Page 32 of Until My Last Breath

“What is your name?” Jane asked gently.

“Tommy, ma’am,” the boy replied. He paused, then added, “You look like an angel.”

Jane gave him a weak smile but was too anxious to appreciate the compliment. “Tommy, I heard you saw something this morning, and I need you to tell me everything about it. You know, the lady they took…” Jane paused, taking a deep breath. “She is my beloved sister and I am very concerned for her safety. We need to find her as soon as possible, and I believe you could help us. Would you help me, Tommy, to find my sister, please?”

Tommy, mesmerised by her sweetness, nodded vigorously. “I’ll tell you what I saw, ma’am, and I’m glad I can help.”

Tommy then began to relate his extraordinary story.

“I woke up very early, as I always do. I needed to fetch water for Da’s workshop. I have a big bucket and I go to a small brook on the way to the big house, you know, where the great lady lives. I was on my way, when I saw an old carriage with two men and another one riding a horse. I didn’t know them and was curious about who they could be. Then I followed them, hiding behind the trees.” Tommy stopped and looked up at his father with some guilt in his eyes. His father just nodded in encouragement.

“They stopped,” the boy continued, “and were looking ahead of them at a man who was lying down against a tree, and I saw a lady comingtowards him very fast. She woke him and he stood up and they were talking, but then I saw one of the men coming from behind the man, the one who was there resting. That bad man hit him on the head with a big branch.”

Jane heard Richard gasping behind her and she squeezed the boy’s hand. “Yes, Tommy, what happened next?”

“The man fell on his knees and the two other men were holding him. I think they were trying to tie him up, and when the lady tried to help him, the other man, the one riding alone… Ah! Did I tell you they all had masks?” Tommy was now very excited with his story. “He tried to hold the lady, but she fought him and pulled his mask off. She was very brave, your sister, ma’am. I don’t think they were happy, so one of the men grabbed a pistol! A pistol, sir! Like the one we see in the papers, about the war, and he shot at her—”

Jane gasped in horror, bringing both her hands to her face while tears found their way down her cheeks.

Before Richard knew what he was doing, he sat beside her, bringing her into a tight embrace. She rested her head on his chest and sobbed.

“They shot her, Colonel,” she cried. “They shot my poor sister.”

“No, ma’am! They did not shoot the lady. The man saved her.” Tommy, now on his feet, was speaking as loudly as possible.

Both Jane and Richard looked at Tommy in surprise.

Richard let go of Jane, stood up and gently placed his hands on Tommy’s shoulder, kneeling in front of him. “Which man saved her?”

“The man who was on his knees. He freed himself and stood up in front of the pistol. He was the one who was shot,” Tommy said, quite satisfied, looking at Jane as if waiting for her to be happy as well.

But Jane’s eyes were on the colonel. He let go of the boy, slowly moving his tight fists down to his side. He closed his eyes, inhaling sharply.

It was now Jane’s turn to act impulsively. She stood up and gently pulled Richard to sit beside her, taking his hand in hers. “What happened then, Tommy?” she whispered, keeping her eyes on Richard’s strainedface.

“Well, he fell on the floor, ma’am, and the lady, your sister, she was crying a lot… I am sorry, sir.” Tommy stopped again, seeing the agony in the colonel’s face.

Richard took another deep breath. “Is there anything else, Tommy?”

Tommy fidgeted on his feet, squeezing one hand over the other. “Yes, sir.” He looked back at Jane. “One of the men came and… hit the lady… in her face… and she fell. The bad men took both of them and put them in the carriage and went away.”

A long silence filled the room.

Richard raised his gaze and found Jane’s eyes filled with despair. He looked down to where their hands were clutched together.

“I am sorry, sir,” Tommy said again, lowering his eyes.

Tommy felt his father’s arm around him, but he did not say anything else.

“Thank you, Tommy,” Richard finally said, standing up. “But I have one more question, and I want you to think very hard before answering it. Why do you think they tried to shoot the lady? What did she do to deserve being shot?”

Tommy scowled as he concentrated on the colonel’s question; his eyes were darting around the room, as if he was reliving what he had seen. “The man tried to shoot her after she… yes, after she pulled the mask from the other man who was holding her.”

“Did she look surprised when she saw who the man was?” Jane asked, also standing.

Tommy’s face illuminated. “Yes, ma’am, she did! She was quite surprised when she saw him. And I am sure the man was a gentleman. He had very fine clothes, ma’am, but his face was strange… scary.”

Jane and Richard looked at each other again. Wickham was, after all, involved in Mr Darcy and Elizabeth’s kidnap.

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