A Christmas Escape by Anne Perry

understanding and lack of hysteria. “I’m sorry to have to tell you.”
    Candace was standing up, too, staring at him. This was going to be considerably harder. There was nothing good about this, no relief for anyone, and nobody to help Candace except Charles himself. How on earth was he going to measure up to it? He had no choice, none at all. To evade it now would be despicable. He had to take Finbar’s place, at least physically, even if he never could emotionally. The pain of not trying would be worse than any despair of failure.
    He looked at her frankly, meeting her eyes. “I’m sorry…” He found the words desperately hard to say.
    “Was it his heart?” she asked.
    Should he lie? Heart attacks could be quick. But he would want to tell her the truth later. Finbar deserved that. His courage would be something to strengthen her for the rest of her life. Charles knew that if he lied now, she would never completely trust him, and she needed more from him than his own easy way out.
    “No.” He watched her face as he said it. He saw the shock, the fear of something worse. Better do it all now.
    “Stefano pushed us back against the wall of one of the buildings, and tried to protect us.” He should say it all now, then he wouldn’t have to again. “One of the lumps of burning lava killed him, and it injured your uncle…”
    Candace lunged forward as if she wanted to get past him and go outside. “He’s not dead! Why did you leave him?” She swung around to Bretherton. “Come and help me!”
    Charles caught hold of her with his arms. She struggled for a moment, kicking at him. He held her tighter.
    “Candace! Stop…”
    She tried to hit him and only just missed his face.
    “Candace! He didn’t die instantly, but he’s dead now. He made me promise to look after you. That was what he cared about most: that you would be all right. He was a brave man, a wonderful man, and he loved you dearly.”
    She stopped struggling, but he could feel the rigid tension in her body.
    “He lived long enough to shake my hand on it. Then he ordered me to leave him and come back here so I could help to get us all out before the volcano really lets fly. Stefano was sure it will.”
    Gradually she let go and slumped in his arms.
    He looked over the top of her head to Bretherton. “We’ve got to get supplies together and get on our way,” he said. “Stefano had most of it ready—”
    Quinn interrupted. “Who put you in charge to make decisions for the rest of us?” he demanded. “For God’s sake, Mrs. Bailey has just lost her husband, and Miss Finbar her uncle. You can’t expect them to…”
    Isla turned and glared at him. “Expect us to what? Want to escape from here and live? Don’t speak for me, Mr. Quinn. I can speak for myself, and I imagine Candace can as well.” She looked at Candace, still standing in Charles’s arms, her face buried in his shoulder. “Candace?” she said again, her voice was gentle but clear.
    Candace straightened up slowly and turned to face her. She was pale and shivering, but she stepped away from Charles and stood separately. “Yes, of course I can,” she answered. “If Uncle Roger died making Charles promise to look after me, then he would expect me to behave properly. He never ran away from anything; neither will I.” She blinked several times and the tears slid down her face. She gave a twisted little smile. “Except the volcano, of course. I think we should all run away from that.”
    “Well said,” Bretherton agreed. He looked from her to Charles. “Let’s get started. We’ll need water mostly, and I suppose a little food. It’s midwinter so it will get dark early. We’d better get going as quickly as we can.”
    Quinn looked very pale. “We don’t want to get caught on the side of the mountain in the dark. We could get lost!” He looked at Charles. “Have you got even the faintest idea which way to go?”
    “That will depend on where the eruptions are,”