by Rebecca King
Pie stood within the shelter of the trees and watched the carriage turn toward the village. He watched carefully until it trundled out of sight and had to struggle with the urge to go after her. Everything within him screamed at him that he was making a huge mistake in letting her go but he ruthlessly quashed his instincts. Instead, he cast one last, lingering look at the conveyance that was taking her to her new life and turned away.
He had no sooner gone five feet before gunshot broke the silence. He froze. His gaze flew to the carriage. Horror swept through him. He moved out onto the road leading to the village and instinctively kicked his horse into a gallop. He hadn’t gone far before he caught sight of Billy half-lying slumped over the reins. At first, it didn’t register that the horses weren’t running anywhere, in spite of the gunfire and the loose reins, until Beaulieu appeared from the front of the carriage. The Frenchman roughly yanked Billy off the vehicle, and Beaulieu took his seat. He had no sooner gathered the reins than the horses where whipped into a full gallop.
Pie saw Florrie’s head appear briefly out of the window. He wanted to shout at her to get out of the carriage, but she was too far away to hear him over the noise of the wheels and the squealing horses. He nudged his mount into a canter, mentally plotting where his colleagues from the Star Elite were hiding in the village. Hopefully, they would see the carriage careering wildly past, but would they realise that it was Beaulieu driving? The Frenchman was wearing a long coachman’s cloak and a dark hat that was invariably pulled low to conceal his face. Pie couldn’t risk that his colleagues wouldn’t be able to identify their quarry. He had no idea where Beaulieu was going, but he wasn’t prepared to allow the man to take Florrie with him.
Pie chased the conveyance toward the village as fast as he could only to curse his luck fiercely when his exhausted horse began to slow beneath him. The fresh horses attached to the carriage, although pulling the additional weight, were still charging ahead and creating a distance between Pie and the carriage that he couldn’t hope to close. Pie felt a helpless rage sweep through him as he watched the retreating coach. Bitter regret warred with determination and desperation to keep her alive. He swore loudly and kicked his horse ruthlessly on.
Once in the village, he watched the back of the carriage disappear through the houses and scowled darkly at Simon, who was heading at a gallop toward Melvedere.
“Give me your horse, now,” Pie snarled, all but dragging his boss of the horse. He briefly rapped out what he had seen. “I need your fresh horse. Get the others,” he ordered, spinning the horse around and taking off around the outskirts of the village. He mentally plotted where the carriage could get to in the time he had been with Simon. The speed of the new mount was much more satisfying and, although Pie couldn’t see the carriage any longer, he knew the Frenchman, and Florrie, wouldn’t have been able to get too far ahead.
Now all he had to do was find them while Florrie was still alive.
Florrie slid the window down and tried to peer outside. The wildly swinging carriage tipped this way and that. She cried out as the carriage turned a corner and threw her heavily into the solid wall of the coach. She had only just righted herself when the carriage turned the other way and she found herself sliding across the seat. They were travelling far too fast than was wise and it would be a miracle if they didn’t crash on the winding country roads.
Her stomach turned with the mixture of the rough carriage ride and the memory of Billy being thrown off the carriage and landing on the ground beside the door. She had no idea who was at the reins. She could hear him yelling at the horses, relentlessly urging them on but didn’t recognise his voice. Where were the Star Elite? Did they realise that something had gone wrong? She tried to peer out of the window to see if she could see someone, anything, but it was impossible to identify anything except for flashing hedgerow that was passing by at a dangerous speed.
“Pie, where are you?” she gasped, managing to let go of the seat long enough to slide the window down down. If she jumped out at this speed she knew that she would die. She had to wait until the carriage slowed down a bit, and could only hope that they would pass through a town or something so she could jump out without causing herself significant injury.
