“You, naturally. As much as a man might be hurt to return to near disregard for his person, the determined curiosity you have been displaying is pleasing enough to act as a balm for wounded pride.”
“Ihavemissed you, you know,” Elizabeth remarked boldly, the words flown before rational thought might object.
“And I you. More than I believed possible for any person to feel, if truth be told.” Their steps halting, Darcy’s expression grew grave as he adjusted his cravat, “Elizabeth, I…”
“Darcy, Miss Elizabeth!” Colonel Fitzwilliam called from where he and Mary were some distance down the road; a large wagon off the road beside them. “There is a hurt man!”
Sprinting down the road, Darcy quickly outpacing her, the pair arrived one after the other, Elizabeth’s breath coming quick and heavy as she took in the scene.The wagon near the edge, its bed fully covered. A man lying further on. And the horses calm and fully harnessed.
“Something is not quite right here,” the Colonel frowned. “There is no sign of damage to the wagon, no marks to account for a man thrown… Still, the form over there may well be the driver, and I suspect he is either injured or pretending to be. If it is some trick, I should like Miss Elizabeth and Mary to remain well back.” Pulling his pistol from its holder, he paused as he scanned the area, the open pasture around them appearing to please him. “Will you ladies be alright while Darcy and I make certain this is no trap?”
“Of course,” Elizabeth answered, her words echoed by Mary. “If the man is injured, delay is not an option.”
“Here, Darcy,” the Colonel said as he handed him the pistol before drawing a knife, “I shall check on the man, and if he makes any attack, you know what to do.”
Moving nearer the farm wagon in case gun fire became necessary, Elizabeth and Mary ducked behind it, the seconds passing slowly as they awaited closure.
Peering through the spokes of the wheels, Elizabeth’s pulse heightened as the Colonel moved toward the prone figure, his bearing tense as he touched the man.
“Richard,” Mary breathed beside her before sighing, the posture of the Colonel easing as he motioned to Darcy.
“It is alright!” Darcy called back to them. “The man is no threat… though I fear he is badly injured!”
Coming to stand, Elizabeth and Mary looked over the wagon at the two men, the pair knelt around the figure as they sought to lend aid.
“Should we go for a surgeon?” Mary wondered. “The road would be hard given the springs on this; more suited to crops than transporting people.”
“An excellent idea,” a male voice whispered as two cocked pistols emerged from the covered wagon bed, Elizabeth’s eyes growing wide as she observed the shadowy figures of the men who held them. “Tell Darcy your takin’ the wagon to find help, then climb up and head the horses toward Meryton if yous want to come through this alive. And know that one wrong word or step, and the both of yous will pay the price.”
“Ian,” Mary whispered as her eyes flashed, one of the guns drifting straight toward her head.
She knew him,Elizabeth awed for half a moment before every possible means of escape flashed through her mind, the gun pointed at her sister’s head causing each to be rejected.Mary’s life, as well as her own, were not worth risking.With a nod, Elizabeth turned her gaze to Darcy and the Colonel, the pair struggling to stop the man they tended from bleeding.
“Darcy! Mary and I are going for help!”
“Wait for a minute,” Darcy said as he stood, the Colonel still working to render aid, “he has been badly beaten, this man; one of us ought to go with you. The culprit may still be lurking.”
“Agreed,” the Colonel said as he glanced up from his patient. “The bleeding is slowed, so I can manage alone for a while. Though the sooner a surgeon can be summoned the better. To see a man outside a battlefield in such a state says nothing good about whoever did it. Let Darcy go with you… And make haste, he needs a keener hand than mine.”
A quick cut of her eye toward her sister and Elizabeth shook her head violently, “We will be fine. We are not far from Longbourn… perhaps Lightcliffe can join us from there? You are needed here.”
Standing rigid, Darcy’s tone held a peculiar tinge, “If you insist…”
Noting the hand on the trigger tightening, Elizabeth again shook her head as she pulled herself up on the wagon before forcing Mary to follow. “We shall be alright.” Hands shaking as she grabbed up the reins, Elizabeth prayed her final words might confirm Darcy’s suspicions, “Remember how well I faced Mary’s kidnappingbefore… We are two ladies who can endure much.”
Nudging the horses on, the reality of their circumstance pressed into her in cold, unrelenting waves.
They had two guns to their backs, two men who had likely beaten that man almost to death, and no guarantee Darcy or the Colonel would be able to find them.
“Keep the horses straight!” one of the men barked, Elizabeth blinking as she realized her distraction had nearly led them off the road.
Lord,she prayed, the hand of Mary on her arm strengthening her,let us come out of this alive.
Chapter 18
Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam in Hertfordshire
“Fitz!” Darcy exclaimed, his eyes wild as he observed the wagon lumbering down the road, “They are…”
