Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue-Chapters Eight and Nine: The Hunt Begins!

Heather and Tim continue their journey onward to Annan. They leave the barn just after dawn. For those of you keeping track, they still haven't eaten. Anyway, they continue walking until they begin passing Dornock and notice some constables meeting on the road. Two of them head toward Annan, which, as it turns out, is not a large town. If they limp into this town, they'll certainly be spotted and Heather will be kidnapped all over again. Heather makes the logical leap and asks how far Dumfries is. That is, it's logical because Dumfries is a large town and two more people heading there won't be noticed much. At least, I assume so. Heather felt that she had to ask that instead of Tim because she's walking in dancing slippers, which must be barely hanging onto her feet by now, and he wouldn't want to make her walk any farther in them. She knows they have to keep walking, though.

Eventually, they get to a stile where they have a conversation about broadening their characters. Or something. Heather is still practical and knows they can't stop and get food anywhere because they'll stand out and the constables will know where they are. Tim wants to be sure she doesn't faint on the way there. Heather promises that she won't. Then she tries to climb the stile, but her dancing slippers have terrible traction so she can't. Oh no, looks like Tim will have to lift her up onto the stile and back down on the other side. How awful for him....that he only gets to touch her for that reason.

When they're halfway across the field they've entered, Tim explains why he was so worried about Heather fainting. You see, back when his sisters were Heather's age, they would be very weak by lunch if they hadn't had breakfast. Heather makes the point that fashions have changed since then, which I assume means she's not wearing a corset. I certainly hope not, considering how far they're walking. Anyway, the point of Tim's story was that he didn't want Heather to think that he thought she was weak. Because he respects her, you see. What a refreshing change from the love interest of the last book I covered. Oh, also, Tim thinks about how the qualities that he had found obnoxious in Heather are now some of the ones that are making this escape possible. Also, after the next stile, Tim starts holding Heather's hand and she's totally cool with it.

Now we jump to a completely different point of view. Now that Heather and Tim are traveling together, we need to look at someone else for the opposing POV, I suppose. Anyway, we look in on Fletcher and Cobbins in jail and how the Highlander shows up to talk to them. He believes that the two kidnappers are not petty thieves and says that he'll arrange to have them out by jail by that evening, and leave a kind of nice bonus for them at the inn. Not the two thousand they had been expecting, but they didn't hold up their end of the bargain.

Then we follow the Highlander back to the inn for some detective work. He figures out that “Timms”, better known to me as Tim, probably took off with Heather and he figures out the direction they went because of how flat the land is. They would have had to use the stable as cover to avoid being seen. Also, there's a couple of times where the Highlander thinks about making it up to Heather, which is odd considering how his momma wants such crazy revenge on her. Maybe he's trying to kidnap one of the sinister sisters to draw off his momma's vengeance. Or this guy is someone else entirely. We still don't have a name, which is why I'm still calling him the Highlander.

Also, the Highlander has no trouble tracking Tim and Heather across stones, let alone the soft, muddy ground they've traveled on. Also, also, the Highlander notices that Tim is wearing super awesome riding boots, and he's generally caught on that Tim is not just a solicitor's clerk. The chapter ends with the Highlander reflecting on how easy it will be to find these two and calling for his horse.

Gotta love the trope of the incompetent police who can't solve a particular problem, but the not-trained person can.

Chapter Nine

The chapter opens with Heather and Tim, still holding hands, walking into Dumfries. They see some constables there, but since it's a bustling, big city, they have no trouble avoiding them. Tim is communicating pretty much only in grunts, which Heather attributes to him being a protective male and having a female he has to look after. She's okay with this for now, as long as he doesn't get crazy jealous and possessive. Seems legit. We also get a look into Tim's mind. Apparently, he hasn't felt guilty much before because he doesn't name that negative feeling that he associates with Heather's feet hurting her really badly. Not that Heather has said anything, but he can tell from the way she's walking that she hurts. So, after they're done eating, they head off to a nearby cobbler's shop. This gets a little racy, just to warn you. Yes, in a cobbler's shop.

Heather saw a pair of boots in the window that should be small enough for her feet, so they head inside so she can try them on. But, you see, there's a problem because Heather is wearing dance slippers. Ruined dance slippers, so she's got to be careful about letting the cobbler help her put those boots on. Well, there's nothing for it them but to have Tim put these shoes on her. Because I guess she can't put on her own boots? Although, Tim's back does help hide her feet, and dance slippers, from the cobbler's view, so I guess that is good.

It happens when Tim grabs her foot to put the shoe on her. Both of them jump at the contact and Heather starts blushing. This is what happens when you keep your lustiness inside. If they'd at least kissed by now, it might not be so exciting to have him hold her foot. ...or maybe it would be. I'm not here to judge about people's fetishes, I suppose. They get the second boot on with a little less “sensual drama” and Heather walks about the shop to break the boots in, or you know, to try to recover from the sensuality that swamped her. I told you it got a little racy in there. Tim pays and they head to a coffee shop to plan their next move.

On their way to the coffee shop, they conveniently pass a market and Heather buys them some food for the road. How nice. Once they reach the coffee shop, they order some food and some drink and bust out the map. They want to get to Carsphairn which is a village. Oh yeah. That's where Heather's relatives live. Right. As they look over the map, they decide that they need to continue on foot because it's easier to hide that way. Also, they're going to take the road less traveled. It will make all the difference. So their route follows the main road to Glasgow for a little bit out of town, and then splits off. They pay and head out the door. Heather puts her shawl over her hand and, hand in hand, they leave town.

The Highlander, meanwhile, is coming into Dumfries somewhere behind them. He knows he's looking for a couple, but doesn't tell the constables that because he wants to be able to take the opportunity to kill “Timms” quietly with no one knowing about it. Okay, that's kind of unsettling. It almost seems like he thinks he'll be rescuing Heather from “Timms” but I'm not really sure what the Highlander is thinking. I'm assuming that when we actually learn this guy's name, it will be something significant for folks who have read the rest of these books, but will mean nothing to me. Oh well.

With a supernatural detectiving ability, the Highlander manages to find the tavern where the couple stopped for food, the cobbler's shop and, finally, the coffee shop where they ended their stay in town. The serving girl remembers that they asked for the road to Glasgow and the Highlander remembers that “Timms” was supposed to be traveling that way anyway. So, he finds their trail out of town, but decides to pursue them in the morning. There are plenty of flat, open stretches on that road, so he can find them with little trouble and the road is not so busy that he won't have time to take care of “Timms”. How rude.

In the next chapter, I predict that the Highlander will continue stalking the couple, and will notice when they take the little road, but will not catch up with them just yet. He'll probably find them during a storm, or some other kind of problem to add to the drama. Also, Heather will decide that she really needs to find an opportunity to kiss Tim. She won't quite do that yet, but she'll realize that she's okay with the idea.