He was a mean-looking sort with ragged, oversized clothes and a hat pulled down low on his forehead. As Lyra and Elise disembarked, she thought she caught the glimmer of his steady gaze, but he quickly urged the horses on, leaving them alone.
“Now,” Elise gestured with her pistol. “Let’s take a walk down to the shore to see if your theory is correct.”
Lyra swallowed over the tightness in her throat as she led the way to where a ship was anchored just off the coast. At first, the sight of the massive vessel caused her heart to clench. A former seventy-four-gun pride of the Royal Navy, the Bellerophon was now a shell of the glory it had once been. Its tall masts had been stripped, along with its cannons, and it sat on the water like a neglected relic of the past.
A small dingy bobbed beside it, ready to row to shore to pick up any prisoners, but otherwise, all was still.
There wasn’t a single soldier for miles.
“How interesting,” Elise said as she turned to Lyra. “I do believe your contact was mistaken.”
Lyra did her best to remain calm, even though her mind was racing. “Perhaps they are merely delayed.”
“Then I suppose we’ll just have to wait for them.” With that, Elise gave a sharp whistle and her driver came forth with a lantern. After he handed it to her, she held it up high and waved her hand in front of it a couple of times to block out the light. Before long, an answering signal came from the ship and two men climbed over the side. They took up their oars and began to row the small boat to shore.
“Until your reinforcements arrive, you shall keep the men on board entertained,” Elise said with a smirk.
It was then that Lyra knew she had to act. If she stepped foot on board that ship full of men who were already condemned as criminals, her fate would be worse than death.
But before she could make a move, the carriage driver whipped out a cane and smacked it against Elise’s arm, causing her to drop her weapon. With a rage-filled snarl, she instantly attacked him and they began to wrestle for the pistol.
“Run!” a gruff voice shouted at Lyra.
At first, she was too stunned to react, but she finally set her feet into motion and ran down the beach. There wasn’t any sort of cover to act as a shelter, so she quickly scrambled up an embankment. It was steep and slushy in the melting snow, causing her to slip more than once. Forced to crawl on her hands and knees, she heard a shot somewhere behind her and she cried out, fighting her way to the top even harder.
It wasn’t until she reached level ground once more that she stumbled to her feet and started to run. She spotted what appeared to be a rundown windmill, so she headed for it. She quickly wrenched the door open and ducked inside. The interior was dank and musty, with cobwebs lining its rafters, giving credence to the fact it had been abandoned for some time. For her, it was the perfect place to hide.
Lyra glanced out through an opening in one of the broken slats and listened for the sounds of pursuit, but all she could hear was her own labored breathing. She didn’t think she had been followed, but she knew she had to be on her guard, for she wasn’t out of the woods quite yet.
* * *
By the time Roarke, Drayven, and Alister made it to Sheerness, Alister was bursting with restless energy. After they left Eversleigh House, they’d had to alert Lord Liverpool of the security threat before setting out, which took precious time that Alister didn’t want to lose. But at least the delay wasn’t in vain, for a group of soldiers was already assembling when they left and would be joining them shortly.
Nevertheless, the moment the ship came into view, Alister took his pistol from the waistband of his trousers. He jumped down from the carriage while it was still moving, making sure to tuck and roll when he landed. He could hear Drayven mutter a curse, but Alister only had one thing on his mind: finding Lyra.
He crouched down, making sure to keep to the shadows, but it wasn’t until he was close to the docks that he heard a slight groan coming from the shoreline a few feet away. He narrowed his eyes and was able to make out the outline of a body. With his senses on high alert, he crept closer—and recognized who it was.
Alister tucked his pistol away, but kept it within easy reach as he examined the man lying on the ground. “Talon? Are you hurt? Where’s Lyra?”
“The last I saw, she was making her way…up the embankment. As for me…” The barrister grinned, although it was tight from obvious pain.
That’s when Alister noticed the blood along Talon’s side where he was clutching, his ribcage. “Dammit. I knew you should have stuck with pushing papers around a desk, but you’re as stubborn as Drayven. Couldn’t you have just stuck with the law?” Alister reached down and pulled the man to a standing position so he could put his good arm around his shoulders. Other than a hiss through his teeth, the man carried most of his own weight.
Beads of sweat broke out on Talon’s forehead, but he said, “I guess it’s a family trait.”
“Undoubtedly,” Alister agreed. “Where’s Elise?”
Talon nodded toward the Bellerophon. “She went out on the boat with her accomplices. They’re getting ready to free the men.”
“Then they will be in for a surprise when they reach land, as long as our reinforcements make it in time.”
Drayven and Roarke were rushing down the hill toward them, but when Drayven noticed his cousin’s injury, he froze. He appeared stunned, but he recovered quickly enough to come forward to take Talon’s weight from Alister. “I’ll take care of him.” To Talon, he attempted a jest. “Always getting into trouble, aren’t you?”
Talon made no reply other than a snort of derision as they departed.
Alister turned to Roarke. “Talon said Lyra fled up the embankment.” He pointed to the left. “You head that way and I’ll search over there.”
With that, the two men separated.
