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‘That makes two of us,’ he murmured under his breath, before calling out. ‘Molly?’
‘Oh, my god, Estelle! What happened?’ Molly cried as she ran up to them.
‘It’s fine! I twisted my ankle, that’s all.’
Molly took Duke’s bridle. ‘I’ll put him away. Can I do anything?’
‘Estelle’s bow and arrows are still up there.’ James inclined his head towards the slope. ‘Do you have time to get them?’
‘Yes. I’ll do it as soon as Duke’s sorted.’
‘Thanks, and can you keep an eye on Chester and Joy?’
‘Yeah, sure.’
‘Sorry, Moll,’ Estelle mumbled.
‘Don’t be daft. I’m more worried about you. Are you going to hospital?’
James said ‘yes’ at the same time that she said ‘no’.
‘Let’s say it’s up for discussion,’ he said to Molly.
Molly’s gaze darted between them, as if trying to work out what was going on underneath the obvious. ‘Okay. If you need anything, just come and find me.’ She grinned at Estelle, then led Duke away.
James strode towards Estelle’s cottage. ‘I presume the door’s not locked?’
‘Never.’
He came to an abrupt halt. ‘Not even at night?’
She shrugged. ‘I keep a shotgun by my bed.’
‘Of course you do.’ He shook his head and kept walking. ‘That doesn’t negate the need to lock your door.’
As they got closer, Estelle’s nerves jangled inside her. She’d tidied away any evidence of Elyse just in case James came in for a cup of tea, but these were circumstances she never could have anticipated.
‘Can you take off your boots and coat?’ she asked. ‘I don’t want to bring mud into the house.’
‘Of course.’
Outside the front door was a large covered porch. Estelle dropped the boot she was holding, unzipped the other one, and let it drop to the ground. James kicked off his wellies, then carefully carried her inside.
‘Can I let you down now so I can take off my coat?’ he asked.
She nodded, and he gently lowered her to the floor. Holding onto the wall for support, Estelle pulled off her muddy outer clothes, trying to keep her gaze averted from James as he did the same.
‘We need to get your jodhpurs off.’
‘We?’
He sighed. ‘They’re filthy and you need to be lying down with your foot elevated.’
The front door opened directly onto the living room and Estelle glanced around it, trying to figure out where she could sit without making everything dirty. Looking at her reflection in the hall mirror, she stared in horror at the mud in her hair and on her face.
‘I need to get in a bath.’
‘Stay there a sec.’ James went through the living room towards the kitchen, returning with two wooden chairs. ‘Sit on one and put your foot on the other.’ He rolled his jacket up. ‘Rest your ankle over this. I presume the bathroom is upstairs?’
