When I didn’t object, he helped me to his car and deposited me in the front seat. Then he circled the car and hopped into the driver’s side. “You said you had a horse with you?”
“She knows how to get home. I just hope she’s alright.” I blinked, trying to look around forany sign of Luna. Was I imagining the dark clouds racing across the sky? I leaned my head against the window as Henry turned his car around and sped back toward my home. The wind blasted into Henry’s car as we rounded the curving narrow country road, the only way to and from Pemberley. A thick barrage of snowflakes hit the windshield and left a sheet of white on the ground.
“This storm rolled in quickly,” Henry said, reducing his speed on the already slick road.
Luna had run farther than I realized. “I’m getting nauseous.”
“We’re almost there.” Henry reached over and patted my hand.
What was he doing on the road to Pemberley in the first place?
Henry pulled up to the circular driveway at the front of the massive house. Even after growing up there for the past twenty-one years, the building’s size still took me bysurprise. Decked for Christmas, each of the front-facing windows donned an evergreen wreath and red velvet ribbon. Over twenty-five in total.
Henry hopped out of the car, opened my door for me, reached to help me out, then seemed to think better of it. “Stay here. I’m going to get some help.”
“Yeah,” I nodded and watched him run to the front doors. In a moment, he was back with my brother, my visiting cousin Bradford, and Annie, our medical technician.
Annie dropped her medical bag on the ground. But a powdery layer of snow coated it before she could pull out her stethoscope. “We need to get her into the house. I can’t do anything here with the snow burying my medical equipment.”
Bradford and Henry stood at my sides and lifted me to my feet, then they guided me into the house. In a sitting room near the foyer, they settled me onto a sofa where Darcy removed my coat and boots. Annie ran her hands over my wounds, which seemed to amount to road rash, blunt trauma, and maybe a fractured ankle. Her fae healing powers made her a decent healer. But her skill and expertise made her exceptional. Sheattached a blood pressure cuff, oxygen monitor, and flashed a light into my eyes.
“What happened to you?” Darcy kneeled next to me and took my hand.
“Some loud noise spooked Luna, I think. She reared as we were rounding a corner by the willow trees.” I knew a lecture was coming.
“You were riding up by the embankments? Georgiana, you know how dangerous that is,” Darcy chided, but worry clouded his expression.
“I know. It would have been fine if not for the explosion." I rubbed my aching temples and looked around the room. Henry was there, along with Bradford and Annie. A pretty dark-haired girl stood in the doorframe. Right, I’d just met her. My head ached. It was the girl Darcy liked, Lizzy, I think. I waved to her. “You can come in.”
“Explosion?” Darcy’s eyes widened.
I shrugged, closing my eyes. “It sounded like an explosion, anyway.”
“Well, you definitely had a good fall and have a concussion. I can help, but I can’t completely fix everything. You’ll need to take it easy.” Annie put her equipment back in her bag and pulled out some bandages. “We need towash these wounds and get them wrapped. Looks like your leg and forearm took the brunt of your fall. You may have a hairline fracture in your ankle.”
“I need some aspirin.” My mind raced over the recent events. I was missing something. “We need to make sure Luna made it back.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Darcy cooed like an overprotective parent, and brushed my cheek. Past the glass in the picture window behind him, buckets of snow poured from the sky. But with the roaring fireplace and wreath above the mantel, the room was cozy and warm.
“Was someone out shooting today?” I asked.
“Not that I allowed.” Darcy stood and looked around at the group as if they had an answer. “I’d never allow that on a day we were offering public tours.”
“Could it have been a car engine backfiring, or a tire?” Lizzy, who’d made it halfway into the room, asked. A maid carrying a tray of steaming cider and hot cocoa followed her.
Annie took one of the cider mugs, slipped some healing potion into it, and handed it to me. “Sip this. It will helpwith the shock.”
“The sound was very sharp.” I accepted the warm mug, trying to piece together any more details. “It was deafening, like a rifle.”
“We’ll need to search the property and pull up security feeds.” Darcy wrung his hands together. “Do we still have many tourists in the house? John and Fran Dashwood were the last people I saw. Lizzy, what about your aunt and uncle?”
“They left an hour ago. I brought my own car because I was heading back to Austen Heights after the tour. But there were more visitors arriving at the time.” Lizzy lowered herself into a red leather armchair beside the Christmas tree in the corner.
“I’m afraid no one is leaving for the time being,” Henry cut in. He stood by the floor to ceiling window, drawing back the sheer drapes. All we could see was white.
“We’re in the middle of a squall,” I said. If my arms and legs didn’t ache so much, I would have delighted in the scene. The lights on the parlor’s Christmas tree reflected in the glass. Outside, snow coated the windowpanes, and dizzy white flakes spun through the air.
“Yes, I think we’re trapped.” Lizzy muttered. As if to verify the fact, the lights flickered, and the wind howled.
