“Come, Mary. Let us seek cover under the trees whilst the men work on the carriage.” Lizzie made her way around them and moved to the side of the road.
“Dinna stray too far,” he warned.
Lizzie rolled her eyes but for once did as she was told and stopped at the tree line and watched them work.
The wheel was stuck something fierce and it wasn’t just a matter of lifting the carriage out of the rut.
Malcolm studied the hole. Intuition telling him that something was amiss.
“Does this look natural to ye, John?” he asked the coachman.
The man shook his head as he tried to dig the wheel out of the mud. He sat back on his heels, assessing the area. “Nay, my lord. The hole is too perfect to be done by Mother Nature. ’Tis theperfect width to snag an unsuspecting wheel. The narrowness also makes it hard to detect until upon it.”
Malcolm stood and scanned the trees, his ears listening for any noises that would be too big for an animal.
“Ladies, come forward from the trees.” His voice was low. If someone was watching them, he didn’t want to give them any inkling that he was aware of them.
“We are fine here, thank ye,” Lizzie snapped.
Gritting his teeth, he approached the women. “I need ye closer to the carriage.”
“Whye’er for?”
“Are ye always this obstinate?” He shook his head. “Ne’er mind. I dinna want to ken your answer. I want ye to stay close.”
Her eyes narrowed and she looked behind her at the woods. “Are we no’ safe?” she asked quietly.
“Ye are. I would just prefer if ye were nearby.” He didn’t want to alarm the women and he said a silent prayer that for just this once, she listened.
With a final look at the trees, she gave him a curt nod, and grasped Mary’s hand, pulling her maid toward him.
“Just stay clear of where the carriage might roll if we can loosen it. I dinna want either of ye getting hurt.”
He and John went back to work on digging out the wheel. When they finally got it free, they tried to lift the carriage, but its weight was too much.
“I dinna think we will be able to get it out, my lord,” John muttered after several attempts.
Malcolm swiped his forearm across his brow. His man was right. They would need to enlist help. He moved to the back of the carriage and rummaged through his bag, his fingers closing around his pistol. With his back to the women, he maneuvered his holster on and slipped the pistol inside. He didn’t wantto frighten them, but he would be damned if he let them be vulnerable in this situation.
“Take one of the horses and ride to the closest town. Secure some men and a new wheel.”
“My lord?”
“I will stay with the women to ensure their safety.”
John bowed. “Aye, my lord. I shall return swiftly.”
Malcolm nodded, but he doubted it. They were hours away from anyone that would be of help for what they needed. John may come across some men to enlist for what they needed, but the wheel would be another story.
He watched as John climbed one of the horses and trotted down the road.
“The coachman is leaving us?” Lizzie asked.
“One of us had to go and recruit help and I wasna about to leave ye two alone.” His eyes went to the woods again. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He kenned someone was watching them. The question was, were they there to help or harm?
*
Lizzie couldn’t helpthe shiver that overtook her body. Something wasn’t right. Malcolm looked far too serious as he gazed at the trees.
