There's Always Tomorrow (Immortal Series)
Read There's Always Tomorrow (Immortal Series) Online
Authors: Alice Addy
Books by
Alice Addy
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Courage Series
— Historical
MISSOURI LEGEND
ARIZONA JUSTICE
PENNSYLVANIA VALOR
Birdsong Series
— Historical
TRACKS TO LOVE
SWEETWATER
BONJOUR, MY WIFE
IT’S ONLY THE BEGINNING
Immortal Series
- Paranormal
THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW
°
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1810
Anthony Bowles and his best friend, Thomas
Pinkerton, were young, rich, and foolish; but never as foolish as their last
night in the ancient city of Prague.
They should have taken heed of the warnings they’d received before
starting out under the light of the full moon.
Convinced the stories of monsters devouring the innocent
were nothing more than figments of overactive imaginations and terrifying tales
told to naughty children, they left the protection of the city streets and
ventured deep into the woods.
It was that single act that would change their
lives forever—for all eternity.
2011
Sophie loved her job.
Working for a handsome and mysterious private investigator
was always exciting.
One never
knew who’d stumble through their door, or where their inquiry would take
them.
One afternoon,
he
walked through the door and turned her life upside down by telling her a
fantastical story; a tale so bizarre, only a woman in love would believe
it.
Sophie never questioned his
veracity and agreed to follow him anywhere in search of his life-long
quest.
No matter what they
discovered, she was confident their love would endure throughout the ages.
Tomorrow
Alice Addy
Copyright © 2012 Alice Addy
2013 Revision
This Book was published in 2012 as
Beware of Helping Gypsies.
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and
incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used
fictitiously.
Any resemblance to
actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 1482634287
ISBN-13: 978-1482634280
DEDICATION
I wish to acknowledge Kathryn Nestor for her
beautiful book cover.
A talented
artist, she never fails to bring my vision to life.
Her use of color and light make all the difference.
I eagerly anticipate the next design.
Thank you so much, for everything you do.
CONTENTS
PRAGUE 1810
It was pleasantly dark inside the old tavern, easy
on the bloodshot eyes of the two young aristocrats.
Both men were well into their cups and felt no pain as the
hour grew late.
The curious aromas
that occasionally wafted in from the kitchen were foreign to them, but they
were eager to try new things.
They
would have to return home to England and their families, soon enough.
“I don’t know
about you, Anthony, but I’m having a specta-cu-larly good time,” the
sandy-headed man slurred.
“Damn
shame it’s coming to an end.
Touring the continent was a brilliant idea.
Although I’ll never be able to totally forget the boredom
and drudgery of school, this whole thing has been grand.”
He waved his hands around the
room.
“Had it not been for you, my
friend, I should never…never have graduated at all, and that would have really
pissed off my father.”
He
hiccupped loudly, punctuating his last statement.
“Here, here,
Thomas, drink up.
The brandy is
too good to waste and it cost a king’s ransom,” his friend chuckled.
“Damn good thing our families wanted to
get rid of us badly enough to pay for our little excursion.
Frankly, I plan to stay away for a
minimum of two years.
Maybe I’ll
even find myself a beautiful, foreign woman, wanting to buy into a title.
Being a second son, it’s not bloody
likely I’ll get one, but you never know.”
He laughed heartily.
“Who
knows?
I could perhaps get my hands
on some obscure title, someday in the future—or at least that’s what I’ll
tell her.”
Anthony nodded his head
and slapped his hand down on the table.
“By God, that’s
just what I’ll do, Thomas.
I’ll
find me a rich girl looking to step up into society.
By the time she finds out that I exaggerated a little, I’ll
have her with a nursery full of crying babies.”
He snickered, drunkenly, feeling better about his
future.
Why was it that ideas were
always more interesting when coming from the bottom of a bottle?
Leaning over
the wet, scarred table, barely able to hold his head up, young Thomas Pinkerton
tried to comfort his lifelong friend.
He patted Anthony on the back.
“Now, now, what would you want with a damn title—or a wife, for
that matter?
You and I don’t have
the responsibilities of our older brothers.”
He hiccupped again, showing no sign of embarrassment.
