Chasing Eliza (6 page)

He
cursed when the quiet of the night air was shattered with the
banging of the tavern door. “Now!” He ordered, grabbing her around
the waist and hoisting her unceremoniously onto the saddle before
swinging up behind her.

Ignoring
her gasp of surprise he wrapped his arms firmly around her, pulling
her tight against his chest as he dug his heels into the horse
beneath them. They tore out of the stable yard as though the hounds
of hell were at his heels and thundered through the surging crowd
without pause.

“
Here! You! Get back here!” Bernard shouted holding a white
cloth against his head as he staggered ahead of several men who
tried to jump in front of the charging horse.

Eliza
cried aloud as fingers snatched at the hem of her dress as she sped
past, immediately lifting her feet higher and out of reach of
grasping hands. Her backwards slide was prevented only by Edward’s
fierce grip as he held her against his chest.

“
Wrap your arms around me and hang on.” Edward shouted, urging
his horse through the assembled throng now spilling out onto the
narrow street directly in front of the tavern.

Terrified, Eliza did as she was instructed and slid her arms
around his lean waist, clutching the soft material of his shirt on
his back with desperate hands. All she could do was cling to him as
the horse dipped and swayed beneath them as it dodged people trying
to grab its halter.

“
Come on boy, you can do it.” Edward murmured softly, watching
his horse’s ears prick upwards at the steady command. Digging his
heels in, he was rewarded when Guinness lurched forwards and
charged through the melee, his hooves pounding in fury as he
barrelled down the main street sensing his master’s calm air of
command and responding to it without question.

It was
impossible to tell how long they rode through the night but
eventually Eliza was aware that the noise of the busy town had
quietened down until all she could hear was the pounding of the
horse’s hooves and the soft snorts of his breathing as they charged
through the night.

Despite
her earlier attack, Eliza was grateful for Edward’s steady presence
beside her and took advantage of their position to seek the comfort
of his embrace. With her arms wrapped tightly around him, and her
head buried in the hollow between his neck and shoulder she was
very grateful he had chosen to follow her. She realised then just
how foolhardy her escape had been, and how dire her situation could
have become had he not chosen to follow and rescue her.

“
You can come up now.” Edward whispered softly directly into
her ear. He should be blazingly angry with her for attacking him
but still struggled with concern for her safety as the sharp memory
of the baying crowd rose to the forefront of his mind. If it wasn’t
for Guinness’ sheer size making it impossible for anyone to reach
him easily, or stop him, then he knew they probably wouldn’t have
got out alive.

Leaning
forward to give his mount a gentle pat of gratitude, Edward slowed
him to a steady walk and taking advantage of leaning forward to
ease Eliza out of his neck. Not that he minded her seeking the
security of his arms, but the press of her lush curves against him
was just too distracting and was having an adverse affect on his
libido. He needed all of his concentration to make sure their
pursuers didn’t catch up with them.

He cast
a quick assessing look over his shoulder and mentally cursed at the
sight of riders following them at a steady pace. He hated to push
the horse through the night, over unfamiliar and uneven terrain but
the dogged persistence of the men giving chase made it increasingly
likely.

Glancing
down at the woman in his arms, he wondered just how much trouble
she was in.

“
If you are Jemima, you need to tell me now.” Everything
within him paused in anticipation of her answer. He knew that his
brother-in-law’s feelings for the mysterious Jemima went much
further than friend helping acquaintance. Knowing she was Jemima
would go some way to helping him keep his hands off the tempting
bundle of femininity who now sat so comfortably in his
arms.

“
I promise I am telling the truth. I’m Eliza.” Eliza replied
firmly, open honesty in her gaze as she stared openly back at him
confirmed that she was indeed who she claimed to be. He wasn’t sure
he was relieved or not.

Silence
settled around them for several long moments as Guinness picked his
way through the moonlight. Edward was contemplating their location
and was busy calculating how long it would take to the safety of
Havistock when he felt the shiver Eliza couldn’t
contain.

