Tempest Heart - Paula Quinn Page 0,83
and they both laughed as they sat in the grass with their backs against a tree.
“Oh, Rose, Will and I are so happy for you. Is that awful of us, seeing how we no longer have a home?”
Rose shook her head and smiled. “No. I am happy as well. And so, I think, is Tristan. We cannot openly celebrate our marriage in the midst of so much loss, but inside,” she pointed to her chest, “we are happy.”
“He is heavenly,” Mary remarked quietly. “’Tis so clear how much he loves you.”
Rose smiled. “We went through many things together. I do not think he has had any company or companionship for a very long time.”
“As you have not had,” Mary told her softly.
“Aye,” Rose echoed. “Like me.” She smiled like one in a trance then blinked and looked around.
“Father?”
She stood up and called out to him again when he didn’t answer. Her heart sank. Her mind went straight to panic. “What do we do?” she asked Mary.
Mary called out to him as well. “We need to move,” she said and grabbed Rose’s arm.
Rose was almost swept off her feet they moved so quickly. Mary was pulling her the other way. Rose dug her heels into the dirt.
“We must find my father!”
“We cannot run into our enemy if they have more men than your father can fight. We will be dead, and Neill de Caleone will still be alive”
“Not for long,” Rose told her. “Tristan will kill him.”
“Well, let us make certain we are still alive to see our husbands again, aye?”
“Aye,” Rose agreed, and they began running again. When her lungs began to burn and she was sure she could not take one more step, she ran straight into Tristan’s arms.
She was so happy to see him, she wanted to leap for joy.
“Oh, thank the Lord,” she pushed out. “Tristan, someone took my father!”
He gave her a surprised look and then took hold of her hand. And asked what happened. “I will find him. My guess is that ’twas Richard’s work. We are almost at the manor house. I say let us finish this course and get to the governor’s house. I believe your father and possibly de Caleone will be there.”
“Then let us be off!” Rose charged. Mary agreed and they ran for their horses.
They met up with the others and rode through the trees toward the house. When they found it, they examined the perimeter and kept watch for any sign of the earl.
“I can get in,” Tristan told them, eyeing the manor house.
Rose looked up at the trees but none of them covered the house or even reached it.
“How?” the captain asked. “All I see are guards! They are everywhere!”
Tristan shrugged his shoulders, “I will get rid of a few.”
“I will get rid of a few myself,” Mr. Jones agreed.
“No one is going anywhere!” the captain shouted, “without me.”
They all ended up going, even Rose and Mary. Rose wanted to make certain Emma wasn’t hurt.
Suspecting a trap—a rather obvious one, they waited until night fell to breach to doors.
The women would wait with the horses and when Tristan or the captain deemed it safe, they could enter the house.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The manor house was dark on the outside, as well as on the inside. It was perfect that no one could see them. They simply had to figure out a way to get in.
There were no trees for Tristan to climb that were close enough to get into any windows he could see from where he stood.
The only ways in that he could see were the front door or two side doors, which were both locked.
He counted six guards patrolling the grounds, but the captain assured him there were more. They made quick and quiet work of the six and then Tristan left his friends. He followed a beam of moonlight to an open window on the second landing.
Jones and Harper had followed him.
“Up there!” he said, pointing to the window.
“How will we get up there?” Jones asked him, looking a little worried.
Tristan turned to him and shook his head. “We willna. I will.”
Jones laughed then sputtered and gasped when he realized Tristan was serious.
“I will get inside if I have to climb the wall,” Tristan assured him in an authoritative tone. He would listen to no arguments. “And then I will come down and open the doors for ye.”
“You cannot do this alone, MacPherson!” Jones ignored his tone and argued anyway.
“I willna be alone once I let ye