On the Run

  “Then I should let you try. Naturally, I’d expect her to ride one of the Pair within a reasonable amount of time. I’ll even let you choose which one.”

  Christ.

  His gaze was searching her expression. “No?”

  The idea scared her to death. But he was obviously going to turn her down cold unless she agreed. Perhaps she could stave him off until she could find a way to escape. “It’s possible.”

  “No, it’s certain.” He chuckled. “And I decide the reasonable length of time. Guillaume and I will pay you frequent visits to see how you’re progressing. I can’t wait until Guillaume sees her on the horse’s back. He doubted that I’d treat her as I would you, and it will be a good lesson.”

  “If you hurry me, I won’t be able to do anything with the Pair.”

  “I can be patient. Unless you annoy me.” He paused. “Or Kilmer annoys me.”

  “Kilmer’s out of this.” She changed the subject. “I want a cot for me and one for Frankie set up at the stable.”

  “Really? I was going to give you slightly more comfortable quarters.”

  She shook her head. “I want to eat and sleep with the Pair. They have to get to know me. I’m sure you’ll see that we’re well guarded.”

  “I’m sure too.” He shrugged. “Whatever you like. There’s a shower in the stable, and the guards will bring you food when you ask. I expect rapid results, and I’ll give you what you need to get them. As long as I see things going my way. If I don’t, I’ll be very angry and make sure that they do.”

  “You’ll get your results.” She turned, left the office, and walked down the polished tile hall to the French doors that led to the path to the stables. Everything in this palatial Mediterranean-style villa spoke of the luxury and power that was meant to intimidate all comers. She wouldn’t be intimidated. He might have the power, but power could be broken.

  But, Jesus, what had she gotten herself and Frankie into? Frankie was good with horses, but she was a child. There was no way Grace wanted her anywhere near the Pair. She’d hoped that she would be able to keep Frankie near but on the outskirts of the training.

  It wasn’t going to happen. Okay, accept it. It made it more difficult to keep Frankie safe, but they’d find a way.

  She saw Frankie waiting at the door of the stable and forced a smile. “Hi, I talked him into it. We’re going to be together. Isn’t that great?”

  They heard the outraged neighing and stomping of the Pair as soon as they came into the stable.

  “They sound angry,” Frankie said. “And loud. Why didn’t I hear them last night?”

  “They were probably in the paddock. They don’t like to be confined and they make their dislike known. The stable boys are afraid of them and only bring them in occasionally. Well, actually they open the gate and stable door and run them in. It’s quite a production. When I was here before, I had to make them take a stone out of one of the Pair’s hooves.”

  “Which one?”

  That’s right—she had to remember not to refer to them as the Pair. “The one you call Charlie.”

  “They’re beautiful,” Frankie whispered. Her eyes were shining as she caught her first sight of the horses in the two stalls. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen horses this beautiful. Have you, Mom?”

  “They come pretty high on the list.”

  Hello, guys. It’s been a long time. Has it been bad for you here? I hope not. I imagine you gave as good as you got. She drew closer. I’m going to try to make it as easy for you as—

  “Good God!”

  Frankie looked up at her in alarm. “What’s wrong?”

  “The mare.” She headed for the house phone on the post. “Look at her.” She picked up the receiver and pushed the main-house button. “Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked when Marvot picked up the phone. “And how do you expect me to work with her when she’ll be edgy as a machete?”

  “I expect you to do what I brought you here to do. And she’s always edgy.”

  “She’s not always in foal.”

  “No, it’s the first time for her. I’ve been careful to make sure that they were separated when she’s in season. I didn’t want anything to interfere. Unfortunately, I was away from the farm this time and my stable men made a mistake. They’ll never do it again.”

  “When is she due?”

  “Any day now.”

  “And do you have a vet on call to deliver?”

  “I understand there’s a decent vet in the village thirty miles from here. If you run into trouble, I’ll call him.”

  “If I run into trouble?”

