Page 63 of His Duchess in Disguise
Instead of stopping, the driver whipped up the horses, and they took off at a rattling clip. Leo and Emma were seated facing forward, so they were forced back against the cushions. Rags slid to a corner of the seat, whimpering. Hamilton grabbed one of the straps hanging from the ceiling of the carriage, while thrusting an arm in front of Mary to keep her from hurtling to the floor.
“God’s Whiskers!” Leo swore. “What is that driver about?”
Then they heard the pop of small arms fire. Mary ducked down to the floorboard, and Hamilton flung himself at Leo and Emma. Leo opened his mouth to ask Hamilton what he was about, when he felt a searing pain along the side of his head, and then he knew no more.
Chapter 40
Emma grabbed for one of the leather straps, just as Mary yanked her down on the floorboards beside her. “Get down, get down!” her maid hissed in her ear, “We are being fired upon. It must be highwaymen!”
A hail of bullets flew in through the window. The Duke cried out and fell atop the two women as Hamilton launched himself from the seat, sheltering them all with his body. Emma felt something warm and wet drip across her face.Blood! Someone has been shot!
The horses’ hooves thundered along at a great rate, and the carriage bounded and jolted after. Men’s voices shouted, and there was a scream of pain and rage. Now the carriage truly sped along at a great rate, then gave a great heave, and it seemed as if branches scraped against its sides. One of the horses neighed, an equine cry of pain and terror.
The carriage lurched with a crashing groan of wood and metal. The passenger box tilted to the side and dragged along the ground for several feet before it came to a halt.
“Well, that’s torn it,” a man’s voice said.
“Shut up,” hissed a hoarse whisper. “You’ll ruin everything.”
Hamilton began to lever himself up off all of them. The Duke lay limp over Emma Blood was flowing from his head, drenching her face and hair, and flowing onto Mary. “Leo!” Emma gasped.
Before they could do anything to right themselves, the topmost door to the carriage was wrenched open. A man reached in and yanked Hamilton out before he could right himself, and then grasped the Duke and hauled him out as well. Emma struggled to right herself and to get off Mary, but since the maid was also struggling to get up, they only got in each other’s way. Rags stood on the tilted seat and barked furiously.
The arm reached back in and pulled first Emma, then Mary out of the coach. Rags leaped out after them barking furiously. He gave a yelp and was silent. Emma wiped the blood from her eyes. The Duke, sprawled on his back, blood flowing from his head. “Leo!” she screamed.
Then something dark and smelly was popped over her head. Her hands were wrenched behind her back, and she was thrown belly down over the withers of a horse. She heard Mary scream. Someone mounted behind her, and a man’s hand pressed against her back.
The horse ran. With every footfall, the breath was jolted out of her. She vomited into the hood, nasty fluids pouring down over her nose and eyes. The vile stuff pooled in the top of the hood. Emma wriggled and fought, fearing that she would drown, but the liquid leaked away through the porous cloth.
When she had no more breath or strength to struggle, the horse slowed to a trot, pounding the pommel of the saddle into her stomach.
Perhaps she lost consciousness, or perhaps she simply became numb in a sort of hysteria, but at length, they stopped. Her hands were released, and she was shoved into some sort of building with the bag still over her head. “Clean yourself up,” a man’s voice growled. The door closed and latched behind her.
“Emma?” Mary’s voice called tremulously.
“Mary?” Emma replied softly.
Someone bumped against her right shoulder, and Emma realized it was her maid.
“Here, Emma,” Mary replied. “Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know. You?”
“I’m not sure either,” Mary said, “but I think just shaken up and bruised from being thrown over a horse.”
Emma fumbled at the bag that was tied over her head. Her hands were numb from being tied, but at last, she was able to pick the knot loose and remove the foul fabric. Mary was still working at a similar head covering, and Emma moved to help her.
When both were freed, they took stock of their surroundings. It seemed to be a sheep byre, not very different from the one where Emma had spent the night on the chalk. But this one was fully enclosed with a stout door that seemed to be latched from the outside.
There were cracks between the boards that showed fading daylight. A bucket of water and a basin sat on a bench, with some rough pieces of cloth piled beside them. In the dim light, Emma could see that Mary’s face was streaked with blood. “Are you hurt?” she asked again.
“I don’t think so,” Mary reassured her. “I fear that this is the Duke’s blood. What about you, Emma? You’ve got dried blood all over your face, and it looks as if you spewed up your breakfast.”
“I did. It was vile, and I thought I would choke. Fortunately, that horrible bag isn’t waterproof, and all the liquid leaked out before I could drown. I couldn’t help it, though. Every time that horse came down on its hooves, it felt as if it was punching me right in the stomach.”
“Let me clean you up,” Mary said. “I think you’ve had the worst of it.”
Mary poured a little of the water in the basin, took up one of the rough pieces of cloth and began to brush the worst of the mess away from Emma’s face and out of her hair. “I can’t see to do a very good job of cleaning you up, but I’ll do my best.”
