Page 79 of Valour

“I couldn’t let him hurt you.”

“So you—you whacked him?!”

“You told me to go for the temple or behind the ear. Back in Argentina. That’s what you said.”

“Charlotte!” Hester wailed. “He was not attacking me.”

It took a heartbeat for Charlotte’s face to change from anger to understanding to shock, her mouth forming a perfect circle. “You—you—and he…are you sure?”

Hester bent to Septimus, who was coming round, groaning and rubbing the back of his head. “Oh my God. Are you alright?”

“Yes. What the Hell was that?” He pushed himself up, staggering to his feet, and held onto the wall, wincing.

“Charlotte was protecting me,” Hester said, and now the initial shock of it had passed, it was tremendously funny. She stifled a laugh.

Charlotte backed away, her hands held up. “I’m so sorry—I thought you were going to hurt her.”

Septimus threw Charlotte a withering look. “Hurt her? Why would I hurt her?”

“You did that day in Ernest’s office! And you’ve hardly been kind the past few months. What was I supposed to think?”

Hester smirked and folded her arms. “Exactly. What was she supposed to think?”

Septimus shook his head, then grimaced, pressing a hand to a rising lump. “Where is my sleeping bag?”

“I set it to warm by the stove, so it would be all snuggly for you,” Hester said, her lips quirking to the side.

He dragged a hand down his face. “How…kind.” And then he stalked from the Ritz.

Hester clutched her stomach, laughing hard. “I cannot believe you did that. I’d be mad at you, but—I thought I was finally going to…oh, well. It’s too funny to be mad at you.”

Charlotte’s face was a picture, and Hester burst into laughter again. She could hardly believe her ill luck. But then, she did so love the chase. Would it ruin it to go through with the rest?

“Are you two…? Since when did you—I thought you hated him!”

“Nothing has happened. And I do hate him. It’s a very deep, very mutual hatred. And it’s hot as Hell.” Hester sighed and leant back against the wall, closing her eyes. It had been so tantalisingly close.

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “You’re very odd.”

Hester smiled. “Don’t come back to the cabin for fifteen minutes, alright?”

“Captainly tasks?”

She frowned. What was Charlotte talking about? “No, I’m going to make myself⁠—”

Charlotte covered her ears. “I know exactly what you’re going to do. But…why don’t you just go to him?”

“And ruin the anticipation? Oh, no. It’s too delicious.”

And there was another reason. A reason that Hester didn’t want to explore in any more detail. The idea of falling in love.

“I’m sorry, let me get this straight,” Arnold said, his eyes wide. “You knocked Septimus out cold with a plank of wood?”

“Yes,” Charlotte whispered, head in her hands, elbows resting on the galley table.

“Because he had Hester up against the wall and was threatening to punish her?”

Charlotte nodded, cringing. How stupid she’d been not to see it for what it was. A lot of Hester’s behaviour towards the man started to fit into place. Even her moroseness took on a new light. Had she been pining for him?