“We have the freedom to do as we damn
well please, and no one expects anything different.
Why would you want to ruin everything by getting yourself
leg-shackled?”
Scowling,
Anthony lifted his mug.
“It does
sound rather stupid.
We’re happy
now, right?
Let’s drink to
enjoying our lives and staying free.”
Smiling, he took a long swallow of the unusual brew the proprietor
called ale.
It caused him to
belch, egregiously, and made his head spin.
Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, he continued to speak.
“When we get
back to England, we’re going to be expected to join the guard or the Royal
Navy.
I don’t mind telling you,
I’m in no blasted hurry to get myself killed for king or country.”
Anthony stared
at his equally inebriated companion.
Thomas had been his dearest friend from their earliest years.
Why, he couldn’t remember a time when
they didn’t know each other.
Their
mothers had been best friends since they were just girls.
Both of them were second sons and neither
was likely to inherit the family title or the wealth that went with it.
That proved to be both a blessing and a
curse.
Through everything, good
and bad, the two friends had seen it through together.
Much to the
dismay of their fathers, they proudly failed to distinguish themselves while at
university, as they felt it was totally unnecessary.
Eventually, they would be expected to follow tradition.
Their fathers would proudly buy them
commissions in the navy, where upon they’d sail off toward some foreign shore
to fight, and perhaps die.
But for
now, they preferred to drink and make love to all the pretty women.
“Well, good
friend, it seems I’m foxed and I need to find my bed.
What say you?
Shall we take the bottle and depart this illustrious establishment?”
Anthony peered at his companion through
heavy, unfocused eyes.
Thomas, looking
even worse than his friend, nodded in agreement and corked the bottle, before
slipping it into his jacket pocket.
“I guess we sleep alone tonight, eh?” he grumbled.
Both men stood
up on wobbly legs and turned toward the door.
Anthony laughed, and slapped his friend on the back.
“Guide me to the door, and later, I
promise to find you a beautiful brunette.
You know, of course, you’re in no condition to give her the pleasure she
deserves.”
Anthony hiccupped and
teetered forward on his toes.
“Let’s depart.”
Thomas stood up
carefully, pulling his vest into position and trying, although somewhat
unsuccessfully, to appear sober.
With his coat slung casually over his shoulder and his hat sitting at a
precarious angle over his forehead, he led the way to the exit.
The crowded
tavern was overflowing and the exhausted barkeep wanted to lock up.
It was time to leave.
The moon was high in the sky and all
good people had gone to their beds, hours earlier.
“Keep to the
lighted path,” a heavily accented voice growled from a darkened corner, just
left of the doorway.
Anthony stopped
and glanced in the man’s direction.
“What did you
say, sir?” he inquired, trying to clear his head.
“Were you speaking to us?”
The deep voice
repeated its warning.
“It isn’t
safe to enter the woods after dark.
Terrible things happen to those who ignore the warnings.”
The man’s boney finger slowly traced
the path of a long white scar slicing downward, across the side of his face,
from his brow to his pointed chin.
“There’s wolves in the darkness, boys…Some say they’s big as a
man.”
He laughed and turned away,
leaving the two foreigners feeling a bit uneasy.
Thomas looked
at Anthony and whispered, “What was that all about?”
Anthony
shrugged his shoulders.
“Don’t
know and don’t care.
These tales
are merely folklore designed to scare the gullible.
Forget it.
I
simply want to crawl into my bed and dream of a soft feminine ass and big round
tits.”
He sighed.
“It’s been too long since I’ve
pleasured a woman properly; tomorrow night, God willing, I intend to remedy
that.”
Arm in arm, the
two handsome gentlemen stumbled out into the darkness.
As the solid wooden door closed, the
iron hinges groaned under its substantial weight and the large lock rattled
from inside.
Anthony noticed the tavern
was very well fortified, and he chuckled.
What were they afraid of?
The weather had
turned crisp, but the two men would step lively and hurry back to their hotel,
to get a good night’s sleep before waking and doing it all again, tomorrow
night.
The full moon
shown brightly on the street and it clearly illuminated the path meandering
through the park.
The stone bridge
crossing the river, was straight ahead, perhaps a quarter mile.
