Banished Page 20

  "You must come for a walk," Charity said, sitting beside me on the ruined abbey wall. She removed the book from my hands and snapped it shut. I'd been stuck on the same page for an hour.

  "It might rain." I looked up at the sky. Not a single cloud marred the blue expanse.

  Hannah took my hand. "Come on. You have to do something. You've been sitting on this wall pretending to read for three days now."

  He's not coming back. She didn't need to say it, but I heard it nevertheless.

  I sighed. "I don't feel like walking."

  "You don't feel like anything much, of late."

  Charity patted my hand and gave me a sympathetic look. "Nobody expects you to simply forget and suddenly be happy again. We just want you to get some exercise for your health."

  Exercise wouldn't mend my broken heart. But she was trying—they both were—and deserved my thanks if nothing else.

  Hannah's eyes twinkled. "If you don't wish to walk, we could go for a swim in the lake instead."

  "Hannah!" Charity stared at her. "We don't have any bathing costumes."

  "We can wear our shifts. Come on. The day is warm and nobody will see us."

  "Unless they look out of one of the windows, or venture over from the drive."

  "Cara?"

  I shrugged. "I don't feel up to much frivolity today." Or any other day.

  "It might help you get your mind off…your sorrows." Hannah's smile turned sympathetic. "If only for a few minutes."

  Charity stepped back and gave a decisive nod. "You're right. If Cara goes in, then so will I."

  Hannah grinned. "Now you have to, Cara. Wouldn't you love to see the prim future Mrs. Samuel Gladstone take a dip in her shift?"

  "I am not prim!"

  I smiled at Charity's protest. It was the first one I'd mustered since Quin left.

  "Perhaps not," Hannah said to Charity, "but you are annoyingly perfect. I would like to see your hair a bedraggled mess once in a while."

  Charity removed the pins from her hair and shook the blonde tresses out. It cascaded over her shoulders like a beautiful pale waterfall. Then she kicked off her shoes and removed her stockings. Hannah laughed and followed suit.

  "Should we see if Sylvia wants to join us?" I asked them, removing my ankle boots.

  "Charity's primness is nothing compared to Sylvia's," Hannah said. "She would have a fit if she knew."

  "I am not prim." To prove it, Charity was the first one in. She walked right up to the edge and kept on walking. "It's a little cold. And the bottom squelches." She turned to us as the water reached her thighs, her eyes bright with laughter. "But it's rather refreshing."

  "Besides," Hannah went on, "Sylvia will be too busy sneaking around the house with Tommy. I hear the tower room is their favorite venue for rendezvous these days." She removed her dress and corset and laid it over the wall. Then she plunged into the lake, up to her neck. She beckoned me to follow.

  "They'd better hope her uncle doesn't find out," Charity said as I undressed.

  "You think he'll be angry?" I asked. "Won't he be pleased that she's happy? Tommy is a wonderful fellow."

  Charity sighed as I came up beside her. The water was indeed cool, but invigorating at the same time. We both walked further in to where Hannah paddled. The mud on the bottom changed to sand and the water turned clearer.

  "He is," Hannah said. "But he's not the man August wants her to be with."

  "He shouldn't talk," I said. "His choice of lover is not exactly conventional."

  They stared at me, probably surprised that I'd worked out what Bollard meant to Langley.

  "Try telling that to August." Hannah floated on her back, propelling herself by flapping her hands through the water like fins. "He wouldn't accept Tommy in a million years. I'm afraid, if she insists, we're in for an unhappy time of it."

  Charity sighed again. "This is all so sad. I only want everyone to be happy. I like to see laughter, not tears."

  "I know how to make at least one person laugh." Hannah had that twinkle in her eyes again. I edged away from her.

  "Oh?" Charity blinked innocently. "Who? And how?"

  Hannah swooshed her hand through the water, soaking Charity. Charity gasped and coughed, but both Hannah and I laughed. The perfect, poised Charity Evans was wet through, her hair a dripping mop.

  Charity quickly recovered and splashed Hannah back. I whooped, earning me a splash from both of them. We kicked and flicked water over one another until we were all breathing heavily and soaked to the bone. Then we collapsed in giggles until Hannah's smile faded, her gaze on the house.

  "Something's wrong." She stood and the water cascaded off her. "Sylvia's running."

  We waded out of the lake and met Sylvia in the ruins near our clothes. She pressed her hand to her heaving chest as she gulped in large breaths.

  "Sylvia!" I cried. "What is it? Is someone hurt?"

  She shook her head, sending her curls into a mad dance around her temples. "You must come back to the house. All of you. Oh, God, it's awful. Just awful."

  It must indeed be bad if she made not a single comment about the three of us dressed in nothing but our shifts and swimming in the lake where any visitor could see us.

  "Sylvia!" Hannah grabbed her cousin by the shoulders and shook her. Sylvia began to cry. "Tell us what happened."

  "He saw us."

  "Who saw who doing what?"

  "Uncle August," she sobbed. "He saw Tommy and me…kissing. Oh why oh why didn't we go to the tower room?"

