AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Marcus?” Clara gasped, her gaze swinging to her brother.
“Get down,” he ordered. “On the floor.”
She did as he commanded, her heart thundering in her ears as another shot rang out in the night.
Ralph!
She did scream this time, tucking her head under her arms, her legs curled under her body.
Had he been hurt?
What would she do if he had? In that instant, she knew…
Ralph was meant to be hers.
Ralph caught Wyatt’s shadow in the dim light of the moon on the other side of the carriage. He might have questioned whether or not it was his brother, but he’d seen Wyatt skulk through the night enough to know him anywhere. That was his brother.
What was more, he carried as many weapons as Ralph did.
The driver sat huddled in the footrest. “Are you hurt?” Ralph whispered.
“Shot went over my head,” the man answered, as two of the footmen came abreast of him and Wyatt.
“Stay down and fire if you see one of them,” Ralph replied. He looked at Wyatt and the footman through the team of horses. “Who’s minding the back?” They couldn’t leave Priscilla unguarded in case whoever was attacking him had a two-front approach.
“My footman,” Wyatt answered.
“Join them. I’ll take the front.” Ralph waved his brother back. Wyatt hesitated and Ralph understood. Much as Wyatt wanted to protect his wife, he’d be leaving Ralph to face the known danger in the front. “Go.”
With one quick nod, Wyatt fell back and Ralph started forward again. He hadn’t made it three steps when four men emerged from the dark, trotting up to the carriage, guns drawn.
“Cease,” Ralph’s voice boomed out into the night. “Step off the road and let us pass or I’ll be forced to kill you.”
Cackling met his threat as the men drew up, their pistols casually drawn. “And who are you to threaten us?”
He grinned as he took several more steps to the front of the team of horses, the two footmen on either side. “Me? Why, I’m the Bushy Hero.” And then he levelled both guns, aiming for the two in the middle. At this close range, he’d be unlikely to miss, but he’d also most likely catch a bullet if one returned fire.
One of the men cursed into the night, while another’s horse gave a nervous sidestep. “You’re lying.”
And then the night brightened and his eyes widened. It was the men from the inn! The one in the front was the same one who’d grabbed Clara.
His teeth snapped together as his hands tightened on the grips of the pistols. “Train your shots on the men at either end,” he told the footmen, taking a lungful of air into his chest.
Fights always went slow right up to the moment that they moved very quickly. Suddenly, one of the thieves levelled his pistols and fired. At once, he fired first one gun and then the other, the two footmen firing as well.
Before the smoke had even cleared, he charged ahead, pulling a man from his horse and landing a solid punch to his thief’s face.
Another jumped on his back, but it was a move Ralph knew well and he heaved the man over his shoulder, sending him crashing to the ground before dropping a knee into his chest.
Behind him, he heard more shots.
There had been a group at the back. His head tilted up and for a second, he thought to run to Wyatt’s aid.
But Wyatt was a man and could take care of himself. He would hold here to keep Clara safe. With a startling clarity, he knew that she was his future. And by her side was where he needed to be.
