Her hand remained on his thigh, leaving the skin beneath his britches fiery. A perfect match to how other parts of him felt. He’d thought being separated from her would give him time to get his thoughts in order, but it hadn’t. Seeing her again had intensified the things he’d been feeling for her to the point that not even a lost elephant could override them.
They crossed the arched stone bridge and followed the road to an area filled with terrace homes. A good half dozen men stood together on one street corner, and Drake steered the horse up beside them.
‘You best be careful,’ one man said. ‘We just seen us an elephant.’
‘That we did,’ another said. ‘Must be from the zoo.’
‘It is from the zoo,’ Drake replied. ‘I’m looking to collect it. Which way did it go?’
‘Up the street,’ yet another said. ‘Lickety-split, too. Didn’t know elephants could move that fast.’
‘He was running?’ Drake asked.
‘Yup,’ a different man replied. ‘My Tilda saw it out the kitchen window. I wouldn’t have believed her if I hadn’t been by the door and opened it just in time to see it thunder past.’
‘Thanks,’ Drake said, and urged the horse onward.
‘I wonder why he didn’t stop at the canal?’ she asked.
‘Can’t say, other than if he was still running, he’s still scared, and lost. Not sure where to go. He’s never been on his own.’
‘I feel so bad for him,’ she said. ‘And I’m quite angry at those boys. I’m going to find out who they are and have them put to work fixing the flowers beds destroyed because of their mischievousness,andI’m going to recommend to the board that the zoo hires a night watchman so nothing like this happens again.’
‘Are you?’ he asked, smiling at the determination in her tone.
‘Yes, I am. I’ve been thinking about it the whole time we’ve been looking for Hugo. None of this is his fault and he shouldn’t be the one who gets the blame. I’ll tell you something else, too. If we tell that one boy that he’ll be put to work fixing this mess, he’s going to share who the other two are. Someone foolish enough to sneak into a zoo is also selfish and won’t be prepared to do all the work by himself.’
She had a point there. ‘You have put a lot of thought into your plan, haven’t you?’ he asked.
‘We’ve been following this trail for what feels like hours.’
So much for wondering if she was as aware of him sitting behind her as he was of her sitting in front of him. He hated to admit that he’d been hoping she was, because despite all he knew, he wanted her to want him.
He wanted her, damn it, and he shouldn’t.
‘Hey there!’ someone shouted.
Drake pulled his horse to a stop in the intersection of a street crossing the one they were following and watched as a mounted police officer made his way towards them.
‘Have you seen anything unusual?’ the officer asked. ‘Got reports of people seeing an elephant.’
‘That’s what we are looking for,’ Drake said.
‘Can’t have citizens out here putting their lives at risk,’ the officer said. ‘Other officers are making their way over here right now. You need to go on home and let us handle it.’
‘We’re here to take him back to the zoo,’ Drake replied.
‘Like I said, we can’t have—’
‘Do you have any experience with elephants?’ Meridith interrupted the officer forcefully. ‘Because we have. I am Lady Meridith Downs, and I assure you, this man right here is the only person in this entire country that can get that elephant back to the zoo. The most helpful thing you can do is tell us the last place he was seen.’
Drake pinched his lips together as the officer stared at Meridith, clearly having no idea how to respond.
‘Well?’ she snapped. ‘Where was the last place he was seen?’
‘I’m not sure, my lady,’ the officer replied. ‘I was simply told to get over here as fast as possible because there’s an elephant on the loose.’
‘Oh, good heavens,’ she muttered.
