The Garden, A Few Seconds Later
They landed safely in a bed of ivy as the rest of the staff came hurrying up to them. “Are you all right?” Mackie helped Elizabeth out. “When we saw Pruitt up there on the roof with you, we thought you were a goner for sure!”
Hilary helped Scott out. “Then Pruitt came crashing down like a sack of potatoes. The police just took him away. He'll be sore, but otherwise, I think he was fine. At least, his voice is fine, though I'm sure some of his vocabulary was probably censored.”
“Thanks for showing up when you did.” Elizabeth beamed at the group. “That cannon fire was a great distraction.”
“Who was distracting?” Mackie waved a hand at Mr. Foley. “He wanted to shoot off the cannon, just to see how it would sound!” Foley wiggled a finger in his ear. Mackie shook his head. “I told you not to stand so close to it when it went off, Foley.”
Eugenia grabbed Foley's hand. “All of you, we have an announcement to make!” She looked at Mr. Foley. “Do you want to tell them, or should I?” Foley wiggled his ear again. Eugenia spoke louder. “Oh, that's right, you can't hear me right now. Well,” she turned to the others, “Mr. Foley has consented to become engaged with me! We're going to be married!”
Hilary grinned at Jeff, a little dazed. “I'm going to be the third Lady Hilary Singer. Again. And this time, the wedding will take place right here in Pittsburgh.”
Jeff's grin was even wider. “We've had quite enough of Mexican food.”
Victor came over with Maple. “We're elated that you've survived Pruitt's scheming,” Victor was saying as they joined them. “We weren't sure we'd arrive in time to aid in your deliverance from Pruitt's clutches, despite the Ursula Gothel's reputation for speed.”
Scott grinned, noticing that Victor's arm was around Maple's waist. “I see you two have gotten to know one another.”
“Oui, Scotty.” She looked into Victor's eyes. “We will get to know a lot more about each other soon.”
“As soon as I return from Fort Pitt.” He nodded at the ship. “We'll have to turn the Ursula Gothel and her crew over to the proper authorities. They're locked in the hold where we were held this morning.”
Scott smirked. “Oh yes, what did happen to Captain DeVile? She cooling her heels with her boys?”
Hilary patted the sword by her side. “Maple, Jeff, and I took care of her. We decided she needed a bath.”
Jeff grinned. “Hilary nicked her, then we tossed her in the Monongahela. Cribby said he'd take her to a hospital to get her injuries looked at. After that, it sounds like he's going to use that reward money he got from Pruitt to leave her high and dry somewhere that isn't Pittsburgh.”
“I imagine she'll either be deported back to Germany or left to fend for herself on the streets,” Victor added.
“I think I like that scenario even better than her being skewered. It's more than she deserves.” Scott put an arm around Elizabeth, ignoring Victor's raised eyebrows. “'All's well that ends well,' as your Shakespeare would say.”
C.J hurried up to them. “Not quite. There's still one thing I want to know.”
Mackie took off his glasses and wiped the lenses. “One thing?”
“Scott, when we started this, we were just raiding Pruitt's people and keeping the money. Why did you change to helping locals in Pittsburgh? We went from being robbers to being the Robin Hoods of Pittsburgh Village.” C.J smiled a little. “Not that I minded it. I liked helping people better. You were so hell-bent on stealing from Pruitt, though.”
Scott looked at the faces of the people gathered around him. “I wanted to get back at Pruitt,” he said quietly. “Pruitt destroyed everything I had, so I thought I'd repay him in kind, by hitting him in the only place it would hurt – his pocketbook. I knew Pruitt would recognize me, so I dressed as the Crimson Blade to fool him and the other rich nobles we robbed. As the whole thing got bigger, I brought in more people to help, like Maple and you, C.J.”
Elizabeth's eyes widened. “That's what you were doing that night, the first night you were here! The night I bumped into you in the hall. You never did tell me. Mackie mentioned that the Crimson Blade had robbed Pruitt. You were giving Maple the money to hide in the woods!” She looked up at him. “When did you start giving the money away instead of keeping it?”
Scott gazed lovingly into her eyes. She responded in kind, much to Victor's disappointment. “About a month or so after I took over the job as head innkeeper. When I started this, I wasn't really thinking of anyone's problems but my own...but then, I started spending time with all of you.”
