Broken Wing Read Online Free PDF

rattling on, “I told my brother, that’s him there, and that’s my sister, Sarah, and he’s a my lord and she’s a my lady, I told them you have to come, too, Gabriel, so you’ll be coming with us.” He looked expectantly at Ross and Sarah. “He
is
coming with us, isn’t he? Gabriel, you will come?”
    Sighing, Gabriel straightened and rose, squeezingJamie’s shoulder with a graceful fine-fingered hand. He looked past the boy to meet Ross’s gaze, his own somewhat amused, and slightly defiant. “Why, yes, Jamie. I suppose I will. It should prove to be an adventure.”

C HAPTER
3
    They came to pick Gabriel up the next morning. Sarah was relieved he hadn’t changed his mind. She’d been almost certain that he would. Ross was relieved at his appearance. His unadorned suit was elegant, but simple. The kohl and the extravagant profusion of lace were gone, and his hair was tied neatly in a queue.
    Jamie, energized and excited, had been to a restaurant, breakfasted in a café, stayed in a hotel, and tried lemonade and hot chocolate for the very first time. Thrilled at the idea of setting out to sea, he insisted on regaling Gabriel with all the details and observations he could manage, as Ross produced a contract and laid it on the desk.
    “I apologize, monsieur. I neglected to inquire as to your surname. If you will provide it, I will enter it into our contract now.”
    “St. Croix will do as well as any, Huntington,” Gabriel said with a shrug. He grinned, equal partsmischief and malice. “It is the name of the street on which I was abandoned as a child.”
    “St. Croix, it is, then.” Ross added the name and affixed his signature, passing the pen to Gabriel, who signed it with a flourish. Mr. Smythe and Mr. Giles, who would be accompanying them on horseback and taking passage aboard his lordship’s schooner, were pressed into service as witnesses. If they saw anything strange in their patron bringing home a denizen of a notorious Paris brothel as the young lord’s paid companion, they were careful not to show it.
    The journey to Calais took most of the day. It was dusty and hot, and after the initial jostling for seats, there was little to say. Gabriel’s presence was not an easy one. Brooding and magnetic, his attempt to subdue his appearance only made him more attractive, as his cheekbones and full mouth appeared more pronounced with his hair tied back off his face. Sarah found herself unaccustomedly self-conscious. She tried to think of something to say, but there appeared to be little in common between them except for Jamie, and the circumstances of the last five years was hardly a topic for light conversation. Her attempts at discussing the weather or their destination met with a polite but unenthusiastic response. She wondered if he was having second thoughts, and tried to imagine how she would feel in a similar situation. Like an outsider she thought, awkward, defensive, and decidedly uncomfortable.
    For much of the journey he appeared to be sleeping, or at least trying. Jamie had elected to sit beside him, elbowing him frequently as he clambered over him trying to see out the window, and constantly jostling him awake. Always patient and good humored with the boy, he would retreat as soon as he was able into a private space of his own. If not for Jamie’s constant observations and questions to the three of them, there would have been no conversation at all.
    It was a relief for everyone when they arrived in Calais and could extricate themselves from quarters grown suffocatingly close. Once on board, the irrepressible Jamie begged to be shown the workings of the ship. Gabriel accompanied him as they toured the vessel, paying close attention to the answers the boy received from the captain and crew as he peppered them with questions. For the next couple of days, he appeared to be as fascinated as Jamie was by the sprightly little schooner.
    Gabriel took to the sea as if he were born to it. He had no