“
Cold?”

Eliza
nodded hesitantly. Although she was pressed up against Edward’s
warmth, the chill from the cold night air had chased the meagre
warmth away until she was wracked with shivers. “I’ll be
fine.”

“
You did leave the inn in rather a hurry.” He pointed out
ruefully, touching the tender spot on the back of his head, a
painful reminder of the evening’s activities.

Eliza
winced and looked abashed. “I really am sorry.”

“
Mmmnn.” He suspected she knew exactly what she was doing and
had planned the entire thing. Although he was annoyed he now had a
growing lump on his temple, he was glad she had not succumbed to
Bernard’s demands and agreed to whore herself, even for
him.

A quick,
reassuring glance over his shoulder had him drawing Guinness to a
halt. Briefly he untied his greatcoat from the back of the saddle
and shook it out before draping the voluminous warmth around her
shoulders.

Eliza
was immediately swathed in thick, woollen warmth that made her sigh
with pleasure. She eyed the cotton shirt Edward was wearing and
knew he must be cold too. He was in the process of tying the
strings when she placed her hand over his much colder ones before
removing the cloak and rearranging it as best she could around both
of them. Tugging the loose folds over her legs, the cloak cocooned
them both in enveloping warmth.

“
Thank you.” Edward murmured, inexplicably touched by her
concern for him. It had been a long time before anyone had
considered his wellbeing in such a way. The instinctive way she had
sought to assure his comfort at the risk of her own said a lot
about her, drew him to her in a way that disturbed him a little.
She was becoming more of an enigma that teased his
curiosity.

“
There’s someone coming.” She whispered, clutching at the
folds of his cloak in alarm.

Edward
turned to glance over his shoulder, well aware of his chest pushing
against the soft roundness of her as he did so. “Damn.” He
muttered, spying the three riders heading towards them far quicker
than they had been moments ago. “Hold on.”

Eliza
immediately slid her arms around his waist and clung to his
reassuring strength as he nudged the horse into a
gallop.

The cold
night whipped around them as they chased across the uneven fields.
Once or twice Eliza gasped as Guinness stumbled, clearly struggling
to maintain his momentum over the roughly ploughed
fields.

“
We can’t keep running over these fields, it’s only a matter
of -.” The breath left his body as the horse fell to the ground
beneath them with a jolt, throwing both Eliza and himself on the
floor with a heavy thud.

“
Eliza?” Edward shouted, dodging Guinness’ thrashing hooves as
he struggled to regain his feet. Jumping to his feet, Edward
clutched the startled horse’s reins and squatted down in front of
Eliza.

“
Edward!” Her ear-piercing squeal was met with the sound of
thundering hooves as their pursuers drew to a halt.

Cursing
fluidly, Edward roughly drew Eliza to her feet and shoved Guinness’
reins at her. “Hold those tightly and don’t let go.” His voice was
clipped as he pushed the long lengths of leather into her cold
fingers, and turned to stand directly in front of her wedging her
firmly between Guinness’ heavy bulk and his own broad
shoulders.

“
Give ‘er to us.” A large brute of a man, with more than ample
girth and scraggly beard nodded towards Eliza. The brogue in his
voice was pure Cornish.

“
What do you want with her?” Edward stared at each man in turn
while drawing his pistol from its sheath and cocking it in
readiness, although if he was honest he wasn’t sure he had enough
shot to drop all of them should he need to. His other hand dropped
to the reassuring solidity of the scabbard lodged into the belt of
his breeches.

“
She ain’t nothin’ to us, or to you so ‘and ‘er over.” The man
was clearly the ringleader, or the only one able to talk Edward
surmised, scanning the horizon quickly for any signs of their
reinforcements. He shifted on his feet, tensed and poised for
battle. He had been in this situation on more than one occasion and
was not unfamiliar with hand-to-hand combat, but it had never been
with the safety and security of a delectable female before. Still,
there was no hesitation that he wouldn’t fight for her.