  “There’s no one I would rather entrust the mare to than you. Surely you’ve had experience with this kind of thing?”

  “Yes. We stopped breeding horses at the farm four years ago to concentrate on training, but naturally I was present at a number of births before that. But I’ve always had a vet present.”

  “I don’t want any outsiders here. You do it. My only demand is that you make sure the mare lives. I don’t care about the foal.”

  “I do.”

  “Then you’ll have to work hard to bring them both through safely, won’t you?”

  “Look, the mare will be erratic as hell. I might need to wait until she’s given birth before I start working with them.”

  “Not acceptable.” He hung up.

  Grace replaced the receiver and leaned wearily back against the post. And she had thought the situation was tough enough before.

  “The mare’s in foal?” Frankie asked. “I know you think it’s bad right now, but I love the babies.”

  “I know you do. Baby horses, kittens, puppies. But this is a little different, Frankie.” She straightened and smiled with an effort. “But we’ll deal with it. I’m glad you called her Hope. We’re going to have to do a lot of hoping she’ll cooperate.” She gestured to the other horse. “And that’s Charlie. Are you sure you don’t want to change his name?”

  Frankie shook her head. “No, it’s . . . right. What do we do now?”

  “We let them free. That’s why we left the stable door and paddock gate open. Get out of the way.”

  Frankie moved back as Grace unfastened the stall door. “Is this far enough?”

  “Farther. Charlie’s been known to rush anyone in the vicinity.” She swung open both doors and jumped back just in time to avoid the horses as they rushed out of the stalls. She tensed as Charlie hesitated, glaring at Frankie. But the open stable door was too tempting. He turned and dashed from the stable after Hope.

  “He doesn’t like me,” Frankie said. “I thought—”

  “He doesn’t like anyone,” Grace said quickly. “And he doesn’t have to like us. If he tolerates us, that will be fine. Come on.” She followed the horses out of the stable. “We have to get to work.” Her gaze wandered over the stable yard. Three guards with rifles were standing at points in front of the stable, and they looked like they knew how to use them. She hadn’t a doubt that there were guards all over the horse farm. “The horses have to get used to us.” She went into the paddock and closed the gate. “Or me. We’ll introduce you after they become accustomed to me invading their territory.” The horses were already aware of that intrusion. Hope and Charlie were staring at her with the wariness and ferocity she remembered. She stiffened, bracing herself.

  Come on, get it over with. Show me how strong you are. I don’t care about being boss. I’ll settle for being a friend. You don’t know about that yet. Let me teach you.

  “Mom!”

  They were streaking toward her.

  It’s not going to work. I can’t let you hurt me.

  She stood still, waiting.

  They weren’t going to part in their charge as they had all those years ago. It was too soon. But she had to show them she wasn’t afraid, and that meant waiting until the last minute.

  “Mom, get out!”

  A few more seconds.

  Now.

  She leaped for the top bar of
the paddock and swung up to straddle it.

  Hope crashed into the fence where Grace had been standing seconds ago. Charlie followed, rearing, breaking the third rail of the fence.

  Then they were gone, running across the paddock.

  She drew a deep breath, watching them as they raced away.

  First encounter. It won’t be the last. I’ll give you a little time but I’m here to stay.

  She glanced at Frankie, who was staring after the horses. “Scared?”

  Frankie nodded.

  “Good. That will keep you out of the paddock until I’m ready for you.” If she was ever ready to put Frankie in the same paddock as Hope and Charlie. Their ferocity was every bit as extreme as she remembered.

  “I want to help,” Frankie said. “What can I do?”

  “Watch them. I have to know which one is leading when they attack. And I need to know if anything triggers them besides my presence in their territory.”

  “Can’t you tell?”

  “I’m a little distracted at that point,” Grace said dryly.

  “You worked with them before. Didn’t you find that out then?”

  “I wasn’t interested in riding them. All I needed was for them to permit me to lead them into a horse trailer so that we could get them away from here.”

