Part 29 (1/2)
”Don't treat me like this fragile little girl. I can hold my own as well as you!”
”I know that you can cope. I didn't mean it that way,” he murmured. ”Helen, let's not fight again... We will go into the Highlands. I just wanted us to consider all things carefully and find the best way.”
”Yes, that's what you always say when you want to wear me down with your reason and logic.”
He was stunned by her renewed attack. Fighting his own anger, he finally murmured: ”You're unfair, Helen. I always stopped when you made me aware of it... I love you.” The last words were barely a whisper.
She seemed to fight with herself. Suddenly, she turned to him and buried her face on his shoulder. ”I'm sorry, Andrew.”
He stroked her hair. Both remained silent for a minute, perturbed, rueful, wondering. Then he raised her face, searching her eyes, and said: ”Give me a kiss, love.”
Their lips met fleetingly. A light knock at the door and Rose's reminder that dinner was ready made them get up. They returned to the kitchen holding hands. Helen kept her head bowed, refusing to look at Rose.
”That's better,” chuckled Rose. ”For what it's worth, you should know that your father and his three helpers, including the Drummond lad, vanished before the police could arrest them. In fact, as you predicted, Helen, they beat up the two constables who tried to wake them... I don't know if this has any bearing on which way you should go.”
Surprised, Helen raised her head and let go of Andrew.
”And the black stallion?” questioned Andrew.
”Oh, apparently, one of the constables rode off with it before the highlanders could catch him.”
”So I remain the prime suspect and that's why the police are still after me.” And turning to Helen, he added: ”And now we also may have to contend with your father again... You seem to be glad that your cousin got away, aren't you?”
She blushed. ”How did you guess?”
”Your face lit up... In a way, I'm glad too.”
She came back and put her arms around his neck. ”Andrew?”
”Yes, Helen.”
”No hard feelings?”
”No, love.” His lips touched her forehead fleetingly.
Rose interrupted them: ”If he continues in his ways, the police is bound to get him eventually.”
”However, then it's not because of us,” replied Helen.
”Look, you young people, I don't know whether you've resolved your problem yet, but dinner's ready. It won't improve if we wait any longer. Anyway, a full tummy and a gla.s.s of wine smooths things out.”
As Rose predicted, Andrew and Helen pretty quickly came to a meeting of minds of where to go, which was neither to the south nor into the Western Highlands. They agreed that going south directly was out, since it meant crossing the only bridge over the Clyde at Glasgow, where, according to Owen, two constables stood guard.
Helen was also in no doubt that her father wouldn't give up that easily, and he knew his way around the Western Highlands better than they, undoubtedly posing the greater threat to them. On the other hand, they figured that he would expect them to escape to England-all good reasons for neither going south nor back into the Highlands.
In the end, they decided to take Rose's suggestion and go to Greenock, as originally planned, and catch the first boat out of there, whatever its ultimate destination. They should make it to Greenock in one day. Rose had them promise to look up The Irish Belle, an inn in the thick of Greenock's harbor, and tell Mabel O'Brien, the wife of the innkeeper, that she sent them. They could trust her with anything. She would know which boat to take. Andrew remembered having been in The Irish Belle two or three times, waiting for news on s.h.i.+p arrivals.
Shortly before midnight, a sailor brought back their saddle bags and got a one-s.h.i.+lling reward. Before saying goodbye to Rose a second time, they settled their account with her. Initially, she refused to take any money, but finally relented and accepted twenty pounds to cover the gift for Owen, Joe's liquor, and her own expenses.
Sacking bound to the horses' hooves, Andrew and Helen sneaked out of The White Heron shortly before one in the morning. Heeding Rose's advice, they followed the banks of the Clyde. Fortunately, the sky had cleared and the northern night offered enough visibility, even without a moon. Near the River Kelvin, Andrew went ahead on foot to reconnoiter the approach to the narrow bridge above Partick Castle, but found no guards stationed there. As they crossed over, they heard the rhythmic pounding of a galloping horse slowly fade in the distance.
”n.o.body was on or near the bridge. I'm sure of that,” he wondered aloud.
”Whoever it was, is riding away.”
”And in a great hurry.”
”You think it has anything to do with us?”
”I don't know, but I think we should get away fast. Let's remove the sacking, so we can canter or even gallop for a while.”
They untied the sacking, threw it into a ditch on the side of the road, and then cantered away from Partick. Just ahead of Scotstoun, they briefly discussed whether to cross the Clyde at the Narling Ford or not. Somehow, both cautiously avoided getting into an argument, still feeling bruised by their earlier spat. Since neither wanted to get wet, they quickly agreed to stick to the original plan of crossing the Clyde by the Kilpatrick ferry.
As dawn lit up the eastern horizon, they hid in a copse of oak, a quarter mile from the ferry. Helen insisted that she, rather than Andrew, should check out the place for any guards. With considerable apprehension, he watched her gray shape, cloaked in his long riding coat, disappear in the small cl.u.s.ter of houses near the river.
Time pa.s.sed and there was no sign of her yet. She should be coming back by now! Should he wait some more or go looking for her? He dithered back and forth, his anxiety rising. He chided himself for letting her go rather than do it himself. Finally, he couldn't stand the uncertainty any longer, and went to search for her. Instead of approaching the houses from the road, he started walking through fields and paddocks. Suddenly, he spied somebody coming briskly away from the houses. After several seconds the flowing gray coat let him guess that it was Helen. He rushed back to the horses, reaching them barely a minute ahead of her.
”I was so worried,” he greeted her. ”I already started for the ferry to look for you.”
”You needn't have worried. I didn't encounter a soul. n.o.body! Not even a rooster. We're lucky; the ferry is moored to the pier. Shall we go there to make sure we're on the first crossing?”
”You think this would be wise? I mean, being in the open for two hours or longer?”
”No, maybe it's better to remain hidden here. It might even be a good idea to check once more whether the coast is clear.” She came to him. ”Hold me, Andrew!”
He folded his arms around her, kissing her forehead. ”Is anything the matter, Helen?”
She did not answer right away, and then she murmured: ”I'm still shaken by the way I accused you last night. I love you, Andrew. I don't want to argue with you, especially not over trifles.”
He stroked her hair.
”Tell me that you still love me, Andrew!”
”Oh Helen, I do ... more every day.”
She raised her lips to him and they kissed.
”Rose is right, Helen. We're bound to disagree from time to time, but if we both make an effort to listen to the other, we'll be all right.”
”Maybe we should remind each other of this by saying 'Rose' when we risk getting carried away,” suggested Helen with a happy smile.
”Yes, that would be good... She's such a wonderful woman, and she got very fond of you.”
”I know. Let's try to keep in touch with her. We can write to her from time to time, letting her know how we're doing.”
He nodded, and she continued: ”I'll also write to Betty. I miss her. We became so close over the last four years... She was so pleased when you came back and she saw you at the dance. She told me afterward that she fancied you. She felt bad that she never thanked you for helping her get away from the dragoons.”