‘Jake!’
The warning was unnecessary. Her large dog had dropped to his haunches well away from the child. He put his nose on his front paws and prepared to wait patiently. Ben also seemed to realise that caution was advisable. He stopped, not even looking at the water trough beside the girl.
‘Hello,’ Alice said. ‘Who are you?’
‘Emmy.’
‘Hello, Emmy. I’mAlice.’
She swung her leg over Ben’s back and slid to the ground, pulling off her helmet and then grabbing the reins before Ben could think of stepping forward. This child was tiny. So fragile-looking close to Ben’s fluffy dinner-plate-sized hooves. Especially in that pretty pink dress with her long white socks.
‘I saw you,’ Emmy said. ‘From the window.’
‘Oh?’ Alice looked around, despite knowing perfectly well there were no windows nearby. This was getting weird.
‘Are you all by yourself?’
Emmy nodded. ‘Haylee’s asleep. She’s tired.’
Maybe Alice was too. Suffering from exhaustion. Or low blood sugar or something. Having some kind of delusional experience.
‘Are you a princess?’
Definitely delusional. ‘No.’
‘Is he magic?’
A tiny finger was pointing at Ben. Big blue eyes were looking up. Way up at the head of her horse. Something in the child’s expression was very familiar. The kind of longing she remembered from when she was that small. A longing that had become a dream of one day having her own pony.
Alice smiled. ‘He’s kind of magic,’ she said softly. ‘Because he makes good things happen. Would you like to pat him?’
Already big eyes widened dramatically and Alice could see the sudden tension in the small body. A flash of fear. She heard the deep breath Emmy sucked in and then saw a determined nod.
‘Yes, please.’
Brave kid. Alice held out her hand. ‘He wouldn’t hurt you. He loves children.’
The diminutive hand went trustingly into hers. ‘I’ll lift you up,’ Alice said, ‘so you can reach his neck. That’s the best place to pat him.’
Emmy’s fingers looked tiny and very pale against Ben’s black coat.
‘He’s big, isn’t he? That’s why he’s called Ben. After Big Ben. That’s a clock. In London.’
‘I know that.’ The child sounded indignant. ‘I’m five!’
Alice was too startled to smile at the tone. She’d been chatting quietly simply to put Emmy at ease. It was only now that she registered the accent.
‘Did you live in London, Emmy?’
‘Yes.’ Emmy was stretching up to reach Ben’s mane.
‘Where do you live now?’
‘Here.’
She couldn’t have walked from a neighbouring farm to get here by herself, surely. That left only one potential home. The big house. It was still quite a walk for a five-year-old to have made by herself. Who was Haylee? A sister? And where were the parents? Did they have no idea of the kind of hazards a property like this could present? What if she hadn’t been home or Ben wasn’t as gentle as he was? What about the river, for heaven’s sake?
Alice would have something to say to Emmy’s parents when she saw them.
‘What’s your last name?’ she queried.
Emmy didn’t answer. She was busy threading her fingers through a handful of mane.
Alice tried again. ‘What’s Daddy’s name?’
‘Daddy.’
Alice smiled. She gave up. Surely someone would come looking for the child soon enough. They were probably busy moving in right now and hadn’t noticed her wandering off.
‘Would you like to sit on top of Ben?’
‘Yes, please.’
‘You’ll need to wear my hat. It’s a special helmet just for people who sit on horses.’
A moment later and there she was. A little princess with blonde curls poking from beneath the helmet, sitting on the huge black horse which made her look like a pea on a pumpkin. A very happy princess. It was the first time Alice had seen the child smile and it was the best smile, simply radiating joy, quite contagious enough to have Alice standing there, smiling back.
They could have stayed like that for a very long time. Both totally content, but then Jake raised his head from his paws. The shaggy hair on his neck came up and he emitted a low growling sound.
And then, from some distance behind Alice, came the sound of a man’s voice. A very angry man.
‘What the hell do you think you’re doing with my daughter?’
Emmy burst into tears.
Jake’s growl reached an ominous level and was reinforced with a loud bark.
But Alice didn’t turn around. She couldn’t. Not yet. Not when she’d recognised that furious voice.
By some twist of a malevolent fate, ‘Daddy’ was Andrew Barrett and he was closer by the moment.
Oh…God!
‘Don’t cry,’ she said to Emmy. Or was she talking aloud to herself? ‘It’s all right.’
‘Nooo!’ Fat tears rolled down pink cheeks. ‘Daddy’s cross with me.’
‘Actually…’ Alice found a smile ‘…I think he’s cross with me.’
Emmy’s tears stopped. She stared at Alice. ‘Why?’
Why, indeed? If anyone was to be blamed for anything right now, it most certainly shouldn’t be Alice. She turned and had the satisfaction of seeing Andrew stopped in his tracks. Not only by the menacing form of Jake, who’d positioned himself between his mistress and the threatening man, but by the shock of recognition.
‘What are you doing here?’
There was dawning horror on the face of her old boss and, for just an instant, Alice had the peculiar notion that he was afraid of her. Totally ridiculous, of course, but it was enough for her to dredge up some confidence.
‘I live here. What are you doing here?’
‘I own this property,’ Andrew snapped. ‘And you most certainly do not live here.’
‘Yes, she does, Daddy.’ Emmy gave a huge sniff. ‘So does Ben.’
‘Be quiet, please, Emmeline. I’m talking.’
Good grief! What kind of father was Andrew Barrett? Talking to a five-year-old this sternly made any fantasy of his parental skills evaporate into an unpleasant mist. Alice didn’t like what she was seeing. Neither did Emmy, apparently. The small girl stuck out her bottom lip and scowled at her father. Andrew tried to take a step forward and Jake growled again.
‘Call it off,’ Andrew commanded.
Alice waited for a heartbeat. And then another. ‘Jake,’ she said softly. Her wonderful dog moved to sit beside her, pressed against her leg.
‘And now get my daughter down from that monster.’
That was too much for Emmy. ‘He’s not a monster!’ she declared. She leaned forward in the saddle and tried to wrap her arms around Ben’s neck. They barely made it to the halfway mark. ‘He’s lovely,’ Emmy said passionately. ‘He’s my new friend and he’s a magic