Shattered Dreams (30 page)

Cragdale
nodded.

“
Masterson and Murphy?”

Cragdale
nodded again.

Harry
swore and looked at the Head Jailer. “I don’t want him to go
anywhere until you have the complete list of names of everyone who
is involved.

“
What about Bolsworthy?”

Cragdale
stared at him blankly. “Who?”

“
The woman who heads this organisation.”

It was
clear from the frown on Cragdale’s face that he hadn’t got a clue
what Harry was talking about. Harry didn’t bother to ask him
anything else, and turned toward the door with a rather sick
feeling in the pit of his stomach, and a burning desperation to get
to Stepney Mallet.

Now that
he had all of the information he needed, it was imperative that he
got to Stepney Mallet, and Tilly.

At the
door, he paused and looked back at the prisoner. “What about Zack?
The young lad they have them?”

The
prisoner turned haunted eyes on Harry, but didn’t say a
word.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Zack had
started to cry by the time they reached the small hamlet of Bopple
just after nightfall. As predicted, they could barely see their
hands before their faces, but at least they had finally reached
somewhere that might have a place to stay overnight. Since darkness
had fallen, it had become evident that they weren’t able to
continue to walk to the next town.

“
What now?” Suzanna whispered as she tried to peer through the
darkness for any sign of outbuildings they could take shelter in
and rest for a while.

Unfortunately, after ten minutes of wandering aimlessly
around in the dark, they could still see that there was really
nothing in the tiny hamlet apart from a few small cottages, none of
which had any lights on inside.

“
There is nowhere to stay,” Zack whispered
morosely.

Tilly
shook her head. “We have to keep walking.” She eyed the lights in
the distance and knew, deep in the pit of her stomach, that it was
Tooting Mallow. She had no idea how she knew, she just
did.

“
What do we do about getting to the Rectory without being
seen?” Suzanna asked after several minutes of thoughtful
silence.

They
both knew that Dandridge must have been watching the house, and
waiting for the perfect opportunity to kidnap them. Given that he
must now also know that he had lost them again, it was inevitable
that the man would return to the Rectory to look for
them.

“
We will just have to be careful, won’t we?” Tilly replied
firmly. She tipped her chin up and pointed toward the lights in the
distance. “There is warmth, and somewhere dry to sleep over there.
The Rectory is there. The men are there. We are not going to turn
around. There is nowhere to go to. We are not going to just stand
out here all night; not now that we are this close.”

“
What if it isn’t Tooting Mallow though?” Suzanna asked with a
frown.

“
Well, at least we will have some outbuildings to shelter in
while we decide what to do. Out here, we have nothing.”

Neither
Suzanna nor Zack could really argue with that. They already knew
that they couldn’t stand out on the track all night.

With a
sigh, they all began to trudge toward the lights.

Harry
tugged his cloak around him as he rode through the rain, and
allowed his thoughts to wander. It was going to take a good couple
of hours to get to Stepney Mallet but, if they rode through the
night, they could reach it a few hours before dawn, get to know the
layout of the area, and the Dog and Crow, and find somewhere
suitable to wait.

It
disturbed him greatly to think that the handover might already have
taken place. He had no idea what he would do if it had, but he
daren’t think about that. The only thought that was keeping him
sane was being able to get her back into his arms where she was
safe. He couldn’t contemplate any other outcome.

He
needed her by his side, and not only to keep an eye on her. The
Rectory was empty without her. He was empty without her. Life would
just never be the same if he didn’t share it with her. In such an
incredibly short space of time, Tilly had turned his entire world
upside down, and he really didn’t mind one bit.

As far
as he was concerned, Tilly was not going to spend the rest of her
life in any kind of service to anyone, especially him. She was
going to share his life, and his bed, as his equal. They were going
to live out their lives in happily married bliss, and raise their
children together. It was as simple as that. He would not
contemplate any other outcome.

“
Are you alright?” Barnaby murmured as he drew alongside
him.

Harry
threw him a dour look, and suddenly sneezed.

“
I am soaked to the skin, frozen, and have lost Tilly. I have
no idea where she has gone, or how she is. She could be injured,
hungry, and is undoubtedly terrified. I won’t be alright again
until we have her back where she belongs, and Dandridge and
Cruickshank are where they belong, over at Battlington with
Bolsworthy and the others,” he growled.

There
was nothing Barnaby could say to that really, and so they lapsed
into thoughtful silence as they rode through the night.

“
Psst.”

Tilly’s
heart leapt and she turned wide eyes on Suzanna, who flicked her
ear.

They all
stopped, and listened to the sound of horses’ hooves in the
distance.

“
They are heading toward us,” Tilly whispered. She felt hot
and cold at the same time, and began to tremble with a mixture of
cold and fear.

Zack,
already traumatised by his ordeal, began to whimper.

“
It’s alright,” Tilly murmured. “Everything will be alright.
Just try to stay calm, and keep quiet.”

“
What do we do? Where do we go?” Suzanna’s voice was desperate
as she looked around for somewhere to hide.

“
Stand still. They are on the road,” Tilly suggested and waved
everyone to the side of the road. Once there, they all stood
perfectly still and waited to see who else was on the cart
track.

It was
haunting to watch two riders suddenly appear out of the darkness
toward them. Tall and dark in the saddle, they seemed completely
oblivious to everything other than the road ahead. Unfortunately,
because it was so dark, it was impossible to tell if it was
Dandridge and Cruickshank, or someone else. Although Zack didn’t
say a word, Tilly felt his trembling grow considerably worse, and
squeezed his shoulder in a silent plea to keep quiet.

