Once Upon an Irritatingly Magical Kiss by Bree Wolf
Chapter Forty-Three
Unexpected Help
Always had Thorne thought of himself as a patient man. Now, he knew that that was not the case. Like a caged lion, he paced the front hall, his hands balled into fists, his mind restless. His thoughts continuously strayed to Samantha, trying to picture her, where she was, what she was doing…what was being done to her.
“Do you believe all this is part of some kind of elaborate plan?” Troy said to everybody around. “Is it possible that she planned this from the beginning?”
Thorne stopped his pacing. “I do not believe so.”
“Why?” Louisa inquired, her eyes narrowed as she leaned into her husband’s side.
Thorne shook his head. “I do not believe she would leave her son behind. It doesn’t make any sense. Whatever she’s doing, she’s doing for him.” Again, he shook his head. “She would not leave him behind.”
Drake cleared his throat. “If that is the case, then we are waiting here for nothing. If Mrs. Miller was not part of the plan, then I doubt her son knows anything of worth.”
Phineas nodded. “I agree. We should be out there looking for them.”
“Looking for them where?” Leonora threw in, her gaze moving from one to the next. “They could be anywhere. We don’t even know which direction they went.”
Again, silence fell over the hall, all their faces taut. Each one of them felt the crushing weight of this immobility forced upon them. They needed to act. They wanted to act; only they could not. What were they to do?
An eternity seemed to pass until the door to the drawing room finally opened, and Christina stepped out. One look at her face told Thorne that whatever she had learned from the boy would not help them in recovering Samantha.
Still, he was relieved to hear that Mrs. Miller had not betrayed them. At least, Samantha was not alone with that man. With Mr. Sullivan. At least, someone was with her.
“Does that mean we are to expect a ransom note soon?” Troy asked looking from Thorne to his father. “If he wants money, he will not harm the girl.”
They all nodded; yet Thorne could see that they all knew that sometimes things went wrong. Not every plan panned out. Sometimes someone got hurt.
At the sound of horses approaching, Thorne turned to look over his shoulder and out the window. He stilled when he saw Harriet pull up short and jump off her mount, closely followed by an unknown man. He was dressed well and had the bearing of a lord.
A moment later, the door flew open, and Harriet rushed inside. “Have you learned anything new?” she asked, looking from one to the next.
“Nothing that would lead us to Samantha,” her father replied, stepping forward, a slight frown upon his face that deepened when his gaze moved beyond his daughter to the man entering after her. “May I ask where you have been?” His brows rose before his gaze once more traveled to their visitor.
Harriet offered her father a soft smile. “I went to fetch someone who can help.” She looked over her shoulder at her companion and waved him forward. “Jack.”
Thorne could not help but think that Jack—whoever he was—was a most unlikely man to be found at Harriet’s side. In everything she did, she was wild and untamed, always ready to break with convention, an easy smile upon her lips and her cheeks flushed by the many adventures that seemed to continuously cross her path. Jack, on the other hand, appeared rather stoic and serious and proper in the way he stood in the hall, his shoulders squared and his chin lifted in an almost haughty way. For all intents and purposes, he looked like a true aristocrat, someone who could not be bothered to care for anything or anyone outside of his own personal sphere.
Yet he was here.
Harriet’s parents turned their attention to the newcomer, and Thorne could see her father’s gaze sweep cautiously over the unknown man in their midst. “May I ask your name, Sir?” A hint of displeasure swung in his voice, and Thorne could imagine that once all this would be resolved—successfully!—Harriet would find many questions put to her by her parents.
Their visitor’s brows drew down, in part in confusion; nevertheless, a hint of anger momentarily lit up his eyes as they moved to Harriet, a question there as well as a hint of reproach. Then he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Lord Whickerton. “I apologize. I was under the impression that your daughter had informed you of our acquaintance.” Again, his dark gaze moved back to Harriet, that same hint of reproach in them as before.
