Page 23 of A Winter By the Sea
“And please return in time to help with dinner,” Sarah added.
“I shall.”
———
Emily enjoyed a pleasant visit with Viola, Major Hutton, his father, his brother Colin, and his friend Armaan.
She left Westmount for home at around four, but at the sound of a familiar voice, she looked over her shoulder toward Woolbrook Cottage.
Georgiana’s voice, sounding stern. “Billy Hook, what are you doing?”
Billy Hook was an apprentice. Emily had seen him once or twice around town, and her sister had mentioned his name.
“Tell me you are not tormenting birds again,” Georgie scolded.
“Just sparrows and the like. What’s it to you?”
Curious, Emily walked toward Woolbrook, a beautiful white house set in a glen with castle-like battlements and lancet-shaped windows. She followed the voices up a rise and around the side of the residence. Imagining fierce Captain Conroy standing guard at one of the windows, she took care not to get too close.
She wondered what the boy was doing. Throwing rocksat winter birds perched in trees? Using a sling? She hoped he wouldn’t be foolish enough to aim anywhere near the house.
The rear of the property overlooked the western fields. A hedgerow partially enclosed the back garden, lending the place a bit of privacy.
There she saw Georgiana scowling down at a boy a year or two younger than she was, and a few inches shorter—a boy holding a gun.
Emily’s heart lurched.
“I don’t like seeing creatures harmed,” Georgie said, hands propped on hips. Chips sat on his haunches beside her. “It’s not as though you intend to eat them. It’s wrong to take pleasure in killing. In fact, it’s disgusting.” At her sharp tone, the terrier’s ears went back.
Emily hurried over, hoping to calm the argument before one of the duke’s retinue discovered the young people trespassing, especially with Billy armed.
Reaching them, Emily said, “If you must shoot something, pray, not here.” She gestured toward the back of the house, visible through a gap in the hedgerow. “You may not have heard an important family is staying here at present, attended by a captain and a general. Not people you wish to cross.”
The lad frowned. “But this glen is perfect with a stream and trees and hedgerows. Birds love it.”
Georgiana threw her hands in the air. “So do we! At least when you’re not shooting up the place.”
Perhaps startled by her raised voice and hands, a sparrow flew past and lighted on the hedge beyond. Billy pivoted toward it, arms rising as though of their own accord, gun lifting into position. Georgiana reached out to try to stop him, jostling him as he pulled the trigger.
Crack. The shot rang out.
A second sound followed the first—the sound of shattering glass.
Startled, Chips darted away.
Peering through the gap toward Woolbrook Cottage, Emily saw a spidery hole in an upper-story window.
“Oh no.” She pressed a hand to her mouth.
“You shot the house!” Georgie accused. “You may have hit someone.”
“It’s your fault. You pushed me!”
Pulse pounding, Emily drew a shaky breath. “We had better go and see what the damage is and make sure everyone is all right.”
“Not me.” Billy turned to beat a hasty retreat, but Georgie grabbed his arm again, this time more forcefully.
“Oh no you don’t.”
