He’d almost yelled again, but managed to tamp his voice down at the last moment.
“Will you evict a defenseless woman and child? Is that the kind of man you are?”
“Oh, bloody hell.” He wanted to hit his head on the carriage.
“Don’t talk like that in front of Timmy.”
Jack grasped the sides of the carriage, took one deep breath, then another. “Maddie, I’m asking you as calmly as possible. Where did this—Timmy— come from?”
“Is that all you wanted to know?”
He narrowed his eyes menacingly.
“I was going to tell you,” she said. “If you hadn’t started yelling.”
“Maddie—”
“Very well. I was sitting here waiting for you to return with word of—oh, Jack, did you find out about Mr. Dover?”
Jack held up a finger. “Timmy first.”
She frowned. “As I said, I was waiting for you to return when I happened to look out the back window. I wanted to see how the bear fared, and I suggested to the coachman that he might bring the poor creature some water. Did he? Blackjack looks thirsty.”
“Blackjack?”
Maddie nodded. “The bear.”
Dear God, she’d named it. They would never be rid of the beast now.
“You looked out the back window . . . ” Jack prompted.
“Right, and when I did, I saw Timmy standing all by himself, looking at Blackjack.” She looked down at Timmy and smiled. The boy smiled back, and Jack saw that the child was missing his front teeth. “And I called Timmy over and—”
“Wait.” Jack held up a hand. “You weren’t supposed to call strangers over. You were supposed to wait in the carriage.”
“I didn’t leave the carriage, and you never said I couldn’t speak to small children. Really, Jack.”
“Go on,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Timmy told me he was lost. He doesn’t remember where he lives, and I was just asking where he last saw his mama when you returned and began yelling.”
“We’re not keeping him,” Jack said, pointing at the boy.
Maddie rolled her eyes. “He has a mother, Jack. We just need to find her.”
“And I suppose that’s my job.”
Maddie shrugged. “I’ll be happy to do it. Just move out of my way—”
Jack held his arms out. “Do not leave the carriage. I’ll be right back.”
He closed the carriage door on his wife and little Timmy, and turned to see the coachman looking at him with raised brows. “Ready, my lord?”
Jack blew out a breath. “Not yet.”
“Yes, my lord. But we’re losing daylight, and you said—”
Jack walked away. More and more, he was hoping Bleven would find them. A quick bullet to the brain and Maddie, Timmy, and Blackjack—why the hell had she named the beast Blackjack?— would no longer be his problem.
