A fly settled on her nose and Carina tossed her head to get rid of it. Despair smashed into her like a battering ram. Where had Mavrone gone? How long before he would return? What if he never came back? To keep terror at bay, she concentrated on her discomfort; the cramp in her legs and the rope chafing her wrists. As the hours passed she recited lines from Byron and focussed her mind on thoughts of rescue.
Anna Maria must have been found and word sent to Palermo. The Scalia household would be alerted. No matter that she disliked him, the prince would do everything in his power to find her. He had troops at his disposal. His men would be searching the region of Santa Fiore by now. They could have picked up her trail already. It might take time, but they would come.
How could anyone find her in this godforsaken place? Reality forced its way in and tears filled Carina’s eyes. They streamed down her cheeks and she wept until her heart was empty. Afterwards, she must have slept for when she awoke the light had dimmed. There was a snap of twigs underfoot and the door opened, letting a welcome draught into the stuffy atmosphere.
From her position on the floor, Mavrone looked taller and more imposing than ever. Walking over to the table he lifted the flap of the knapsack and took out her boots.
‘I imagine these are yours?’
Mavrone tossed them onto the floor and went on un-packing. A bottle of wine with bread and strong-smelling cheese was laid out above her head. He took the pitcher outside and fetched fresh water. Then, without a word of explanation, he bent down and cut her loose. Not knowing what else to do, Carina stayed where she was, rubbing her chafed wrists.
‘I don’t need my boots. I’m not going anywhere.’
‘Don’t pin your hopes on Prince Scalia, Miss Temple. Ruffo backtracked to lay the search party off the scent. They won’t find you here. No one will.’
‘So what are you going to do with me?’
Mavrone took the bottle of wine and dug out the cork with the point of his knife before he cut a slice of bread.
‘I’m not abandoning you, nor am I letting you go. Are you hungry?’
A hunk of bread was held in front of her. Carina turned away and he ate it himself. He did not offer her wine, but filled a mug with water and gave it to her.
‘You should eat. We’ve a long journey ahead of us.’
When she shook her head, he replaced the cork in the bottle and returned the remainder of the food to the knapsack. Then he walked over to the sheepskins and lay down with his arms folded behind his head.
‘I’m going to have a rest. Go outside and get some air.’
‘Is it a habit of yours to abduct innocent women, Captain Mavrone?’ Carina snapped at him. ‘Do you do it for pleasure or for money?’
‘On this occasion, neither. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like some peace and quiet.’
Carina walked out of the door and made her way to the fire. She looked up at the sky, scattered with white stars, and it seemed unbelievable that, only two nights before, she had stood on her balcony and gazed at the same sky. Her entire world had been swept away and everything familiar taken from her. There was no use trying to escape now. It was dark and she didn’t even know if they had a horse between them. Hunger pains gnawed at her stomach and she should have eaten. The rational part of her brain told her it was stupid to refuse but resistance to Mavrone was the only way to hold on to her identity. If she gave in to him she was lost.
Carina knelt down by the fire, blowing the hot embers into life and thought of her grandmother. Poor Nonna would be distraught. She dare not think about her. What did Mavrone really want? Why was he being more lenient? Was he going to help her after all? She couldn’t read his mind any more than she could anticipate his next move and her brain was tired from trying. When he emerged from the hut it was almost a relief.
Mavrone had her boots in his hand and he dropped them on the ground beside her before he went to the other side of the fire.
‘There are a few things I want to set straight.’ He spoke slowly as if she were hard of hearing. ‘Firstly, we are both in a situation neither of us anticipated—’
‘That’s not true.’
‘Secondly, I am in your debt.’
Carina’s head came up, her eyes wide and uncertain. The glow of flames cast light on Mavrone’s face and his expression was serious.
‘After you alerted Enrico Fola of my capture, Baron Riso sent his men to free me. I’m sure it wasn’t your intention to facilitate my release, but that’s the fact of it.’
So Enrico had gone to the baron when he left her and Baron Riso had saved Mavrone. They were all in this together. The patriots shared the same ideals but Enrico would never associate with criminals like Ruffo. He would be horrified if he knew what had happened to her. Carina tucked her feet under her skirt and did not answer.
‘In Sicily, every debt must be repaid in kind,’ Mavrone went on. ‘I owe you my life, or at least my present good health. I will negotiate your return to Palermo once we reach my home, Monteleone.’
‘And where’s that, may I ask?’
‘On the west coast, not far from Marsala.’
‘Why not nearer to here? Baron Riso can make arrangements for my return.’
‘Sicilians are suspicious of strangers. There’s not a village this side of Palermo that would offer you safe refuge. Now, will you put on your boots?’
He expected her to obey and Carina kicked the boots aside. It was a futile gesture, but she wasn’t satisfied with his explanation. Why did he have to take her to his home? He could escort her back to the sanctuary of Santa Fiore, for heaven’s sake! There was something Mavrone wasn’t telling her.
He put her boots in the knapsack and stamped out the fire, then took hold of her hands, running his thumbs over raw patches of skin.
‘I’d rather not tie you up again. Are you going to walk?’
‘What happened to the horses?’
‘I gave them to Ruffo in exchange for you. Not a good bargain on my part.’
She could take it or leave it, Carina thought. There was no way she could survive up here and Mavrone gave her no choice. She tracked his footsteps and they left the camp in silence. Passing through the thorn bushes, branches sprang back, scratching her arms and Mavrone was waiting on the other side. He set off at a brisk pace, his tall figure silhouetted against the skyline as they climbed and Carina struggled to keep up. She was weak from lack of food and perspiration poured off her neck, running down her arms and back. Then, as they neared the summit, she turned her ankle and fell, tumbling backward until she crashed against a rock.
‘Breathe slowly. Slowly—’
Darkness hovered and Carina was aware of Mavrone lifting her up. He wiped the dirt off her face and brushed her hair out of her eyes. When the faintness passed, he probed the ligaments of her shoulders. Then he took hold of her knee and manoeuvred it upwards.
‘Try to move your feet and wriggle your toes. If there’s a fracture I’ll have to splint your leg.’
Putting her weight on her hands, Carina straightened her legs and moved her toes.
‘That’s better. You’ve only sprained your ankle. A few hours’ rest and you’ll be fine.’
Mavrone wouldn’t care if she broke every bone in her body! He was without pity and Carina turned on him like an angry cat.
‘Why don’t you just kill me while you’re about it?’
‘I don’t want you dead. There’s shelter in the trees up ahead. Come on, I’ll help you.’
He bent down, reaching for her hand, and Carina gritted her teeth. She hung onto his arm, hopping on one foot until they reached a copse of trees bent sideways by the wind. There, Mavrone let her rest but it seemed she had only just fallen asleep when his hand nudged her shoulder. A lark was singing and a thin coil of smoke drifted up through the trees. Carina stood up and an arrow of pain shot up her calf. Mavrone was busy with the fire so she crawled over to him on her hands and knees.
He poured black coffee into a mug and passed her bread with a chunk of salted meat. Carina took the food without a word. The meat made her jaws ache but the hot, sweet coffee revived her. She noticed his shirt was spread out on the grass; Mavrone had been swimming. His hair was wet and his hands cold as he examined her swollen ankle. She tried not to look at his bare chest but the pressure of his fingers made her groan.
‘I can’t walk! You’ll have to find alternative transport.’
Mavrone reclined back on his elbows and his air of wellbeing infuriated her. ‘So what will you do, Captain Mavrone? Are you going to carry me all the way to the west coast?’
‘Once I’ve bandaged the ankle, your boots will give you enough support. There’s a stream over there if you want to wash.’
Kindness had no truck here and Carina hobbled painfully to the stream. She longed to be home and a lump rose in her throat. I mustn’t give up, she thought desperately. I must keep fighting. ‘Pain your weapon and courage your strength.’ It seemed a lifetime ago she had said those words to Enrico.
‘Pain my weapon and courage my strength,’ she murmured as she dipped her head and arms in the water, scrubbing off dirt that caked her skin and hair. She used her skirt to dry off and when she finished, Mavrone was packing up. He emptied the billycan on to the fire and folded the blanket, everything he did executed in the same methodical way. By the time she limped back, all traces of the camp had gone. Mavrone told her to sit down and Carina braced herself as he knelt in front of her.
As he bandaged her ankle, she found herself looking over his shoulder and saw a pattern of weals across his back. They were deep cuts and some not yet healed. The sight of them sickened her. The brutality of Scalia’s punishment was not her fault, she told herself, but still she felt guilty.
‘Not a bad effort on the part of Colonel Falcone,’ Mavrone remarked as he laced her into her boots. Then he stood up and put on his shirt. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t stay to watch.’
‘Abduction is a capital crime, Captain Mavrone.’ Carina’s eyes slanted up at him. ‘It’s not a whipping I’ll come to next time – but a public execution.’
‘Would it make you happy to see me shot?’
A smile lifted the corners of his mouth and Carina remembered the first time she had seen him. How bold and handsome she thought he was at Baron Riso’s reception. She’d imagined he was some kind of hero and how wrong she had been.
‘You were a good deal more friendly when first we met. It’s a shame our amicable relationship was so short-lived.’
The sudden flash of attraction between them brought Carina to her feet. The magnetism that drew her to Mavrone upset and confused her. Never again, she had sworn. Never. Not ever again. The alert look in his eyes made her nervous and she knotted her fingers as he dropped on his haunches.
‘I’m going to shorten your dress so you’ll not trip again. Hold still, will you?’
Mavrone cut a wide strip off the bottom her skirt. His hand brushed her legs and when Carina flinched, he laughed softly.
‘There’s no cause for embarrassment, Miss Temple. The shorter length is perfectly acceptable under the circumstances.’
Before she could think of a stinging retort, there was a rustling sound and a large hare hopped into the clearing. It froze, long ears switching forward, then turned and disappeared into the undergrowth. To her surprise, Carina saw Mavrone had drawn a gun and watched as he unloaded it, dropping the bullets into his pocket and then put it in the knapsack. Her father had taught her to use just such a pistol and she was a good shot. If only she could get hold of the gun. The bullets would be more difficult to retrieve, but there was bound to be extra ammunition in the knapsack. Somehow, she would steal the pistol! Mavrone wouldn’t laugh at her then, she thought, but he was already walking away.
The trek was long and hard across a barren, windswept landscape and followed no trail that Carina could discern. When they made camp at nightfall Mavrone did not light a fire. He threw the blanket on the ground and lay down. Exhausted, and with no other option, she lay next to him with her back turned. She shivered with cold so he drew her into his arms and she lay rigid until he was asleep.
The next morning they rose at dawn and walked until the sun was high. When they were thirsty they drank from streams that tasted of snow and all her energy was spent in keeping up. Her only thoughts were not to fall behind, the ache in her ankle and blisters on her feet. Hunger and fatigue alternated with the heat of day and cold of night and Carina could not get to the gun. Mavrone kept the knapsack strapped to his back as he walked and beneath his head at night and gradually the idea of trying to escape retreated to the back of her mind.
Weariness curbed her spirit and Mavrone became less abrasive. He allowed her to rest when she was tired and gave her more than her fair share of the food. Days and nights passed without sense of time but there was never a moment Carina was not aware of him, her eyes on his back as he strode ahead and his arms around her at night. He stayed close to her and when one morning she awoke to find herself alone the thought he had abandoned her filled her with panic.
They had spent the night in the hollowed-out trunk of a vast tree and she stumbled into the sunlight and saw him coming up the hill with a basket on his arm.
‘I went to find us some breakfast. There’s a farmhouse below and the owner gave me food. Let’s have ourselves a feast.’
Mavrone tipped the food onto the grass and the smell of fresh bread and cheese made her mouth water. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Carina ate until her stomach was full. She finished with an orange, sucking the juice from inside.
‘You can see Castelvano from here.’
Almond trees blossomed in puffs of white smoke across the valley and he pointed to a walled town on top of a hill. A road snaked up the mountainside and Carina made out figures setting off for the fields. It was the first sign of human habitation she had seen since leaving Palermo and her gaze sharpened as a cavalcade of horsemen came into sight.
‘Perfidio!’ Mavrone swore under his breath. ‘The Compagni d’Armi are garrisoned in town. Don’t raise your hopes, sweetheart. They’re not here for you.’
Had he seen the flare of excitement in her eyes? At once, Carina’s exhaustion left her. Whatever Mavrone said, the cavalcade was a patrol searching for her, she was sure. Drawing a breath she remarked in a breezy tone of voice.
‘You may leave me in the custody of the Compagni in Castelvano. My family will arrange an escort to take me back to Palermo.’
‘How do I know you won’t betray me?’
‘I’ll give you my word of honour.’
‘Honour? There’s no such thing in Sicily these days.’
His tone made her smart, but the stakes were high. Carina held her temper and tried to sound persuasive.
‘You’ll be rewarded generously for my safe deliverance. I have friends who will see to it.’
‘Such as?’
Mavrone’s expression was inscrutable. She couldn’t tell if he was considering the proposal or had already cast it aside. Carina searched for an answer. When it came to her, she didn’t know how she hadn’t thought of it before.
‘Enrico Fola will act for us. We both know we can trust him.’
She spoke with just the right amount of insouciance and Mavrone studied her in silence. Why was he looking at her with that gleam in his eyes? It was a perfectly reasonable proposition. Carina tried to assume an attitude of indifference, but she couldn’t keep it up and her fingers plucked nervously at her skirt.
‘As I told you before, I don’t want your money.’
Damn him! Damn him to hell and back! He had led her on for the pleasure of setting her down and her eyes were bright with anger. His next words inflamed her further.
‘You’re very desirable when you’re in a temper. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but your proposal is absurd.’
‘So you won’t consider it?’
‘I’m afraid not. I enjoy your company too much. No amount of gold would compensate for being deprived of it.’
His gaze sought her lips and Carina made up her mind. If one tactic failed then she would try another. Scalia’s men were garrisoned in town and would return this evening. If she could delay near the road, they would rescue her. Mavrone said there was no such thing as honour and she could be as dishonest and devious as he was. Sensing his desire, her mouth curved provocatively. ‘I’m flattered by the compliment. I thought you would be glad to be rid of me.’
Carina held his gaze and Mavrone moved to lie on the grass beside her. Now what was she supposed to do? He was waiting for her to make the first move and she was at a loss. He was older and more experienced. Would he be able to tell she was a novice? She hesitated before putting her hand on his arm and he took her by the shoulders, turning her to face him.
Looking into his blue eyes, Carina saw none of the coldness she was used to. His regard was appreciative and warm. Worn and dirty as she was, Mavrone wanted to kiss her and she wouldn’t stop him. It was the only way to get him to lower his guard and, before his steady gaze, her eyes fell.
He leant over and took her in his arms, one hand resting casually on her bodice. He cupped her chin with the other and kissed her slowly with warm, dry lips. She felt heat pulse in her veins as a surge of longing swept through her. All thought of subterfuge vanished. It no longer mattered who he was or what he had done. Carina’s arms went round his neck and she began kissing him back, her tongue darting inside his mouth, until he rolled her over to lie on top of him. Mavrone’s hand pressed her down and she felt the hard muscles of his thighs beneath her. Her arms were flung on either side of his head and her whole body trembling.
Then the cool breeze touched her face and sanity returned.
‘Not like this, please. I want to be clean.’ Her voice sounded small and unnatural. ‘Can we wait until we reach Castelvano? How long will it take us?’
‘A couple of hours at the most. We’ll walk up this evening. I agree, you could do with a good wash.’
‘Speak for yourself! You smell as bad as me!’
‘No doubt much worse.’ He grinned and his hands slid up her arms. ‘What will my friends in Castelvano make of you, Carina? They’re not used to finding a beautiful woman as my accomplice.’
It was the first time he had called her by her given name and Carina shifted her body to lie close to him. She raised herself up on her elbows and studied his face. There was mischief in his eyes and it gave her a glimpse of the boy he had once been. Remorse stirred her conscience. She had deliberately led him on and her surrender meant more to him than she realised. Everything was mixed up in her head. Mavrone spoke of her as his accomplice and suddenly she wished she were. If only it was always like this! The absurd idea of telling him her plan popped into her head. Instead, she heard herself say,
‘Promise never to speak of this to anyone? My family could not bear the dishonour.’
‘I promise to return you to Palermo with your reputation intact. When we get to Monteleone I’ll send word to your family that you’re safe. It may take some time. Are you happy to stay with me until then?’
Carina nodded and it meant nothing she deceived him, she told herself in the hours that followed. Mavrone slept and she positioned herself against the tree with his head on her lap. What was wrong with her? She had nearly gone too far and pulled back just in the nick of time. It was unnatural for a woman to experience such feelings. Carina had read about courtesans in books. Their motive was money while her reaction had been spontaneous, driven by a madness that she didn’t understand.
Looking down at Mavrone her troubled gaze took in his tousled dark hair and long lashes. She wanted to remember him like this. He would never force himself on her. The danger came from within and her body’s treacherous response went against all she had been brought up to believe was right. Love outside marriage was a sin and if she gave herself to him she would be ruined.
‘The Compagni will not travel beyond Castelvano.’ Carina remembered his words on the night of her abduction. She had been granted a God-given opportunity. Her ankle had recovered and when the patrol came by she would make a run for it. How did she know Mavrone would ever set her free? She must get away before it was too late.