The chapter
opens with Tim chilling in the tap, sitting at the table next to
where he knows Heather and co. will be sitting. He listens to their
conversation while pretending to read a newspaper, but all he learns
is that the four of them will be waiting at least an extra day for
this highlander to show up. This book is 427 pages long (by far the
longest book I've done on this blog to date) and I guess I know how
it got so many pages now. Not a whole lot happens in this chapter,
but let's go over it just the same.
Heather and
Martha get banished to a private parlor in the inn where Martha knits
and Heather frets and asks questions. First, though, we focus on Tim
and how he's playing cards with Cobbins and Fletcher. Lots of time
passes with cards, lunch, some drinking, and more cards. Tim makes
sure that Cobbins and Fletcher have quite a bit of ale and then he
asks them about the highlander. They don't reveal that much more,
just that he's really big and pretty intimidating. There is some
nice dramatic irony as the two kidnappers tell Tim that you can just
tell when someone is a “nob” and that's how they knew the man who
hired them was a laird. You know, as they're talking to a nobleman
from England whom they think is an out-of-work clerk.
Meanwhile in the
parlor... Martha actually does reveal a little bit about herself (My
prediction was a little bit true!) but says nothing about the seaside
(so close...). She is usually a nurse working for older folks, but
her most recent charge died recently, and she had know Fletcher and
Cobbins for years, so when they asked she agreed to this caper.
Martha also backs up that this highlander is probably dangerous and
intimidating.
Then there's
dinner. Because Tim has charmed Cobbins and Fletcher, they invite
the undercover man over to eat dinner with them, after ordering
Heather not to say a word. So they have a nice, cheery meal where
Tim talks about brutal cock fights that he's seen and Heather tries
not to think about that while she's eating. Oh, we also get the
continuing realization that it's not just Tim's looks that make
Heather think about him all the time. Even when he's disheveled, she
still wants him. Yes, they're going to get married. We know. The
three captors drink quite a bit until Martha is almost falling
asleep. Then Martha and Heather head up to their room.
Later that
night, Heather walks down the stairs to the coat closet where she met
Tim last night and sees that he isn't there. She's not quite sure
what to do about this, but no worries because Tim walks down the
stairs and holds her to him again. Because the inn keeper is walking
by and they're hiding in the coat closet, you see. Of course, Tim
seems to hold her to him for a long time... The two of them chat
about how it's a problem that this highlander is super powerful and
such and they're trying to face him in his home country instead of
theirs. Anyway, they agree to wait only one more day before getting
Heather out of there. They almost kiss but Heather pulls back at the
last second and asks about the wound Tim told the kidnappers about.
He'd lied about it so he could stay. Heather is glad he's not hurt.
Blah blah blah. They spend just a little more time not kissing and
then Heather goes up to her room, leaving Tim to think about how much
he wanted to kiss her but about how he's not comfortable revealing
that desire to her.
The next day,
Heather is super annoyed that she's supposed to sit in the parlor all
day again with nothing to do. They won't let her go on a walk,
either, partially because it rained all day yesterday and the ground
is still muddy, and partially because it's easier to keep an eye on
her if she's trapped. Still, how obnoxious to be stuck in one room
all day with nothing to do. Bring her a book, damn it!
Once they're in
the parlor, Martha offers to try to get Heather on a walk tomorrow,
which is quite nice of her. Then Heather starts thinking about how
she almost kissed Tim the previous night. She super wanted to, but
she wasn't sure if he wanted her and that was what stopped her. She
couldn't see his face to gauge his emotions. So, now Heather is
worried that Tim sees her as a little girl with whom he couldn't
possibly have any kind of physical relationship.
Tim, meanwhile,
is out getting the lay of the land and trying to figure out which way
to run with Heather when they do make their escape. For a guy with
an old wound, he's sure out walking a lot. Eventually, he comes back
to the inn to have a conversation with Fletcher and Cobbins, both of
whom are getting really twitchy at being kept in one place so long.
Tim is pretty sure it's because they're criminals. Who else would
you get to kidnap somebody? Oh, interesting facts about them:
Fletcher is good with knives and always has some on him whereas
Cobbins is a fist-fighter who keeps going until no one else is left.
What those in the gaming world call a tank. Surprisingly, I'm not
making that part up to make it interesting, either.
So, anyway,
fashioning it as an attempt to take their minds off of their
captivity, Tim asks about the kidnapping job the two have going
currently. Turns out they got all of the money up front to hire on
Martha and the coach and whatnot. Why would they bother doing the
job besides upholding their reputation, you may ask? Well, because
of the bonus. Two thousand pounds. That number totally freaks Tim
out, so I assume it's a lot of money. Also, while Tim is
mid-freakout, they offer him some work sometime because they think
they can clean him up enough to make him look like a gentleman. Hah.
Irony.
In the next
chapter, we will learn that Heather's and Tim's plans are going to go
awry when the highlander shows up early and carries Heather off
before she can escape. Now Tim must follow them on a much colder
trail, using every clue he can to go and save his beloved. Well,
either in the next chapter or the one after it.
No comments:
Post a Comment