Free Smuggler's Kiss by Marie-Louise Jensen

moment I thought he’d relented, but, as usual, it was a mistake to think well of him. He pulled my bridal veil out of the sack, tore off a portion and stuffed it into my mouth.
    ‘Believe me, I regret this necessity,’ he said in a maddeningly calm voice. ‘But you brought it on yourself.’ He bound the gag in place with a strip of petticoat. I watched him in silent fury. The gag was horribly uncomfortable, and I needed to stay calm and breathe steadily through my nose if I didn’t want to choke.
    ‘See you soon, Isabelle!’ said Will and dropped a kiss on the end of my nose. ‘Be good and don’t wander off!’
    I convulsed with anger but couldn’t reach to strike him. My rage, once Will had left me, knew no bounds. I fought vainly against my bonds, tensing and straining my whole body to free myself, but Will had done his job all too well. Hate-filled words buzzed in my mind, longing to be yelled out loud. I raged, I fought and then I wept. At last, exhausted from my anger and from having walked further than ever in my life before, I fell asleep.
    I awoke suddenly in darkness with the feeling something had disturbed me. I retched and struggled before I remembered where I was. My neck ached and my throat was raw from the gag. I was sure I wasn’t alone. All the fears of the ghosts last night came flooding back. Chills ran over me. How could Will leave me alone like this?
    As I sat, straining my ears to hear anything at all, a cold, ghostly finger stroked my cheek. My stomach clenched with fear, my body convulsed and I gave a muffled shriek that made me choke helplessly. In the middle of my terror, laughter reached my ears. Laughter! Will emerged from behind me, holding his sides. ‘This place is as haunted as that old house!’ he said. I rolled my eyes, desperate to be able to breathe properly. Will seemed to understand, for he loosened the gag at once, pulling the veil from my mouth. ‘Sorry, Sleeping Beauty,’ he said. ‘I simply couldn’t resist.’
    I coughed; my throat too raw for the insults and reproaches I longed to heap on him. The moment he released the ropes at my wrists, I swung my numb left hand round and struck his face. It gave a satisfying slap and his head snapped to the right.
    I braced myself and shut my eyes, expecting to feel a return blow but it didn’t come. When I opened them, Will was rubbing his cheek ruefully and staring at me.
    I glared back angrily and then I forgot everything else as the pain of the blood flowing into my numbed hands flooded me.

CHAPTER SEVEN

    ‘Where did you go when you left me?’ I asked Will as we strode out into the night. ‘You were gone ages.’
    ‘You don’t need to know.’ His voice was maddeningly calm. He shifted the sack he was carrying to his other shoulder with a grunt. It seemed heavier and fuller than it had been earlier in the day.
    ‘I hate you,’ I told him with feeling.
    ‘So you keep telling me. I really don’t care.’
    ‘Where are we going now? Or is that secret too?’
    ‘We’re on our way to meet The Invisible .’
    ‘Where?’ I asked him. Getting information out of Will was like drawing a tooth: difficult and painful.
    He shook his head at me. ‘Why?’ I demanded angrily. ‘Why does that need to be secret? For heaven’s sake, you are ridiculous!’
    ‘If we were to be captured or stopped by the king’s men,’ said Will, as though explaining something to a very stupid child, ‘do you really think I want you to be able to tell them where the ship is coming in to shore?’
    I stomped along beside him. I was a prisoner. I had no say and no choice in anything. It was intolerable.
    There were lights twinkling ahead in the darkness. I glanced at Will to see if he was going to avoid them, but to my surprise, he continued walking straight towards them. The dark shapes resolved into cottages, and I could tell from the stink drifting across to us that they were not well-to-do dwellings.
    ‘What is this place?’ I