Whoever the man was he didn’t know that there was a passenger on board. She stared blankly at the seat opposite. Or did he? Was the driver of the carriage the same person who had tried to run her over? If so, what did he want with her? Was he one of Tabatha’s creditors? If so, he wasn’t going to get any money off her if she was dead. She wondered if she should shout, but with the screams of the horses and the rattling of the carriage, knew that it would be impossible to be heard. She considered thumping the roof of the carriage but knew that it would be futile, even if she could let go of the seat long enough, this man, whoever he was, would stop at nothing.
Pie hadn’t been around at all that day, and most of the Star Elite had been trying to find this Beaulieu person. The chances of any of them realising that something had gone wrong were remote. As far as she could tell, nobody was following them so that meant she was all alone. She gasped at the cruelty of her situation and wondered how much worse things could get.
She had spent her entire life secure in the knowledge that she would never marry and that was fine; it had been her decision. However, on the verge of setting out on her new spinsterly life, she had to go and meet the one man who had ever come close to enticing her into matrimony, only for him to be more averse to the thought of marriage than she was. She had finally broken free of Tabatha, to find herself mired in debt she hadn’t run up and, with the help of the Star Elite, had finally freed herself from her embittered and greedy aunt to find herself kidnapped by someone she didn’t know. At least, she thought she didn’t know the man. She wasn’t aware that she had done anything to anyone enough for them to want her dead. Unless it was another case of mistaken identity, and they wrongly thought she was Tabatha.
She briefly considered shouting out of the window that she wasn’t Tabatha, but then decided it was best not to take the risk. The man had shot Billy, and was undoubtedly not prepared to stop and listen to her just yet. Because she couldn’t rely on Pie coming to the rescue this time, she had to get herself out of this desperate situation somehow.
She glanced out of the window and caught sight of a small group of houses. There was nothing to say that the coachman/kidnapper would slow down; he certainly hadn’t when they had barrelled through Melvedere, but at least if she jumped out and was seriously injured, there would be people nearby to help her. If she landed in the hedge, the least that could harm her was prickly bushes. She could live with that, if only she was alive.
Although in theory it sounded plausible and a reasonable, if desperate, thing to do, the idea of it filled her with absolute horror. But, the thought of staying inside and waiting for the reckless murderer who had kidnapped her was even worse. When he did stop the carriage, was he going to kill her too? She had no idea, but she knew it would be reckless of her to stay and find out.
Glancing out of the door, she gauged the distance between the ground and the carriage floor. Although the landing would be heavy, she could at least try to aim for the hedge but she had to be quick. The horses wouldn’t be able to carry on running so fast for too much longer. They were already tiring and unable to keep the pace that was being asked of them. The angry cries of the madman at the reins as he urged the beasts on did little to increase the pace, and for that Florrie could only be grateful.
She knew that if she was going to jump then she had to do it now. It was either that, or wait for the carriage to slow down completely. She stood a better chance of surviving if the kidnapper didn’t realise that she had gone. But then what was she going to do about her belongings? Everything she owned was on the carriage roof. If she left it and it disappeared, she would lose everything except for the clothing on her back.
Still, they were still only belongings. They would do no good to her if she was too d
ead to use them. Taking a deep breath she fought her way to the door. She knew that she had to jump in one swift motion so the man up top didn’t realise she had gone.
Her thoughts turned to Pie, and her heart ached for the loss. She suddenly wished that she had left him a note telling him everything she couldn’t tell him face-to-face. Now though, she wished she was back at Crompton and able to say goodbye to him properly.
She was about to reach for the door when the sound of more gunshot broke the deafening noise of the carriage. Her cry of horror locked in her throat. Her gaze flew to the flurry of movement outside and she gasped at the sight of Pie riding past at breakneck pace. His horse was running at a flat out gallop and easily keeping up with the heavy conveyance. Another shot made him swerve toward the carriage. She didn’t know if he could see her inside because his eyes were locked firmly on the man who was undoubtedly shooting at him.
“Pie,” she cried when another sound of gunfire broke the air and he disappeared from view.
Had he been hit?
Where was he?
