Free A Stranger's Kiss by Rosemary Smith Page A

way out of it.’
    The next thing we knew we could hear the door open and shut below and the ravens squawking on the tower once more. I suddenly felt very afraid and caught hold of Michael’s arm. It seemed like only seconds before Violet appeared in the doorway. She flung back her head and laughed. Her stance reminded me of something, but I had no chance to think as to what it was.
    ‘What did you hope to find? A ghost?’ she almost screamed, thrusting her face close to mine.
    ‘We just came up here to see the view, Violet,’ said Michael to his sister in a soothing voice, at the same time pulling me gently back from her.
    ‘A likely story. You are deceiving my father, just as she did.’ The word ‘she’ was emphasised and Violet almost spat the words at us.
    ‘There is no reason to deceive. Now we’ll all go back down the steps slowly and quietly and lock the tower up once more,’ Michael coaxed.
    Violet had calmed herself somewhat, but I could see her mind was still working overtime as we descended the stone steps. Michael in front and me bringing up the rear. I kept thinking inanely that Violet would push her brother, but she didn’t and we stepped safely outside once more. Michael relocked the door and placed the key in his pocket.
    ‘Now you run along for lunch,’ he instructed Violet. ‘Sara and I are going to return the key.’
    ‘I shall tell Papa,’ she shouted as she ran around the corner to the front of the house, her footsteps harsh on the ground causing the ravens to perform once more. I put my hands over my ears feeling quite distressed at the whole incident and was immensely disappointed that we had not discovered Amelia’s prison, for prison I was sure it was. My friend would not go into hiding of her own free will, she loved life too much.
    ‘Come,’ said Michael taking my arm, ‘we will head for the tranquillity of the sea and cliffs.’
    A narrow path led from the tower to the cliffs, and as we walked along together I could hear the sea lapping on the beach below. The sun was moving around and I savoured the warmth of it on my back as I had felt quite cold in the tower. Looking up I could see small, white, fluffy, translucent clouds hung like cotton wool against the backdrop of the blue sky.
    To my delight wild flowers grew in abundance on the cliffs made up of small clusters of red common hounds’ tongue and large patches of white fragrant bluebells. This was like heaven compared to the gloom of that empty room in the tower.
    ‘Here we are.’ Michael’s voice drifted across to me and looking down at my feet I could see a blanket had been laid on a grassy clearing with a picnic basket standing in the shade of a small green bush.
    ‘Why Michael, how ...’ I started to question.
    ‘Never mind now,’ he said placing a finger on my lips to silence me. ‘Sit down on the rug and let us see what delights Cook has prepared for us in the basket.’
    As Michael lifted the picnic basket onto the rug he presented me with a pretty green parasol which had been lying under the bush also.
    ‘You thought of everything,’ I praised him as he sat beside me. I touched his cheek, ‘But I have to tell you green does not go with blue,’ I teased him looking down at my dress. We both laughed and he caught hold of the hand which touched his cheek.
    ‘But I can be forgiven as I had no notion of what you’d wear today,’ he said, kissing the palm of my hand.
    The basket contained small sandwiches, cold chicken, fruit cake and cool lemonade with two glasses to drink it from. I arranged the parasol so it would shield my face from the hot rays of the sun. Michael and I sat tucking into the delicious fare and then sipped at our lemonade.
    Suddenly he clinked his glass against mine. ‘To us,’ he said seriously.
    ‘To us,’ I repeated. ‘And thank you, Michael. Is it all right if I ask you a personal question?’
    ‘I’ve never been married,’ he mocked, ‘or in love before, so go ahead,