  “But you have to ride them now?”

  She nodded. “I think so. Unless we can get away from here right away.”

  Frankie gazed over her shoulder at the guards and shook her head.

  “It’s possible,” Grace said. “But we’ll assume that we need to work with the horses. Now, tell me. When they charged me, which one made the first move?”

  “I don’t remember. I was scared.”

  “So was I. Try to remember.”

  “I think it was Hope.” She nodded. “Yes, it was Hope.”

  “Really?” Grace looked back at the horses. “But that shouldn’t surprise me. Ordinarily, I’d have bet on Charlie, but Hope is completely unpredictable now. Her aggressiveness is probably multiplied.”

  “Because of the foal?” Frankie thought about it. “Hope looked . . . nervous. Maybe she’s scared too.”

  “Maybe.” She smiled at Frankie. “See, you’re already helping. You don’t have to go into the paddock to do that.”

  “I don’t want you to go in either,” she whispered. “They want to hurt you.”

  “Because they don’t understand we don’t want to hurt them. Hope and Charlie aren’t really any different from other horses I’ve broken.” That wasn’t true. The Pair had a history of years of success that empowered any animal. And Hugh Burton had spent the horses’ youngest years teaching them the ways to resist and conquer. “Together we’ll do it.” She got down from the fence inside the paddock. “Now I’m going for a stroll. I believe the horses have had time to get over the first flush of success. I have to let them know that it didn’t discourage me.”

  “Will they charge you again?”

  “Yes.” She started walking along the fence line. “Keep an eye on them to see if they do anything unusual. . . .”

  Besides trying to trample her to death.

  You expect me to help you, Kilmer?” Sheikh Ben Haroun shook his head. “My tribe lost one of its best horse trainers to Marvot’s men. Karim liked Burton and was trying to protect him from that bastard Marvot.”

  “Then I’d think you’d want revenge, Adam.”

  “I told Burton that he was on his own if Marvot caught up with him. I told my people the same thing. I wasn’t about to sacrifice any of them so that Burton could keep his wonderful engine safe.” His lips twisted. “It’s all very well to try to advance civilization, but we nomads are a dying species, Kilmer. Our culture is fading more with every step civilization takes into the Sahara. In a few decades we’ll go the way of the dinosaurs.”

  “I can’t argue with you. I wish I could. All I can say is that I’ve lived with your people and I know they wouldn’t choose to let Marvot win.”

  The Sheikh was silent. “Perhaps you’re right. But we don’t have the weapons that Marvot has. We breed horses, not fighters. That’s why I didn’t go after Marvot when he killed Karim.”

  “I can provide the weapons and the men. And I’ll try to keep you out of the actual fighting.”

  “But then you’ll take the engine and go away.”

  “Yes. But not until I know you’re all safe.” He paused. “And it’s not only the engine. Marvot has my child and her mother. They’ll die if I don’t get them free.”

  The Sheikh stared at him and then smiled faintly. “Ah, so it’s not revenge.”

  “It’s revenge. I want to castrate the son of a bitch for taking my family.”

  “At last we meet on common ground.” He smiled. “I understand about families. I consider all my tribe my family.”

  “Then tell me that you’ll—”

  “Enough.” The Sheikh held up his hand. “Don’t push me, Kilmer. I’ll think on it and we’ll talk again.”

  “We may not have much time.”

  “Then do what you have to do. I won’t be hurried.”

  Kilmer could see that he wasn’t going to make any more headway. He rose to his feet. “What if I just ask for reconnaissance and a safe haven if I need it?”

  “I won’t be hurried.”

  Kilmer nodded jerkily. “Sorry.” He left the tent and stood outside, trying to overcome the frustration surging through him. He couldn’t blame the Sheikh for not wanting to take a chance. Keep calm. He hadn’t been given a definite no yet. The Sheikh could still give him the help he needed. Adam Ben Haroun’s mother had been half English and he’d been educated in England, and that undoubtedly had an influence on his thinking. He and his entire tribe were unusual. Most nomadic tribes were Touareg in the Sahara, but Adam belonged to one of the few tribes of Arab descent.

