“It’s a grave mistake,” Andre said. I glanced at him in dismay, thinking he couldn’t be serious and . . . he wasn’t.

“Oh, ha ha, very punny,” I said.

“Andre is right,” Viv said. “Friendship has to be urned.”

Andre burst out laughing. “Good one.”

“Stop it, both of you,” I chastised them. I waited a beat and added, “This is dead serious.”

They both looked at me. Not even a twitch of the lips.

“Aw, come on, you know that was solid wordplay,” I said.

“It’s all right, Scarlett,” Andre said kindly. “You get points for trying.”

I glowered. We were riding past the castle now and headed for the stables. No one had chased us down, or yelled at us, so I was feeling confident that our outing had remained a secret.

When we stopped beside the stables, one of the grooms came out and gathered our reins, holding the horses in place while we dismounted. Andre, without being asked, came and stood by my horse. I slid off Mabel, no more gracefully than the last time, and he caught me and set me gently on the ground.

“Thank you,” I said to Mabel. I patted the mare’s neck in appreciation. “It’s been real, girl.”

I took a step and tried not to wince but failed miserably. Pain shot down my legs from my hamstrings to my heels. I knew I was going to be limping my way back to the castle. We deposited our borrowed gear in the tack room.

I fell in beside Andre and Viv. Annoyingly, neither of them appeared to be suffering any ill effects from our time on horseback. We rounded the corner of the stone building, when a man stepped out from the shadows, causing all three of us to start. Detective Inspector Stewart.

“Did you have a nice ride?” he asked. He was wearing a beige overcoat with the same clothes he’d had on last night, his hair was mussed, and he had dark circles under his eyes. I wondered if he’d slept at all.

Viv put her hand on her heart, Andre took a deep breath, and I said, “What’s the big idea leaping out at us like that, Detective?”

I wasn’t usually cross with people, but my rear end hurt really badly! I rubbed my hands over the back of my thighs. Mercy, my muscles were screaming.

Detective Stewart narrowed his eyes at me and said, “Not much of a rider, are you?”

“What, did my limp give it away?”

“A bit,” he said. He pressed his lips together as if trying not to smile. “You might want to stretch it out, do some lunges or a forward bend.”

I looked at him doubtfully. “Are you a rider?”

“I am as a matter of fact,” he said. He shrugged off his coat and handed it to Viv, who took it without argument. “Try this.”