His Perfect Bride? by Louisa Heaton Page B

pale—almost white. She wriggled her toes to try and feel them, to try and get some life back into them, whilst Olly reversed out of the car park.
    They passed some other searchers on the way back, identified by the whistles on their lanyards.
    When they got back to Moonrose Cottage Olly insisted on carrying her to her front door.
    ‘I can walk!’
    ‘In bare feet?’
    He scooped her out of her seat and once again carried her easily up to the front door. She had her keys ready and unlocked the door. She waited for him to set her down.
    ‘I’ll restart the fire.’
    He nodded. ‘I’ll make you a hot drink.’
    She watched him disappear into the kitchen. She scooped a pair of thick boot socks off the back of a chair and was just stacking some bigger logs onto the burgeoning flames when she heard him call out.
    ‘Lula?’
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘Have you been in the garden shed?’
    There was a garden shed?
    ‘No, I haven’t.’
    ‘The door’s hanging open. There’s tracks.’
    Lula padded into the kitchen, her brow lined in question.
    But Olly had already unlocked the side door and set off into the garden. From the window, she watched him traverse the long length of the garden towards a ramshackle old shed that she’d not noticed earlier. Then she saw him dash in and heard him calling her name.
    Lula rushed to the back door, unable to go out since she had nothing on her feet but clutching the door frame, hoping he’d found Ruby.
    He had.
    Moments later Olly emerged sideways from the shed with a pale young girl in his arms, wrapped in blankets. He carried her all the way up the garden.
    Two maidens in one day.
    ‘Be careful! It’s slippery!’ Lula warned. She didn’t need him to fall over now and drop the young teenager in the snow.
    He carried her into the house and Lula rushed to the front room to pull one of the chairs in front of the now roaring fire.
    ‘I’ll make her a hot drink.’
    Normally Lula wouldn’t give someone needing medical attention any drink or food, in case they needed an operation, but with Ruby it was essential she be warmed up slowly. As neither of them had any warm intravenous fluids handy to push into her veins, blankets, a fire and a hot drink would have to do.
    When she hurried back into the front room, holding a steaming mug of sweet tea, Olly was just getting off the phone.
    ‘I’ve called for an ambulance.’
    ‘Notify the police, too. Call off the search.’
    He nodded and flipped open his phone once again.
    Lula knelt in front of the young girl, noting her pale features, the way she clutched the blankets. She was still shivering—which was good. It meant true hypothermia hadn’t set in.
    ‘Sip this. Slowly.’ She held the mug to Ruby’s lips and waited for her to take a sip. The solitary action seemed to exhaust the young girl. ‘Oh, Ruby! Everyone’s been looking for you. Your mother’s been frantic.’
    ‘E-E-Everyone?’ she stammered.
    Lula nodded slowly. ‘A lot of the village came out in an organised search. And the police…Dr James and I.’
    ‘I d-didn’t know where else to go.’
    Lula offered the tea again and Olly returned to kneel by her side. ‘The police are on their way.’
    Ruby looked frightened.
    ‘It’s okay, Ruby. They just want to make sure you’re all right.’
    ‘Am I in t-trouble?’
    They both shook their heads, though truthfully neither of them knew exactly how Ruby’s mother might react. Would she be angry that her daughter had disappeared and had a baby in secret? Or would she cry? Ask questions? Be sympathetic? Understanding?
    ‘You had a baby, didn’t you?’ Lula asked.
    Ruby met her gaze and tears welled up in her eyes. ‘It hurt.’
    Lula and Olly smiled. ‘Of course it did. You were so brave to go through it on your own. Where did it happen?’
    ‘In my bedroom. Mum was at work, so no one heard.’
    ‘We searched the house. Didn’t find any sign of the afterbirth or anything.’
    ‘I used a plastic sheet. Mum p-painted