Chapter Four

"Wee little Cassandra, you certainly won't leave a man danglin' up here in a tree now will ya? Let me in pretty lass...."

Cassandra laughed as she sat on the window seat and listened to Finnegan's pleas through the closed shutters.

"If your papa catches me you'll be responsible for the bullet that he sends into me arse," Finnegan warned. "Cassandra, Cassandra, please let me in. You cannot say no to your dear friend Finn."

"You had better be quiet," Cassandra warned as she opened the shutters and shook her finger warningly at him. "You're making enough noise to wake the entire house up."

"You are a sight for sore eyes, Cass," Finnegan replied, his brown eyes sparkling as he smiled at her.

Cassandra snorted. Finnegan always had been a charmer. "Come on in, Finnegan. You don't have to flatter me anymore."

"If ya hadn't let me in soon—" Finnegan grunted as he climbed in through the window just as he'd done countless times when they'd been children. "—I was goin' to throttle ya."

"I think you're forgetting that it was me who could always throttle you, Finnegan."

"It's been a long time since then," Finnegan reminded her with a wink.

"Five years and not even a letter from you. How have you been?"

"Good o'course. How about you, Cass? I saw those tears streakin' down your pretty face. Ya never were much for crying."

"It was nothing..." Cassandra replied quickly, her gaze going to the diary on the bed.

She saw Finnegan follow her gaze and she tried to lunge for the diary but apparently the last five years had made him faster and he beat her to it. "Finnegan, don't you dare read that! That's private!"

"Nothin' is private from your best friend," Finnegan countered, his eyes scanning the page.

Cassandra knew the blood had rushed to her head and she was more than likely glowing with embarrassment. She wrapped her robe tighter around her nightdress and said a quick prayer of thanks that she had no used any names in that final entry....

As Finnegan read, Cassandra studied him closely. The last five years had been good to the man, she would give him that. He was no longer that skinny seventeen year old boy that her father had run off five years ago. He still had thick curly black hair but it no longer seemed to swallow his entire head. His face was still too boyish to be considered rugged but that smile was still just as infectious. And his shoulders were much more broad, his hands a bit rougher and his hips lean.

Finnegan finished his reading and laid the diary against his chest as he looked at her sadly. "My poor, sweet lass," he whispered and then before Cassandra could fight him off he swooped across the room and took her into his arms. Cassandra found herself crushed against his broad chest and her nose wrinkled.

"Let me go, Finn! You smell like the backside of a hog!"

If Finnegan heard her he gave no indication. "I'm sorry I broke your heart, my dear. Irishman don't settle down. You'll have to find a replacement for ol' Finnegan. Alas it won't be quite the same but—'

"Finnegan—" Cassandra wiggled out of his grasp and took her diary with her. "—it wasn't about you."

Finnegan grinned and sent her a wink. "Sure it was."

"No," Cassandra shook her head and returned her diary to the drawer she'd taken it out of, though this time she engaged the lock to keep Finnegan from snooping more. "It really wasn't."

"Whatever ya make yourself believe, Little Cass,"

Cassandra grumbled under her breath. "You're not the only Irishman I know, Finnegan. It really wasn't about you."

He grinned and it was clear that he didn't believe her. Instead of arguing more, Cassandra sat down on the bed and Finnegan took a rest on the window seat.

"You haven't been back here in five years, Finnegan. I missed you."

"Aye and I missed you," Finnegan replied with a tip of his head and Cassandra knew he was telling the truth. "Time slipped away from me I'm afraid and for that I apologize."

"Have you been in trouble, Finn?"

Finnegan grabbed a glass ball paperweight from the windowsill and began tossing it up and down. "O' course not!" He flashed her the same grin he'd always used in the past when he was lying.

"So why are you here in the middle of the night, Finn? I assume there's a good reason since you've not bothered to visit before."

"Well I couldn't very well come durin' the day now could I? Your papa and that gun of his were real eager to put some shot into my backside the last time I was here."

"Because he caught you kissing me in the hay loft," Cassandra reminded him.

"And I broke your wee heart." Finnegan winked her way. "I could always give ya another kiss, Little Cass."

"And I could always drive my knee into your Irish clover, Finn." The man winced and Cassandra laughed as she thought back to that night.

Finnegan's mother had just been buried and she had found him crying in the hay loft, though he had denied that those were tears and insisted it was merely dust from the hay causing his eyes to water. Cassandra had comforted her best friend the best she knew how and then he had stolen a kiss—during which time her father had walked into the barn looking for his daughter, saw the kiss and ran Finnegan off under the threat of severe violence.

