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Had Sir Hugo arrived in time after all? Had his colleagues been waiting in the crowd to rescue him?
He opened his mouth to call out to tell them about Simon, but then closed it again with a snap when a heavy weight was draped over him and stifled everything but the shallowest of breath.
Doubts, worry, confusion and fear flooded through him, but he couldn’t think of one particular thing because of the chaos that surrounded him.
“What’s going on?” he croaked, as sweat popped out on his brow.
“Shut up,” someone replied, but his voice was not familiar to Charlie.
With little ability to do anything else, Charlie lapsed into silence and waited.
CHAPTER SIX
It felt as though he had been carried for hours when in reality it was more likely just a few minutes.
Eventually, the noise of the busy town dimmed and was replaced with an almost melodious silence.
He was placed on the back of a cart. At least he assumed it was a cart because it smelled of hay and manure. Something else was draped over him but, despite the avid curiosity that plagued him, he remained perfectly still and silent while he listened to the steady clip-clop of horses’ hooves, and the occasional tweets of birds in the trees.
He wanted to call out to ask what was happening. A wild thrill of elation swept through him. He wanted to cheer for the fact that someone had rescued him, but daren’t hope too much right now. The jailers may have just gotten him out of the area while the crowds were cleared. His death may still be imminent; and would be if Meldrew had anything to do with it.
Had it been Barnaby in the crowd? If so, where was Hetty?
He wanted his wife. He needed his wife.
If someone had taken the audacious step of getting him off the gallows then they were not out of the woods yet. It was imperative that he keep quiet and make sure that he didn’t draw attention to what they were doing.
He closed his eyes on a prayer. Although he had yet to see who his rescuers were, it was comforting to think that the Star Elite had been responsible. He knew that if it was them, he had a good group of men at his back. They would work to ensure that Meldrew was removed from office and wasn’t able to squirm out of his due sentence. The court the blackguard magistrate would be in next would not be his own, and there would be fair trial that would result in a just and fair prison term – or hanging.
As his body rocked and swayed with the cart, Charlie found his thoughts captured by the one woman he had thought never to see again. Hetty; his wife. She had been there; in the crowd; looking lost and forlorn, yet so damned beautiful that his heart swelled with pride. While a part of him hoped that she cared enough to take such an incredible risk, another part of him was horribly appalled at the thought that she had placed her own life in danger in order to save him.
The cart suddenly stopped. A rustling noise preceded the heavy weight being lifted off him. Before he could say anything, he was hauled to his feet. It was then that he realised that the ropes had been removed from his legs.
When the hood was yanked off his head, his gaze landed on Wally.
“Thank God,” Wally growled, and hauled him into a hug.
“Thank you,” Charlie croaked in a voice that was too choked with emotion to say much else.
“That was too close,” Wally whispered.
“Where is Hetty?” Charlie asked as he glanced around in search of her.
“Back at Derby. We lost her in the crowd,” Wally grunted. “We wanted the crowd to go wild, but we just didn’t expect them to go like that. It was madness. Utter madness.”
“We have to go back for her,” Simon declared once his hood had been removed.
He glanced at the men beside him curiously.
It was then that Charlie’s good friend, Barnaby Stapleton stepped forward.
“God; am I glad to see you,” Charlie whispered fervently, but couldn’t say anything else past the huge lump in his throat.
His relief was so strong that all he could do was clasp his good friend a fierce hug while he battled to control his raging emotions. He knew that at some point in the not too distant future he was going to have to face the emotional repercussions of today. Right now though, there were considerably more important things to worry about, like getting away from the gallows, and finding Hetty.
“Jesus, that was too close,” Barnaby growled as he slapped Charlie’s back and stood back to allow the rest of his colleagues to come forward.
“Far too bloody close,” Luke agreed with a nod as he drew Charlie into a hug.
