Page 5 of Riding A Cock-Horse
“Are you insane?!” I shriek, but Jude is already swan-diving over the edge.
Yep, he's insane.
And I guess I'm joining the loony bin because Sian and Elise drag me to the ledge, and we all jump in together.
I'm not going to need therapy after this—I'm going to need a straight jacket.
Islam into the cold water of the River Severn, hoping it will clear my head to give me an idea of what to do next—but also to erase the image of Bellenaked. Unfortunately, I think that image is seared into my brain permanently. The woman is much too perfect for her own good. Thankfully, my mind has something else to focus on other than Belle in the buff—it's her as a chimera. Whenever an image of her jubilees pops up, another of a goat coming out of her arse replaces it.Effective, albeit disturbing.
Speaking of disturbing, I love how seven people just jumped off a ship and no one batted an eye. They're not even looking. I peer behind me to make sure everyone is there. I don't know these waters, even though it doesn't seem deep—if a ship can go through it, an even stronger rip current can be lurking beneath. Even the strongest swimmer can drown. I keep glancing behind me periodically, and eventually, I see Belle on her back floating.
“What are you doing?” I yell.
“I'm done swimming—let's just let the current take us!”
“The current’s going in the other direction, love. Youhaveto swim upstream.”
“That's horseshit!” she shouts back.
“No—it's fish—we're infishshit,” Jack corrects.
I roll my eyes at his terrible pun.
“Come on, Belle, not much further. We need to make sure that we're heading in another direction to throw off our scent.”
We spend the next forty-five minutes trying to uplift one another to go just a little bit further. The only one who doesn't really seem fazed is Theo, who’s an avid swimmer in both forms. The bloke was simply born into this lifestyle. God knows how far we go before I finally lead us to the shore. Everyone collapses on the rocky beach, exhausted. Even Theo looks a little worn out.
“Right, what next?” Belle pants. “Can we go stay in a hotel somewhere and sleep? You know, just like pause this whole ‘I'm going to get you and kill you or use you as a mass weapon’ thing that's going on?”
Jack rolls over with a brow raised.
“I don't think that's how it works.”
“Definitelynot how it works,” Arthurs concurs.
“Well, we need to get out of Gloucestershire,” Elise annunciates crisply. “Our lives are in danger—Belle's life is in danger!”
Belle simply shrugs nonchalantly.
“They should be afraid—veryafraid. I’m a lioness with a goat coming out of my ass and a venomous snake that will eat you alive.”
She continues to mutter about how B.A. she is; thankfully, Arthur cuts her off before she can really get going.
“Why don't we go up north?” he suggests.
“North where?” Theo asks.
“Up to Scotland. My family has land in the highlands. We can hide there. It's remote and hard to get to.”
“Then how the holy hell are we going to get there?” Belle demands.
Arthur leans over and pats her arm.
“Don't worry. My family's lived there for generations, and we’ll be safer there. My clan is there and will protect us.”
“A clan of horny toads?” Belle wonders.
“Yep, a clan of horny toads.”
