Page 64 of The Tart's Final Noel
Brydie would buy the children everything they wanted, if she could, but her purse was nearly empty after handing out coins to her nephews and niece.
Daniel turned to Arthur, pointing at the puppet in excitement.Assuming he was well in hand, Brydie almost turned away—until the boy's smile suddenly shut down.She followed his gaze to a burly soldier in an overlarge greatcoat, wearing a cap pulled down over his forehead, in the aisle farthest from the mob at the bar.He blended well with the other former soldiers.Brydie didn't recognize him, but then, she didn’t recognize his companions either, except by their army coats.They hadn’t expected the soldiers to attend.
Besides Damien and Rafe, the orphans and Gillespie were the only ones who might recognize Elton.Did she have time to look for the men?Not if she was the only one who had noticed Daniel’s reaction.The aisles between tables were too crowded for her to navigate easily.Looking for what was in reach, she grabbed a candle and flung it at Arthur’s shoulder.
He jumped and glanced around in surprise.She gestured for him to take Daniel out.She prayed he’d fetch Damien at the same time.Once assured they were easing their way toward the kitchen...smart choice, Arthur...she studied the situation.
Verity and the girls were on the far end of the room, nearly invisible with all the big men towering through the crowd.The suspect stood between Brydie and the girls.
A table of cakes separated her from the blond, burly man in haphazard uniform.The beautifully decorated cakes were the prizes everyone hoped to purchase at the end of the day, for the benefit of the church.The soldier was in the middle of the pub, studying the mob but not looking in the direction of Daniel and Arthur slipping out.
Brydie hated to be the one who criedWolfbut she couldn't reach Daphne and Verity to warn them.Children first, humiliation later.Heaven only knew, she’d embarrassed herself sufficiently for everyone to expect it of her.
She yanked off a glove and put two fingers to her lips and whistled the way she had once done to call pigs, back when they still had pigs.The result was effective.Every head in the room turned to her.
“Ask his name,” she shouted, pointing at the burly soldier on the other side of the cake table.
She didn't even have to explain.Everyone in the village knew they were hunting a killer.At her whistle, Damien burst in from the lobby and elbowed the crowd out of his way.Clare and the dowagers directed the women toward the walls, blocking doors and windows.Men eased between the tables to the center, where she pointed.Brydie prayed they wouldn’t be furious if she’d marked the wrong man.
Verity lifted Daphne into her arms.With the aid of Clare and the ladies, she and the heirs navigated around the far end of the room toward the kitchen.Brilliant Verity had her exit prepared.
Surprised and relieved at how swiftly everyone reacted, Brydie tried to guard the cakes from whatever happened next.The crowd had eerily silenced.The inhabitants of a village this small knew everything and everyone.They were protecting their own.
Surrounded, caught by surprise, the blond soldier sought the weakest link in the circle, and attempted to shove past the deacon's elderly wife at the cake table.
Small, round, motherly Mrs.Jones slammed his midsection with the bulbous head of her walking stick, then swung at his head.He ducked and dodged under the table.Not bright at all.
Brydie crouched down on the other side.“Hey there, big boy.”Before his surprise could even register, she grabbed the cape of his wool coat.She didn’t think the heavy oak trestle table would move if he surged upward but she wasn’t taking a chance of losing all their hard work.
She couldn't haul him out, but she could punch his snout.Repeatedly.He was still howling and trying to wriggle free when Damien joined her.Getting down on his hands and knees, her beloved grabbed the man’s head in a lock hold and hauled him out.With Brydie on one side and Damien on the other, they let the culprit scramble to his feet and wipe his bloody nose.The dunce tried to dive past Brydie.She punched him again and Damien wrapped his arm around his throat, jerking his head back.
Brydie winced.One wrong move, and she feared Damien would snap his neck.
Mrs.Jones and half a dozen other people guarded the table of cakes while Damien tussled with the soldier and dragged him into the relative safety of a broader aisle.
While the men struggled, tiny Minerva arrived with a carved wooden spoon and shoved the handle into the soldier’s back.“Hands up, soldier, you‘re under arrest.”
Brydie snorted in laughter.The entire crowd began to snicker at the curate’s wife saving the cakes with a spoon.
At the crowd’s mirth, the soldier gave up without asking why he was being arrested.While one of the farmers held his arms behind his back, the prisoner just glanced at the bar where Mr.Gillespie stood in shock and shouted, “Find Turner!”
The men would be waiting for him in the lobby if Gillespie tried to escape.
Damien hugged Brydie, and she nearly melted in the aftermath of fury and shock.“Elton?”she asked, knowing he’d recognize the thief.
“Yes.Will you teach me to whistle like that?You promised you would but never did.”He cuddled her against him, letting her choke on a laugh while crying into his broad, wool-covered shoulder.
For just this one moment out of time, Brydie clung to the security of Damien’s embrace.She had no idea what they’d done, but she prayed this was over.
“I love you, even if you bully me,” she murmured, pressing a kiss to his stubbled jaw.“But I think I understand why you do it now.If you can learn to pig whistle, let’s get married.”
He roared his mirth and led her through the excited, chattering Christmas crowd returning to their shopping.
Thirty-four
Verity
Verity’s heartswelled when Rafe stormed into the kitchen, observed the frightened inhabitants and weeping children, and swept up Daniel and Daphne to hug and reassure them.She knew her husband ached to be with the other men, apprehending and questioning their would-be kidnapper, but the wonderful soldier she’d married understood that little ones needed to feel safe first.When he sat calmly at the kitchen table and balanced them on his lap, she thought her heart might explode with joy, and tears slid down her cheeks.
