Just a Kiss Away by Jill Barnett Page A

at him. He could see her striving to make him shrivel. Her look dared him to respond. So he didn’t. He feigned nonchalance with a shrug of his shoulders and concentrated on listening to the sounds around the hut, as he’d been doing since the first hour of his capture. High above this single corner was a window. Through it he could get a good idea of what was happening in the encampment—when the guards changed, the number of men, and the sounds of wagons. The angle of daylight, the depth of shadows, and the smell of meals all gave him clues to the time of day and the camp’s routine.
    He’d lean his head back against the wall, close his eye and concentrate, picturing the camp as the sounds came through the window. It was the only way he could determine the best time of day to make his escape.
    “Oh, my Gawd! Get it off me! Get it off!” Eulalie sat up, grabbing at her hair and shaking her head like a lathered horse.
    She could feel the giant beetle’s legs scurrying over her scalp.
    “Hold still, dammit!” Sam bent over her and jerked her head close to his chest with two hard handfuls of hair.
    “Ouch! Oh, get it, pleeeeease!” Her nose smashed against his shirt pocket, which felt like it was iron-backed. One of his fists tightened, pulling her hair tighter and burning her scalp. Smarting tears filled her eyes. “Oooooh!” She sucked in a panicked breath. She could still feel the bug moving as his fingers picked through her tangled hair.
    He swore a couple of times. Then she felt him grab the bug and rip it and part of her hair out.
    “Aaaaaaaak!” Her hands shot over her throbbing head.
    “Oh, shut up! It’s out now.” Disgust filled his voice, and he heaved the squirming, hair-tangled bug across the room. It hit the floor with a loud crackle.
    She just sat there shivering while chills raced up her arms. She still felt as if bugs were crawling all over her. “Noah should have squished those things.”
    He sat back on his heels and gave her a one-eyed stare. “They’re harmless.”
    “I don’t care. I hate bugs. The only things I hate more than bugs are spiders.”
    He continued to watch her, only now he had an odd smile on his face. It was not reassuring.
    “Are there spiders here, too?” She looked back and forth across the hut, waiting for the army of spiders to come running toward her. Suddenly she could feel all kinds of creepy things around her. Her heart wedged in her throat.
    “If there are, we’ll all know it. I’m sure they heard you in Belleview.”
    “Belvedere,” she corrected.
    “That’s right,” he said, his tone amused. “Belvedere, that bastion of the Lah-Roos. Don’t they have bugs there? Oh, I forgot. Don’t answer that,” he said, holding up his rough hands. “They wouldn’t allow any, since the bugs didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence.”
    “That’s unfair, not to mention rude. I—”
    The sudden rasp of the lock stopped their bickering. They both turned toward the opening door. Light from a kerosene lantern flooded the room, momentarily blinding her. Then the colonel stood in the doorway. One guard held the lantern and the door while two others held a knife and a long rifle poised for use.
    Lollie glanced at Sam. He was eyeing the rifle.
    The heat of Luna’s weaselly stare drew her attention. He raked his gaze over her.
    She held her breath.
    “They’ve agreed to the ransom. The exchange will take place in two days. We’ll go by boat to Colorido Bay.”
    She stopped in mid-sigh. He’d said they were going by boat. Her stomach lurched at the thought, remembering the voyage over here and how she’d spent the entire time in bed or on the floor of the marine water closet, sicker than she’d ever been in her entire life. Other than the steward who’d brought fresh water, towels, and oranges, the only person Lollie had seen on the whole voyage was Mamie Philpott, the Methodist, who’d stood outside the water closet singing evangelical hymns.