Page 73 of Outrageous

He blinked, his lips parted, but no words came out.

“Now,” she said when she was sure she had his attention. “Listen to me.”

“I am listening. But what you want isn’t listening—you want my agreement. You do realize we don’t have any money to pay for all this, don’t you? They don’t know us from Adam and yet they’ve taken us in—three strangers without a bag or tuppence among us. They’ve given us shelter, clothing, and food. My guess is they took the guns to hold in payment.”

Eva blinked at the thought.

“Yes,” he said in an uncharacteristically snide voice. “I can see you don’t think of everything.”

For a moment he almost had her convinced.

“Don’t you find their generosity a bit odd?”

He sputtered, “Are you demented? They are being kind. You do know that word? Kindness.”

“Kindness would be offering aid without taking our guns.”

“So, what are you saying? That this kind innkeeper and cook have taken our guns for nefarious purposes? That they are part of Flynn’s vast underground criminal conspiracy?” He smirked at his weak jest, completely unaware of how much danger he was currently putting his blunderbuss in.

Eva could not believe he was so stupid. “What? You don’t think everyone in the area is aware there is a notorious band of robbers and killers living on their doorstep?”

“We don’t know they are killers.”

“Look, I don’t think either of them is part of Flynn’s gang, but I daresay Mr. Norton gives Flynn whatever he wants, when and if he asks for something—just like everyone else who lives in such proximity to the gang.”

Eva could tell by the way Andrew was chewing his lip that she was making headway into his thick, phlegmatic brain. For a university student, he was certainly torpid and credulous.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like him—even though he appeared to have no skills other than possessing a tediously expansive knowledge of outdated weaponry—but she was worried about his ability to assess a situation accurately. After all, he was the man who’d ended up penniless in a dress on the side of a remote cart road.

His finger moved to push up his spectacles before he recalled he wasn’t wearing them. He frowned. “Let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that you are right—not that the two of them have taken our guns for any nefarious purposes, but that they might be concerned about Flynn.”

It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was a start. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t say you were right; I said—”

“I heard what you said.”

“Fine. So, that being the case, what is it you think is going to happen?”

Eva hated to admit it, but, “I don’t know.” He snorted and she couldn’t blame him. “But I do know I want to have a gun handy when I find out.”

“I still have my arquebus,” he pointed out in all seriousness.

“I wonder if that is because everyone in the world knows the stupid thing would take half an hour to light and fire, even if it did have any bullets in it.”

“It doesn’t take bullets. How many times do I have to—” He stopped, swallowing his words at her undoubtedly murderous expression. “It just so happens I can use basic supplies to fashion what I need to make the arquebus useable.”

“Oh, how comforting.”

He ignored her taunt. “Besides, as I keep saying, they didn’t take the guns, they just, er, didn’t put them in our rooms after helping us carry Mr. Fleming into the inn.”

Eva stared.

He threw up his hands. “Fine, they took them. Maybe Mr. Norton is oiling them?”

Eva could tell that even Andrew didn’t buy that supposition.

He heaved a sigh. “I shall ask for them back.”