Free Hold Your Breath 02 - Unmasking the Marquess by K.J. Jackson Page B

ma’am, please. I don’t want to. It’s just my brothers and sisters—they need it so. Please, ma’am, please don’t tell.”
    Reanna had never seen a child so distraught, yet so determined at the same time. The boy couldn’t have been more than eight or nine, from what Reanna could tell through the dirt all over him. She had never had much contact with children—she had been an only child herself, and only occasionally did she see any of the servants’ babes. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of this small creature pleading with her.
    “Just to be sure, who shall I not tell, young man?”
    “The gamekeeper, ma’am. Or his lordship. I know poachin’s a crime, ma’am, but my family, they are little, you see.” He fidgeted at the edge of the trail, looking over his shoulder.
    “Where is your family? What is your name?”
    “Promise you won’t tell, ma’am?”
    “I promise. Now, what is your name?”
    “Thomas, ma’am. And my family lives over by Thorn’s Hill.”
    Reanna dismounted from Ivy, stepping to the front of the horse to talk to him. “From what I understand, Thomas, that is a distance away. Whatever are you doing in Holloton?”
    “There’s nothing left right round us, not that I can catch. ‘Specially with the last cold days and all. I got all I could from there, but no more, and the baby needs something real bad.”
    “Baby?”
    “Yes, ma’am, my little sister.”
    “Well, what about your mother, Thomas?”
    The boy’s dirty form froze at the question. Reanna could see tears welling in his big, clear brown eyes and recognized the struggle he was going through not to let them fall. They didn’t. “She passed on, ‘bout three weeks ago.”
    “What about your father?”
    Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know.”
    “Has he been gone for a while?”
    Another shrug. “I think I saw him ‘bout four years back. Mama said I was five.”
    Reanna’s breath caught as the boy’s words hit her. And what it could mean. “Thomas, who are you living with now?”
    “My brothers and sisters.”
    “And are they much older than you?”
    His stance straightened a bit in pride. “I’m the oldest.”
    Reanna swayed. “And there are no grown-ups?”
    “No, ma’am.”
    “How many brothers and sisters do you have?”
    “Five, and me, course.” He began to fidget again, shuffling the dead rabbit from one hand to the next. “Ma’am, is that all? Please, can I go? The young ones—I need to get back.”
    Reanna put on an easy smile. “Tell you what, Thomas, since I have taken up so much of your time, why don’t we tie that game to Ivy, and I will give you a ride back to your place. Does that sound all right?”
    “Well…yes, ma’am, but I shouldn’t. Mama always said to not impose.”
    “It will not be an imposition at all, Thomas. I was thinking of heading over to Thorn’s Hill today, myself.”
    Reanna watched the boy hedge, wondering at the harm in accepting her proposal. Reanna gave him a nudge. “You did say that the baby needed something, didn’t you?”
    That was all it took. The two were off within moments.
    ~~~
    Riding up the small road, which was more of a rocky trail, Reanna was silenced by the desolateness of Thomas’s home.
    The shack was rickety, the roof sagging, and gaping holes in the walls whistled in the wind. Just then, the pair passed by a large lump on the ground, with rocks, snow, and dirt built up in a long form.
    Thomas glanced over his shoulder up at Reanna and then looked back at the lump.
    “Sorry, she’s right there, ma’am. It was as far…as far as I could drag her.”
    Reanna couldn’t hide her sharp intake of breath and had to swallow back the bile reaching her tongue. Her right arm left the reins to go around the little boy, squeezing him. “It is all right, Thomas, you did very well.” She bit her lip, trying to hold in all emotion. “I am sure she would be pleased to know you cared so much.”
    He nodded, but Reanna couldn’t