And that had been that. Cassandra had missed her best friend. Finnegan was wild. He had liked his whiskey too much and his women more. He couldn't be trusted with a secret and he would lie through his teeth without batting an eye but he had been the one person Cassandra could talk openly to. He never judged her for anything she said and surprisingly if she told him something in confidence, he generally kept it to himself.

"I was surprised you were still livin' here, Little Cass. I thought your papa would have long since married ya off to some rich bastard in a suit."

"Well I'm still here and still very unmarried, though not for his lack of trying," Cassandra threw herself back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "And I'm not Little Cass anymore, Finnegan. I'm no longer a fifteen year old girl."

"Ya certainly are right about that. Ya grew up into a bonny lass indeed, Little Cass. I'm humbled that mine was the first kiss laid upon those lips."

Cassandra blushed and waved her hand at him. The man was impossible. He had always been a sweet talker and a charmer. He simply couldn't help himself. "But it wasn't," she argued.

"Whatever ya say," Finnegan replied comfortingly. "I need your help, Cass."

"Ahh." Cassandra sat up. "The real reason why you've come."

"Yes..." Finnegan gave her a guilty grin. "I have somethin' and I needed help. As I thought of who in this entire world I could trust there was only one face that came to my mind."

"You don't have to sweet talk me, Finn. It's been five years but you're still my best friend. What do you need help with."

Finnegan grabbed the sack that he'd brought in with him and slid a folded piece of leather from inside. "An old man gave this to me, Cass. It's a map."

Finnegan joined her on the side of the bed as Cassandra took the aged leather from his hands and undid the tied, letting the flaps fall open. The parchment folded inside was stained from years of being opened and closed. It crinkled and was in threat of crumbling while Cassandra carefully unfolded it.

"A map to where?" Cassandra asked as she studied the weathered parchment and the markings it was covered in.

"I don't know where, but I do know that wherever it leads, there is a treasure."

Cassandra rolled her eyes and turned her head to look at Finnegan. He was glowing with childlike excitement and rubbing his hands together. "Finn, a treasure map? You come back after all this time because of a treasure map?"

"I came back because I can't read it and you're the smartest person I know."

"Considering the circles you run in, I have to say that's not as much of a compliment as it sounds," Cassandra replied dryly.

Finnegan's shoulders drooped. "Please, Cass?"

"Alright, I'll look at it, but you have to shut up and leave me alone while I do." Finnegan nodded and Cassandra sighed as she looked back down at the parchment.

***

Finnegan studied Cassandra's profile as she stared intently at the map on her legs. She was beautiful but then she'd been a beauty before. Wild golden curls framed her face. Her big green eyes were wider than he remembered and freckles dotted her cheeks and nose. Her body was hard to see in that oversized night dress and robe but Finnegan knew it was probably the perfect woman's body—her perfectionist papa wouldn't settle for anything less in his daughter.

It did bother Finnegan to know he had broken her heart so long ago. He hadn't meant it—the kiss they'd shared in the barn hadn't been something he had planned. He'd been sad and hurting and Cassandra had—well she had been there. It was as simple as that.

He knew now that he never should have used his best friend that way but there was no taking it back now. He was only glad that after such a long time apart, nothing seemed to have changed too drastically between them. She was already threatening his life and well-being and he was asking her for favors that he had no right to ask her for.

Finnegan smiled. Back to life as normal.

It seemed forever that Cassandra studied that map and finally she raised her head. "It's the west, Finnegan. I'm guessing that this seal here means Montana. And these triangles here are mountains..."

Suddenly she stopped speaking and Finnegan nearly throttled her. "Keep going!"

"No," Cassandra folded the map, laid it back in the leather bindings and secured it closed.

"What are ya doing? Shite woman, I thought ya were gonna help me."

"I am," Cassandra stood up and Finnegan stared up at her expectantly. "You're taking me with you."

Finnegan was certain he must have heard the woman wrong. He shook his head forcefully. "I do not believe I will." Cassandra knew nothing of life outside the safety of her papa's little town and Finnegan had enough trouble keeping himself alive without adding her to the mix.

"Then you can figure the map out for yourself," Cassandra replied, tossing the leather case down onto the soft mattress.

"Why do ya want to come with me?" Finnegan questioned. "Ya aren't exactly made to live a life of wanderin', Cass. You're a soft and proper lady—"

"Horse shit!" Cassandra snapped and Finnegan couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling up in his throat. There was a bit more of that fire and spirit he could remember.

"Your papa will send the entire U.S. Army out to track us down." Finnegan reminded her.

Cassandra's shoulders slumped and the broken and tired expression on her face made Finnegan's heart hurt more than the tears he'd seen on her face when he'd first climbed that tree and gazed in her window tonight.