“
You are going to have to get through me if you want her.”
Edward’s voice was cold, hard steel as he lay down the challenge.
He didn’t need to look behind him to know Eliza was there, he could
feel her trembling fingers clutching his shirt fearfully. He wanted
to be able to reassure her, but couldn’t break eye contact with the
gang leader.

The men
were spaced out evenly before him. Edward knew that if they spread
out further they could easily get to Eliza and there was nothing he
could do to stop them. He couldn’t shoot two men with one shot – he
was good, but not that good. If he had any chance of getting Eliza
out of there and to safety, he had to be the one to attack and
control the confrontation – and there was no doubt there was going
to be confrontation and inevitably bloodshed.

Sending
a silent prayer heavenwards that Eliza wasn’t squeamish and
wouldn’t faint on him, Edward lifted his pistol and shot one of the
pursuers with surprising accuracy. The man fell to the ground with
little more than a soft groan, the suddenness of his demise was
enough to prompt his associates into action. Immediately the battle
was on.

“
Eliza, get onto Guinness and don’t get off until I tell you.”
Edward snapped, shoving one hand behind him and pushing her off his
back before lunging forwards, his pistol raised. He had no time to
check to see if she had followed his orders, his attention taken by
the wicked looking sabre that was now pointed directly at his
heart. Without hesitation he pointed the pistol and used his second
and last shot before turning to the last man standing with a snarl
of contempt.

“
You can fight to the death too, or you can run for your life
– it’s your choice.” He snarled contemptuously as he glared at the
third and final man. Edward knew what he was going to choose as he
watched the man look nervously at the two men on the ground before
swallowing harshly and staring at the smoking pistol pointed at his
heart. To Edward’s consternation he didn’t run, but raised his own
sabre and lunged straight at Edward who had little to protect
himself other than a now empty pistol and a scabbard. He was aware
of Eliza’s scream but daren’t look to see if anyone else was
attacking her, his own survival depended on the next few
moments.

Turning
the advance around a little, he scooped up a handful of dirt off
the ground and waited until the man was only a few feet away before
tossing the contents of his hand directly at his attackers face. It
gave him enough of an advantage to dodge past the clumsy fool and
quickly mount one of their horses. Gathering the reins of the other
two, he nudged the horse around the bodies now lying face down on
the ground and rode over to Eliza who was staring at the fallen men
in horror.

“
Eliza.” Edward snapped, cursing fluidly at the sight of her
ashen face. Although she hadn’t crumbled into screaming hysteria,
she was clearly appalled by what she had just witnessed. Could she
hold it together until they got to safety?

“
Eliza.” Edward shouted snatching Guinness’ reins and leading
him around until they were all facing the same way. “Do you ride?”
He rapped his knuckles harshly on her knee, hard enough to snap her
out of her daze.

“
Do you ride.” He reiterated, watching the man stagger towards
them, his sword raised in attack.

“
Y-yes.” Eliza whispered, trying desperately to cling to the
relative reassurance of Edward’s familiar voice. “Y-yes I
ride.”

“
Then can we go now please?” Edward snapped sarcastically,
hoping that if she realised he was angry with her it would be
enough to break whatever fear had gripped her.

Pushing
Guinness forwards he slapped the big horse harshly on the rump,
rewarded when the big horse immediately lunged forwards. The sudden
movement of the horse snapped Eliza out of her trance more
effectively than Edward and he watched as she immediately snatched
up the reins and began to ride the beast away from the clearing.
Ignoring the snarls of the man running towards them, Edward nudged
his own mount into a canter and dragging the remaining two horses
behind him, took off after her.

“
Which way?” Eliza shouted as they rode across the rough field
towards the far corner. She had ridden as a child and knew how to
handle a horse, but Guinness was simply immense. Although his solid
bulk beneath her was reassuring, she wasn’t sure she could handle
him jumping over the low slung hedge directly ahead of
them.