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

Callum shook his head and yanked the carriage door open for Mallory to climb aboard.

“Are you all right?” she asked a shockingly pale Sir Hugo.

Sir Hugo barely lifted an eyelid in her direction. “I need to sleep.”

But it was clear to Callum, Mallory, and Will, that Sir Hugo needed much more. He needed his wife and her poultices.

“Let’s go,” Callum bit out.

Mallory hastily climbed aboard and settled onto the bench seat opposite Sir Hugo. She immediately began to rummage through the picnic basket on the floor until she found what she was looking for.

While Callum guided the carriage through the woods and back out onto the road, Mallory did her best to get Sir Hugo to eat and drink something before she coaxed him to lie down whereupon she covered him with a blanket.

While he slept, she focused on the scenery passing by the window, but saw very little of it. All she could contemplate was the man who was driving the carriage, and what she was going to do when they reached Cornwall.

Many miles later, she was awoken by a soft groan of discomfort. Jerking around, she glared at Sir Hugo who was staring out of the window. At first, she wasn’t sure that the noise hadn’t come from somewhere else. When Sir Hugo shifted and winced, she knew then that something was wrong; terribly wrong.

“Are you all right?” she whispered.

She tried to see him through the darkness, but he was nothing more than a shadow.

A shadow who is in pain if that groan is anything to go by.

Sir Hugo didn’t move, or answer.

Mallory stared at Sir Hugo, who suddenly tried to sit up only to groan again. She thumped on the roof and called to Callum to stop.

“Can you lie down?”

Sir Hugo shook his head.

“What is it?” Callum asked.

Mallory poked her head out of the window and peered up at him.

“Can we stop? Sir Hugo is in a lot of pain. This is too much for him,” she said. “Isn’t there a tavern or somewhere we can stop at until it is daylight again? He needs to rest and take something for the pain. Do you have any Laudanum?”

Will leaned around the side of the carriage to look at Callum and nodded.

“But it is going to knock him out. He is going to be impossible to move if he takes it any in a tavern,” Will said.

“We cannot just leave him in pain,” Mallory cried.

“We will stop, give him some, and then get him settled in the carriage before it takes hold. If he sleeps throughout the journey he isn’t going to be in any discomfort,” Callum said.

“I need to stop for a bit,” Sir Hugo interrupted.

That simple statement was enough to make the decision for everyone. Sir Hugo had said he needed to stop so stop they would.

Callum contemplated how far they had come and how far they had yet to go.

“We could stop at a tavern for an hour. If we change horses, pick up some more food, and then be on our way again, we should be all right,” Will replied.

Callum nodded. “The best we can do is find a village. There must be one around here somewhere. It should be safe enough to stay for an hour because we are off the beaten track.”

“Keep on this road for now. We cannot double back and waste more time. We must carry on and get to the village,” Sir Hugo grunted.

He moaned again.