A Touch of Camelot by Delynn Royer Read Free Book Online

traveling alone to San Francisco with my young brother." She brushed the tear away with the back of her hand.
    "Yes? Please, go on." Colonel Smythe produced a handkerchief and offered it to her.
    "It's just that there's this gentleman—well, no, I'd hardly call him a gentleman."
    "Has someone been accosting you, ma'am?"
    Gwin dabbed at her eyes. "Why, I declare! How could you know?"
    "It’s apparent by your expression that you are in dire straits."
    "That I am, sir. There's a man who has been forcing his company on me and my brother ever since we arrived at the station. I have tried to be polite, but it seems that he has mistaken good manners for something more. I asked him to leave us alone. Do you think I should speak with the management?"
    The colonel glowered. "Why, this is unconscionable! These damn Yankees! Where is he?"
    "It's that man seated by the—" Gwin stopped in midsentence. There was Arthur, in plain sight, his back to her as he finished off his second helping of beefsteak and fried eggs, but the stool next to him was empty.
    "Which man did you say, ma'am?"
    "I... I..." Gwin was thrown off keel. Where was Shepherd? He had been there only a second ago. She started to get a bad feeling.
    She felt a hand close around her elbow from behind. It was a firm grip, an authoritative, possessive grip, and Gwin stiffened. His presence, his unmistakably masculine person, towered over her from behind.
    "Has this young lady been bothering you, sir?"
    Gwin twisted around to glare up at Shepherd, but his attention was fixed on Colonel Smythe. Except for that unrelenting grip he had on her arm, he was ignoring her, talking over her head as if she were an errant child.
    Smythe sputtered, confused. "Bothering me? Why, certainly not. How could such a lovely young lady be bothering me?"
    "Oh, good. You see, I thought for a moment I'd lost her." He offered his free hand to the confused man. "Cole Shepherd, Pinkerton's Detective Agency, Chicago."
    Smythe stared at Cole blankly.
    Cole continued, "It seems that Miss Pierce suffers from the effects of an overactive imagination, if you get my meaning. Her family has arranged for her to be treated at one of the finest sanitariums on the West Coast, and it's my job to see that she gets there safely."
    "Oh, I see." Smythe's face had turned the color of a blooming tea rose. He was obviously embarrassed that he'd been taken in by a lunatic.
    "Come, Miss Pierce. We wouldn't want to miss our train, would we?"
    Gwin was disgusted as Shepherd guided her back through the crowd to the bar where Arthur was still stuffing his mouth. If her brother wasn't such a glutton, he could have made a break for it while he had the chance.
    Shepherd stopped suddenly and pulled her around to face him. Gwin squinted, uncomfortable at being confronted once again by that face. Cole Shepherd didn't merely resemble Lancelot, he was Lancelot, and Gwin, who could be accused of being whimsical only in her dreams, had a hunch. She had a hunch that she hadn't created Lancelot out of thin air after all. She had met him somewhere before, and she knew she wouldn't be able to rest until she had figured out where.
    His tone was smug. "I expected better from you, Miss Pierce. It looks like I'm not going to be able to trust you."
    Gwin was growing annoyed with his self-satisfied attitude. Sanitarium, indeed . Well, he hadn't seen anything yet. It was a long way from Topeka to San Francisco and she had no intention of returning to California. Sooner or later, she would get the best of this particular Pinkerton man.
    Gwin replied in a cool tone. "We have four more days to California, Shepherd. I suggest that you hold onto your hat."
    *
     
     
    At least they had managed to board the train without making a scene. Cole figured he should be grateful for even small favors when it came to the lovely but troublesome Miss Pierce.
    Arthur was clearly more excited than his older sister over the prospect of long-distance travel by rail. He