Page 58 of Whiskers and Wiles

Several things happened at once, before Waldorf could finish his heartfelt sentiment. Firstly, he stood partially from his seat, reaching for Kat as if he would crouch before her and cradle the side of her face. Secondly, Napoleon scrambled up from the seat where he’d been hiding. Thirdly, one of the other boats slammed suddenly into their side as the angry couple shouting at each other inside made a bid to row back to shore.

Kat gasped as her and Waldorf’s boat shifted to the side, and because the gentleman propelling the other boat had his backto them and was so filled with his own fury, he was slow to realize what was happening and continued to push through the water. The result was that Kat and Waldorf’s boat upset entirely, spilling Kat, Waldorf, and Napoleon into the water.

The smack of cold water all around her stole Kat’s breath and her thoughts in an instant. She was too stunned to do anything at all for the first few seconds. She merely felt herself sinking, being sucked into the lake as the copious layers of clothing she wore buoyed her for a moment, then dragged as it became waterlogged.

As soon as the darkness of sinking began to close in around her and her lungs began to burn, terror and energy replaced her surprise. She began to kick and thrash, attempting to swim, though the layers of her clothing fought against her. She glanced up, breath held, seeing the watery sunlight above her, but as hard as she kicked and reached for it, it did not seem to grow any closer.

A deeper sort of panic filled her from there. She knew how to swim. She had bathed in the ocean, in rivers and lakes, before, but no matter how skilled she might have been or how hard she tried, the weight of her gown and coat and the constriction they brought with them kept her movements from being effective. The more she fought, the more she sank.

For a split second, the sure and certain knowledge that this was the end and that the final words she’d spoken to Waldorf had been words of anger rushed in on her, squeezing her lungs even more. She did not wish to die with Waldorf thinking she still hated him. She did not want to hate him at all. Everything that kept them apart seemed laughably unimportant. The only thing that mattered was that he was her heart and she was his lungs, and without each other, neither could function.

Her thoughts grew hazy after that, and the edges of her vision began to blur. That was it. That was how it all ended.

But then something latched onto her back near her shoulders, and instead of sinking down, she was yanked up. The movement hurt her mind, as she was certain the only way was down, but she did not fight the odd sensation as she was lifted up above the water. At least, her head was lifted above the water.

Kat dragged precious air into her lungs with an eerie sound that she would never forget, then proceeded to cough and gasp in panic as a clearer sense of the world rushed back at her too quickly.

“I’ve got you,” Waldorf panted near her ear as his arm came to clamp around her middle.

As if everything were moving too quickly, Kat grasped the situation. Their boat had capsized. She’d nearly drown. Somehow, Waldorf had reached down into the water to pull her back to the surface, back to life. He held her tightly now, but he himself was treading water, barely able to keep his head above the lake. They were not out of danger yet.

“Hold fast! I’m coming for you!”

The shout would have brought nothing but relief if it hadn’t come from Lord Headland. Kat twisted as much as she could in Waldorf’s arms to find Lord Headland in one of the boats, racing toward them. He pulled fiercely on the oars, causing the craft to speed toward them. Blessedly, he reached them in short order, setting the oars aside, then leaning over the edge of the boat to reach for Kat.

“Hand her to me,” Lord Headland shouted at Waldorf. “Get her into the boat.”

Waldorf hesitated for only the briefest of moments before shifting his hold on Kat to move her closer to Lord Headland’s boat. Bit by bit, Kat’s sense and energy returned, and as soon as she was able to grab hold of the edge of the boat, she fought to help herself. It was a challenge, as Lord Headland needed tobalance just so to keep the boat from tipping over and causing more of a problem, but they managed.

Only, the moment Kat was safe, though utterly waterlogged, in the bottom of Lord Headland’s boat, Lord Headland crouched near her, and instead of helping Waldorf aboard, he pushed at his hands and arms to dislodge them from the craft.

“What are you doing?” Kat gasped, pulling herself around in an attempt to stop what she could see full well Lord Headland was doing.

“Drowning,” Lord Headland growled distractedly. “No one would know. Just like Caroline. I did what I could, but the lake took him.”

“Like hell it will,” Waldorf said, his struggle to get into the boat becoming more pitched.

“She is mine,” Lord Headland insisted, no longer simply trying to push Waldorf away. He began banging his fist against Waldorf’s hands every time he gripped the edge of the boat.

Waldorf shouted with pain but somehow managed to maintain his hold on the boat’s edge. He attempted to swing one of his legs over the side as well, which rocked the boat so sharply that Kat had to throw herself back against the other side to keep it from spilling over entirely.

The result was that she could not help Waldorf in his struggle, nor could she lash out at Lord Headland to stop him from committing murder. If she tumbled into the lake again without Waldorf to save her, she would surely drown.

Someone else was able to help, however. Kat did not see how it had happened, but somehow Napoleon had managed to swim to Lord Headland’s boat and to climb inside. He had crouched in partial hiding at the bow of the boat, but when he sensed the struggle between Lord Headland and Waldorf, he let out a fierce, angry cry and leapt at Lord Headland’s face.

The resulting struggle was almost comical in its intensity and effectiveness. Lord Headland screamed as multiple sharp, red lines appeared across his face. He stopped his efforts to push Waldorf away from the boat in the process, which enabled Waldorf to climb aboard at last. Even then, Napoleon was either too crazed with fear or too determined to protect his mistress for Lord Headland to be able to remove him from his face.

“Get it off me, get it off me!” Lord Headland shouted as he grabbed a soaking wet Napoleon and attempted to pry him away.

As he did, Waldorf lunged for Kat, pulling her close for a moment in an awkward embrace. It was something between checking to make certain she was well and hugging her to reassure both her and himself.

The comfort lasted for only a moment before Waldorf shifted to grab the oars. Only, instead of using them to row, he employed one to smack the back of Lord Headland’s knees. Lord Headland, with a still screaming, terrified, and sharp Napoleon clinging to his face, spilled backwards into the boat.

From there, Napoleon finally let go, but not before dragging his claw across Lord Headland’s eye. Lord Headland screamed even louder and clutched at his eye, shouting, “He’s blinded me! He’s blinded me!”

Kat ignored him. It would serve Lord Headland right if Napoleon truly had taken out one of the bastard’s eyes, but his other one was still whole. She left the man still screaming to lurch closer to the corner of the boat where Napoleon was, reaching for her poor, shivering, terrified friend.

Even Kat was surprised when Napoleon allowed himself to be scooped into her embrace and held tightly against her chest and her furiously pounding heart. The wretched thing shook like a leaf, but he seemed to take comfort from her embrace, as she did from clasping him close.

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