"Finn, please let me come with you. If you don't then my life will be over."

"I think your being a wee bit dramatic," Finnegan mumbled but Cassandra shook her head.

"I'm not. If I don't get out of here then he's going to make me marry Thomas Shelton. I've been fighting him and mama about it but I can only fight for so long.... My life will be nothing other than teas, luncheons, corsets and unhappiness until I finally die of boredom and old age."

Finnegan rolled his eyes and stood. "Shite!" he exclaimed before shoving his hand through his hair. He needed Cassandra to read the map or he'd never find the treasure... and honestly he couldn't stand the thought of her marrying Thomas Shelton. While Finnegan didn't know the man, it was clear that Cassandra did not love him. Her papa must still be the same overbearing jackass that he'd always been.

"Listen here, Little Cass, if I let ya come with me then ya gotta do as I say and mind me. And no complainin' along the way or I'll send ya straight back."

"I won't complain, Finn, you have my word!"

Finnegan grinned as a bright smile split Cassandra's face and she bounced up and down. "Alright then. Pack ya one small bag, make sure it can slip over a saddle horn."

"I can't believe it! And Aunt Alexandria told me that adventures are only in story books. She claimed there could be no adventure in the life of a lady."

"Well you're gonna prove her wrong." Finnegan replied.

He watched her run behind her dressing curtain and a few moments later her robe and nightdress were tossed over the top. Finnegan flopped on his back on her bed and stared at the ceiling, hoping that letting her come along wouldn't prove to be a terrible mistake. Maybe it wouldn't. They were best friends after all and had shared a lot of fun times in the past. Now they would share this adventure together as well.

***

Cassandra's hands were trembling as she finished buttoning her blouse. She had chosen to wear the only split riding skirt that she still owned since her father had gone through her wardrobe and tried to get rid of anything he didn't deem appropriate for a senator's daughter.

She pulled her hair back, attempting to tame all the wild curls with pins and then stepped around the curtain to find Finnegan lying on the bed, sound asleep.

She laughed to herself as she pulled on her ankle boots and laced them up. She had never been so excited in all her life. She was going to have an adventure! A real adventure! And she was going to take it with her best friend!

Hours ago she had been devastated and reduced to tears and now she was so happy she could barely contain her squeals of delight. She knew once the adventure ended and she came home, her papa would probably still make her marry and live the life he deemed appropriate but at least she would have this adventure and this memory to get her through the rest of her uneventful life!

Cassandra found a piece of paper and a pencil and quickly wrote her parents a note, explaining to them that she was taking an adventure and that they did not need to worry about her. She did not mention Finnegan's name, knowing that if her father saw that his heart would probably burst on the spot. She simply stated that she was with an old friend and would be safe.

Once the letter was finished, she laid it on her pillow, packed a change of clothes and several other small belongings into a bag and then smacked the top of Finnegan's head. "Let's go!" she urged.

Finnegan grumbled as he stood up and yawned. "I'm tired."

"And you'll be dead if my father catches you in my bed."

Finnegan grinned. "Ya have a point."

Cassandra slipped out her window and down the tree with ease. She had done this more than a time or two over her lifetime. Finnegan followed behind her. He led her to some bushes at the edge of her father's property and a horse was waiting there.

"Is that Theo?" Cassandra gasped, as she gazed at the impressive Appaloosa gelding.

"Aye, it is," Finnegan agreed. "Best thing I ever stole."

"My father misses this horse..."

"That's funny. Theo hasn't mentioned your father a single time," Finnegan replied, kissing the horse on the nose.

Cassandra just shook her head and then she groaned. "I forgot to move the wardrobe from in front of the door..."

"I'll take care of it. You stay here and wait on me.... Can I steal me another kiss?" Finnegan teased.

Cassandra shook her head. "I will break your arm if you try."

With a wince, Finnegan dashed away, scurried up the tree and was out of sight. Cassandra still could hardly believe she was doing this but she wasn't about to back out now.

It took longer than Cassandra thought it should but Finnegan finally returned. He jumped on Theo, secured her bag to the saddle horn and then helped her up behind him.

"I want my own horse soon," Cassandra whispered as they headed down the street.

"We'll let Theo pick ya one. He is a jealous beast and will not tolerate travelin' with just any ol' horse."

"Finn, you have issues," Cassandra said as she rolled her eyes.

Finnegan looked over his shoulder and smiled back at her. "Yes and you wanted to ride with me. Doesn't say much for your frame of mind now does it?"

Cassandra laughed lightly and wrapped her arms tight around his waist. "God be with me, Finnegan."

"Naw, ya got me, Little Cass, and that's even better."