The Heiress Read online

  “What is this?” Axia asked, staring at a pretty little mare that was fitted with a saddle and loaded with leather bags full of goods.

  “That is a horse,” Jamie said without looking up. “Have you not seen one before?”

  Axia was nearly as tired as Jamie and not about to put up with his bad temper. “I know what it is, but who is to ride it?” Her face brightened. “Tode will come with us after all!”

  “Axia, I do not have time for this. We must ride. Now get on that horse and let us go. There might be news of Frances awaiting me at my uncle’s.”

  When Axia didn’t move, he stopped tying things onto his horse and looked at her. “What is wrong now?”

  She gave him a weak smile. “I have never been on a horse before. Not alone anyway.”

  “Never … ?” he began, then shook his head. “Pretend you want to sell it and the buyer wants to see that it is docile, so it is up to you to demonstrate it.”

  Axia didn’t smile at that but nodded, turned toward the horse, then turned back again to Jamie.

  “And what is it now?”

  “Tode,” she said softly. “I have never been without Tode before. He—he takes care of me. Could he not come with us?”

  Jamie felt an emotion run through him that he’d never felt before. Of course, he told himself, he was tired and under strain, so he was bound to feel things that under normal circumstances he would not—He didn’t want to think anymore, so he picked Axia up and dropped her into the saddle, then handed her the reins.

  “Chairs are not as safe as this horse. Now throw your leg over and follow me.” He had not given her a woman’s saddle, as he’d realized that she might not know much about riding. With a man’s saddle, she would be able to balance easier.

  When she was atop the horse, she looked down at him with big eyes that seemed to say, Don’t leave me! In spite of himself, Jamie liked that look. And he liked the fact that on this journey she would be dependent on him and him alone. He put his hand on her calf, hidden under layers of skirts. “I will take care of you, Axia. I swear it.” When she still looked doubtful, he grinned. “Seize the day,” he said, “and today you get to ride a horse.”

  For just a bit of a second, she looked frightened, then she put her chin in the air. “If you can do it, so can I. And did you pack my paints?”

  “No,” he said, smiling as he mounted his horse. “No pens or ink or paints or paper and no Tode. It is just you and me and the stars.” With that he nudged his horse forward and she followed him.

  Chapter 20

  I hate this animal. I hate it. I hate it,” Axia was saying through teeth clenched so tightly her jaws hurt. But her jaws weren’t the only thing that hurt. Every muscle, bone, and nerve in her body cried out in pain.

  “Stop complaining and get down,” Jamie said, looking up at her. He had led her to an inn, pulling their horses to a halt before the Golden Goose, and was now waiting for her to dismount.

  All day they had been riding. A day that was to Axia the longest in her life. The insides of her thighs were raw, and the muscles of her legs screamed in pain. And the rest of her felt shattered from hours of constant jarring.

  “These animals were not created by God,” she told Jamie. “The devil made them. They are meant to destroy mankind.” As though the pretty little mare heard her, she turned baleful eyes up at Axia. Axia, however, was completely hard hearted and would have sneered, but her face hurt too much to move it.

  “Axia, I am tired,” Jamie said. “I haven’t slept in days; I haven’t eaten in many hours. Have some mercy on me and get down.”

  Axia looked at him in disgust. “I cannot. I cannot move any muscle on my body. They are all frozen into place.”

  Jamie ran his hand over his eyes. For the life of him he could not now remember why he had insisted that she come with him. He held up his arms to her. “Then fall onto me, and I will catch you.”

  “I cannot,” she whispered, and Jamie saw that she was serious.

  Maybe his heart should have gone out to her, but he was too worried and too tired. Reaching up as far as he could, he caught her about the waist and pulled. When she didn’t budge, he released her, then went to the other side of the horse and removed her foot from the stirrup. But when he moved her, as far as he could tell, her body was entirely rigid; she didn’t bend at all.

  Since he had spent most of his life on a horse, Jamie hadn’t thought much about riding, but now that he thought on it, he had been gradually introduced to the saddle. Maybe it was too much to spend twelve straight hours in the saddle on the first time out.

  When Jamie pried Axia’s hands loose from the reins and saw that they were indeed frozen into place, he did feel a bit of sympathy for her. He had to hand it to her though: she’d not complained once all day. Except maybe to tell him in detail how much she hated horses. But he hadn’t paid much attention to that, as his only goal had been to get to his uncle’s house and find out what he could about Frances.

  After Jamie had freed both of Axia’s feet and her hands, he again put his hands about her waist and pulled. But since her legs didn’t bend, she still didn’t come off the horse.

  “Could I give you a hand?” asked a fat, red-faced man who was probably the owner of the inn.

  “Please,” Jamie said, glancing up at Axia, but she was staring at the sign hanging over the inn with absolute fascination. If her face hadn’t been crimson with embarrassment, Jamie would have thought she wanted to start painting public house signs.

  On the opposite side of the horse, the tavern keeper put his hands under Axia’s foot and pushed as Jamie pulled her from the other side. As though her legs were a dowsing wand, Axia’s legs stayed rigid and as far apart as the width of the horse.

  Holding her about the waist, her legs immobile, Jamie found that he couldn’t pull her completely off the horse. “Er, ah,” he said to the man on the other side. His battle training had not prepared him for this situation. “Perhaps if you gave the horse a bit of a nudge,” he suggested.

  “Ah, yes, of course,” the man said, trying to keep his face serious, but his eyes were filled with merriment. Going to the front of the horse, he took the reins and led it out from between Axia’s unbending legs.

  But when he saw Jamie’s look as he held Axia aloft, her legs wide apart under her skirts, looking like the fork of a tree, he could no longer retain his laughter. With his hand over his mouth, the man disappeared into the tavern.

  Jamie wasn’t sure what to do with her. He couldn’t very well stand her upright, as there had to be nearly three feet of space between her feet.

  “Perhaps you’d like to sit down?” he suggested.

  “I’m too sore,” Axia said. “The backside of me is sore, the inside of me is sore. All of me is sore.”

  “Yes, but—” he began, then realized that they couldn’t stand there like that the rest of the day. With a quick toss, he threw her across his shoulder, ran his hands down her legs, and began to push them together.

  It was a harder task than he would have imagined, and by the time he reached her ankles, he was glad she was short and his arms were long or he would never have reached them. With a hand on each ankle, he pushed, and it was rather like trying to get the blades of a large, strong, and very rusty pair of scissors to meet. And the fact that Axia was whimpering in pain did not help the matter.

  But through strength and perseverance, Jamie was at last able to succeed, and finally, Axia’s feet came together.

  Still holding her over his shoulder, he let her rest a moment before he slid her down his body and stood her in front of him. But the moment he released her, her legs started to collapse under her.

  Holding her gently by the shoulders, he pulled her upright. “Come on, imp. Seize the day, remember?”

  She gave him a hard look. “I would like to seize that horse and slit its throat. I would like to seize—”

  Companionably, Jamie put his arm around her and led her into the inn, supporting