His Wicked Charm. Candace Camp

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ vehicle. This is a major thoroughfare with a lot of vehicles. The more people, the more carriages and wagons, the less likely it is that anyone will notice or remember a certain one, even if it is uncommon. Also, eventually this street turns into the road to Tunbridge Wells. From what Anna said, the house they’re using is in a rural area.”

      “Really, Constantine, don’t tell me you believe in visions foretelling the future.”

      “Actually, in this case, it’s more the present than the future.” He glanced at her. “Why wouldn’t I believe it? Anna’s no liar. She wouldn’t mislead us, especially about something important.”

      “I’m sure she isn’t lying or trying to mislead you. But it’s far more likely that Anna dreamed it. She had a headache, lay down and fell asleep, and she had a nightmare. Dreams seem very real sometimes.”

      Con thought of a room with curving walls and clocks. “I know. But whether it came while she was asleep or awake, she saw that they were abducted. We know that was true. So it seems silly to ignore the rest of her vision.”

      “But how could anyone ‘see’ something happening miles away?”

      “I’ve witnessed stranger—”

      “Con!” Lilah grabbed his arm.

      “What?” A little jolt ran through him. “What’s the matter?” He glanced around.

      “Stop. Stop. Look.” Lilah pointed to a woman walking down the street. “That’s Olivia’s.”

      “What?” Con pulled back on the reins.

      “That woman is wearing Olivia’s scarf!”

CHAPTER SIX

      NOT WAITING FOR HIM, Lilah scrambled down from the high seat on the other side, setting her foot on the front wheel, then jumping to the ground. She hurried after the woman, and a moment later, Con caught up with her. “Are you certain?”

      She gave him an impatient glance. “Olivia was wearing it the other day. I remember because I particularly liked it. Besides, look at that woman. Does she look like that scarf belongs to her?”

      The woman’s clothes were worn and drab, her straw hat battered, but around her neck was draped a lovely red silk scarf.

      “Ma’am.” Con broke into a trot. “Wait. Just a moment.”

      The woman looked back over her shoulder and, seeing them, whirled around to run. She hadn’t gone three steps before Con pulled her to a stop.

      “I din’t do nuffink. I din’t steal it. It’s mine.”

      “Calm down. I’m not accusing you of anything.”

      She tried to tug her arm from his grasp, clearly not believing him.

      “Con, you’re scaring her.” Lilah laid a soothing hand on the woman’s shoulder. “We aren’t going to hurt you. All we want is information.”

      “Yes, sorry.” Con eased his hold, though he did not release her. “I’m not trying to take your scarf from you. You can keep it. Just tell me where you got it.”

      “I din’t steal it.”

      “I believe you. You found it, didn’t you?”

      “’Twas just lying there. It din’t belong to nobody.”

      “Where was it lying? Can you show me where you found it?”

      She pointed back up the street. “Down there. It caught on the lamppost, see.”

      “Excellent.” Con beamed and reached into his pocket for a coin. “Here’s something for your information.”

      “Gor!” Her eyes widened as she snatched the coin from his hand. “Thankee, sir.”

      “Now, tell me, did you see where the scarf came from? You said it caught on the lamppost. Did you see it land there?”

      No longer reluctant, she started to answer, then sighed and admitted, “No. It was just there at the bottom of the post. Nell went for it, but I got there first. An’ we had a bit of scrap about it, an’ I won. I saw it ’fore she did.”

      “How long ago was that? Since you found the scarf.”

      “Oh. Well…” She wrinkled her forehead in thought. “A while. I went in to get a little tipple, you see, ’cause of my luck. And then, um, I went down to Annie’s to show her. A while.”

      “Thank you. You’ve been very helpful.” Con smiled and swept her an elegant bow, which made the woman giggle and bob a curtsy back to him. Obviously Con was an expert at charming any woman.

      It took only a few minutes of questioning the shopkeepers along the street before Con found one who remembered the black vehicle.

      “Oh, aye, I saw it. Ugly thing, don’t know why you’d want to paint your wagon black like that. Better something cheerful, I say. And why not a sign on it?”

      “Did you hear anything?”

      He looked puzzled. “It made a racket on the cobblestones, if that’s what you mean. So loud I couldn’t hear my customer. That’s why I noticed it.”

      “How long ago was it?”

      “Oh, some time now. An hour or two. Wait, I remember, it was just ’fore I ate. Around noon.”

      Con’s eyes gleamed as he took Lilah’s arm, propelling her back to the carriage. She could almost feel the renewed energy and hope surging in him.

      “I knew it!” he said as they started forward again. “I knew they would find a way to help me.”

      “They’ll have to divest themselves of a lot of garments to leave a good trail.”

      “There are four of them after all.” He tossed a grin at her.

      “It was very smart to do that.”

      “The family’s had some experience,” he said drily.

      They kept a sharp eye on the street, hoping for another sign from the Moreland women. Every time they spied a possibility, Con would jump down to investigate, but none of the objects turned out to be anything belonging to Con’s sisters. The problem was that any piece of clothing dropped on the street was likely to be picked up before Lilah and Con could find it. And how long could the ladies keep tossing out clues before one of their captors caught them?

      The traffic and houses thinned out, which at least made it more likely that a discarded item might not be picked up immediately. Con spotted the next item, a crumpled straw bonnet that he thought might belong to Thisbe. “It’s plain as she likes them.”

      Con fretted about the time as they continued at their slow pace. The sun had been growing steadily lower. Lilah decided it was best not to ask what they would do after darkness fell. Next they found a woman’s jacket.

      Lilah СКАЧАТЬ