The hotel was straight on from there.
Thomas stopped
midway down the sidewalk and pulled on Anthony’s sleeve.
“I say…if we cut through the park and
cross the stream here, I bet we can save some time.
I’m not looking forward to freezing my bullocks off by
taking the long way around.”
His
body swayed with the effort of keeping his balance.
He smiled, lopsidedly, at his friend.
Anthony’s green
eyes tried to focus on the path leading into the darkness.
They had been in Prague only a few
days, and he was unsure of the layout of the ancient city, not to mention, his
head was splitting.
He closed his
eyes and groaned, before consenting to follow.
“I suppose it would be nice to get warm sooner, rather than
later.
I guess it couldn’t hurt to
take a shortcut.
Lead the way,
good man, but if you pass out before we get back to the hotel, I promise to
leave you where you fall,” he threatened.
“You know me
better than that, Anthony.
When
was the last time I passed out?”
Thinking back, he remembered Munich and Paris and several villages he
couldn’t recall by name.
“All
right.
Leave me where I lie,” he
laughed.
Disregarding
the stranger’s warning, the two Englishmen left the safety of the lighted
street for the darkness of the city park.
It was quite evident, by their unsteady gate and the happy, drinking
song they chose to sing at full volume, the strangers had been imbibing more
than their fair share.
Only dumb
luck would protect them from harm, this night.
After more than
half an hour, the men were still wandering in the darkness.
“Are you sure we aren’t going in
circles, Thomas?” Anthony shouted.
He was tired and freezing and had lost all confidence in his friend’s
ability to navigate the unknown pathways.
“I know I’ve seen this bench before.
Damn it, Thom.
We never should have left the sidewalk.
I’d be asleep in my own warm bed by now, had I not let you
convince me to follow you through the woods.
Where the hell are we?
Damn it all!
I think I’m
beginning to sober up.”
“Easy, my
friend,” Thomas cajoled.
He
stopped and turned in circles to get his bearings.
Breathing hard, he pointed down a short ravine.
“There.
That’s the way.
I’m certain of it.
Come
along.”
Thomas didn’t wait for
Anthony to agree, as he ran down the steep embankment.
A tree had fallen across the stream,
creating the perfect natural bridge.
The young man ran across it and disappeared from Anthony’s view.
“Aw, hell,
Thom.
I don’t like this,” Anthony
muttered, as he reluctantly ran after his friend, crossed the creek, and found
himself deeper in the dense and most impenetrable part of the forest.
Even the light of the full moon could
not lessen the darkness of the thick foliage, making it nearly impossible to
see three feet in front of one’s face.
“Took you long
enough,” Thomas whispered, taking Anthony completely by surprise.
“You
bastard.
You better know where
you’re going.
I’ve ruined my boots
and torn my sleeve.
Which way now,
Marco Polo?” Anthony snapped.
He
was too tired and too drunk to be forgiving.
Thomas motioned
with his arm.
“Follow me.”
The two men
trudged on, for what seemed like an hour, before Thomas admitted he was
hopelessly lost.
“Who would think
a forest as impregnable as this, would be located so close to the heart of the
city?
Take Hyde Park, for
example.
A blind man couldn’t lose
his way there.
I’m truly sorry,
Anthony. I always seem to mess up.”
He plopped down on a large flat rock and rested his pounding head in his
hands.
“Maybe we should just sleep
here until sunrise.”
While Anthony
stood looking down at his friend, with his temper threatening to explode, a
noise came to them from over a slight rise.
“Did you hear that, Thom?”
“Aye.
It sounds like a woman, don’t you
think?”
“Yeah, and it’s
coming from over there.
I think we
should take a look.”
The two men
were on full alert by the time they crested the hill, and the sight that
awaited them caused them to sober quickly enough.
A beautiful
girl, of no more than fourteen years, was trapped by a small rockslide and
needed their immediate help.
As they
scrambled down the hillside, they heard the growling and snarling of a beast,
partially hidden from view, coming from the edges of the clearing.
The terrifying sound caused their blood
to run cold.
Unarmed, how could
they possibly rescue the girl and walk away unscathed?