“Oh, I see.” The woman looked past Addie. “You’re helping that very handsome gentleman over there, are you?” The woman grinned knowingly and winked at Addie. “Nice work if you can get it, I say!”
“Yes, well.” Addie hauled in a quick breath and told herself not to get distracted. “He’s rather striking—a very large, powerful bay stallion.”
The woman stared across the road, and her grin grew wider, then she glanced at Addie and blinked. “Oh. You mean the horse? I thought you meant…” Again, her gaze went past Addie. “But then, he’s more of a chestnut, isn’t he? Not a bay.”
Addie gritted her teeth and hung onto her temper. “The horse—have you seen it?”
“Big powerful bay stallion? No. But”—the woman folded her arms and leaned forward to whisper—“I can tell you what I have seen these past weeks. Councilor Phelps, riding his big black out toward Burton every Thursday. Now”—the woman sat back—“what do you think of that, heh? Given his house, along with his missus, is out Greetwell way? The goings-on I do see, you’d never guess the like.”
“I daresay.” Addie eased back. “Thank you very much—”
Quick as a snake, the woman reached out and grasped Addie’s sleeve. “Oh, but you’ll want to hear about Mr. Moffat.”
“No, actually—”
“Trust me, you will. He’s got a bay horse, but it’s a gelding. P’raps it was the one you’re looking for, but he got…you know? Snipped.”
“Our horse has only just been stolen, so—”
“Well, then, perhaps it was Old Man Smiggins as took him. Everyone knows that man will deal in any sort of stolen goods.”
Addie tried to twist her sleeve free of the clutching fingers.
“Out by the river, he is, but you’ll need to be careful if you go out that way. Can’t trust that old codger. He’s forever waving around his fowling piece and making threats.”
Addie managed to free her mangled sleeve and quickly stepped back. “Thank you for your help.”
“Oh! Oh! Wait!” The woman reached for Addie again, but she skipped backward, out of reach. “But”—the woman came out of her chair, hands outstretched—“you’ll want to know about…” The woman’s gaze flicked past Addie, and in a blink, her anxious expression transformed into a beaming smile. “Oh, hello there, sir. Can I help you?”
Addie glanced at Nicholas and wondered how to warn him not to accept.
“Thank you”—his face was set in an utterly bland and bored expression—“but I’m merely here to fetch Lady Adriana.” He looked at Addie and offered his arm. “If you’re finished here, my lady?”
“Thank you, yes.” Addie grasped his arm and, without actually looking at the woman, risked a last nod in her direction. “Again, thank you for your help, ma’am.”
Nicholas drew her away, and they started walking toward the horses.
From behind came a plaintive “Oh, wait! I might know something more…”
“Thank you,” Addie breathed. “I’ve never had that happen before. I couldn’t get away.”
“I imagine she’s bored, just like the lad over there.” He tipped his head toward the other carter’s yard. “I take it she hadn’t seen The Barbarian.”
“No. Just a big bay gelding ridden by a Mr. Moffat.” She glanced across the road. “Did you learn anything from the lad?”
Nicholas nodded. “As I said, he’s bored and keeps himself amused by noting all the horses and carriages that pass. He, too, mentioned Mr. Moffat’s bay. However, he’s quite certain that The Barbarian hasn’t passed along this road, certainly not over the past days.”
“Hmm.” Addie glanced at Nicholas’s face. “That sounds rather definite, doesn’t it? If both are sure?”
“Indeed.” They reached the horses, and Nicholas steeled himself and lifted Adriana to her saddle, released her, then met her gaze. “I think we can skip the cattle yard and, on the testimony of our two carters’ gatekeepers, declare that The Barbarian didn’t travel this road.”
She sighed. “In that case, we can ride straight on to the lane and across to the Riseholme road.”
He nodded, untied his reins, swung up to the saddle, and together, they rode on along the road to Burton.
They made good time to the lane, then had to slow for a large flock of sheep to clear out of the way before they could canter on and, eventually, turn south on the Riseholme road.
Luckily, as they’d started out early, the men working on repairing the culvert were still laboring away.
