Andrea Kane by Emerald Garden

Author:Emerald Garden [Garden, Emerald]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-10-18T06:30:41+00:00

Chapter 13

“THERE, THERE, MISS BRANDI. ’Twill be but a moment longer and your wound will be bandaged.”

With a great effort, Brandi opened her eyes, blinking up at Mrs. Collins. “What … wound? Ooh.” She moaned, a sharp pain piercing the side of her head.

“Lie still,” Mrs. Collins soothed. “You’re all right now. It feels much worse than it is.”

Memory struck Brandi in a rush, and, instinctively, she started to come up off the sofa. “That loud crack. Lancelot … oh.” For an instant, Brandi wondered if her skull had shattered. Shakily, she lay back, grateful for the soft pillows beneath her head.

“Your squirrel’s fine, Miss Brandi.” Herbert’s voice drifted to her from across the sitting room. “I saw so for myself. I never thought the day would come when I’d be grateful to that bloody rodent. But I am.”

“Herbert?” Brandi murmured weakly. “What happened?”

Herbert and Mrs. Collins exchanged glances.

“You were shot, Miss Brandi,” Herbert answered quietly.

“Shot?” For some reason, Brandi’s mind refused to comprehend. “How? By whom?”

“I’m not sure.” The gardener made his way hesitantly to her side, his expression stricken. “A stupid accident, I’m guessin’. Someone huntin’ here without permission, someone who didn’t know anyone was livin’ here but the servants. I was tendin’ the flower bed around back of the cottage. I heard your squirrel friend screech—sounded like it was comin’ from the woods. I took off in that direction. I’d barely gone a few paces when I heard someone bellow, then a gunshot, and then your scream. I got to you the same instant Bentley did. That squirrel of yours was sittin’ next to you. He looked kinda funny—his fur was all messed up, like he’d been in a tussle. I could swear he understood you were hurt. He waited until Bentley and I got to you, then shimmied up a tree. That’s how I know he was fine. You, on the other hand, were unconscious.” A hard swallow. “And bleedin’ badly. We were afraid we’d lost you.”

“Bentley is here?” Brandi was desperately trying to think coherently.

“He was. He rode to the cottage this mornin’ to check up on you. His carriage wasn’t here ten minutes when he heard the commotion. He was as shook up as me.”

“But, thank the Lord, ’tis only a flesh wound,” Mrs. Collins inserted, sitting back with a flourish; “A well-bandaged one, if I must say so myself. Although I still wish you and Bentley had caught the scoundrel who did this, Herbert. I’d like to have given him a piece of my mind. Trespassing is bad enough, but hunting or target shooting without being certain the woods were deserted?” Vehemently, she shook her head. “Disgraceful.”

“I heard Lancelot shriek,” Brandi muttered unsteadily. “He leaped from the tree—I saw him. He must have attacked whoever the trespasser was. You said the man got away?”

“Yeah,” Herbert confirmed. “After you were safe in the cottage, I went back out there, tore up every inch of those woods. But he was long gone. I wanted to get my hands on him so bad.

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