Page 100 of The Uprising
Cara said, ‘No, please wait; Lord Cavendish is coming with you.’
‘I’m not leaving,’ said George, his voice gritty.
Knight pushed the cold metal muzzlehard against Cara’s temple. ‘You always were a pompous arse, with your fancy title and estate. But this time, it’s my turn to call the shots. Leave now or one of the shots will be straight into her head.’
‘Be a man; let her go and take me instead,’ said George.
‘No, I’m not here for you. She’s mine. You stole her and now I’ve come to reclaim my property. You’ve led me on quite a chase as it is.’
‘Are you quite mad, Sir? We don’t even know you. She’s my wife, how can she be your property? This must be a classic case of mistaken identity,’ said George.
‘The only mistake is the one you’re making. I’ll give you one more chance. Go with your friends here or watch her die. Now.’
George held up his hands.
‘All right, all right, please stop pointing that thing at her. I’ll leave as you instruct, but what do you want in return for her release?’
‘George, I’ll be fine. Please go with the others. Master Ralph Knight and I appear to have unfinished business. It’s too complicated to explain now, but I’ll follow you soon.’
Knight grasped Cara tightly by the arm, the musket still pressed firmly into her temple, forming a dent in her pale flesh. ‘It’s time to let her go, my lord.’ He spat out the noble form of address.
George touched Cara’s waist as a silent gesture of allegiance and helped her to dismount the horse.
‘Go now, or I’ll shoot her,’ said Knight, his patience at an end.
George urged the horse on reluctantly and turned to look back at Cara, his expression, desolate. The karmic warrior pulled her up behind him and George watched them gallop away into the distance on the beautiful black stallion he had seen at the abbey.
His heart shook; the loss of her was a physical blow which ripped unchecked through his body and senses. He jumped off his horse, clutched his sides and retched violently, as Edward and Swifty looked on, helpless.
George slumped down on to a fallen bough of a tree, his head resting in his hands.
What kind of sap am I to just let her leave with him like that?
Chapter 29
The forest, York, 1536 - Tudorville
George and Edward stood in a clearing in the forest, reeling from the events of the morning. Edward had sent Swifty down to the river with the horses, so he and George had the chance to talk alone.
‘You did the right thing, my lord. I believed him when he said he would shoot her if you didn’t let her go with him.’
George shook his head, ‘That may be so, but we must get her back. God knows what he means to do to her. Who is this fellow?’
‘I must tell you something that will likely sound just as crazy as what that man did, perhaps even more so...but I ask you to trust me,’ said Edward.
‘I trust you with my life, Edward; and the lives of my family. If you know something that will help us to save Cara, then I’m willing to go along with just about anything. Pray tell me what’s on your mind.’
‘My lord, I ask you to suspend all disbelief as I tell you something that will sound so fantastical and outrageous that you may think me quite delusional.’
George looked at Edward, he felt as though his heart was breaking apart, and every muscle in his aching body throbbed. ‘Let’s rest here a moment while you tell me, and we await Swifty’s return.’
And just like that, Edward told George how they were alive together in the twenty-first century, and that’s how Cara knew the fate of the rebels, and why she had repeatedly tried to warn him they were doomed to execution in 1537.
‘Let’s say I have suspended all disbelief, for that’s surely what it takes to believe this magnificent account. What of this man, Knight? What is his connection to Cara?’ George asked, shaking his head.
‘We have a problem; as I explained, we live in other timelines, but we don’t necessarily remember everything that happens. In this timeline, you and Swifty are both sleeper travellers—neither of you remember our other lives together, whereas Lady Cara and I are conscious of at least two other timelines,’ said Edward.
‘So Swifty is involved in the time travelling, too? By God’s bones,’ said George as he clawed at scraps of reason in the midst of the whirling mayhem which gripped his skull. ‘But this still doesn’t explain why he took Cara.’
