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Charlie hefted the coal sack over his shoulder, and tried to appear nonchalant in spite of the tension that reverberated through him. Thankfully, the coal merchant was behind the house and didn’t see him. He kept his back toward the jailers as they ran past in pursuit of two women who were practically running in the opposite direction.
Although he had only briefly caught sight of their quarry, he felt fairly certain he knew who it was.
He frowned and watched the jailers disappear down an alleyway between two shops. He could only presume that the alley would come out at the back of the shops, and the women would appear beside him at any moment. If they were trying to avoid their pursuers, they had just succeeded in leading them in a large circle. That was fine; and would work, as long as the jailer’s didn’t double back on themselves.
A thrill of anticipation swept through him at the thought that there were two women the jailers were looking to speak to, and two women who he desperately needed to see with his own eyes.
In spite of the tension that reverberated through him, he casually propped his shoulders against the wall, tugged his hat low to cover his face, and waited.
Being in Derby felt a little like putting his neck in the hangman’s noose, but he had to risk it. The thought of having to sit at Afferley, and wait for his colleagues to return was something he couldn’t even think about. Hetty needed him; and he had to be there for her.
Thankfully, his patience was rewarded when the women appeared on the path next to him.
Charlie pushed away from the wall and followed them across the road. He kept his distance until they were well away from the alley. As he passed it, he glanced down the narrow gap, and saw the jailers heading toward them at a half-run. A surge of jubilance swept through him when their progress was temporarily halted by the sudden appearance of an elderly woman who had come out of her yard to see what all the fuss was about.
Determined that Hetty wouldn’t escape him this time, Charlie tugged the back of what he fervently hoped was her shawl, and watched with relief when she gasped and spun around.
“Hello,” he smiled. In spite of the dangers of their current situation he couldn’t prevent the grin that broke out on his face as he watched stunned disbelief on her face. He felt strangely humbled at the look of sheer joy that swept over her as soon as she saw him.
The urge to sweep her into a hug was strong, but he daren’t – not yet. Danger was too close.
“Charlie?” She whispered. “Charlie? You are safe.”
“Come on.” He didn’t bother to give her the chance to say anything else. He grabbed her hand and practically dragged her down the busy road.
Mabel opened her mouth to speak only to close it again when Charlie threw her a warning look. His hand in the small of her back propelled her ahead of him. While ushering Mabel before him as fast as she could go, he dragged Hetty’s shawl off her shoulders, and threw an arm around her to pull her against his side. He shoved her shawl at Mabel, and ordered her to hide it beneath hers.
“Change your appearance a bit,” he growled darkly.
Mabel didn’t object, and immediately twirled the two shawls together to make a kaleidoscope of colour before she dragged them around her ample waist.
Charlie’s heart pounded in his chest. “Keep walking straight ahead. Steady pace. Don’t stop for anything. Turn right at the top of this road. We are going to head back toward the outskirts of town.”
“You took an incredible risk coming here,” Hetty warned in a voice that was barely a whisper. “Where is everyone?”
“They are around here somewhere,” he sighed. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by a strange noise behind them.
Charlie risked a quick look back, and let out volley of curses that would have blistered the ladies’ ears, if they hadn’t been so darned scared at the sight of the now large group of men pelting down the road after them.
“Go,” he ordered. “Go.”
He pushed Mabel ahead of him firmly in an attempt to get her to quicken her pace. The older woman suddenly began to run, but was nowhere near as fast as the jailers.
He knew that it was inevitable that the jailers were going to catch up with them within seconds if he couldn’t think of anything to get them out of their current predicament. He couldn’t leave her behind but, at the rate they were going, capture was inevitable.
“Mabel,” Barnaby called casually from his position in the shadows to the left of them.
“Oh, thank you Lord,” Mabel whispered fervently as she spied Barnaby, holding out a cloak for her.
Before she could say anything else, Charlie pushed her toward his colleague, and she was immediately encased in the lengthy folds of the huge cloak. With the hood pulled up, the old woman simply vanished.
Charlie slowed his pace long enough to nod to Joshua, who was waiting with two horses to lead the old woman to safety. Satisfied that at least one woman was safe, Charlie gave Hetty a measured look.
He frowned and turned his head to see what she was staring at. His curse was bitter when he spotted Marcus, further down the road, locked in a raging argument with a farmer whose cart was effectively blocking the road.
“Charlie,” Joseph whispered. “Take the right, third house to the left.”
Charlie opened his mouth to speak but Joseph had already nudged his horse into a trot. Thankfully, Barnaby and Mabel had vanished.
