Stealing Kathryn. Jacquelyn Frank

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СКАЧАТЬ She wasn’t going to be tricked by a soothing voice, a convenient explanation, and a lovely face.

      “Well, you did that to yourself. You would become quite violent with delusion. You kept throwing yourself against the wall, demanding to be let out. I hated to see you hurting yourself, but there was nothing we could do to stop you. You’ve scratched yourself all over. But the doctor says he’s seen that and worse with the fever you’ve had. It seems to be going ’round the entire county.”

      Kathryn stared in shock at the woman. Was it true? Was she supposed to believe that this had all been nothing but a delusion? But…didn’t that make much more sense than what she had thought she’d seen? Kathryn looked piercingly into the other woman’s eyes, but she saw not even a glimmer of deception.

      “Are you all right? Really, you should lie back and rest.” The stranger put warm hands on her shoulders and pushed her down into soft—not abnormally soft, but just plain soft—pillows. Kathryn let herself relax a little.

      “What is this place?” Then she shot into an upright position again. “My family! How is my family?”

      “Your family? Well, I hardly know who you are, never mind your family. But if you tell me, I’ll send my brother out right away to find out. As for where you are, we call our home the Willows. Perhaps you have heard of it?”

      Kathryn shook her head slowly, her blue eyes wide with confusion.

      “Well, never mind. We’re just an estate and horse ranch. We’ve bred some of the finest thoroughbreds on the continent. I’ll show you some of our special beauties once you’re well enough to walk about. Now, can I get you anything? Something to drink or eat?”

      Kathryn was suddenly famished and, she realized, extremely thirsty. She nodded eagerly, hoping this was a good sign that she was getting better.

      “Yes. I would love something to eat. But I’m sure I can come with you—”

      A sharp staying hand had her sitting back in the bed and pulling covers up against her chest. There was a stern no-nonsense feel to the action that so reminded her of her mother. And even though she had been wife and mother for their household for three years now, she was surprised how readily she wanted to give over that power to someone else. If only for a little while.

      “You’re not to get up unless the doctor says you can. He should be here shortly to check on you. Do you promise me to listen to all that he tells you to do or not do? I am relieved to see you lucid at last and I would hate for us to lose hard-earned ground because we didn’t follow the rules.”

      “I promise to do exactly what he says. Only…can I have a phone? I need to call my dad. I need to make sure they are all right.”

      “I tell you what. I’ll send Adrian out to check on your family. You can call them in a day or two when you’re stronger. I don’t want you getting all upset or excited.”

      “But—”

      “It’s only a day or two more. And Adrian will check on them to make certain all is well. Tell me where they live.”

      Kathryn did so with haste, but she still didn’t see why she couldn’t just call for herself. Would anyone even answer? Were they even alive? She couldn’t simply sit there waiting and resting while she didn’t know if they were safe!

      “You see? Just talking about it has you flushed and your heart racing. Imagine if the news weren’t good, how you would react.” Aerlyn tried to smile kindly at her, knowing very well that there would be no rest for this girl until she had spoken to her family or knew what had become of them. “You must behave yourself if you are to get well.”

      “I’m sorry,” Kathryn said absently.

      But in truth, Kathryn was ecstatic with relief that she was here, in this place, being a trouble to this kind woman, rather than being in trouble in a gilded hell with a monster who wanted to keep her there forever. A monster who wanted to relish the corruption of the beauty he saw in her.

      “Don’t worry yourself so much,” the kindly woman urged when she saw the upsetting memories reflecting on Kathryn’s face.

      “It’s okay. I”—she pressed fingers to her forehead—“I am just remembering some of the awful things I was…um…imagining while I was ill. It seemed so real that…all of this now seems like a dream.”

      “Nightmares are quite common with a fever. The memory will pass,” she promised, giving Kathryn’s hand a comforting pat. “Now, for introductions. My name is Aerlyn Winston. My brother, Adrian, and I own this home and the land around it. As you can no doubt tell from my accent, we were not born here. But we like it here well enough. And you are?”

      “Kathryn. Macdonough.”

      “Now then, Kathryn, I’m going to send my brother out to your family while I make you something to eat. You rest,” she reiterated sternly.

      Aerlyn then swept through the door with her perfectly elegant posture and Kathryn doubted she’d ever once seen the inside of a kitchen. She seemed too refined and far too wealthy to waste time and her beautiful skin on tuna fish sandwiches and dish soap.

      But Kathryn did take note of one very important detail.

      She’d left the door open.

      Just a crack, but it was open. Not locked.

      Kathryn couldn’t help herself. She crept out of bed, wincing when her steps made the floor creak. She made it to the door and realized that she was utterly exhausted by the trip. It lent credence to the claims that she had, indeed, been ill. Just the same, though, she peeked out the door and into a hallway. She could see stairs nearby. There was no one about. No toady-looking little men, no huge frightening ones either. She was tempted to find the front door and walk out, just to prove she could, but her legs were beginning to shake. She hurried back to the bed, but before she climbed in she heard loud voices. A woman calling out.

      “Adrian!”

      Kathryn hurried to her window and quickly pulled it open. It was a brisk, cool day, but she didn’t care. What she did care about was the huge amount of land she saw, the enormous paddocks and meadows all boasting the most beautiful horses with their brilliant gleaming coats. Not too far off there was a dust trail being kicked up, a horse and rider turned to race toward the house.

      They were a magnificent thing to behold. The large man in the saddle leaning close to the horse’s neck and the shining, rippling muscle of a well-made beast. Actually, she thought as he came close enough for her to see him in better detail, he was a well-made beast as well. A very big man, but not as big as the creature she had encountered. She shivered, glad to think it had just been a dream.

      He reached the back of the house and dismounted to speak to his sister, holding the horse with one hand and using his hat to smack dust off himself with the other. He had long, black hair, settled into curls similar to his sister’s, and it was caught in a rather full ponytail at the nape of his strong neck. He was taller than her by almost a full head, and he was roped with thick and powerful muscle. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she could hear how deep his voice was. Then, suddenly, he looked up at her window and she gasped and ducked back without even understanding why. In that brief instant, though, she’d seen his handsome face and the very grimly serious expression on it. She had seen the chiseled definition of his features even from this vantage СКАЧАТЬ