Page 6 of The Beastly Earl

“It was no’ like this earlier, me lady. Perhaps we should turn back.” The young man had a helpless look on his face. Despite her own trepidation, Louisa patted his arm.

"This is the last burn between us and the abbey. Once we’re across, it’s only a few miles from home.” She smiled and nodded toward the sturdy animals pulling the wagon. “The horses will get across without much trouble. Besides, I’m certain Mrs. Campbell will have hot stew and bread waiting for us.”

“But ye are soaked, my lady.”

“It isn’t the first time,” she said with a twist of her lips. “But the sooner we reach the abbey, the sooner we’ll both be dry and warm.”

A troubled look still on his face, Fergus didn’t reply. He simply nodded then slapped the reins against the horses’ backsides to urge them forward. One of the animals shook his head in protest, but the other one simply moved forward forcing the other to follow.

The water rose high on the wheels of the wagon, and the stout vehicle shuddered slightly from the strength of the water’s flow. Ever so slowly the horses pulled the wagon through the burn and up onto the muddy road. A relieved grin on his face, Fergus glanced in her direction.

“I’ll no’ doubt Colman or Tulipan again, me lady.”

Fergus praised the animals as he urged them forward. They’d gone only a quarter of a mile from the burn when the wagon hit a pot hole hidden by the dim light. A loud crack filled the air, and the wagon lurched violently to one side. The jolt sent Louisa crashing into Fergus so hard it threw him out of the vehicle. Quickly righting herself, she leaned over the side of the wagon to see the young man sprawled in the mud.

“Fergus, are you all right?”

When he didn’t move or speak, Louisa drew in a sharp breath of dismay. Scrambling down from the wagon, she leaned over the unconscious man. Her heart sank at the bloody wound on his temple, and she straightened upright to look around her. There wasn’t even a hint of shelter anywhere as she stared out at the moor. Aware she needed to get Fergus out of the rain, Louisa quickly searched the back of the wagon for another blanket, but the only thing available was the canvas that covered her luggage.

It was a struggle to drag the heavy cover off her trunks, but she managed to keep the dry part of the canvas free of water and mud as she spread it out beneath the wagon. She turned back to Fergus and debated how to move him under the wagon. With as much strength as she could muster, she tried to drag the man toward the underbelly of the wagon but barely managed to move him a few inches.

“Damn,” she muttered.

The unladylike curse would have earned her a dark frown from Sebastian, and Percy would have simply laughed. Lord how she wished they were here now.

She wiped her eyes free of rain and moved to put the man between her and the wagon. Sinking down onto her heels, Louisa grunted with exertion as she rolled Fergus under the wagon and onto the dry side of the canvas.

The man didn’t utter a sound, and Louisa’s heart sank again as she struggled to cover Fergus’s body with the remaining half of the heavy tarpaulin. Huddling beneath the wagon, Louisa cherished the small reprieve from the cold rain as she contemplated her next move. She wasn’t unacquainted with serious injuries, but Fergus’s silence as she’d dragged him to shelter worried her deeply.

Louisa glanced down at the man and noted the pallor of his skin. It was obvious she would have to go for help. Alfred was the only other man at the abbey as everyone else had accompanied Aunt Matilda to London. If Alfred’s knee made it difficult to walk, her only other option was Doune Castle or Argaty Keep.

The Earl of Argaty’s estate had to be nearby, but she had no idea where. Aunt Matilda had made it clear she couldn’t tolerate the earl’s wife, and she’d never even met the man or his countess. While she had never shown fear in the face of any reckless behavior she’d committed, she knew better than to try and find the earl’s home in the dark. That left Doune Castle. Louisa muttered a curse even Percy would have denounced as she scrambled out from under the wagon.

With as much speed as possible, she unhitched Colman and loosely tied the horse to the back of the wagon. Despite the horse being the steadier of the two animals, Colman was much older than Tulipan. It would much harder for the gelding to cross the burns, which were still rising. She found a small knife in a makeshift tool box beneath the wagon seat and proceeded to cut a reasonable length of rein from Tulipan’s tack.

Discarding the extra leather straps, she quickly unhitched the horse and led him to the wagon’s front seat. Quickly climbing onto the floorboard of the wagon, she tugged Tulipan into place, hitched up her skirts, and climbed onto the animal’s back. Until now her legs had been dry, but Tulipan’s wet coat immediately remedied that situation. Shivering, she gathered up the makeshift reins and headed back the way they’d come. When they reached the burn they’d crossed earlier, the horse indicated his reluctance to enter the water. Irritated by his fractious behavior, she released a harsh breath of disgust.

“Stop being a ninny you blasted animal. You just crossed this stream a few minutes ago.”

Louisa pressed her heels firmly into Tulipan’s sides and urged him forward. Slowly the horse made its way into the rushing stream. Glancing down, she saw the water was now almost up to the horse’s knees, and she flinched as he stumbled slightly and water splashed up over her foot.

“Come on, Tulipan. Just a few more feet,” she muttered. As if understanding her encouragement, the horse took two more steps forward then quickly scrambled up the bank of the burn. A few yards away from the water, she stopped him and leaned forward to pat his neck.

“Good boy. See, that wasn’t too hard, was it.” She smiled as the horse bobbed his head then danced sideways at the flash of lightning in the sky, which was followed by a loud crack of thunder directly overhead. Tulipan snorted loudly in fear, and maintaining a tight grip on the makeshift reins, she tried to soothe the animal. “It’s all right boy. It’s just a little thunder.

Louisa pressed her knees into the animal’s side and urged him into a slow trot. It didn’t take long to reach the last burn that stood between them and Doune Castle. Buchany Burn wasn’t nearly as wide as the one they’d cross moments before, but the water looked much deeper. She would have to jump.

Barely thinking through the decision, she rode Tulipan a short distance away from the burn before turning him around and prodded him into a gallop. The horse cleared the burn easily but the landing caused Louisa to slip slightly to one side on the animal’s wet back. She’d barely recovered her seat when a bolt of lightning hit the ground several yards away, and the horse reared in terror.

Desperate to remain seated, Louisa grasped the animal’s mane and pressed her body into the horse’s neck. The animal’s feet hit the ground in a hard jolt, and Louisa barely managed to maintain her already precarious seat on the animal’s back. Another loud boom of thunder sounded above their heads, and with a wild cry of fear, Tulipan lunged forward.

Another flash of lightning lit the sky followed by booming thunder. It caused the animal to sharply change direction. Unable to maintain her seat on the horse’s rain-slicked back, she flew through the air to the ground. Her hip and shoulder hit the soggy moor a split-second before her head hit something hard. With a cry of pain she lost consciousness.

The first thing she felt was the icy sting of the rain on her cheek. For a moment, she laid where she was. Every part of her body ached, and while she’d been soaked before, now it felt as if Tulipan had dumped her into the burn they’d crossed. Even worse was the hammer beating a loud, powerful rhythm in her head.

The storm was still raging around her, and she slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. The movement caused her stomach to lurch unpleasantly as the pounding in her head sharpened. Eyes closed, she remained still until the pain had eased to a dull throb.

She’d never been so wet and cold in her life. Teeth chattering, she stood trembling and huddled over as the icy rain beat down on her. It was impossible to tell how long she’d been unconscious, but it was completely dark, which meant it had been at least two hours, maybe more, since Tulipan had thrown her.