She couldn’t tell. Sickness loomed and she glanced around in desperation. Pressing her face against one window, she tried desperately to catch sight of Pie but could see nothing except hedgerow and a small sliver of road. She threw herself over to the other side window but couldn’t see anything more on that side either. Tears gathered in her eyes and she angrily sniffed them away. Her thoughts turned to the cruel beast who was driving the carriage, and she felt a slow burning tide of fury settle in her stomach.
A scream locked in her throat and she stared up at the loud banging coming from the roof of the carriage. Her eyes tracked the sound of movement as it crashed over the boxes on the roof heading toward the driver. The carriage began to slow. Within minutes it had stopped completely. She lunged for the door and grabbed a firm hold of the handle when a blonde haired man appeared from the front of the coach. He was heavily garbed in the same cloak the man who had shot Billy had been wearing. This was the gunman turned kidnapper. She held the handle in a fierce grip when he tried to wrench the door open and pulled with all of her might to stop him from opening the door. Her eyes widened at the sight of the gun he held and, when he moved to lift the weapon to point it at her, he suddenly turned and looked to the side. He let go and disappeared.
Florrie’s heart pounded so loudly that she struggled to hear anything else. She heard more banging on the roof of the carriage. Her craned her neck around in an attempt to catch sight of Pie, or the blonde haired man in the dark cloak, and cursed at her lack of ability to see anything.
She felt sick when a heavy silence settled around her. The carriage jolted a little. After several moments when nothing else happened, she slowly opened the door and peered cautiously out. There was no sign of either man outside. Where were they? What had happened? She stared around her in confusion and looked at the horses who were still harnessed to the carriage, breathing heavily. She wasn’t sure what she would do if they took off again but, from the look of them, neither wanted to run anywhere. She was faintly reassured that they wouldn’t give her too much of a problem, if only she knew what to do next.
Did she try to turn the carriage around herself and head back toward Melvedere? Or should she wait for Pie to return? Would he return if he was chasing after the blonde kidnapper? She doubted it and there was no possibility of her going to try to find them. She couldn’t decide what to do. Several moments of silence did little to calm her worries and she began to pace up and down the narrow country lane while trying to weigh up the options that were open to her. In the end, she realised that she could at least walk the horses into the village. It was not far away and someone should be able to help her. If she could find someone to drive the carriage, she could head back to Crompton and get help.
Grabbing hold of one exhausted horse’s bridle, she was grateful to the beasts for docilely following her. Her heart hammered in her throat. What was she going to do if the blonde man reappeared in front of her, or in the village? She had no idea where Pie or the man had gone. The lane behind her was empty, and there was no sign of anyone in the fields as far as she could see; although she wasn’t prepared to pop her head through the hedge to find out.
She finally reached the village with a sigh of relief. She was visibly trembling from the events of the morning. Unfortunately, the village wasn’t very big and there were very few people about. She briefly considered knocking on doors to try to find someone to help but then had no idea what she was asking for. She tried to get the panic to subside enough to think clearly when the sound of hoof beats broke the silence.
Tears of relief pooled her eyes at the sight of Simon riding hell for leather toward her. Her eyes locked on the reassuring sight of him and she took huge, hiccupping breaths in an attempt to steady her nerves while she waited for him to reach her.
“God, are you alright?” He gasped, jumping down before his horse had even stopped. He dropped the reins and Florrie watched in a trance as the horse obediently drew to a halt beside them.
“Pie? Have you seen him?”
Simon shook his head. “He was here?”
Florrie nodded and pointed back toward the road. “There was a man. He shot Billy.” She turned wide, frightened eyes on Simon. “Billy, is he?”
“He is wounded, that’s all. Which way did Pie go?” He glanced around them and sighed. “Let’s get you back to Crompton. Get in.” His words were clipped, his eyes hard as he shoved her toward the carriage. “Draw the blinds down and don’t raise them until I tell you.”
