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“Jacob Tucker hit me with a branch!” Pippa said.
“I did not!” the accused argued from within the safety of the tree branches. “I just let go of the branch and she walked into it.”
“On purpose!” Pippa shrieked. “He let go of it on purpose!”
Charles stepped forward. “It is time to return home, Pippa. This screaming is unbecoming of a lady and you must desist immediately.”
Her mouth opened to argue, and Mac stepped forward. “Perhaps we ought to get your friends home, Pippa?”
Her eyes darted to where her two young friends stood, and her cheeks pinked. The boy in the tree sniggered and Pippa pivoted toward him. She was going to be trouble when she grew up if Mac wasn’t missing the mark here.
“It’s getting late, Pippa,” Mac said, offering her his hand. “Should we return to the house?”
“Probably,” she said with a defiant little shrug. She gestured to her friends and they followed along.
Mac hooked Orion’s reins over his arm and led the horse as Pippa and her friends fell in beside him. They started back toward the Sheffield house.
“Am I correct in my understanding that the three of you are preparing to put on a performance?” Mac asked, eyeing Pippa and her quiet, solemn friends.
Pippa’s face lit up. “Yes! You already know about it, Mac. That is why we came out here, actually. We needed to practice.”
“And the Tucker boy?”
Her little nose wrinkled up, and he noticed her friends’ noses mimic its actions. “He followed us. And I’ll get him for it.”
Hooves clopped behind them, bringing Charles up to their group. He had the Tucker boy on his horse and shot Mac a disgruntled look. “I’m going to see Jacob home. Can you take the girls?”
Mac saluted his friend and they separated in opposite directions. He would have to ask Charles the nature of that boy’s relationship with Pippa. He shot the little sprite a side-glance. Or he could ask her now.
“What do you plan to do?”
Pippa glanced up, startled. “What do you mean?”
He lowered his voice, darting his glance between each of the rapt girls as they began walking again. “How do you intend to get your revenge on your enemy?”
She looked to her friends before standing taller. “We have a plan.”
“Can you share it with me?”
“No.”
Mac almost missed a step but caught himself. “Pippa, if you are planning something dangerous—”
She laughed. “It’s not dangerous.”
He lifted his eyebrow and she returned a look of pure confidence. “Does Mabel know of this plan?”
“Yes. To a degree.”
What sort of answer was that?
“Our play is nearly ready. I hope you will be there. You did promise,” she said, her eyes bright.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
She nodded, appearing satisfied by this interaction. “Katie, June, let’s go,” Pippa said, taking off in a sudden run. The quiet girls looked to Mac before the taller blonde whispered to her sister and then they ran, following behind their leader.
Mac chuckled, watching them go down the path. The house was in view and they went straight toward it, so he jumped into the saddle and urged Orion forward, passing the girls as they entered the clearing. He would need to inform Mabel of this development. She would know how to move forward.