  Kilmer stared out at the desolate gold sand dunes that surrounded the encampment. He’d enjoyed his stay with the tribe over a year ago. He’d found them both kind and intelligent after he’d broken through that wall of reserve and distrust. He didn’t want to put them in danger, but, God, he needed that help. Getting Grace and Frankie away from Marvot was only the first step. Even if Grace was able to give Marvot what he wanted, Kilmer was certain Marvot would still kill them.

  It was only a question of when.

  15

  Interesting day,” Marvot said. “But I didn’t see much accomplished.”

  “I did.” She didn’t look at him as she closed the paddock gate. “Toward the end of the day the Pair had two chances to rush me. They didn’t do it. Come on, Frankie. Let’s get cleaned up and have something to eat.”

  “Day one,” Marvot said. “And I didn’t see much participation on the child’s part.”

  Bastard.

  “She was helping. It was mostly observation and seeing what would work today.” She nudged Frankie ahead of her. “You can’t expect much.”

  “On the contrary, I expect everything. I can’t wait to see her on the back of one of the Pair. Have you chosen which one yet?”

  “No.” She led Frankie quickly back toward the stable. She could feel Marvot’s gaze on her every step of the way.

  Frankie was silent until they reached the stable. “What was he talking about? Am I supposed to ride one of the horses?”

  “That’s what he wants. That doesn’t mean you’ll have to do it.”

  “Why does he want it?”

  “Because he knows it would worry me. He says it would set a good example for his son, but I don’t think that’s it.”

  “Guillaume,” she said thoughtfully. “I wonder what it would be like to have a father like him. I didn’t like Guillaume, but maybe if his father was nicer, he’d be nicer. Do you think so?”

  “I think you shouldn’t worry about Guillaume. We have enough on our plates.”

  Frankie nodded. “I’ll try to ride one of the horses if you like.”

  “I don’t like.” But it had been on
her mind all day. The chances of her keeping Frankie at her side depended on her being able to validate the argument that Frankie was helping. She hadn’t been surprised to see Marvot. “But if he saw you do it once, it might take the pressure off. How do you feel about it?”

  “Scared.” Frankie made a face. “Heck, I was scared of jumping Darling the first time.”

  But Darling was a pussycat compared to the Pair. “You told me three times today that it was Hope who was starting the charges. Would you like to try to ride Charlie instead?”

  Frankie shook her head. “I like Hope. I feel sorry for her.”

  “Even if she’s more aggressive right now?”

  “I like her,” Frankie repeated stubbornly. “I think if you’d take her away from Charlie she might like me. She doesn’t need anyone but Charlie when she’s with him.”

  “We tried separating them when I was here before. It didn’t seem to have any effect on them.”

  “Could we try?”

  Grace nodded. “Tomorrow.”

  Frankie smiled. “Good. I won’t be nearly as afraid once we get to know each other.” She paused. “It’s harder for me than for you. I know you always make fun when I try to talk about it. But Charlie told me that horses really do understand you, that some people just have a sort of . . . magic.”

  “I’m not a magician. Don’t be silly.”

  “But Charlie said that you—”

  “I’m good with horses. That doesn’t mean that I—” She stopped. She’d always wanted Frankie to live in the real world, and this talent was undoubtedly a bit weird. Yet they were in this hellish situation together and she should be honest with her. “I’m no horse whisperer or Doctor Dolittle, but from the time I was your age I’ve felt as if horses understood me and I understood them. I’ve never hidden that from you.”

  “My age? How did you find out?”

  “I was staying on my grandfather’s farm and there was a horse who was sick. The local vet didn’t know what was wrong with her, but I did.”

  “She told you?”

  “No, I just knew.” She shrugged. “But he called it a guess.”

  “And horses do what you tell them, don’t they?”