Completely unperturbed by the dark look in the man’s eyes, Harriet shrugged, a wickedly teasing smile upon her lips. “A girl has to have her secrets,” was all she said to that.
Shifting rather uncomfortably upon his feet, their visitor decided to ignore his acquaintance’s inappropriate behavior and proceeded to introduce himself. “I am Bradley Jackson, Duke of Clements. My ancestral home is less than half an hour’s ride from here.”
Thorne could not recall ever having heard of the Duke of Clements; however, the Whickertons seemed to be familiar with the name, a hint of intrigue coming to their faces.
“I do not wish to be rude,” Thorne began as the fear that lingered in his bones began to grow more painful with each moment that passed; “however, there is a most dire situation that requires our attention.” He looked from his father-in-law to the Duke of Clements. “Is there any way you can help us locate my daughter?”
The duke nodded. “I believe I can.”
Thorne drew in a sharp breath, and he could feel his wife’s hands tensing upon his arm. “How?” he asked, striding forward.
Clearing his throat, the duke turned to him. “Over the past few days, I have repeatedly discovered tracks of someone slinking through the forest between Pinewood Manor and Clements Park. Judging from the damage the man has inflicted upon the vegetation, I assume it is someone not used to maneuvering through the countryside.”
Thorne exchanged a quick look with his wife, her eyes as wide as his own. “Do you know where he is now?”
The duke nodded. “Provided he has not yet moved on, I assume you will find him in a small rundown hut not far from here. However, I suspect he will move on in the morning. It is not a place one lingers.”
Thorne felt his heart almost beat out of his chest. “Can you lead us there?”
The duke gave a quick nod. “Of course.”
“Thank you,” Christina told the duke with a grateful nod. Then she looked to her family. “Who will join us?”
Every one of her family nodded in agreement, their faces determined as they stepped forward. “Oh, no,” Phineas interjected though, placing a staying hand upon Louisa’s arm. “You are not going.”
A thunderous expression came to her face. “You cannot tell me what to do! Who do you think you are?”
Phineas grinned at her. “In case you have forgotten, my dear, I am your husband, and I swear I will tie you to the bed if you attempt to follow us. Not today. Not in your condition.”
Louisa glared at her husband as the rest of her family began to stare at her with wide eyes. “Your condition?” her mother mumbled, slowly stepping toward her and reaching for her hands. “Are you with—?”
“Yes, I am,” Louisa replied with a roll of her eyes. Then she turned an accusing gaze to her husband. “Thank you for ruining the surprise!”
Still grinning, Phineas feigned a formal bow. “You are most welcome, Lulu.”
Louisa huffed out an annoyed breath, then began to wave her hands in a shooing gesture. “Go! Now! You can all congratulate me upon your return. Now, go and fetch back Sam.” She turned and grabbed Phineas by the lapels. “You will pay for this later,” she whispered under her breath, a wicked grin coming to her face.
“Oh, I’m counting on it,” Phineas replied, then placed a quick kiss on her lips before hurrying out the door with the others.
Touched by this simple, and yet profound moment between Louisa and Phineas, Thorne turned to look at his wife. After Christina exchanged a few words with Grandma Edie and Juliet, who would remain behind with Lady Whickerton—Beatrice!—to see to Mrs. Huxley and Owen, she was about to head out the door as well when Thorne reached out and held her back. As he pulled her closer, she looked up at him with wide questioning eyes. “I love you,” he whispered then, wondering what had made him wait so long to admit how he felt for her. “You know that, don’t you?”
A wide smile came to Christina’s face. “I had hoped,” she whispered, her hands reaching up to touch his face. “I believe I love you as well.”
Thorne felt his heart begin to sing with joy, and he quickly pulled her into a tight embrace. “Let’s go and get our daughter back,” he whispered into her ear before standing back and then planting a quick kiss upon her lips.
With eyes as bright and blue as a summer’s sky, Christina looked up at him, then nodded, her jaw set in determination. “We will find her. We will find her, and everything will be all right again.”
Thorne grasped her hand, and together, they rushed outside.