Dark Rider by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online Page B

nervous of even touching Kapu’s mane, was comfortable in this eerie place. As she reached the top of the plateau she said, “I need to talk to you.”
    “Good afternoon, Cassie,” her father replied abstractedly. “I’ll be with you shortly. I just have to complete this shading on the lava rock. Do you see how it glows with the steam? It’s really quite—”
    “Did the messenger reach you?”
    “Messenger?” His gaze never left the canvas. “Did you send one? I don’t believe that—”
    “King Kamehameha sent a message. Someone wants to find you. An Englishman.”
    Her father’s brush stopped in midmotion. “An Englishman?”
    “The king said he doubted the man was a threat, but that you should know he had told him of the cottage and that you often painted near the volcano.”
    He stared straight ahead. “His name?”
    “Danemount.”
    Her father’s eyes closed. “Dear God,” he whispered.
    She need no longer wonder if Danemount was the threat. Her father was terrified. She had not seen him really afraid since that day they had left Marseilles. She took a step forward. “Why is he looking for you?”
    His eyes opened. “To kill me,” he said dully. “He wants to kill me.”
    “But why?”
    “The hand of
le bon dieu
,” he muttered. “I always knew it would come. God’s will.”
    “It’s not God’s will,” she said fiercely. “What are you talking about? God would not condone this man murdering you.”
    “God’s will,” he repeated. Then he shook his head as if to clear it. “I don’t want to die, Cassie. I’ve done bad things, but I’m not a bad man. I don’t deserve to die.”
    “Of course you don’t. And you could not have done anything very wrong. We’ll go down and face the Englishman and tell him—”
    “No!” He whirled so quickly that he knocked the easel over. “How can I face him? What would I say tohim? It wasn’t my fault. Raoul told me that nothing would happen, and I believed him. At least I think I believed him. Raoul was always so certain about everything, and I was never certain about anything. Yes, it’s Raoul’s fault.”
    Raoul. He had called the man who had come to the ship that day Raoul. Cassie frowned in bewilderment. “Then we’ll tell the Englishman that whatever happened, the blame is not yours.”
    “He wouldn’t believe me. Not without proof. He wouldn’t listen to me. Why do you think I ran away? It was the uncle who was making inquiries, but I knew the cub would come after me. I remember his eyes … burning, glaring at me.” He picked up the half-finished painting and started down the incline, stumbling in his hurry. “I have to get away. I have to hide. I knew he’d come.…”
    Cassie ran after him. “But where are you going?”
    He stopped in midstride and looked around him dazedly. “I don’t know. There has to be someplace.…”
    “If you think there’s danger, go to King Kamehameha. He’ll protect you. This Englishman is nothing to him.”
    “Perhaps,” he muttered. “I don’t know. I can’t seem to think.”
    And if he continued to blunder around in this state, Danemount would be here before she could get her father to safety.
    She took his arm and shook it. “
I
know. Listen to me. Go to the king and tell him this Englishman is a danger to you. He’ll send his warriors to rid you of him.”
    “I couldn’t do that. I won’t have his blood on my hands, too.”
    Too?
A chill rushing through her, she asked, “Would you rather it be your blood spilled? I’ll kill him myself before I see that happen.”
    For an instant the fear left his expression, and a faint smile lit his face. “My fierce Cassie.” He reached out and gently touched her cheek. “You’re the best part of me, you know. But I can’t remember ever being as true and loyal and brave. I’ve not been a good father, but I’ve always loved you.”
    His words sounded terrifyingly final. “Don’t be foolish. You’ve been a very good