“Follow me.” She headed down a dark alley between two houses.
Elizabeth had no choice but to follow. Her sister was fleeter afoot, though, and unencumbered by the weight of crinoline, bustle, petticoats, and corset.
Anabelle darted between buildings as if she hadn’t been gone four years. She seemed to know every path and shortcut on the island. Around prickly bougainvillea. Under gumbo-limbo trees. Past jasmine with its overpowering perfume. Between buildings so close together that the women had to gather their skirts to squeeze through. Still Anabelle raced on.
Elizabeth gasped for breath as she tried to keep up. The back of her gown was drenched beneath the mantle. Her heart pounded. Stones bruised her slippered feet. She stumbled behind a grogshop roaring with laughter and scrambled to her feet before anyone noticed her.
Something darted in front of her. She shrieked, sending Anabelle into the blackness to their left. Having lost track of her sister, Elizabeth stumbled ahead, searching the shadows. She wasn’t familiar with this part of town. Her forays since returning had kept her close to home.
A light blinked high overhead. The lighthouse. Anabelle must have led her in that direction, but Elizabeth still wasn’t certain where she was. The moonlight revealed shacks and what appeared to be rubble or rocks. The lighthouse’s beam cast an eerie brightness on tangled mangroves. For the first time tonight, Elizabeth was truly afraid. Paralyzed, she waited.
Nothing moved.
No sound.
“Anabelle,” Elizabeth whispered.
She had no idea where they were.
A hand grabbed her arm.
Elizabeth yelped.
Another hand pressed to her mouth.
“Hush!” Anabelle hissed. “They are almost upon us.”
Rourke met Tom halfway. “Where is she?”
Tom gulped for breath. “Poppinclerk has them in his sights.”
“Them?”
“Anabelle and Miss Benjamin.”
Rourke groaned. “Why is Elizabeth involved? That only complicates matters.”
Tom hesitated. “She gave me a letter for you, but I didn’t have a chance to deliver it since Poppinclerk watched me day and night.” He cleared his throat. “I shouldn’t have read it since it was addressed to you, but I was worried it had to do with our plans, that Anabelle was sending word through Miss Benjamin.”
Rourke bit back a twinge of irritation that Tom might have read something deeply personal. “Understandable.”
“She loves you, you know.”
He couldn’t think about that. “What did it say?”
“That she wanted to join you tonight. She planned to leave the ball and wanted you to meet her at the little chapel on Eaton Street.”
“With Anabelle?”
“She didn’t mention Anabelle,” Tom said. “That’s what worried me. I don’t think she knows what we planned for tonight.”
“But you said they’re together and that Poppinclerk is following them. What are you doing here? Poppinclerk will have seized them by now.”
Tom shook his head. “I don’t think he wants to catch them. Even though Anabelle and Miss Benjamin zigzagged all over the island, he could’ve stopped them a couple times. Then Finch joined him. If you ask me, they want to see where the ladies are headed.”
Rourke was getting a very bad feeling. “They’re looking for me.” He didn’t care to spell out what that meant. A sharp lad like Tom had probably figured it out already. That was why he came here.
“Aiding a fugitive,” Tom said. “You would lose the Windsprite.”
Not any longer. The sloop belonged to John now. Rourke wouldn’t lose the ship, but he would lose far worse, for Charles Benjamin would tighten the noose until he strangled any hope of gaining Elizabeth’s hand.
“Forget that.” Rourke slipped into command. “We have two women to rescue. Where did you leave them?”
“I lost them when they ducked into a dark lane near the lighthouse. Only a few blocks from here. Their pursuers walked right past. When the men turned around, grumbling that they’d lost them, I figured I could fetch the ladies, but they weren’t there.”
“That means they’re between here and there.”
“My thought exactly. That’s why I headed this way, but I didn’t see them.”
“Where did they go?” Rourke growled. “We can’t help them if we don’t know where they are.”
“Anabelle doubled back a few times,” Tom offered. “Maybe she did that again.”
“That means they could be anywhere. I can’t sit here when they might be in danger.” Rourke knew that setting foot in town increased his chance of being discovered, but Tom’s arrival had already jeopardized that. Nevertheless, Tom still stood the better chance of getting Anabelle to the boat. “Take my cutlass.” He handed over the weapon. “If we are discovered, the men will follow me. Lead the women in a different direction. Now, let’s head toward the lighthouse. While we’re still in the graveyard, tell me everything that happened tonight.”