Hello :)
And another chapter for you. I have to confess that this is the only chapter were I shortened the distance between Davenport and Boston a bit. I know that it would have been impossible to do a trip to Boston and back to Davenport with a carriage in just one afternoon. But it made things easier, so I hope you can forgive me. ;)
Around midday of the same day, I glanced over Caleb's shoulder who was explaining to me how to put the harness of the carriage on a horse and how to harness the horse to the carriage. My friend Maria was standing at the door of Aldah's box, our black gelding, and was highly amused by my concentrated expression. It didn't make it easier for me to remember Caleb's instructions. The harness had so many straps which had to be closed crisscrossed almost everywhere. How was I supposed to understand that so quickly? Nevertheless, I wanted to learn it, not least because I wanted to become a bit more independent. Since yesterday I was looking forward to driving to Boston with Maria. Just to get out of the homestead, stroll through the city and have the time to chat with my friend without being disturbed by our duties or other persons.
"Did you understand everything so far?" Caleb gave me a questioning look over Aldah's back and got a nod as an answer.
"I think so."
"Good, so let us harness him then." He grabbed the reins and led the gelding out of his box. Maria and I followed him and at the carriage, the game started all over again. Caleb explained all straps to me one more time. Showed me which one had to be fixed where on the carriage and ignored my helpless face deliberately. Probably I was going to need some time until I would be able to remember everything but at least for today, the horse was harnessed.
"And you are sure that you want to go alone?" Skeptically Caleb watched Maria and me climbing onto the coach box and Maria took the reins. In contrast to me, she knew how to steer a carriage and so I had no reservations to answer Caleb's question with a nod.
"We will cope", I said, bent forward, and tousled the boy's blonde hair. He squinched up his face.
"And what shall I tell Connor when he comes back?"
Oh, great. After all the agitation this morning, I had totally forgotten about telling Connor about my plans. Furthermore, he had set off into the forest after breakfast, to clear his mind, he had said. But he certainly wouldn't be quite excited to learn that Maria and I were in the frontier alone and that was why it was probably good that he wasn't here right now.
"We will be back in the evening", Maria answered for me whereupon Caleb nodded slowly but was not quite convinced. I gave him a wide smile before Maria slapped the reins against Aldah's croup and the clattering carriage started moving. We followed the main path through the homestead and soon its borders were behind us. Away from all the familiar noises of Davenport, we were now surrounded by the gentle sounds of the forest. The rustling of the wind in the crowns of the trees, the singing of the birds, and sometimes a crack in the undergrowth when an animal fled from the approaching rumbling of our carriage. It had been a long time since I had been in the surrounding forests. Sometimes I had done short walks but had always been afraid of getting lost so I had never really enjoyed it. Probably the disorientation of a city girl. Connor had grown up in the frontier and knew it better than anybody else I knew. But this wasn't the only reason why I could understand that he felt drawn to the forest so often when he needed his peace and quiet. There was nearly nothing that could disturb you here. Maybe except for a sudden rustling and cracking of branches over our heads.
"What the...?" I raised my head when leaves trickled down on us and an appalled sound left my lips. High up in the branches of a tree balanced a figure in a white coat and when Maria noticed it, too, she reined Aldah in. Shortly afterward and with a thud, the figure landed on the roof of the carriage which began to sway for a moment. Alday snorted anxiously, pranced on the spot, but luckily was relaxed enough and didn't bolt.
"Connor, damn it! Do you have to scare us like this?" I gave the assassin, who was kneeling on the carriage, a reproachful gaze. Had he followed us or did our paths cross each other accidentally? But why was he in the trees anyway? First Connor only watched me with his head cocked and despite his hood, I knew that he was frowning. I only needed to see this tense expression about his mouth.
"Where are you going?", he asked slowly.
"Boston."
"Alone?"
I couldn't hold back a huff. I already knew where this conversation would end. "Yes, alone. Maria has some errands to run and I wanted to accompany her and maybe do some shopping, too."
"What do you want to buy? We have everything."
Oh, someone knew our supplies, then. "I know it when I see it." I gave Maria a look that was seeking help but obviously, she was too busy suppressing her laughter. I would really like to know what was so funny about this situation. When I looked at Connor again, he was still looking serious. But he nodded.
"Alright."
Excuse me? Surprised I looked at him. He hadn't even said that he found it dangerous for some reason, that Maria and I were on our way to the city alone. Did he really give in so easily? Of course not. Before I could react, Connor had grabbed down, opened the door of the carriage, and slid deftly inside.
"Er, Connor? What are you doing?" I had bent forward and looked through the window to the assassin who had sat down at the cushioned seat and was pushing the hood from his head.
"I will come with you. But if Maria wants it, I could drive, and she..."
"You will get out! Now!" I jumped off the coach box and tore the door open. That was everything I needed. Him playing the chaperone again. I had been looking forward to this trip because I had wanted to be alone with Maria for once without feeling his watchful gaze on the back of my neck. But obviously, it was difficult for him to understand it.
"I just want to make sure that you will arrive and come back safely. Or do I have to remind you that Nathan and his comrades could be nearby?"
My aversion to having him with us subsided immediately. I really had ignored this fact somehow. But... "I really want to be alone with Maria for once and today we have the best chance. Normally each of us is too busy and we don't find a day where the two of us have enough time." I cocked my head and gave Connor a pleading look. "We're careful, will keep an eye on our environment and if we see riders approaching, Maria will drive Aldah on as fast as possible."
Connor looked at me silently and didn't appear quite convinced. He clenched his jaws tensely before he mumbled something and rose from his seat. He kneeled down in front of the door so that we were on eye level and lifted his index finger. "As soon as you think that something is wrong, you will turn and come back immediately. And should something happen in Boston, you will go to the tavern near the harbor and ask for Duncan Little. He is an assassin and on my behalf, you will ask him to accompany you home. Understood?"
I nodded a bit reluctantly. I could have gone without his instructions because they sounded like he was talking to a child. But I preferred this to a long discussion with him. Connor seemed to be reassured and a faint smile appeared on his lips, as he put a hand under my chin and ran his thumb over my bottom lip. I hadn´t noticed that I had begun to sulk. Maybe the comparison with a child wasn´t so absurd.
"I just want you to come back to me unharmed", he said gently and the look, he was giving me, made it hard to keep sulking. Sometimes he appeared like a dog with his brown eyes...in a positive way... I sighed and put a hand on his nape.
"I know", I murmured, pulled him to me, and placed my lips tenderly on his. "Some space to breathe would be great sometimes." I cocked my head smirking. Even though it seemed for a moment as if Connor wanted to reply something, he suppressed it and jumped out of the carriage. He grabbed my hand, helped me onto the coach box, and gave me a last serious look.
"Be careful."
I nodded smirking, blew him a kiss, and gave Maria the signal to drive Aldah on. Sighing deeply I tipped my head back and looked up to the sky. This had been the first time that Connor and I hadn't needed to discuss long about his protective instinct. Since I knew him, he had always refused me something, on the grounds that he just wanted to protect me. Basically, I was glad about it because this was his way to show me that my well-being was important to him. But sometimes it was just exhausting and so I was glad that he had given in this time.
"Wait!"
I winced as I heard Connor's voice next to the coach box. He was actually running beside the carriage and grabbed Aldah's reins to stop him. I frowned irritated. Had he changed his mind? Connor grabbed at his side, pulled his pistol out of the holster, and gave it to me. "Take it with you."
Perplexed I stared at the weapon as I had never seen one before. "What shall I do with it? I don´t even know how to use it."
"You do not have to. It is probably enough if you can intimidate with it." Connor's face was totally serious while he held the handle of the pistol out to me. When I didn't react, Maria grabbed past me and took the weapon.
"If we don't go now, we won't be home before tonight", she grumbled and laid the pistol into my lap.
"But...where shall I hide it? In my neckline? I can't walk through Boston with a pistol in my hand."
"We will find a way." Maria patted my knee and nodded at Connor. "I will bring your wife home. Don't worry." Without waiting for his answer, my friend clicked her tongue and the carriage moved on. I was still staring at the weapon as if it was an alien body part.
In Boston, Maria knotted a bag out of my scarf in which we hid the pistol. I really couldn't have walked through the streets with it in my hand. Maybe they would have arrested me or shot me at sight. Anyway, our visit was entirely smooth and almost uneventful. After Maria had fetched some fabrics for Ellen from a merchant, during which I wasn't able to avoid noticing that she seemed to get along very well with the journeyman, we walked through Boston's streets for a while, stopped at several market stands and I couldn't resist but buy some dried herbs and even some chocolate found its way into my bag. In London, I had often visited "White's Chocolate House" with my parents. They'd had the most delicious cake and the best hot chocolate in town and they still did. These visits had left wonderful childhood memories and even though the chocolate was anything but cheap, I looked forward to a cup of the hot drink and was curious to see, if Connor and Caleb would like it, too. If they didn't, I had everything for myself.
Besides the herbs and the chocolate, I also bought some tea and soon Maria and I were on our way home. The visit to Boston had been short but I had enjoyed it anyway. I had missed the lively hustle and bustle of a city somehow but as we arrived in Davenport, I felt at home. It was late in the evening and already dark as Maria helped me to take care of Aldah and we finally said goodbye to each other. There was still light at the first floor of the house and when I entered quietly, Connor came out of the kitchen in an instant and looked at me worried.
"Is everything alright? You were gone for a while. Did something happen?" His voice sounded nervous and I felt really sorry for him. Had he thought of us the whole day? I took the pistol out of the improvised bag with a reassuring smile and gave it to him.
"I didn't need it. Everything was peaceful."
Relief spread on Connor's face and he weighted the pistol in his hand before leaving for the basement. Of course, everything had to be in order and the pistol had to return to the other weapons in the basement.
I shook my head smirking, before I went into the kitchen and put my shopping into the storage. I stopped with the chocolate in my hand, before I put a can of water onto the glowing coals of the fireplace. I crumbled some chocolate into a cup, added honey, and waited for the water to boil.
"Are you brewing a tea for yourself?", asked Connor who had stood silently in the door and had watched me. Now he appeared totally relaxed and I hoped that he had learned today, that it wasn't always bad to turn his back on me and let me do something on my own.
"No, not tea." I smirked as I went to him and took his hand into mine. Gently I pulled him to the salon, pushed him onto an armchair, got a stool, and put his legs onto it, one after another by lifting them by the back of his knees. Raising his eyebrows, Connor endured the whole procedure.
"What is that supposed to be?"
"I want you to relax", I said grinning, and went back to the kitchen again. "Stay", I demanded, standing at the door, before I finally left.
In the kitchen, the water had already begun to boil and I poured it into the cup with the chocolate and the honey. I stirred the drink prudently with a spoon until the chocolate dissolved completely. Carefully I put the cup to my lips, had a sip, and closed my eyes with pleasure. Oh yes, memories. With a satisfied smile, I carried the cup into the salon where Connor really was still sitting on the armchair like I had left him. Not until he noticed me, he took his feet from the stool and made a move to stand up but I pushed him back into the chair with my free hand and took a seat on his lap.
"For the gentleman." Grinning I passed the cup of hot chocolate to him, which he inspected skeptically.
"What is that?"
"Water mixed with poison", was my dry answer before I pushed the cup into his hand. "Just try it."
Still sceptical Connor sniffed at the drink before he put the cup to his lips and had a sip. Curious I watched his expression as he seemed to savor the chocolate, swallowed, and uttered a quiet, smacking sound. "What is that?"
"Chocolate. Hot chocolate to be precise. Besides tea, it is probably the English's favorite drink. As a child, I could have lived only on it."
Connor swung the drink in the cup before he gave it to me. "Your people have a strange taste. It is bitter."
Sulking I pushed my bottom lip forward and looked at the drink in my hands. "But I put some extra honey into it. I think it's delicious." As if I wanted to emphasize my words, I took a deep sip of the chocolate and licked my lips. "You really have no idea."
Connor smirked, bent forward, and gave me a deep kiss. When he pulled away, he made this smacking noise again before he said: "Well, it does not taste so bad."
Grinning I shook my head. "But I won't feed you with it."
Connor took the half-empty cup out of my hands and put it onto the side table so that he could adjust me on his lap without hindrance and wrapped his arms around me. I was more than willing to lean against his chest and buried my head into the crook of his neck. Connor kissed my hair gently and stroked my back. Cuddled up like this, we sat there for a while and I certainly would have never thought that this feeling of peace and calmness, that was seizing me, could come to a sudden end soon.
Two days later I sat alone in the salon, my legs pulled under my body and a book on my lap. It was the "Encyclopedia of the Common Man", a kind of diary of the homestead which had been compiled by Connor's mentor Achilles, to record all important events in Davenport. The curved handwriting of the master was occasionally replaced by Connor's meticulous, straight handwriting but both of them described in detail everything important that had happened during the last fifteen years. Starting with the day when a thirteen-year-old native boy had knocked at Achilles' door, had asked him to train him and even after several times of rejection, he had stayed persistently. He had accommodated himself in the stables and insisted on his request, with success. Achilles described Connor's training over several pages, followed by records about the first settlers who had wanted to stay permanently in Davenport and who were still here today. I became so engrossed in the stories about my new home and its inhabitants that I didn't notice the time passing.
When I put the book aside, the blaze in the fireplace had already extinguished and it was in the middle of the night. Only the bright light of the full moon lit up my path upstairs into the bedroom. Connor had already gone to bed hours ago, as well as Caleb. The house was completely silent and I opened the door to our room as quietly as possible, slipped inside, and closed it again. Connor lay stretched out on his back, his head turned towards me, but deeply asleep. A beautiful sight, even in this light.
