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time please tell me if anything has happened. I prefer to
be warned before I get a broken nose, or I at least need to
understand the reason behind it if someone tries again.”
    “ You have my word, I will let you know.”
    Cora nodded, happy that her mother had finally acknowledged
she was an adult and she could handle the information.
    “ So, you seemed to enjoy your time spent in Jack’s arms?” her
mother said as a smile played on her lips.
    “ Mother...” Cora hissed not knowing how else to respond to such
a comment. She had enjoyed it and she wanted to spend more time in his
arms.
    “ You look good together, sweetheart. Being in love suits
you.”
    “ I’m not-”
    “ You are,” her mother whispered as her hand brushed aside a
strand of Cora’s hair.
    She was, there was no denying it. She always had
been.
    “ Right, that’s taken care of the blood, Alizon, now I need to
fix the break.”
    Her mother stood aside as her grandmother placed her hand over
her broken nose. She’d never seen her grandmother fix a nose
before. She hoped she could do it well enough. She didn’t want a
misshapen nose for the rest of her life.
    “ Now, this may sting a little.”
    With that warning, her nose snapped back into the place, the
pain of it bringing tears to her eyes. Her grandmother moved her
hand and pushed her head to the side studying her.
    “ How does it look?” she asked, nervously studying her
grandmother’s expression.
    “ You will do,” her grandmother said nodding her head which made
her short, grey curls bounce. “Jack will still love you in the
morning.”
    Cora sighed, so much for waiting to tell her family about the
two of them. It would seem they already knew that she was now in a
relationship with the boy who had stolen her heart at the age of
six when he’d given her his hand to help her across the beck
because she was too small to try.

4
    19 th June 1610
     
     
    Jack walked by her as she stood in his field throwing rotten
scraps to the pigs. She was aware of the heat between them, had
been aware of it the entire morning. She hadn’t done anything about
it though. She threw the last bit to the pigs as Jack’s finger
softly brushed against her cheek. She looked at him, his eyes
making short work of her insides. She watched the curve of his lips
widen into a sexy smile as the dimples deepened.
    “ I want to kiss you again,” Jack said, the comment making heat
flush in her cheeks.
    “ Near the pigs? How romantic,” she laughed.
    Before she could catch her breath, he took her hand and pulled
her up the field towards the cottage. They stood on the crest of
the hill, the heat was starting to build which meant the day was
going to be a long and hot one.
    “ How about now? I need to kiss you,” Jack repeated.
    “ Oh, do you?” she replied teasingly.
    He didn’t respond as the smile stayed on those lips but she
could see the heat burn in his eyes. Her lips tingled in
anticipation. She lifted her hand, brushing his hair back from his
face.
    “ Cora!!”
    They jerked apart, the loud shout making her heart thud harder
than it had been.
    They both looked down to where the cottage sat at the bottom
of the hill and saw Eli running full sprint towards them. Jack
stepped towards Eli, his fingers brushing up against her hand. She
knew that Jack sensed something was wrong. He’d positioned his body
in front of hers, even protecting her from his own
brother.
    As Eli neared them, Cora could see the look of pure panic on
his face. His shirt was ripped around his shoulder, had something
or someone attacked him? Were the people going after Eli now? Would
they start on Jack’s family?
    “ Eli?” Jack rushed forward to meet his brother. Cora followed
closely behind him.
    Eli came to a stop, panting. “Cora, it’s your
mother!”
    She didn’t wait for him to continue. She picked up the full
skirt of her lavender dress and ran. Her heart jumped into her
mouth as she thought about the worst possible