and her wet hair splayed across her cheeks. The poor girl could not have been more than eight or nine years old. She coughed, and the sound sent hot relief through my entire body.
“Help!” She hadn’t seen me, her cry pitiful. And then she went under, her hair floating to the surface.
Why could she not stay above the surface? I kicked again and grabbed her arm. She froze and then lashed out, her boot colliding with my left calf. Pain shot through me, but I tried to ignore it as I dove under the surface, peering through the murky water. There it was—her skirts caught on a sharp offshoot of the branch. As I watched, the whole branch shifted and she was able to rise and gulp another breath before the unsteady motion of the limb dragged her back under.
I yanked on her skirt, hard, harder, until the fabric ripped in my hands. I grabbed her around the waist, and we broke the surface together. The girl flailed about, her hand smacking the side of my head.
“Calm down!” I ordered. “I’m here. I’ll help.”
She did not hear me with all her splashing and wailing. My weak legs couldn’t hold us above anymore, and we went under, bubbles and arms and legs crowding my vision. Blast and bother. This child would not be the death of us both, and she certainly wouldn’t keep me from marrying Edward. I kicked my legs, straining with the effort, and heaved her to air once more.
“Stop moving!” I shouted. “Let me help you.”
Her thrashing calmed somewhat, and I slipped one arm across her chest, cursing my long skirts as I began awkwardly stroking toward the nearest shore. The girl gasped for air, unable to speak, coughing more often than not.
“It’s all right,” I assured her. “You’re all right. We’re nearly there.”
Were we? We seemed to sink lower into the water with every inch I moved. I hefted the girl up higher. Even her skinny frame was a challenge to keep afloat considering my inadequacy in swimming. My skirts tangled about my legs, trapping them into the barest of movements. I gave another desperate kick, and my feet met slippery mud.
Thank the heavens. Thank the earth too, for that matter.
I managed to get my feet under me, my head just above the surface. The girl spun in the water and threw her arms around me, clinging like a leech.
“You’re safe,” I wheezed as I staggered farther up the shore. “We made it.”
She did not answer, her face buried in my shoulder, her dripping hair plastered across my chest and face.
“Olivia!”
My head jerked up at the voice, and I stumbled, going down to one knee in the shallows. The girl in my arms gave a whimper as I focused on the man splashing toward us through the water.
Chapter Two
He was tall, too tall, but that was likely because I was crouching like a toad in the water. He reached us in a second and pulled the girl—Olivia, was my very astute guess—from my arms.
“What happened?” he demanded.
Was he speaking to me or Olivia? I did not much care for the sharpness of his voice either way.
Then he reached a hand down to me, and as my arms and legs were shaking from exhaustion, I didn’t have much choice. I took his hand, and he pulled me to my feet before turning and wading back to the rocky shore, carrying Olivia in his arms. I staggered after him and collapsed onto a mossy log beyond the reach of the water. My dripping habit clung to me, every inch of my skin covered with soaked fabric. Even with the hot summer sun overhead, I shivered.
The man perched Olivia on a nearby flat rock. He shrugged out of his jacket and threw it around her shaking shoulders, rubbing her arms as if that would make any difference. She was a skinny thing, and the weight of the jacket made her slump. Stella remained where I’d left her, though her hooves danced in clear unease, and an unfamiliar bay hunter snorted a short distance away.
The man turned to face me, his eyes intensely green, narrowed, and not at all pleasant.
“What happened?” he demanded once again.
Did he think I had something to do with the girl nearly drowning? I’d never seen either of them before in my life. Olivia sat silently, mouth squeezed shut. Why did she not say anything?
Well, if she wouldn’t, I would. I scrutinized our surroundings. Beyond where