On tiptoe, I sneaked to the washstand, loosened my hair, brushed it, and began to undress myself in front of the closet. I slipped out of my stockings, my skirt, and my waistcoat and began to open my bodice. While doing so, I glanced at Connor and faltered when I saw, that he wasn't lying on his back anymore. He had turned onto his side, had bedded his head on his arm, and...was looking at me. I smirked.
"Is that any way to behave? Silently watching a lady undress?", I asked but continued unperturbed to open my bodice.
"You are not undressed yet." Connor's smirk was almost noticeable in his voice even though I could barely see his face. As cold as he appeared sometimes, I already knew that this man could be a real scoundrel. But I was more than willing to play this game.
I loosened the last laces and put the bodice back into the closet, emphatically slow. My gaze slid to Connor who was still looking at me and with a small grin, I grabbed the hem of my shift and pulled it over my head. But instead of slipping into my nightgown, as I had wanted to before Connor's voyeurism, I approached him, naked as I was, and slipped to him underneath the warm blanket. Now I was able to see Connor's smirk and his eyes shined in the faint moonlight that was falling through the curtains.
"Is that any way to behave? Joining a man in bed naked?", he asked and gasped in surprise as I wrapped my legs around his hips, turned him onto his back like that, and straddled his lap.
"As long as it's my man...", I purred, bent forward, and kissed his lips.
Connor wanted to bury his hand in my hair but I grabbed his forearms, pushed them down, and pulled back my lips to brush them down his neck. I kissed along his throat, over his collarbone, and placed several kisses on his chest before I sat up a bit and watched my hands exploring his torso. It was still a miracle to me that a single man could consist of so many muscles. There was not a gram of fat on Connor's body, no soft spots where I could have pinched him. I was really slim and was satisfied with my figure but nevertheless, I became almost jealous because he always found a spot where he could pinch me. But I loved to run my hands over Connor's torso anyway.
His skin was warm and soft and by the way he had closed his eyes, it seemed like he would also enjoy my tender loving care. At least until I ran my nails slightly over his chest. He uttered a surprised noise, opened his eyes, and looked at me, who was wearing a wide grin on her face and kissed the harmed spots apologetically shortly afterward.
"You are driving me insane, do you know that?", he growled, and grinning slyly I brought my lips closer to his again.
"But I didn't do anything."
"You do not have to."
This time I was the one who landed on her back and as I felt Connor's lips and hands returning my caresses, I uttered a sigh that was nearly begging for more. His touch was tender but certainly not cautious. By now he knew exactly what he had to do to make me close my eyes in pleasure and I loved to give myself to it. Connor's lips caressed each of my breasts, kissing their peaks so that I didn't notice his hands loosening the grip of my legs around his hips and slowly stroking along my thighs. Not until he parted them gently and one of his hands approached my womanhood, I opened my eyes.
"What...what are you...?" The rest of the question faded to a surprised gasp and finally, a moan as I felt what Connor intended to do. Where did he get that from?
While he managed to take my mind up to the sky, he just lay there calmly and looked into my eyes, as long as they were open. I would have hated him for that if it wouldn't feel so good. And this damn scoundrel was still half-dressed.
"Co...Connor, please...that...that´s not...fair." I couldn't do anything else but stammer because I had to concentrate on every single word. My mind had already bid farewell for the most part while I felt how Connor's efforts were on the brink of fulfilling their purpose. A warm prickle spread through my whole being and I felt a light but very pleasant ache in my lower body before my head turned off completely and I moaned loudly. Connor's lips found mine and trembling I clung to his neck as if I was drowning.
Connor broke the kiss when I just had calmed down reasonably and looked at me smirking.
"What did you want to say exactly?"
"That...I hate you."
"It just looked different." He chuckled but I pulled him to me again and captured his lips in a passionate kiss. Whatever he had done to me, he hadn't satisfied my actual desire. My hands stroked along his torso and I hooked my fingers into the waistband of his thin linen trousers to take them off him. But suddenly Connor broke the kiss and grabbed my wrists.
"Lillian. Stop."
I paused confused and looked at him. And what was that about?
"If you want to..." My words ended in a muffled mumbling as he suddenly pressed his hand on my mouth.
"Quiet!"
I froze while Connor's head turned towards the window. At first, I didn't know what had startled him. But then I heard it. Muffled noises coming from the homestead and a voice approaching the house. A fearful voice that was calling Connor's name over and over again and its tone sent a shiver of fear down my spine.
Something had happened.