Ransom My Heart Read Online Free PDF Page B

leaving his taps and glowering furiously. “Let the man alone. I won’t have fightin’ in me place—”
    â€œIf the bloke tosses us ’is purse,” sneered the smaller man, who appeared to be known as Dick, “there won’t be any fightin’, Simon. We’ll call it an even trade, won’t we, Timmy?”
    The giant grunted, giving Peter a shake. “Aye.”
    Three things occurred simultaneously just then. The first was that Peter, suddenly discovering that he had a backbone, or at least teeth , sank them into Timmy’s arm. Timmy bellowed and released the boy, just as Dick, trying to illustrate to Hugo the seriousness of his intent, lunged at the squire with the business end of a very sharp stiletto. Hugo, witnessing the gleam of the knifepoint, unsheathed his sword and flung himself at the evil-minded Dick, only to find himself tripping over Simon, the innkeeper, who had decided to dive for the gold Hugo’d left on his table, in an effort to keep it from being lost in the fray.
    The innkeeper ought to have stayed put. Hugo, in a desperate attempt not to kill some innocent soul with his blade, smashed a heavy shoulder into the table, shattering it and sending the coins flying across the room. Sprawled on his back upon the floor, Hugo found himself blinking at the crossbeams, the breath knocked out of him. The next thing he knew, the ferret-faced Dick had pounced, both of his scabby knees pressing down upon Hugo’s sword arm before he could raise the weapon. Dick’s small, rodentlike eyes sparkled with greed as his stiletto pressed againstHugo’s throat, recognizing the bigger man’s unexpected disadvantage.
    â€œNice somersault, that,” Dick complimented him with a smile that revealed a mouthful of rotting teeth. “Now cough up them coins—”
    Out of the corner of his eye, Hugo saw that Timmy had caught Peter again, and was pulling out tufts of the lad’s hair as recompense for biting him. Peter caterwauled while the rest of the inn’s clientele scattered in four directions, with the exception of the innkeeper, who was still scrambling about the floor, looking for his money.
    Hugo sighed. He still had his dagger in his left boot, tucked there for occasions exactly like this one. He’d draw the blade across Dick’s throat before the footpad could whistle fare-thee-well, though Hugo didn’t much like the idea of getting his cloak bloodied. Lord, he was sick of death.
    â€œVery well.” Hugo sighed again, feigning surrender. “Take it.”
    But the moment Dick’s hand went for the purse at Hugo’s belt, something whizzed past the cutthroat’s cheek and buried itself through the thick sleeve of Dick’s jerkin, pinning his arm to the floor just between Hugo’s legs. Hugo had jerked his own hand back just in time to keep it from being impaled.
    Staring down his long torso in disbelief, Hugo saw that a violet-tipped arrow had embedded itself deeply into the floor-boards, missing not only his hand but his most prized treasure of all by a mere two inches. Dick’s arm was trapped against Hugo’s legs, and the shock of how close the projectile had come to splitting his hand in half caused the cutthroat to whimper.
    Hugo looked up just in time to see the girl the innkeeper had called Finn turning to level an arrow at Timmy’s broad back. This time, she calmly warned her intended victim.
    â€œLet the boy go or I’ll sever your spine.”
    The giant froze. Then, rotating slowly, Peter writhing in his arms, Timmy looked from Finn to his partner, trapped against Hugo and the floor.
    â€œGor,” the simple man gulped. “Don’t shoot, lass. Dick and I didn’t mean nofink—”
    He released Peter, who staggered away, clutching his head and moaning, Hugo thought, a bit louder than necessary.
    The auburn-haired girl lowered her bow and approached Hugo, her lovely face