Page 12 (2/2)

Valoree gasped and stepped to theside to avoid collidingwith Lord Thurborne as the man suddenly appearedbeforeher, but she did not slowher step Shewas too da nobleher to herown devices, the pestfell quickly into step beside her

"I see I caught you without your blade again, " he saidlightly, reht beforeShe hadbeen frustratedto find the knife ained the wall, but ithadonly been knocked off to landon theother side She had snatched it up on her wayto the carriage

"Aye More’s the pity, "she muttered now

’Then I suppose I am safe, " he teasedThen, before she could comment, he asked, "Where is it we are headed exactly? "

"Ia herself, she cleared her throatand tried for a less irritated andforan establishhtpartake of refreshment"

"Alone? "

Valoree rolled her eyesatthequestion She had been doing things alone since she was eleven Disguised asa boy, mindyou, but alone nonetheless Ladies, of course, would not take refreshment unescorted - especiallyin this lessthan idealpart of townDa haddirected them to was in an area that had once been quite upmarket and expensive, butthat was years earlier Now the buildings were cru out, a less pleasantelerimly"My aunt anduncleare in the shopIjust left, and lanced toward theircarriage as she gestured to it, thenpaused, for while Skully still satupon thedriver’s seat, One-Eye was nolonger onthefootman’s stand

A movement out of the cornerof her eye drew her attention to thea step or two behind Lord ThurborneIt was One-Eye, and he had a solemn expression on his face as he attemptedtolook the part of a footman Impossible, of course, despite the pink livery he wore The pink yblack hair, his eyepatch, andthe fact that he was armedto the teethTwo flintlock pistols stuck out of his pants, his cutlasshung sharp andwicked at hisside, and a leatherstrap hehad fashioned yearsago hadbeen slungover his head and hung from one shoulder blade to his waist on the opposite sideIt waspacked full of blades, all in varying sizes and shapes He lookedlike what he was:a pirate as deadly withknives But that didn’t alarmValoree nearly as muchasthe factthat he had coe to follow her As if she needed protecting like any other lady! Fear rippledthrough her atthe da and capable captain None of theprior to this nonsense None of them but Henry had even known shewas a woman before they’d arrived in London! Until thenthey had all stillsupposedher tobe Jereer brother, about to clailanced at Thurbornebriefly, herbreath coh "I am sorry, my lord Wait here a past hiht One-Eyebythe are

"What do you think ye’re doing? I don’t need protecting, One-Eye, I may be wearin’ a dress, but that don’t mean I’m suddenly helpless I - "

"Iknow that"

His sharpwordssilencedher as she paused bythe carriage, and she facedhily

"Well, " he explained, "Iseen a lot of ladiesout andabout since we got here, andnone of ’eo anywhere without an older lady or aservantfollowingher about like a pup So when ye caht I’d best follow yeFor appearance’ sake"

"I see" She sighed, relief and gratitude overwhel her brieflyso that she had to turn her head awayin alarm tohidethe oing on here? she wondered with dismay She hadn’t cried since Jere all watery just because One-Eye didn’t see her as helpless Brilliant! If this wasaside effect of wearing a daain once she finished this business

Taking a deep, cal breath, Valoree blinked her eyes rapidly untilherself that there was nothing to get upset about here One-Eye was following her around for appearance’ sake, not because he suddenlysawher as a omanHer title as captain wasstill safe She hesitated toexamine why that should relieve her so, except thather ship and creere all she really had in the world right now, and maybe all sheeverwould have, unless shefound a husband and had achild to claiher throat, she turnedback to One-Eye "Well, now I haveLord Thurborne toescort me You should remain here But take offthose damnweapons"

"Take’eh seas You just make yourselflook like a silly pinkpirate withthem Take ’e"

"All of ’em? "

Valoree wasabout to say "aye, all of theht thepanic inhis eyes The expression htnot be theonly one feeling like afish out of water, sufferingthe insecurity of new roles and such No doubt going froswashbuckler to a pink-clad foot, she shook her head

"One pistolandtwo of the smallerblades you can keep, but stick ’em in the top of your breeches and close yourcoat over theesturedto the pinklivery jacket he had left undone, and pushed backthe sides to reveal thewhite top and weapons beneath "Justput the others soht, butcloseat hand"

"Aye, Captain, " hesaid, apparently relieved

"GoodAnd tieyour hair back, " she instructed

One-Eye’s handwent tohis long black locks in alarhed "Only when you are out and about as a footman Of course, you, he nodded reluctantly, and Valoree grilanced toward the e to join them Her eyebrows rose His namewas No-Nose, which came from the fact thathe had no nose, of course Well, not really o whilehe wasa merchant seaman The ship he had ridden withhadbeen under attack bySpanish piratesat thetime Once he had healed, he had returned to his ship, butits captain had told him he wasn’t needed anyly

He was one of themen Valoreeand Henry hadhired on to replace the crew members who had died with her brother

Neither of theured All they had caredabout was that he knew his businessand did it well Yetshe wished he hadn’tbeen the one driving today She hadn’t really paidattention toas driving, si it was Skully Now she wished hewere Skully She didn’t care aboutthehair It was a lireasy brown, and he too was ar teeth His presence brought a scowl to herface "What thehell are you doing here? I thought you were still ontheship"