Charity could hardly keep up with the events. It was all happening too quickly. Matilda was screaming from inside the carriage, and Augusta was clinging to Charity now.
Duncan moved towards the men, who had now furnished knives.
One of the men tried to come around his side, and Duncan pivoted and hit him with a straight punch to the jaw that made the man stumble and spit, and then Malcolm was there, finishing it with the butt of his pistol.
Charity forced her legs to move, dragging Augusta back towards the carriage.
“Get in,” Charity said, and she pushed Augusta towards the open door. Augusta stumbled, then climbed into the carriage, her face white, and Charity followed, half-turning only once to look back.
The last thing she saw before going back in the carriage was Duncan taking a swing towards one of the men. He was knocked out cold.
The remaining thieves backed away, cursing, one of them dragging another by the collar.
“He’s a madman…”
“He will kill us too….”
“This is not worth it…”
The men began to retreat with their tails between their legs.
Charity realized that Duncan had just pulled off what was perhaps an impossible and no doubt impressive feat. He had scared away the thieves.
Augusta was staring at the floor now, and Charity was consoling Matilda, who was still sniffling and crying.
“It’s over now,” she said to the little one. “The danger has passed.”
A moment later, the carriage door opened again, and Duncan came inside.
“Get us moving,” he said to the driver.
The driver nodded quickly, climbed back up, and the horses began to move again.
“Have they gone?” Augusta was the first to speak.
Charity pinched the bridge of her nose. Even after all of that trouble, Augusta still had something to say.
“You saw what happened,” Duncan replied to her curtly.
“Well, more like it just happened and we were caught in the middle of it…” Augusta said. “You said that you were going to take us to safety, and yet not even a few hours in our journey do we encounter something like this…”
“Augusta….”
“No, let her speak,” Duncan said. “Go on. What do you think should have been done?”
Now that the duke was speaking to her directly, Augusta seemed to shrink. She bit down on her lip, no longer as sure of herself as she was just a moment before.
“I…”
“Do you think that it is in my control if thieves are to intercept us?” he said.
“No,” Augusta answered. “But then you should not promise safety when you cannot guarantee it either…”
Duncan’s gaze shifted to Augusta, and Charity braced herself. Duncan had little patience for being challenged by someone who did not know him.
“You stepped into a road where armed men were waiting,” Duncan replied, and the bluntness of it made Augusta flush. “You may do as you like with your pride later, but if you do that again, you will be dead before you finish your sentence.”
Matilda made a small sound, clutching Charity’s hand.
