Authors: Saralynn Hoyt
"Of course," Ford scoffed. "You’ve been
shooting with me dozens of times."
"Yes, I forgot," O’Neill said, winking at Alice. "He
is a scientist only most of the time. Go now and rescue Alice’s mother. I’ll be
back very soon. Come, Miss Alice, we must be on our way."
Ford raced off again, down the alley towards the Tremaine
house. He could only pray he wasn’t too late. It would be a much more
complicated matter if Sabrina had already said the vows. Not impossible, but
much more difficult. It would take months, maybe years to disentangle the mess
it would create. And besides, he wanted to marry her himself. The thought of a
man like Gerald even speaking such sacred words with her made him physically
sick.
Standing at the back door, Ford pressed his ear to it,
listening carefully before using the key Alice had procured to enter the
kitchen. He puffed with pride thinking about how smart his little Alice was.
His
little Alice! She had said she wanted him to be her new papa. It was an honor
he hoped he was up to fulfilling.
Ford looked around the ground floor and listened carefully.
He could barely discern voices coming down from the first floor. Cautiously, he
made his way up the stairs, listening as he crept along, making his way through
the house. The voices became more distinct as he got closer to the chapel that
was attached to the grand mansion. All male. Sabrina was keeping quiet. Good
girl, Ford thought, no reason to make Gerald any angrier than he was. They were
definitely in the family chapel. Ford prayed he wasn’t too late. He didn’t
relish spending the next year in court fighting with the King’s Council for an
annulment for Sabrina. He moved stealthily until he was outside the doorway and
he could hear everything.
"Vicar, you must understand," Gerald said in a
voice that belied his determination. "Have you ever seen a more beautiful
bride? I’m anxious to marry her as soon as possible. Here is our special
license."
Ford heard the rustling of paper. He had to move soon.
"Oh yes, I don’t blame you." The vicar sounded
fairly ancient. This was going to be a bit of a shock to the old gentleman.
"So, can we begin?" Again Gerald spoke. This time
he didn’t even try to hide his impatience.
"Are you ready, my dear?" The vicar seemed to be
addressing Sabrina.
Ford waited breathlessly for her answer.
"No, I…" She sounded so meek.
Ford’s heart swelled. He loved her so much and he couldn’t
bear for her to endure the humiliation that Gerald was forcing upon her. But
his timing had to be exact. There were three of them against Ford and they were
most likely armed. Not to mention that Ford had to protect Sabrina while he
took them on.
"Of course she’s ready," Gerald interjected. "She’s
dying to see her daughter again, and we can’t do that until after we’ve said
our vows."
Sabrina let out small sob, but covered it up quickly. "Yes,
I’m ready," she finally said, her voice strong and determined.
Ford was so proud of Sabrina. She was incredibly brave.
Standing there, believing her child was in danger, willing to sacrifice
herself, her life, everything for Alice. God, he loved her and he couldn’t wait
to tell her so. Just as soon as he ripped out Gerald Tremaine’s heart.
Ford knew he had to act now. He moved into the doorway of
the chapel so he had a clear view of the entire structure. Everyone except the
vicar had their backs to him and since the vicar was apparently nearsighted, he
entered without notice. But he could only see Gerald and one other man. Where
was the second man?
Moving to the left, he tried to get Sabrina’s attention. Her
head was bowed, but she must have caught a glimpse of him from the corner of
her eye, because all of a sudden she moved closer to the vicar so that Gerald
and his man focused their full attention away from where Ford was coming up
behind them. Holding the gun backwards, he rushed up behind the taller man, and
hit him as hard as he could. The thug went down easier then he’d supposed, and
didn’t get up. He was obviously one of Gerald’s ‘friends’, but not the ugly one
Alice had described. He was still out there, an additional menace.
Gerald spun around and pulled out his pistol. "Who the
bloody hell are you?"
"Here now," the vicar sputtered. "What’s this
all about?"
"Quiet, you old fool," Gerald shoved the old man
hard and Vicar Edmonds fell to the ground. "Stay there, Edmonds. I’ll let
you know when I need you to proceed."
