Page 28 of Exile's Return
Daniel stopped his horse, loosening his sword in its scabbard. Agnes came back alongside him and he turned to look at her.
‘I don’t like this,’ Daniel said. ‘Can you handle a pistol?’
‘Why do you ask?’
He unbuckled one of the two pistol holsters on his saddle, removed the guns and checked the priming. He held one of the weapons out to Agnes.
‘I want you to take this.’
‘No need,’ Agnes said.
He narrowed his eyes. ‘Agnes, this is not a moment for womanly sensibilities about weapons. I would prefer it if you took the pistol.’
Smug, self-satisfied, sod,she thought, fumbling in the specially designed pocket of her cloak.
She had the satisfaction of seeing a look of utter surprise cross Daniel Lovell’s face as she held up her own pistol, a pretty object with a highly polished wooden stock inlaid with silver filigree.
‘Good God,’ Daniel blasphemed. ‘Do you know how to use it?’
She gave him the look of contempt he deserved. ‘Of course, I do. My brother had many faults, but he gave me this and taught me how to use it. He said a woman should know how to defend herself in time of war.’
Daniel raised an eyebrow. ‘A sensible man and tell me, have you ever had cause to use it?’
She could hardly lie. ‘No. Not in anger.’
He shrugged. ‘Keep it hidden. We’ll move a little faster to try and clear the common before the dusk sets in.’
He kicked his horse into a trot and Agnes followed suit, moving easily to the smooth gait of the horse. It had been a long time since she had ridden astride but there were some things you never forgot.
Despite their heightened vigilance, the attack, when it came, still took them by surprise.
An unearthly cry caused the sturdy black horse to break stride, going down on its haunches as a huge man leapt out of the cover of the bushes to seize its bridle. Daniel threw himself out of the saddle, landing with surprising agility on his feet, with his sword in hand.
Agnes’s mare skittered sideways as a second man with a greasy hat pulled down low and a kerchief tied around the lower part of his face grabbed her reins with one hand. He reached out with the other and pulled Agnes from the saddle. She uttered a stifled scream as a knife pressed against her throat and an arm circled the upper part of her body, immobilising her with a hand that had only stubs of fingers. Bile rose in her throat.
Her right hand tightened on the butt of the pistol she held concealed in the folds of her skirt, but with the villain’s arm pinioning her, she could not raise her arm to fire it.
‘Your purse and your goods or I’ll cut the lady’s throat!’ the man holding her called out.
The second man let go of the horse’s reins and, brandishing a cudgel, lunged for Daniel. He dodged it easily.
‘Put down your weapon,’ the first man said. ‘Or I will kill your pretty little friend.’
The knife pressed harder into her neck and Agnes uttered a small squeak as it pierced the skin and her blood, warm in the cold air, trickled down her throat.
‘Be quiet!’ The man’s mouth came so close that she could smell the stench of onions and rotten teeth.
Daniel looked around and his eyes locked briefly with Agnes’s. A fire burned in the grey depths and a shiver ran down her spine. He turned his attention on the man holding her and, without breaking eye contact with Agnes’s captor, he laid the sword on the ground and straightened, raising his hands.
‘Let her go,’ he said in a low voice.
The man holding her relaxed a little, exhaling a breath of foul air in her ear. The questing stubs of his fingers ran around her neck, awkwardly extracting the chain of the locket.
‘What’s this then?’
‘No! Not that.’ Anger replaced fear and Agnes jerked her elbow backwards, straight into the man’s soft underbelly. The breath left his body with a softOofand he staggered backward, the knife falling to the ground. Agnes whirled around and planted her knee in his crotch. He went down, whimpering.
Balancing her pistol in her hand, Agnes stood over the man, pressing the pistol to his temple. He stopped moaning, his eyes, wide and fearful, fixed on her face, his hands still clutching his abused private parts.
