Page 111 of Lord of Fortune
Chapter 21
“You imbecile!” Thaddeus screamed at the man who’d tripped on the slope as they neared the top of the falls and accidentally discharged his weapon.
“He shot me,” the other man said in disbelief as he pivoted toward Amelia, who stood just in front of him on the path. Crimson began to spread up his shirtfront, and he sank to the ground.
“Help him!” Thaddeus demanded of the man who’d fired.
The culprit scrambled to his feet and promptly slipped again. Swearing, Thaddeus moved past her and pulled the injured man up the path and off to the side in a small, muddy clearing near the top of the falls. While he labored, Amelia considered how she might escape. However, without a pistol with which to shoot Thaddeus or the other henchman, she doubted she’d get very far.
Thaddeus dropped the man and cursed again. “That hurt my bloody arm!”
Amelia stared at her husband, wondering what she’d ever seen in this pathetic, unscrupulous man.
The henchman who’d fallen staggered into the clearing covered in mud, then rushed to kneel by the other man’s side. “I’m so sorry, Bertie, ’twas an accident.”
Bertie groaned, and his eyes fluttered closed.
The other man blinked up at Thaddeus. “We need to get him some help.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Thaddeus snapped.
“I’ll carry ’im.”
“It’s miles back to the village.”
“There’s another one that way.” The man pointed up the path past the falls. “That’s what the man in the village said, remember?”
Thaddeus scoffed. “We’re getting the heart first. Leave him for now.”
Bertie groaned again, and he’d lost every bit of his color. Amelia hated seeing him in pain, but it was one less obstacle for her and Penn to deal with.
Penn.She prayed he’d been able to escape his bonds. And where was the henchman who’d tied him up? And the man Thaddeus had stationed at the junction to wait for him?
Thaddeus wrapped his hand around her elbow. “Let’s go, it’s starting to rain.”
He was right. A fine mist had begun to fall, quickly coating them in dew.
“Now where is this heart? You said the top of the falls, but where the hell would we find it?” He walked beneath a canopy of trees and moved close to the river’s edge where the sound of the water spilling over the falls filled the air.
Amelia looked down. It was quite a drop. But not a straight fall as she’d thought. There was a ledge partway down that broke the fall. If they crossed the river, they could make their way down to the ledge where the rock would be slick, and he might slip…
“It’s down there on that ledge—hidden behind the water.”
Thaddeus stared down at the outcropping. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why wouldn’t they hide it somewhere that’s difficult to reach? It makes perfect sense to me.”
“Bloody hell,” he muttered. “We’ll need to cross the river.” He glanced at her legs. “Good thing you’re dressed like man again, but that will stop when we get home.”
Amelia gritted her teeth but said nothing.
“Bertie’s unconscious,” the other henchman said with grave concern.
“Are you sure he’s not dead?” Thaddeus asked.
Amelia sucked in a breath. “When did you become so uncharitable?” she asked crossly, uncaring what he thought of her irritation.
“When people behave like idiots and endanger our mission.” He rolled his eyes before looking down at the man. “Come on, Price, let’s get the heart, then we can get Bertie out of here.” He gave Amelia a taunting stare. “Better?”
