Page 30 of Tempting a Lonely Lord (The Rakes of Mayhem #6)

“Touch her, and you’ll regret it,” Stephen growled, stepping in front of Elizabeth and shoving the man away.

“You work at the pub—or at least you spend most of your time there.” He gave a cursory gesture, indicating the pub behind him, which sat just behind the beach’s rudimentary boardwalk.

“We’ve alerted the magistrate to these children being taken.

” Stephen hoped his bluff would work, or at least Lucas and William would be here in a matter of minutes.

The little boy next to Sarah spoke up. “My name’s Daniel, and I’m seven years old.

” He had a bloodied lip and a bruise on the side of his face.

“I ’aven’t seen my mama and papa in two days.

That’s a bad man!” he said, pointing to the smuggler.

“He told me he had a puppy for me if I wanted it, and then he threw me in the back of a wagon.”

“Shut up,” the man said, and grabbed Daniel by the shoulder.

Furious, Stephen exploded into action and drove his fist into the man’s face. “Unhand that boy!”

The smuggler stumbled back, letting go of Daniel’s hand. Then, with a grunt, he swung at Stephen, who ducked and shoved his head into the man’s gut, knocking him down.

“Don’t move with those children. Leave them right where they are,” William shouted, running onto the beach where the men were marching the children to the boat as fast as they could.

Gripping the smuggler by the neck, Stephen glanced up and saw William, arriving along with Lucas and Franklin, with Michael and Lacey trailing behind.

As the five of them ran to the beach, Franklin and Lucas began fighting and rounding up the men taking the children.

Quickly, other men and women who had been walking along the beach, previously not paying attention, began to run in the direction of the children, helping them fight off three men who were shoving the children onto the waiting boat.

One or two of the children seemed to recognize a relative.

The commotion on the beach only grew, and soon, the townspeople left the tents and came in swarms to help.

In less than half an hour, the kidnappers were rounded up, and the children were led to Elizabeth’s house, where she insisted her cook had enough biscuits and tea for the dozen or so children and the people who had helped.

“I’ll be right behind you, Lizzy. Just as soon as I find out what they intend to do with these men,” Stephen said.

He wanted to find out more about the men he had recognized at the pub.

Elizabeth was an amazing woman. He had realized it all those years ago, which had only added to his pain of loss.

Now, though, she was back, and he was more determined than ever to make her his.

“The magistrate and his men have taken the men into custody,” William said, walking up to him.

“Elizabeth and three of her footmen have escorted the children to Elizabeth’s home,” Stephen said.

“We will need to find accommodations for them while we search for their families. I’m certain Lizzy will insist they all stay at her home.

They appear to be between five and ten years of age, so many may not know the names of their parents. ”

“Thank you for stepping in, Stephen. If you hadn’t, I’m not sure Lucas and I would have arrived in time. Your distraction slowed them down.”

“Yes, it did,” Lucas added.

“I cannot take credit. I was following Elizabeth’s lead.” Stephen looked at the woman ahead of him, herding almost a dozen children to her home, and immediately added brave to the list of reasons he loved her.

~*~

Harriett was dumbstruck when Michael and Lacey returned to the tent with the little girl, Sophia, in tow. “Michael, where are Uncle Stephen and Elizabeth?”

“It’s a long story, he said. “But everything is all right now.”

“Everything? I’m not sure what you mean by everything.” Confusion and a sudden surge of worry hit her. “Have you seen Lady Bella?” she asked, concerned for her friend.

“No, I ran and got William and Lucas and brought them to the beach, where we saw a long line of children being loaded onto a boat. I recognized Sophia from her grandmother’s description.”

“Brave boy,” murmured Grandmère.

“I’m so proud of all of you. You could have all been seriously injured… and you, Michael, could have been taken. It makes my heart hurt to think of it all,” Grandmama said, wiping away a tear.

The moment Michael and Sophia entered the tent, the young girl ran to her grandmother. The two clung to each other and burst into tears and didn’t let go.

Harriett couldn’t imagine where Bella had gotten to, but something felt very wrong. If she wasn’t with William, where could she be? “I don’t see Bella, ladies. I’ll be right back,” she said, leaving the group sharing hugs and tears behind her. She needed to find her friend.

As she rounded the tent that was serving as a stable, she heard a stifled scream coming from the other side.

Grabbing an iron bar from a nearby tool rack, she inched her way around the tent and saw Bella being pulled against her will by Baron Darkmoor.

With his hand over her mouth, he was practically lifting her off the ground and carrying her away from the fete.

Bella saw Harriett and went still, but Darkmoor didn’t seem to notice her presence. Inching her way closer, she raised the iron bar and brought it down on his head, stunning him and causing him to let go of Bella.

“My God! Thank goodness you stopped him,” Bella said, looking at the prone body at her feet.

“He told me he was going to marry me and insisted that my house would be his, and he would finally have the treasure he’d been searching for years to find.

It would all finally be his.” As Bella began to realize how close she had come to being taken, she began to tremble.

“There must be a long story behind this. Perhaps we need to find William and Lucas and get this all sorted out,” Harriett said, hugging and soothing her friend.

“For now, I’m glad to have found you and so glad you are unharmed, Bella.

I hope whoever owns the iron bar doesn’t mind that I borrowed his tool. Are you going to be all right?”

“I… think so,” Bella said.

For a moment, both women clung to each other. “I thought I hated my first husband, but when I saw Darkmoor pulling you away, all I wanted to do was hit him,” Harriett said, smiling tremulously.

Looking down at the prone man, Bella said, “We should try to tie him up. Let’s hurry,” she said, grabbing some rope hanging by the door of the tent.

“He’s quite strong, and if he wakes up, we might not be as lucky.

Had he seen you, I’ve no doubt he might have grabbed the weapon and tried to kidnap you, as well. ” A tremor visibly shook her, again.

“I wish William and Lucas were closer,” Bella said. “I could use William’s calm nature to settle me.”

“You’re probably right,” Harriett said. “While William’s generally a calm individual, I shudder to think what he and Lucas will do to Darkmoor when they find out what he’s done. Let’s hurry,” she said, wrapping the rope around the baron’s feet. “Everyone appears to have abandoned their tents.”

“What’s going on?” Bella murmured, looking around.

Shouts from the beach drew their attention.

“Oh God!” Harriett said. “I was so concerned about your whereabouts that I had forgotten. Michael and Lacey came running back to the fortune teller’s tent with Madame Vorest’s granddaughter, Sophia.

Michael said they found her along with a dozen other children being smuggled onto a boat on the beach, in front of the pub, and in broad daylight!

No one seemed to notice. Had Michael not heard Madame Vorest describe her granddaughter earlier, he wouldn’t have recognized the little girl and raised the alarm to Stephen and Lady Rivers. But that’s all I know.”

“We should get to the beach. They may need us.”

~*~

Behind them, Baron Darkmoor rose and felt the blood running from his head.

Seeing the weapon next to him, he realized what had happened.

Quickly, he divested himself of the bindings on his arms and legs.

“You may think you’ve escaped me, but you will find out that the baron isn’t in the habit of losing anything or anyone he wants.

I will have you if it’s the last thing I do.

” Grabbing the bloodied iron, he slunk away.

~*~