Florrie watched him tie his horse to the back of the carriage and turn the carriage around with startling speed; far faster than she herself would have managed. Reluctantly clambering aboard, she had barely closed the door before the carriage lurched into motion. She didn’t draw the blinds down and scoured the countryside they passed through for any sign of Pie instead. How could two large, hulking men simply disappear like that?
Her return to Crompton wasn’t quite as swift as her departure, but they were still bowling along at a rapid clip. Her thoughts turned to Billy. She was glad that he hadn’t been killed. The man had only been trying to do his job. Whatever was going on around her, it wasn’t fair that he had been dragged into it and hurt.
She felt another flurry of annoyance toward the blonde man. She knew that she had never seen him before and could only assume that he was someone who wanted Tabatha. Was he an old lover perhaps, or another angry creditor? Or was this really Star Elite business? She didn’t know, and didn’t care. As far as she was concerned, if she ever saw her kidnapper again, she would give him a piece of her mind. She was done with being his target.
At that moment she had to return to Crompton. She couldn’t leave without knowing what had happened to Pie and whether he was safe or not. She was visibly trembling by the time Simon pulled the carriage to a jarring halt in front of the big house. A visibly worried Harriett was waiting just inside the doorway and rushed out to greet Florrie, who practically fell out of the conveyance when her legs gave way beneath her.
Simon jumped down from the box seat and shouted orders to the groomsman at the same time that he untied his horse and mounted it. He swung around and pointed one long finger at Florrie.
“Stay here, stay inside and for God’s sake keep away from the windows.” He didn’t wait for an answer and took off across the lawns.
Florrie turned and stared blankly at Harriet, who made nonsensical soothing noises as she ushered her inside. The tears had started to flow by the time she walked into the now familiar study. Within minutes she had a cup of tea at her elbow that was liberally laced with the finest brandy and a blanket across her knee. She caught sight of the carriage and her possessions being led away and vaguely wondered what they would do with all of the boxes and personal effects. Would they be left on top for next time? She didn’t know.
Harriett sat beside her, patting her hand ineffectually. Their eyes met.
“How do you do it?�
�� Florrie whispered. She watched a frown appear on Harriett’s face and knew she didn’t understand the question. “I mean, wait for Hugo to return to you knowing what the man you love faces such dangers every day. How do you stay sane knowing that their lives are at risk?”
Harriett sighed and stared at her for a moment. “It’s because I love him. If I had my choice, I would prefer Hugo to remain at home with me where it was safe, but I know that would make him utterly miserable. Men like Hugo, Simon and Pie; well, all of the Star Elite really, are a breed of their own. They have all faced their fair share of battles but don’t do it for monetary reasons, or the notoriety. They do it because they feel that morally they have to fight to protect their nearest and dearest. Sometimes I would prefer not to know what Hugo gets up to,” she added ruefully and threw Florrie a knowing look. She briefly explained the circumstances that had brought her and Hugo together and it left Florrie gasping in shock. “I just have to trust in Hugo to know what he is doing and leave him to be able to concentrate on keeping himself alive.”
“Good Lord,” Florrie whispered, staring down at the cup in her hands.
“All of the Star Elite would die to protect those they love,” Harriett sighed and settled back in her chair. “I know that when the spies have been defeated there will be other missions they will be involved in. Other men will be willing to take Hugo’s place when he finally decides that he has had enough, and the Star Elite will go on for many years to come. Hugo, however, will retire happy in the knowledge that he has done what he can to make the country safer for our children. I love Hugo for the man he is and, unfortunately, that means I have to accept what he feels he has to do.”
Florrie stared out of the window and wondered if she could ever come to terms with a life like that, even if her relationship with Pie was on a much firmer footing. She didn’t think she could bear the stress and the worry of waiting for him to come through the door. Not now she had experienced first-hand what he did for a job. It was horrifying simply being out in the woods at night without being shot at and having to wrestle with would-be murderers. Just the memory of what she had experienced today made her shudder in horror.
