The Lady and the Earl (51 page)

*
             
*
             
*

“Marcus, be careful!” Lilly called as she watched him disappear out the door.  Minutes
seemed to drag by as she and Maggie continued to flail around inside, waiting for the thing to stop. 

“What’s taking…him…so long?” Maggie
asked
as the two women bounced around relentlessly.

Fear clenched Lilly’s heart as she pictured her husband dangling near the horses’ hooves.  Both ladies cried out when the carriage hit another pothole that sent them sprawling into one of the walls. 
Please hurry, Marcus
, Lilly thought. 

Finally, the carriage rolled to a stop
. 
The women stared at each other
, both still clinging to the wall
.  Maggie looked green, and Lilly understood.  She too felt queasy from the wild ride they had just endured.
  Maggie pulled away and concentrated on breathing.

The carriage door swung open, and Marcus stood there looking
intently
at Lilly
.  “Are you alright?”
He glance
d down at her stomach.

She nodded and saw him sigh with relief.

Maggie struggled for the exit, pushing past Lilly.  Marcus tried to help her, but she shoved passed him as well, stumbling out
of the carriage and staggering forward.  She made it only a few steps before she slumped
to her knees and heave
d
the contents of her stomach onto the ground.
 

“Maggie?”
Marcus asked her.

“I’
m fine.  Just give me a moment,”
came
the
raspy
reply.

Marcus turned back to Lilly and helped her climb from the carriage. 

“Oh, Marcus.
  I was so worried,” Lilly said as
he pulled her
to him and
hugged her tightly. 
“What happened?” 

“Someone shot the driver,” he replied, receiving gasps in return.  “We have to head
toward the woods for cover and…” he trailed off.  “Lilly, Maggie, get behind me.
 
And Lilly?
”

“Yes?”

“Take this,” he ordered, retrieving a letter from his pocket and handing it to her.
  It was the letter Declan had written for the sheriff. 
“Hide it.”  He looked pointedly at her breasts.  “There might be a good place.
  If they search there, I’ll kill them.
” 

Lilly felt
the blood drain from
her face as she obeyed, stuffing the letter within her bosom.  “What is it,
Marcus
?” she asked.

He shook his head,
pulling her behind him
.  He
pulled his pistol out from underneath his jacket
and took
on
a protective stance.  And Lilly finally saw what had
so unnerved
him. 
Seven
horsemen
of a dangerous-
looking nature
were approaching the stopped carriage.
  Two of the men stopped a good distance away as though to keep watch, but the other five continued forward.
 

“What can I do for you gentlemen?”
Marcus
asked them.

“We’
ve been instructed to escort you back to
Lord
Hoffman’s estates.  There are
…
bandits on the road,” the leader of the small band of men said with a smirk.  He was a dark-haired man with a black mustache and strong jaw line.

“Lilly, Maggie,”
Marcus
whispered
,
“
w
hen I give the word, run to the woods.”

“Marcus, no,” Lilly tried to whisper back.

“Put
away
your weapon,
sir
.  There is no need for violence,” the leader continued.

Marcus
obeyed by replacing his pistol in its sheath under his jacket.  The
leader and the four men with him
dismounted and came toward
them.
 
The t
wo men
in the distance
kept their
post
and simply watched.

“Were these bandits the ones who shot my driver?”
Marcus
asked. 

One of the
men
snickered.  The leader shot him a warning glare before answering, “Y
es,
they were
.
”

“Then I’
m glad you
arrived
when you did,”
Marcus
replied.

Lilly was frantic.  He was planning something.  She could
n’
t allow him to risk his life in hopes that she and Maggie could get free. 
She could barely run in her co
ndition
.
 

“Yes, it is fortunate, isn’t it?  Now, if you
’
ll
please return inside the carriage, we will escort you to
Lord
Hoffman’s.”  The man gestured toward the carriage.

“Of course.”
  Marcus placed a hand on each of the ladies backs as though to guide them to the carriage.  “Now,” he said to Lilly and Maggie, shoving them both
to the left and
toward the woods.

“What?” Lilly asked.

“Run!” h
e shouted, turning toward the men, withdrawing his pistol, and firing at the closest man.  His target dropped to the ground in a
n
instant.  The remaining
four
men stared in stunned silence, giving
Marcus
time to throw his pistol at another man’s head
and
charge
the leader. 
Lilly gaped a
s
Marcus
pummeled
the dark-haired man in the gut, doubling him over
.  Then Marcus threw
his knee in
to
the man’s face
and
knocked
him
flat on his back
. 

