Page 106 of The King's Man
‘Where’s my sister?’ Jem stormed across the room and seized Morton by the neck. Morton was a large man, but Jem overtopped him both in height and weight.
‘Upstairs,’ Morton spluttered.
Jem released him, pushing him down on the chair with a pistol at his head. Kit looked at Lucy for the first time. The pretty face looked strained, her eyes red from weeping or exhaustion.
‘Well, Lucy, shall we go and fetch her?’ Kit jerked his pistol towards the door. ‘Jem, watch Morton.’
Lucy did not move.
Kit narrowed his eyes. ‘You may recall, Lucy, I have a rather nasty side to my nature when I’m crossed. Did you enjoy your stay in Bedlam?’
Lucy shot him a glance of pure hatred and rose to her feet. Kit took her arm, keeping his pistol at her head.
As they reached the door he said, ‘And I want the letters, too.’
She stopped and looked at him. ‘What letters?’
‘Roger Knott’s letters.’
She drew her lips back, baring her teeth like a cornered rat.
‘They’re in my bedchamber,’ she said.
He stood at the bedchamber door while she retrieved the letters from a locked cabinet. In the second chamber, he found May lying on the bed, bound hand and foot and gagged. She raised a tear-streaked face as they entered the room.
‘Untie her,’ Kit ordered and Lucy complied.
May tumbled off the bed and threw her arms around Kit’s neck, sobbing hysterically. He disengaged her and, with one arm around the girl, he prodded Lucy with the pistol and they made their way back down the stairs.
As soon as May saw Morton, she cowered and the tears began anew. Kit cast her a sideways glance, taking in the dishevelled clothing and bruised and tear-stained face. It didn’t take much to deduce how Morton had spent the afternoon.
‘You whoreson.’ Kit breathed the words, white-hot anger flaring behind his eyes. He jerked his head at Lucy. ‘This baggage too obliging, is she? You like it a bit rough?’
‘The girl’s a doxy,’ Morton replied and shrugged. ‘And I got bored,’ he added.
Jem, a little slower on the uptake, looked from one man to the other, then to his sister. As realisation dawned, he bellowed with rage and struck a fist into Morton’s face. Ambrose’s nose exploded in a fountain of blood and a howl of pain.
Jem raised his arm again, but Kit stepped forward and put his hand on the man’s shoulder.
‘Leave him to the law,’ he said. ‘Let’s get out of here. Lucy, the letters?’
Lucy tossed the letters onto the floor at Kit’s feet, forcing him to stoop to retrieve them. That moment was all it took for Lucy to produce a small, neat pistol, which she held to May’s head.
He cursed himself for a stupid lapse. She must have kept the weapon in her bedchamber and retrieved it when he sent her for the letters.
Lucy’s lips curved in a tight-lipped smile. Morton, holding his nose, snorted something unintelligible and retrieved the pistol from the table.
Jem and Kit exchanged glances. Kit scanned the room trying to formulate a plan. Lucy obstructed their exit by the door and Morton stood between them and the window. A large sconce with half a dozen candles burned on the table in front of them.
‘Drop your weapon, Kit, and you … ’ Lucy gestured to Jem.
Kit held Lucy’s eyes and slowly moved towards the table, making to place the pistol on it. As he reached it, he swept the candlestick from the table. It fell clattering to the floor, the candles extinguishing, plunging the room into darkness. At that moment, Jem launched himself at Lucy with a roar. Lucy screamed and her pistol fired as Jem knocked her to the ground with one swipe of his massive arm.
Jem gathered his sister in his arms and looked at Kit.
‘Get out of here,’ Kit yelled.
Jem picked up his sister and flung her over his shoulder. He rushed for the door with Kit behind him. They vaulted Mag’s still recumbent body and headed for the stairs. Jem took them first, his feet clattering on the wooden boards. A candle burned from a sconce at the head of the stairs, casting enough light to take them safely.
