Page 55 of Hooked By a Hero
At last, Tumbrill fell to the ground and lost his sword. He didn’t lose his fight, however. He grabbed for the ankle that still held most of Caspian’s weight and pulled it, sending Caspian sprawling with him. From there, it was Tumbrill’s turn to be quick. He shoved himself over Caspian, pinning his chest with his knees as he scrambled to grab the club, which still had his sword stuck in it.
Caspian was certain he would have used either the club or the sword to end him, but before he could do more than reach for the weapon, Ruby appeared suddenly and brought her knife slicing down across Tumbrill’s arm, shouting, “You will not hurt my friend!”
Tumbrill cried out in pain, clutching his now bleeding arm with his free hand. The movement enabled Caspian to roll out from under him and push himself to stand.
Hunt raced up to join them, tackling Tumbrill to the ground to subdue him. Ruby had done a fine job of doing just that by nearly slicing off his arm.
For a moment, Caspian thought the battle might be over, but Hunt glanced desperately up at him and said, “The rest of them are heading to the beach. They have Miss Winters with them.”
They had more than that. If the mutineers reached the beach, they would find Elias, Lady Adelaide, and Emily there as well, along with the lifeboats.
Caspian nodded to Hunt, and without a word, he raced toward the path. Thankfully, he wasn’t the only one chasing after the remaining mutineers. Woburn and four others scrambled along the path in the dark as well. None of them had torches or lanterns, but they knew the path so well at that point that they were able to make their way along it at a reasonably fast pace.
The mutineers must have had something to light the way. They were far ahead of them, and by the time they reached the beach, the scene that met Caspian had his heart pounding.Two of the survivors’ lifeboats had been launched into the water. A few of the men who had abandoned the battle at the encampment and who had taken Miss Winters were busy trying to push Miss Winters, Lady Adelaide, and Emily into one of the boats, though the women were fighting back valiantly and making it difficult for them.
It was the sight of the other boat that filled Caspian with rage. That boat sat lower in the water, as if the heavy treasure chest had already been loaded into it. Dick was inside the boat, but it was Elias’s limp form as the man who had carried the chest off with Dick handed him over the side that enraged Caspian. For whatever reason, Dick was attempting to steal his lover along with the women. He was trying to row away with everything Caspian held dear.
That was the last mistake the man would ever make. On land, Caspian had his limitations. In the sea, nothing could stand in his way. He raced after the boat as the other man climbed aboard and as he and Dick pulled hard to row it out to sea, in the direction of theFortune, and as soon as the water was deep enough, he dove in.
Nineteen
Elias’s heart would not stop beating like a drum after Caspian dashed down the path to the settlement, leaving him alone with Lady Adelaide and her maid. He was perfectly capable of handling the man who had passed out when struck, should he awaken, and treating the women, who were beyond shaken, but being separated from Caspian even for a moment set him on edge.
“All will be well,” he reassured Lady Adelaide, which involved settling her without touching her, since the very last thing she wanted at that moment was a man anywhere near her. She clung to her maid instead, the two of them weeping together. “Those men will not hurt you again.”
“But there are others,” Lady Adelaide sobbed, trembling violently. “Tumbrill and his mutinous band of murderers. They all appeared as we were preparing to retire for the evening. They could still find us and…and….”
“You leave worrying about that to me,” Elias said, wishing he could provide greater reassurance.
In fact, he was not certain what he could do against that many men if they were to suddenly find them and attack. And with the four, seaworthy lifeboats anchored in the incoming tide,the chances of some of the men finding them on the beach was very high.
“You must summon the strength to defend yourself if those men attempt to escape via this beach,” Elias said, speaking seriously to the two women. “Whatever you can use, sticks, stones, your fingernails, you must do everything to fight back. If they value their lives over your persons, they will deem two wildcats not worth the effort of kidnapping.”
Lady Adelaide and her maid wept even as they nodded. Elias left them to go to the fire pit, returning with two large sticks that had singed ends.
It was a good thing he’d thought to provide the women with weapons. Shortly after he’d handed the sticks over and showed them how to wield them, shouts and screams came from the path. A moment later, four of the mutineers burst out of the jungle, laden with packs that bulged with supplies. One of the men carried a kicking and screaming Miss Winters with him.
“Get to the boats!” one of the mutineers shouted. “They’re waiting for us like gifts from heaven!”
The mutineers dashed down the moonlit beach toward the boats, reaching one of them and throwing their packs into it. The night had turned dark enough that they did not see Elias, Lady Adelaide, and Emily at first, but Miss Winters spotted them right away and shouted, “Dr. Pettigrew, help me!”
Elias cringed at the way Miss Winters exposed the other two women, but he did not hesitate for a moment to answer her call. He leapt up, racing to her, and with what little skill for fighting that he had, he hurled himself at the man who gripped her around the waist and attempted to punch him the way he’d seen Caspian punch the other man earlier.
All Elias received for his efforts was a sore hand and an irritated mutineer.
“Get away!” the mutineer shouted, whirling Miss Winters around so he could attack Elias directly. “She’s mine!”
Elias managed to dodge the man’s blow, which was clumsy as Miss Winters fought back, but saving himself for a moment was one good move in a sea of bad. Behind him, Lady Adelaide and Emily screamed. When Elias whirled around to see what had happened, his eyes went wide. Not only had two of the mutineers rushed over to snatch Lady Adelaide and Emily up, Dick and another of the mutineers had just spilled out of the jungle, carrying a heavy chest between them.
“You!” Dick growled as soon as he saw Elias. His face split into a wicked, toothy grin. “Not so brave when your little bum-mate isn’t around, are you.”
Dick gestured for one of the others to come take the chest, pointing to which boat he wanted it in. As he did, Elias attempted to run up the beach to save Lady Adelaide and Emily, but he could already see he was no match for the mutineers.
Still, he tried to intervene as one of the mutineers dragged a flailing Emily away from Lady Adelaide and hoisted her over his shoulder. He could do little to stop the man from carrying her to one of the boats, which the others had released from its anchor and piled into.
“Oh no you don’t,” Dick caught Elias’s arm as he was about to throw another punch and swung him around. “Those women are ours now. So are you.”
“Let them go,” Elias shouted, ignoring the threat to himself. “Only the very worst sort of devil kidnaps women.”