Maggie grabbed Lilly’s arm and began dragging her toward the woods. 

“Marcus!” Lilly shouted, struggling against Maggie’s grasp.

Another man tried to grab Marcus from behind, but he elbowed him
hard, whirled around and right-hooked him in the face. 
 

“Run Lilly.  Get to the woods,” he shouted back as he fought.  He was
large in stature with broad shoulders
, fine arms
and thick muscular legs.  He threw
his weight here and there, keeping the
four
men on the ground from chasing Maggie and Lilly. 
His
boot connected with one
man’s
skul
l and his fist leveled another.  The
two
men on horseback
had joined the group by
then.  They were dismounted and trying to help. 

Maggie was pulling Lilly while Lilly tried to watch it all. 
“My Lady, stop fighting me!” Maggie cried.  “We’re almost there!”

Lilly turned from Marcus to find Maggie was right.  The safety of the trees was within their grasp!

“Get the women!” t
he leader hollered.  Marcus slammed his fist into the man’s face to shut him up, but it was too late. 
T
wo men quickly re
moved themselves from the fighting and mounted
their horses
,
and within moments
they
were spurring them toward
Lilly and Maggie.
 

Lilly braced the bottom of her stomach and pushed her body to
the semblance of a run. 
Marcus had just fought to free her.  The least she could do was try to stay free. 

They
made it to the trees before the men could reach them, but they were far from danger.  Lilly glanced over her shoulder to
see Marcus
finally overcome.  It took three men to pin him to the ground with one man pointing a pistol at his head.

“Marcus,” she sobbed.
  They would not kill him, would they?

“My L
ady, please come. 
Lucas would not dare hurt Lord Tananguard. 
We
must
keep going,” Maggie said as she struggled to pull Lilly behind her. 

Lilly
tried to focus, to
continue to
push her
swollen body forward,
but her
lower back throbbed
, and her abdomen began
to cramp. 
“Maggie, I
have to stop
.
 
The baby,” Lilly panted.  “It’
s too
difficult
to run.”

“
My Lady
, you have to try,” Maggie pleaded.  “They are gaining on
—
”

A
tall
man
with
hair
the color of sand
suddenly appeared from behind Maggie
.  He covered
her mouth with his hand, pulling her from Lilly and disappearing
through thick foliage
just
as quickly as he had appeared.
  Lilly tried to scream, but a hand
covered her mouth as well
. 

“
Sh
hh
,”
a
man’s voice
whispered
against her ear
.
  He held her back u
p against his chest as he spoke urgently.
  “We’
ll not harm you.  We are
here
to help.
  You must trust me to get you to safety.”

What choice did she have?  Whether she trusted him or not, she was under his control.  She nodded, and he released his hand from her mouth. 

He grabbed her upper arm.  “Come.”

Lilly stared at him for a moment. 
His skin was olive colored, and he was of decent height—not as tall as the other man, but still a hand taller than Lilly.   He had very dark
eyes and
hair with
a black beard
covering his face.

“Quickly,” he said.  “They will be on us in moments.”

Lilly glanced over her shoulder at the two men searching for her and decided to take her chance with the man before her. 

He led her through the
brush where the other man
with Maggie
had disappeared.  Lilly’s heart was beating rapidly
out of fear
, but she
let him take her
without complaint
.
  After all, he had said
he was here
to help.
 

He guided her along an invisible path
through a wall of thickets
.  There w
ere thre
e men
waiting for them
there as well as Maggie and th
e man who had taken her
.
 

Lilly sighed in relief when she saw Maggie safe. 
Her captor
still
held her
, but he was no longer covering her mouth with his hand.  He was simply holding her shoulders gently to keep her from running.

“There are two
of them and
four
more with the gentlemen,”
he
was saying to the small group.
  His voice was lined with a
thick
Scottish accent.

“They look like Rupert’s
men. 
I believe we could
overcome
them eas
ily
enough
,”
the
man holding Lilly
added
.

“No
, Garret
.
  I will not risk
Marcus’s
life on that. 
You and Thomas t
ake these women further into the woods toward camp.  We will keep an eye on these fools to make
certain
they do not follow.  Then we will come find you,” came the reply from the one who seemed to be in charge.
  His voice sounded so familiar.