He turned his gaze to Victor. “And then you died, or at least, we thought you did. Here I was, practically stealing your job, and you'd been killed fighting for a real cause. I started giving the money to those causes. I thought it was a win-win situation. I'd still hurt Pruitt, a well-known supporter of the colonies remaining with England, and assuage my own guilt.” He frowned. “Then Pruitt found out about the money and had me fired. I don't think he recognized me at that point, or he likely would have had me arrested then.”
Victor turned to Maple. “When did you take over the role of the Crimson Blade?”
“After I was fired.” Scott made a face. “That wasn't exactly a high point in my life. I'd lost a job I'd come to love and a place that felt like home, Elizabeth despised me, and Pruitt had raised the price on my head.”
“Oui,” Maple added. “He said, it was too hot for him, would I take role for a while? I wasn't sure it would work.” She smiled. “It worked. I tres enjoyed being the Crimson Blade. It was really much fun, and I got to do things that women are not usually allowed to do. Not to mention, it confuse Pruitt. He did not know which Crimson Blade was doing the robbing.”
Jeff looked confused. “Scott, why did you keep coming back, even after Pruitt fired you?”
Hilary nodded. “And after Victor returned.”
“Partially to keep the Crimson Blade going.” He took Elizabeth's hand. “And partly because I was in love. I was in love not only with Elizabeth, but with working, and living, and arguing with people who cared about me. I'd finally found a place that felt like home, and I didn't want to let it go.” He frowned. “I also suspected that Pruitt and Pavla weren't finished with their scheming. I didn't want anyone else to lose their lives and their marriages to them, or people like them.”
Hilary turned to Scott. “I want to break our marriage contract. Not that it was real to begin with, but...”
Scott laughed. “You don't have to explain, Hildy. We've both found what we were looking for.”
“It's Hilary!” She sighed. “It's always been Hilary.”
Scott smiled. "Hilary."
C.J turned to Mackie. “You know, it occurs to me that you and I seem to be the only ones without a girl at the moment. Any suggestions?”
“I don't know about you, kid,” Mackie gave him a sly grin and pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket, “but I'm going to call on Lady Penelope Comminger at Flowergrams Gardens as soon as we get back in Pittsburgh. I picked up her address the night of the ball, but we were both out of town for a while. I heard she just got back. Maybe we could discuss old times.” He patted C.J's shoulder. “She might even have a cute younger cousin for you.”
Eugenia looked around. “Has anyone seen Gertrude and Mr. Eldridge? They're the only ones we're missing.”
Elizabeth's eyes widened. “Oh goodness! We told them to go to the dock, not the Governor's Mansion! They probably have no idea where we are.”
That was when a carriage and a large battalion of militiamen on horseback in blue and red uniforms rode up to the mansion. Gertrude and Mr. Eldridge hurried out of the carriage and over to the others. Mr. Eldridge frowned. “We're so glad we found you! Well, those nice men really found us and Mr. Kahana at the Fort. They had news for us, and we said that we deliver news, but this was really important news and some of you would want to know, someday...”
Gertrude finished his rambling. “We're at war.”
Victor was the first to her side. “What?”
“We're at war with the British. We just heard they attacked the towns of Lexington and Concord near Boston.” Gertrude nodded at the men behind them who lead the angrily protesting Pruitt away. “These men are here to arrest Pruitt. He's a known Loyalist and the royal governor. Most of the government officials signed on by England have been either arrested or forced to return to leave the colonies.”
Scott's jaw hardened. “They can have him. It saves me the trouble of doing him in. It's what he deserves.”
Victor turned to the crowd behind him. “We'll take the Ursula Gothel back to Pittsburgh Village, then bring the pirate crew to Fort Pitt and decide what must be done from there.”
Scott was already walking towards the Ursula Gothel. “You know, Vic, I...uh, worked on a ship once. I could help you get her back to the village.”
“I would greatly appreciate any help from anyone. I'm no sailor. I've spent most of my life on land. I wouldn't have gotten it here if it wasn't for the help of Mr. Byrnes and some of your men.”
“I have been on ships.” Maple took Victor's arm. “That is how I came to colonies. I could help, too.”
Elizabeth held Scott's hand. “I'm not leaving either of you again!”
Victor put his arm around Maple and smiled at Scott, who put his arms around Elizabeth. “Why don't we all go home?”
Scott grinned. “Sure thing, Vic.”
“Actually, I really do prefer Victor.”
“All right, Vic...tor.” He held out his hand. “Friends, at least for now?”
Victor took his hand and shook it vigorously. “Comrades in arms. We're all working and fighting together for a common cause.”
Elizabeth smiled at their joined hands. “And that's how it should be.”
The Adventures of the Crimson Blade
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