The vicar cowered and remained where he was. Obviously he
was an intelligent man who knew when to stay put. Ford aimed his gun at Gerald
Tremaine’s hulking form. Unfortunately, the man pulled Sabrina in front of him
and held his pistol to her head.
"Ford, what are you doing here?" Sabrina asked,
tears now running freely down her face. "You have to leave and let me do
this. Alice is in danger."
"Alice is safe with me. She escaped through a secret
passage under the coal bin and I sent her to Cassie’s. No one can hurt her, I
promise." Ford knew he had to convince her, otherwise Sabrina would never
let him help her.
"Scar," Gerald bellowed. "Bring the girl
down, now!"
Ford looked at Sabrina, silently trying to tell her that
everything was going to be all right and she just had to be brave and help him
when he gave her the signal. He prayed she understood what his hand motions
meant. She gave him a minute nod of her head, so slight he barely saw it, but
it was good enough for him. She understood that they had to work together to
get out of here alive. Footsteps sounded from somewhere in the house and then
pounding down the stairs. Ford knew he had to act quickly. He ran to the door of
the chapel and threw the lock.
"What are you doing?" Gerald was furious. "Scar,
break the door down!"
"Hey, Mr. Tremaine. The girl is gone," Scar called
from the other side of the door. I searched the whole damn nursery!"
There were several thumps as Scar tried to break the door
down. Ford moved one of the smaller pews in front of it, hoping it would detain
the other man further.
"Alice is safe?" Sabrina choked on the words. "Thank
you, Ford."
He smiled at her wanly. Alice was safe, but they were in
dire trouble.
Scar was pounding on the door in earnest now. Ford was ready
to put his plan into motion, but he wasn’t sure if Sabrina was ready. Standing
there with Gerald holding her with the gun barrel poised at her temple, she
looked small and helpless.
"Get up, Edmonds and finish the ceremony." Gerald
kicked the vicar with his foot to encourage the old man to move faster.
"I say, I can’t force the lady to marry you!" The
vicar was indignant.
"You will finish, or the lady," Gerald said,
jabbing Sabrina with the gun, "will die."
"Go ahead, sir," Sabrina said, looking sideways at
Ford, giving him the signal that she was ready for whatever he had planned. "Neither
of us wants to see anyone hurt."
Scar was still trying to break the door down, and Ford could
only hope that he would be able to get Sabrina safely away from Gerald before
that happened. He motioned to her and looked up at his target, hoping she would
understand his message. He needed Sabrina to act quickly if his plan was to
work. Dashing to other side of the chapel, Ford aimed his gun above Gerald’s
head and fired two shots bringing down the central light fixture. As Ford had
hoped, Gerald flinched and reached to cover his head with his free hand,
allowing Sabrina just enough time to drop to the floor and roll away from her
captor. Ford fired again, hitting Gerald’s arm. The man’s gun clattered to the
floor.
"Damn you," the other man bellowed, grabbing his
bleeding limb. "Scar, where the bloody hell are you?"
As if on cue, the hired thug broke down the door and came
rushing into the chapel. But Ford was ready for him and he fired his last two
shots, trying only to stop Scar and not kill him. The first one completely
missed the big man but the second one hit him in his thigh, sending Scar to the
floor clutching his leg and howling in pain. Unfortunately, he still had his
own gun and was now aiming it directly at Ford.
"I’m going to kill you for that," Scar bellowed,
firing at will.
Diving behind a pew and out of the way of the flying
bullets, Ford lost his glasses. He couldn’t see a thing as the wood splintered
around him.
"Kill him, kill him." Gerald was howling even as
Scar ran out of ammunition.
When Ford finally managed to find his bent and broken
spectacles and put them awkwardly back on his nose, the room was silent. All
eyes were warily focused behind him. Turning around slowly, he finally saw why.
His beautiful, wonderful Sabrina stood with both hands
holding what must have been Gerald’s dropped weapon. She was shaking and
pointing the thing directly at Tremaine’s wide stomach.
"Now, Sabrina, you misunderstood my intentions,"
Gerald pleaded. "I wanted to give you and Alice a good life. I wanted to
take care of you."
"Like you took care of Edward?" she asked, nearly
hysterical. "I know what you did, and I have proof."
