To Have A Heart (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 7)

“We have to get him out of here. Niall, go and get a cart.”

Callum met Oliver’s stunned gaze over the width of Sir Hugo’s chest.

“How bad is it?” Oliver asked

“He is going to be lucky if he makes daybreak,” Callum whispered.

“We have to get him to Harriett.”

Will fell to his knees at Sir Hugo’s bare feet.

“He cannot be subjected to a trip to London, or Cornwall. He isn’t strong enough. We have to send someone to bring her to him,” Oliver growled.

“There isn’t time,” Callum whispered. “Besides, we cannot leave him in the area. What if Melrose finds him again?”

To prove his point, he eased Sir Hugo’s blood-soaked shirt away from his shoulder to reveal a small bullet hole.

“He has lost a lot of blood.”

“That doesn’t mean he is going to die,” Will growled. “He cannot die. Not on our watch.”

“We weren’t with him,” Callum snapped. “This isn’t our fault. He was on his own. He said he knew where he was going, and what he was doing. We were duty-bound to believe him. He said he was going to intercept us but then didn’t turn up. How were we to know that he had been caught? I thought he had lingered in the woods to talk to you, or I would have insisted on staying with him.”

“If he gave you orders you were expected to complete them, Will. He would have been mad at you had you gone against them, Callum,” Oliver quietly assured him when he heard the emotion in Callum’s voice.

He knew that all the men were equally shaken by what had happened to their boss, not least because this was Sir Hugo, the stalwart of the Star Elite. It was unthinkable that anything could ever happen to him – but it had.

“It is unthinkable that he might die,” Oliver said aloud.

“We cannot let it happen,” Callum announced flatly.

Mallory stepped forward. Without thinking, she yanked a large strip of material off her skirt and nudged Callum out of the way. Dropping to her knees beside him, she folded the cloth and placed it firmly over the still oozing bullet hole. Pressing down on it, she opened Sir Hugo’s mouth and peered inside.

“What are you looking for?” Oliver demanded.

“Blood. We don’t need him choking,” Mallory replied calmly. “We have to get him off this dirty floor. He needs water, blankets, and warmth. Then, once his wounds have been cleaned, we can get a doctor to have a look at him. Firs

t, we have to get him out of here.”

As if to prove that they were still in danger, the distant sound of gunfire broke the silence.

“I will damned well cut that blackguard down,” Will growled, surging to his feet.

“A wise general knows when to retreat. Right now, we must do what is best for Sir Hugo. He needs us to get him seen by a doctor and fit to return to Cornwall,” Oliver warned.

“Don’t you think that is what Melrose wants? He knows that we won’t let him bleed to death and will do everything possible to get him out of here. Melrose will use our distraction to head to London, I don’t doubt. We cannot allow him to escape and disappear like Claude Smidgley. While Melrose’s men are trying to put up a barrier by stopping us leaving here, Melrose is heading further and further away. We must catch the blackguard, and now before he reaches his friends. Sir Hugo wouldn’t have it any other way. He would order us to go after Melrose. You know he would.”

Callum ran a frustrated hand through his hair because they faced an impossible situation. They had to carry out their duties and do everything possible to capture Melrose, but now also had to look after one of their own.

“We cannot let him die,” Oliver said.

“Nobody is going to,” Callum snapped.

“Let’s get him to the safe house and patch him up. If the doctor says he is well enough to travel, a few of us can take him home. The rest can go after Melrose,” Oliver suggested.

“We need all the men we can get given how murderous Melrose is,” Will warned.

With the plans made, the men went to find a door they could use as a makeshift stretcher. Once Sir Hugo was on it, they carried him down the stairs to the back door to wait for Niall to arrive with the cart.