Page 41 of Beguiled
I hesitated, watching the shore. Lights flickered in the windows of some of the nearby buildings. Laughter and music seeped out the open doorway of what appeared to be a tavern. At least the people in this area of town were ignorant about the events at the town square. Or if they happened to know, they didn’t seem to care.
With each passing minute, fear ticked louder within me. How could I hide away if Mikkel remained in peril? “Perhaps I shall make my way back to the north end and see if Mikkel needs my assistance.”
“No.” Humphrey’s big eyes peered at me from the shadows of his hood. “You can’t go. I promised Mikkel I’d make you stay.”
I wanted to argue with Humphrey, but I liked knowing Mikkel had cared enough about me to plan for my safety. Only reluctantly did I flatten myself, and only because a group of revelers passed by. When a couple stumbled toward the wharf shortly after, I blew out a frustrated breath. Then I sat up as I recognized Toad and Joan.
Hurriedly, we assisted them into the boat and then remained motionless, praying no one had noticed us. After several minutes of silence, broken only by the sloshing of the waves against the boat and the voices from the nearby tavern, I poked my head up again to have Toad force it back down.
He was in the process of giving Joan a sip of water from his leather drinking pouch. And his efforts to bring the dear woman comfort put me to shame. I was more concerned about myself and Mikkel than about Joan and her suffering.
Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long for Irontooth and Felicity to appear with Rose. The women practically fell into the hull, breathing hard and shaking. I hugged them both, rejoicing in their safety, and then offered them the water and a slight bit of bread and dried fish that remained from the supplies we’d brought with us.
“Let’s go,” Irontooth said after he’d taken a long drink.
I glanced to the city, praying I’d see Mikkel creeping toward us, but none of the loiterers bore his strength or build. “We need to wait for Mikkel and Gregor.”
Irontooth tugged at the stern line, his paddle in hand. “He told us if he wasn’t here when we arrived, we needed to leave without him.”
“No!” I dove forward. But I wasn’t fast enough. He’d unhooked our connection to shore, and the boat began drifting away.
The other men had grabbled paddles and were digging into the water.
“We’re not leaving without them.” I lunged for Irontooth’s oar, intending to wrest it from him.
He shifted it out of reach. “He told us to go because he knows we need to get away from here as soon as possible. If we don’t go now, we might not make it across.”
I held back my protest so that it burned in my throat. The longer we delayed our departure, the greater the chances of facing Loch Ness again. Or the Inquisitor. We’d made it this far with the women. We couldn’t take any chances of the Inquisitor catching up to us now.
“He and Gregor can hide for the night,” Irontooth said, “and then find a way back to the island tomorrow.”
He was trying to reassure me, but my body tensed with increasing anxiety.
“He’s an intelligent man.” Irontooth lowered the paddle back into the water, steering the boat so the stern faced the open sea. “And he’ll find a way to escape.”
Felicity squeezed my shoulder. “He saved our lives. And if he ends up in danger because of it, we’ll find a way to help him in return.”
I nodded. Of course we would. But even as the words formed on the tip of my tongue, emotion flooded me so strongly I wanted to weep. I couldn’t abide the thought of leaving Mikkel behind at the mercy of the Inquisitor. It was the same feeling I’d had when I left Ruby, but this was worse.
Shouts and the pounding of footsteps sounded from the wharf as two figures emerged from the darkness. At a distance of at least a hundred feet from the shore, I couldn’t see their faces, but I recognized Mikkel’s broad shoulders and muscular frame.
“Stop!” I called to the rowers, relief pouring over me. “’Tis them. Go back.”
In the same instant, more shouting and the clanking of armor rose into the night air, telling me it was much too perilous to return, that we needed to continue with all haste.
As if recognizing the same urgency, Mikkel dove into the water. Gregor leaped in after him.
Although Irontooth and the others hadn’t made an effort to return to the shore, at least they’d stopped rowing. Now the boat bobbed against the gentle waves, and we stared at the sea, waiting for Mikkel and Gregor to appear.
Lantern light flooded the wharf, revealing half a dozen soldiers and the Inquisitor, who was wheezing for breath.
At the grasp of a hand against the stern followed by Mikkel hoisting himself up, I released my pent-up breath and scrambled for him, grabbing his arms and assisting him over the edge. Once securely inside, he reached back for Gregor. Together we hauled him into the boat.
“Go!” Mikkel’s breathing was labored. “We have no time to waste.”
Irontooth, Toad, and Humphrey had already begun rowing again, and Gregor immediately joined them. From the shore, the shouting continued. The Inquisitor and his men had commandeered two vessels and were already inside and pushing away from the wharf.
They were following us? I’d thought once we were on the open sea, our primary worry would be evading Loch Ness. But perhaps that wouldn’t be our greatest challenge on this crossing.
