you,’ she said and before Annabel could make a move towards getting up and dressing the Beresfords pushed past Laura and Annabel found herself being smothered in Lady Beresford’s scented embrace. Although they had clearly already been told what had happened nothing would satisfy the Beresfords except hearing the whole tale again from Annabel. Halfway through, Justine slipped into the room and Annabel feared being asked to start from the beginning, but her sister seemed to realized what an ordeal that would be and made no such request.

‘We’ll have that man Rollings behind bars by sunset,’ Lord Beresford said grimly when she had finished. ‘Denham told me he knows where to find him, he’ll have a word with the magistrates and that will be that.’

‘Is J- Mr Denham still here?’ Annabel asked, feeling her heart flutter with pleasure at the prospect of seeing him, but Justine answered.

‘No, he’s just left.’

‘Oh,’ said Annabel, deeply disappointed, if only she had insisted on dressing and seeing the Beresfords downstairs, then she would have seen Jack, but now she had missed him.

‘I’ll see if I can catch him,’ Lord Beresford said, suiting action to words and for a moment Annabel thought he had read her mind, but then she realized that he meant to accompany Jack on his quest for justice.

Lady Beresford looked at her with pursed lips. ‘I must say, you’re looking a bit peaky,’ she said, ‘I must have a word with Mrs Black,’ and she left the room as well. Justine sat down on the side of Annabel’s bed.