Read Online One Enchanted Evening by Lynn Kurland - Free Book Online
Authors: Lynn Kurland
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before—
“Brother?”
Montgomery looked at Robin, who had paused by the guard tower. “What?” he asked hoarsely.
Robin looked down at the bridge, frowned deeply, then shook his head. “Nothing,” he said slowly. “Nothing at all.”
Montgomery shut his mouth with a snap. He was weary from a rather trying day and wasn’t entirely sure he would survive the night with the foxes lying in wait for him below. He would consign anything he might or might not have seen to his imagination playing tricks with him, because the very last thing he wanted to encounter in his immediate future was anything that shimmered or sparkled or forced him to face anything that didn’t carry a very long sword and need training. He dragged his hands through his hair, then turned and walked off his roof.
He found Ranulf, the captain of his trio of guardsmen, then asked him to walk what was left of the battlements. Sedgwick wasn’t going to be attacked by anything more interesting than the stench from the moat, so he supposed there was little point in making certain the rest of his men were at their duties. That would come on the morrow when he began his remaking of the garrison.
At least there, the only magic he would need would come from his sword.
Chapter 4
P ippa wasn’t one to panic unnecessarily, but she decided that if ever there had been a moment to indulge in it, it was the present moment.
“Can you just slow down?” she squeaked.
Her sister Tess shot her a look, then turned back to frowning fiercely at the road. “I’m only doing forty.”
“Yes, but the road is tiny and you’ve already knocked off my side mirror on something buried in that hedge.”
“It’s a stone wall,” Tess said, swinging out from behind a very large truck that was also going along at a ridiculous clip and flooring the gas to blow past him. “Probably eighteenth century, but that isn’t my era, so don’t quote me.”
“No worries,” Pippa said faintly. “You can do the carbon dating later based on the chunk that came through my window.”
“I’m not the one who wanted the window down.”
“I’m trying to keep Cindi from barfing in your backseat. She starts to dry heave in her sleep when the air isn’t blowing into her face with the caress of a gale-force wind.”
“You shouldn’t have let her drink on the plane.”
“ I didn’t let her drink on the plane,” Pippa said, through gritted teeth. “I didn’t have the chance to let her do anything on the flight because while I was too busy sitting in the back where the whole damned trip felt like a roller coaster, she was enjoying champagne in first class thanks to a wink and a smile delivered to some single, subsequently disappointed D-list actor.”
Tess shot her a brief smile. “We could just dump her in a hedge, you know. She’d find her way back to the airport eventually.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Pippa muttered. She gripped the armrest with renewed vigor and tried not to concentrate on the scenery racing past her at inhuman speeds. Fortunately she was distracted by the rattling going on in Tess’s trunk. “What’s that noise?”
“Box of spare side mirrors,” Tess said mildly.
Pippa blinked, then laughed in spite of herself. “Do you lose lots of mirrors, or is this the deluxe tour just for me?”
“I lose one a week, whether I need to or not,” Tess said with a smile. “That way I have business for the mechanic in the village we just drove through. Or, rather, I did until he sold his shop and retired to France. I haven’t been in to see the new owner, but I’m sure screwing a mirror into the door won’t be beyond his capabilities. We’re all for that sort of stiff-upper-lip, make-it-do sort of thing here.”
Pippa shot her a look. “Learn all that from Aunt Edna, did you?”
“I will admit, grudgingly, that she did instill a cracking good bit of character in us.”
“How would you know? You escaped early!”
“And you got to come with Mom
“Brother?”
Montgomery looked at Robin, who had paused by the guard tower. “What?” he asked hoarsely.
Robin looked down at the bridge, frowned deeply, then shook his head. “Nothing,” he said slowly. “Nothing at all.”
Montgomery shut his mouth with a snap. He was weary from a rather trying day and wasn’t entirely sure he would survive the night with the foxes lying in wait for him below. He would consign anything he might or might not have seen to his imagination playing tricks with him, because the very last thing he wanted to encounter in his immediate future was anything that shimmered or sparkled or forced him to face anything that didn’t carry a very long sword and need training. He dragged his hands through his hair, then turned and walked off his roof.
He found Ranulf, the captain of his trio of guardsmen, then asked him to walk what was left of the battlements. Sedgwick wasn’t going to be attacked by anything more interesting than the stench from the moat, so he supposed there was little point in making certain the rest of his men were at their duties. That would come on the morrow when he began his remaking of the garrison.
At least there, the only magic he would need would come from his sword.
Chapter 4
P ippa wasn’t one to panic unnecessarily, but she decided that if ever there had been a moment to indulge in it, it was the present moment.
“Can you just slow down?” she squeaked.
Her sister Tess shot her a look, then turned back to frowning fiercely at the road. “I’m only doing forty.”
“Yes, but the road is tiny and you’ve already knocked off my side mirror on something buried in that hedge.”
“It’s a stone wall,” Tess said, swinging out from behind a very large truck that was also going along at a ridiculous clip and flooring the gas to blow past him. “Probably eighteenth century, but that isn’t my era, so don’t quote me.”
“No worries,” Pippa said faintly. “You can do the carbon dating later based on the chunk that came through my window.”
“I’m not the one who wanted the window down.”
“I’m trying to keep Cindi from barfing in your backseat. She starts to dry heave in her sleep when the air isn’t blowing into her face with the caress of a gale-force wind.”
“You shouldn’t have let her drink on the plane.”
“ I didn’t let her drink on the plane,” Pippa said, through gritted teeth. “I didn’t have the chance to let her do anything on the flight because while I was too busy sitting in the back where the whole damned trip felt like a roller coaster, she was enjoying champagne in first class thanks to a wink and a smile delivered to some single, subsequently disappointed D-list actor.”
Tess shot her a brief smile. “We could just dump her in a hedge, you know. She’d find her way back to the airport eventually.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Pippa muttered. She gripped the armrest with renewed vigor and tried not to concentrate on the scenery racing past her at inhuman speeds. Fortunately she was distracted by the rattling going on in Tess’s trunk. “What’s that noise?”
“Box of spare side mirrors,” Tess said mildly.
Pippa blinked, then laughed in spite of herself. “Do you lose lots of mirrors, or is this the deluxe tour just for me?”
“I lose one a week, whether I need to or not,” Tess said with a smile. “That way I have business for the mechanic in the village we just drove through. Or, rather, I did until he sold his shop and retired to France. I haven’t been in to see the new owner, but I’m sure screwing a mirror into the door won’t be beyond his capabilities. We’re all for that sort of stiff-upper-lip, make-it-do sort of thing here.”
Pippa shot her a look. “Learn all that from Aunt Edna, did you?”
“I will admit, grudgingly, that she did instill a cracking good bit of character in us.”
“How would you know? You escaped early!”
“And you got to come with Mom
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