Tilly’s
heart began to pound in her chest as she studied the breadth of
those masculine shoulders and the length of those long, masculine
legs on one of the riders. A jolt of familiarity suddenly surged
through her and she studied the rider as intently as she could as
he rode steadily toward them.

Everything within her screamed that it was him; Harry; the
man she had just been dreaming about. Her heart yearned for it to
be him, but her logic warned her that it couldn’t possibly be.
Harry was back in Tooting Mallow, probably looking after his
injured colleague, or investigating the activities within the poor
house. He couldn’t possibly be riding through the night toward
them.

She
wanted to step forward and take a closer look, but couldn’t risk
that it was Dandridge and remained frozen in place while the riders
passed. They were about to step out onto the track, when two more
riders suddenly appeared out of the gloom.

This
time, she didn’t move so far back into the shadows, and studied the
rider closest to her a little more closely as he approached. She
almost wept with relief as she saw the wonderfully familiar sight
of Joseph.

“
We know him,” she whispered to Zack, and gave his shoulder an
excited shake. “It’s them.”

Joseph
cursed when someone suddenly appeared out of the shadows. It was
raining so heavily that it was difficult to see much in the way of
detail. At first, he thought that his eyes were deceiving him, and
Tilly hadn’t just stepped out of the darkness. However, the sight
of Suzanna and Zack right behind her assured him that he wasn’t
going mad, and it really was the people they had set out to
rescue.

“
Harry,” he called sharply as he reined to a stop. He peered
into the darkness ahead of him toward Barnaby and Harry, but
couldn’t see them. He glanced across at Joshua. “It’s
them.”

“
I’ll go and get Harry,” Joshua growled. He pointed one long
finger at Tilly, Suzanna and Zack. “Stay right there. I will be
back in a minute.”

“
God, are we glad to see you,” Joseph declared firmly. He
quickly dismounted and hauled Zack into his arms for a hug. “Jesus,
you are frozen.”

He
stared in horror at all of them. From what he could see through the
rain and the gloom, they were all just as bad as Zack.

Tilly
couldn’t keep her tears at bay as she watched Joshua disappear. Her
relief was so strong that for a moment, she wondered if she was
going to remain upright. The thought that Harry was there, nearby,
was everything she wanted, needed, and she suddenly yearned for him
to hurry up and come back. She wished now she had stepped forward a
couple of minutes earlier.

“
Thank God you three are alright,” Joseph growled. He removed
his cloak and draped it carefully around Zack’s shoulders before he
swept the young lad off his feet. “Let’s get you somewhere
warm.”

Further
down the lane, Joshua finally reached Harry and Barnaby.

“
You had best come back and see this,” he growled as he turned
his horse around in a wide circle that blocked their
path.

“
What?”

“
Come and see this,” he urged. “Hurry up man. We don’t have
time to waste.”

Harry
stared at Joshua’s back as he disappeared down the track toward
Tooting Mallow. His curse was loud in the silence, and he glanced
at Barnaby, who had already turned his horse around.

He
desperately needed to get to Stepney Mallet, but was curious to
know what would make Joshua want to turn everyone around when three
innocent lives were at stake. With a disgruntled sigh, he turned
his grateful horse in a wide circle, and went after his
colleague.

The
small group of people and horses appeared out of the gloom so
suddenly that to begin with, Harry couldn’t understand what had
happened. All he could see was Joseph putting someone onto his
horse, and Barnaby talking to someone else as he
dismounted.

It was
only when Suzanna replied that Harry’s heart leapt. His eyes
scanned the group, and he almost wept with relief at the sight of
Tilly, standing tall and beautiful, if a little battered and
bruised, looking steadily at him.

His
horse hadn’t even stopped before Harry had dismounted. He couldn’t
have spoken for the life of him as he stalked toward her, and swept
her into his arms for a huge hug.

“
Thank God. Thank God. Thank God,” he whispered as he peppered
her face with random kisses. “God, I thought I had lost you. God, I
thought you had gone.”

Tilly
couldn’t speak. She was swept high into his arms as he swung her
around and then held her so tightly that she could barely breathe,
but she didn’t mind because she held him just as securely. The feel
of him there, in her arms, brought forth such a wave of love that
she couldn’t withhold her tears, and they trickled slowly down her
cheeks as she peppered his face with tiny kisses in
return.

“
Harry,” she whispered longingly, only vaguely aware that
there were several people only a few feet away, and they were all
trying desperately to appear as though they weren’t
there.

He
cupped her face in his hands and kissed her with a ferocity that
seared them both. All of the unspoken love he felt for her; his
deepest fears; the worst of his regrets, were poured into that
single kiss.

She
could do little except cling to him and savour the knowledge that
he was there at last.

“
Ahem.”

Neither
of them noticed. It was only when a cold gust of wind made Tilly
shiver, that the sensual fog of desire was broken, and Harry
realised that the woman in his arms desperately needed to get warm.
He lifted his head and rested his forehead against hers for several
long moments as he quickly removed his cloak and settled it over
her shoulders.

“
Let’s go home,” he murmured gently and, without giving her
the chance to answer, swept her off her feet.

Once she
was seated on his horse, he mounted behind her and tucked the cloak
tightly around her, before securing the folds into place with his
arms. He dipped his head for one last, lingering kiss as he wheeled
the horse around. Once he was sure that the rest of the group were
with him, he nudged his horse into a trot and, together, they made
their way back to the Rectory.

Tilly
was soaked to the skin, hungry, thirsty, frozen, but so blessedly
happy. In spite of the rain, she leaned up as far as she could
reach and kissed his jaw.