"Let me take that," Ford said, gently removing the
gun from Sabrina’s frozen grip. "I think I hear O’Neill coming. He’s
brought the authorities." He pulled her shaking body into his embrace
while holding the weapon steady on the injured men.
A moment later the chapel was full of police. They
immediately shackled Scar and Cal, dragging them away. Gerald yelled at them
while they questioned him, threatening everyone with dire consequences.
"What should we do with him, Lord Suffolk?" the
officer in charge asked.
"I believe Mr. Tremaine will be charged with
kidnapping, forgery and possibly murder." O’Neill looked at Ford for
confirmation.
"Yes, Gerald will be locked up for a very long time,"
Ford confirmed. "I’ll come to the station in the morning with my solicitor
and the paperwork you’ll need to keep him detained."
"That was well done, Northcliffe. You didn’t even need
me." O’Neill looked rather pleased with himself, then turned and bowed
deeply for Sabrina. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Tremaine."
Still trembling slightly, she managed a curtsey. "Lord
Suffolk."
"Enough of that," Ford said, turning to the vicar.
"Would you like to return to my home, sir? Maybe some sherry to warm you,
or something stronger?"
"Oh yes, something stronger," Vicar Edmonds
replied. "A lot of something stronger."
"I’ll take him over," O’Neill said, motioning for
the older man to precede him. "You and Mrs. Tremaine need to go fetch Miss
Alice, who by the way is a gem."
"Alice," Sabrina gasped, turning in Ford’s arms to
look him in the eye. "I don’t know how to ever thank you for taking care
of her."
"Marry me," he replied, completely serious.
"What?"
"I think that’s our cue to leave," O’Neill said to
the vicar who nodded in agreement. The two gentlemen left quietly behind the
last of the police.
"I can’t live without you or Alice. You must marry me
or I’ll waste away in my laboratory, a lonely and pathetic shell of a man. Do you
remember what I was like when the two of you first found me? Please don’t
sentence me to that empty life."
"Oh, Ford," Sabrina tried to push him away, but he
only held her tighter. "I don’t know. Everything is so confusing now."
"I know you don’t need me," Ford said, gently
brushing a curl from her cheek and tracing the wound on her beautiful mouth.
"I’m hoping that you love me as much as I love you. Sabrina, my life isn’t
complete without you and your daughter. I want us to be a family. I didn’t
realize it until you showed up, of course."
"What about Miss Ellison?" Sabrina asked, refusing
to look him in the eye.
"Luella?" Ford chuckled. "She doesn’t want
me. I telephoned her in Paris this morning to break it off, and she practically
shouted with relief. She thinks I’m a bore and didn’t want to marry me in the
first place. I can only hope that you don’t agree with her."
Sabrina finally raised her beautiful blue eyes to meet his
gaze. They shone with amusement. "Yes indeed, you are quite dull, Mr.
Northcliffe. Just look at what a decidedly drab afternoon we’ve had today."
They both burst out laughing.
"Come, let’s go get Alice," he said quietly,
leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to the uninjured corner her mouth. "I
don’t want to be apart from either of you ever again."
A happy ending, Madame Lou smiled to herself flipping
over the final cards for this couple—the Sun, the Lovers and the World, in
other words, happily ever after. The spirits were ecstatic that the drama was
finally over and their loved ones were going to get together and become a happy
family at last. But they still wanted Madame Lou to help clear up a few things.
That was fine, as long as that was the end of this story for her. A new
situation was brewing anyway and she had to move on it. Another couple needed
her special kind of intervention if they were ever going to find true love.
This time, there were at least five spirits involved and they were interrupting
her at the most inconvenient of times. As soon as she wrapped up the
Northcliffe situation, she was going to be busy full time with this new
endeavor.
Alice ran into her mother’s arms, allowing Sabrina to squeeze
her as tightly as she dared. Her little girl was safe and warm and talking
faster than she could possibly keep up with.
"Slow down, my little bird." Sabrina laughed,
setting Alice back on the floor. "Now tell me what has you so excited?"
"Madame Lou wants you and Papa, I mean Mr. Northcliffe,
to sit down and let her finish her reading." Alice pushed her mother
further into the tearoom. "Sit here and I’ll go find her."