  Charity put her arm around Sylvia's shoulders. "Calm down. It'll be all right. Jack will speak to—"

  "Jack has tried!" She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. "He's sending him away. Uncle is banishing Tommy."

  I gasped and exchanged glances with the other two. "Are you certain?"

  "Of course I'm certain." She looked at me, but I doubted she saw me very well through her tears. "He told him to pack his bags and leave today. Immediately!"

  "But where will he go?" Charity asked. "What will he do?"

  "I don't know!" Sylvia wailed. "What can he do with only one functioning arm? He's unfit to work as a footman or butler, and he's qualified for nothing else."

  "And Langley won't give him a reference," Hannah said quietly.

  That only made Sylvia cry harder. "He can't go! Nobody will take him on! He'll end up in the poor house! Or back on the streets!"

  "It won't be as bad as that," Charity soothed. "Jack will see that he's taken care of."

  "And what of his pride? Hmmm? Will Jack see that he retains that too?"

  "This isn't right." Hannah gathered up her clothes and snatched up her shoes. "Not after everything Tommy's done for us." She stormed off through the ruins toward the house.

  "Where are you going?" Charity called after her.

  "To have a word with August. He must be made to see reason."

  "But you can't! You're wet." Sylvia frowned at Charity and me as if she'd just noticed that we too were wet. "Did you all fall into the lake?"

  "Something like that." Charity put her gown on over the top of her wet shift and collected her boots. "Come on. Let's sort this out." She gathered Sylvia into her arms. "It'll be all right. You'll see."

  Sylvia sighed. "I do hope so." She took my hand. "Come on, Cara."

  "It's not really my affair." I wasn't sure I wanted to become embroiled in Sylvia's drama. I had enough misery of my own to weigh me down.

  "It is! You're as much a part of this family as anyone. You and Charity. Besides, it might provide some distraction for your thoughts so they don't continue to return to Quin."

  Mention of him brought the tears close again. I hid them by putting my gown on and tightening the laces at the front. When I finished, Sylvia took one hand and Charity the other.

  "I miss him," I said simply.

  Charity squeezed my hand. "We know."

  I drew in a deep breath and walked with them back to the house.

  THE END


  Available Now:

  My Soul To Take

  The third book in the 3rd Freak House Trilogy.

  When Myer returns through the portal and brings Quin's nemesis with him, Cara and Quin are reunited again. Only to be ripped apart by a villain who has been playing a long game. Can they ever be together in this realm? The final novel in the Freak House series will be the most heart-stopping yet.

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  A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR

  I hope you enjoyed reading BANISHED as much as I enjoyed writing it. As an independent author, getting the word out about my book is vital to its success, so if you liked this book please consider telling your friends and writing a review at the store where you purchased it. If you would like to be contacted when I release a new book, subscribe to my newsletter at http://cjarcher.com/contact-cj/newsletter/. You will only be contacted when I have a new book out.

  BOOKS BY C.J. ARCHER

  The Medium (Emily Chambers Spirit Medium #1)

  Possession (Emily Chambers Spirit Medium #2)

  Evermore (Emily Chambers Spirit Medium #3)

  The Wrong Girl (1st Freak House #1)

  Playing With Fire (1st Freak House #2)

  Heart Burn (1st Freak House #3)

  The Memory Keeper (2nd Freak House #1)

  Seared With Scars (2nd Freak House #2)

  Edge Of Darkness (2nd Freak House #3)

  Ghost Girl (3rd Freak House #1)

  Banished (3rd Freak House #2)

  My Soul To Take (3rd Freak House #3)

  The Charmer (Assassins Guild #1)

  The Rebel (Assassins Guild #2)

  The Saint (Assassins Guild #3)

  The Sinner (Assassins Guild #4)

  Her Secret Desire (Lord Hawkesbury's Players #1)

  Scandal's Mistress (Lord Hawkesbury's Players #2)

  To Tempt The Devil (Lord Hawkesbury's Players #3)

  Honor Bound (The Witchblade Chronicles Book #1)

  Kiss Of Ash (The Witchblade Chronicles #2)

  Courting His Countess

  Surrender

  Redemption

  The Mercenary's Price

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  C.J. Archer has loved history and books for as long as she can remember. She worked as a librarian and technical writer until she was able to channel her twin loves by writing historical fiction. She has won and placed in numerous romance writing contests, including taking home RWAustralia’s Emerald Award in 2008 for the manuscript that would become her novel Honor Bound. Under the name Carolyn Scott, she has published contemporary romantic mysteries, including Finders Keepers Losers Die, and The Diamond Affair. After spending her childhood surrounded by the dramatic beauty of outback Queensland, she lives today in suburban Melbourne, Australia, with her husband and their two children.

  She loves to hear from readers. You can contact her in one of these ways:

  Website: http://cjarcher.com

  Email: cjarcher.writes@gmail.com

  Twitter: @cj_archer

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CJArcherAuthorPage

  Tumblr: http://freakhouseresidents.tumblr.com

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  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  BOOKS BY C.J. ARCHER

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR