Read Online Master of the Moors by Kealan Patrick Burke - Free Book Online

her feet.
    "I'm sorry," she sobbed,
and slipped her arms around his neck. "I would never cast you out.
You and Mrs. Fletcher are all I have."
    He stroked her hair and
hushed her tears. "And you'll always have us."
    She nodded, obviously not
convinced, and pulled away from him. He understood her reluctance
to accept his promise. After all, she'd lost her mother, and now
her father would in all likelihood succumb to whatever disease had
him in its grasp. Promises meant nothing to her anymore. Not when
she'd long been aware of the transience of life.
    "I'd better get cleaned
up," she said, averting her eyes so he wouldn't see the fresh
tears. As she walked toward the door, Grady wondered when she'd
gotten to be such a young woman. He'd been here all along, watching
her grow, and yet somehow it felt as if he'd missed it, as if she'd
hidden herself away in some secret chrysalis and emerged a
beautiful young lady. He smiled at her when she looked over her
shoulder at him. But the swell of affection he felt soon faded
beneath a black cloud of worry. Perhaps it was the master's waking,
All Hallows and its inherent superstitions, or the awareness that
soon Kate would leave to face the world beyond their little haven,
but an ominous feeling had nestled in his chest, as if a storm was
coming, a storm so fierce it might tear them all
asunder.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    The nerve of that little
wretch thought Campbell, as he wiped his
nose on his sleeve and studied the glistening trail that remained
on the fabric. The morning chill breathed against his bones, even
though his coat was wrapped so tight around him a sneeze would rend
it apart. Nevertheless he was possessed of a trembling that set his
teeth clicking; he could feel the fingernails of winter splitting
his lower lip, a discomfort he would not fully appreciate until he
reached The Fox & Mare and the heat aroused it. He did not
relish the thought of removing his ungloved hands from the warmth
of his pockets, but since one of them held a flask of whiskey, it
was a sacrifice that would have to be made. Tensing his shoulders
and pausing by the cold stone wall that separated the road from the
rolling moors, he fished out the flask, quickly unscrewed the cap
and drank deeply, until he felt the fire filling his belly. A belch
of appreciation and he was on his way, hands and flask returned to
pockets.
    Insolent cur.
    He'd delivered that little
whelp from her mother's womb, clothed the fluids from her tiny body
and slapped the first breath out of her. Now, as he remembered the
insults she'd cast his way earlier, he wished that damn fool
groundskeeper had permitted him an opportunity to do it again. The
way her eyes had bulged with fury at him, the way the veins in her
throat had stood out like cords beneath a cape, her mouth twisted
into a hateful sneer, and all because he'd opted to tell the truth
rather than deceive her into believing anything but grief lay
ahead. Her impertinence clung to him like a shroud. Why, had he
dared to show his tongue at that age it would have been pulled from
his mouth, and rightly so. Had he been alone with her, he might
have attempted that very thing. With Grady there however, he'd have
been asking for trouble. The groundskeeper was like her loyal
hound.
    He sighed. At least he
could delight in remembering the confusion on her face when he'd
showed her the blood. That had shut her up in a hurry, as he had
known it would, though he was just as puzzled by the oddly colored
serum as she had been. It wasn't at all natural for something so
metallic in hue to come from a living creature in place of blood,
but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what had caused
it.
    It was something he
imagined the boys in London---his former colleagues---would have field
day with, if he chose to share it, and he had not yet decided if he
was willing to take that step. There was every chance that the
serum might prove to be a significant find, an anomalous precedent
that might