“What is your name?” Barnaby asked. He glanced about them and decided to allow the woman to vent a little of her discontent by continuing to march toward freedom. If that meant leaving her to stomp down the street in a huff then that was fine by him. At least she was quiet for now. It was a situation he knew wouldn’t last, but he was prepared to mollify her just a little if it meant securing her compliance in getting out of town.
“Rose Higginbotham,” she replied. Although she was aware of his scrutiny, Rose refused to look at him. Instead, she kept her gaze forward and continued to walk. Where she was going she had no idea, but she just couldn’t bring herself to get onto that carriage with him. Not only would it be conceding defeat, but she couldn’t embark on a journey just anywhere with this man. Heaven only knew where she would end up. He was far too distracting for her to spend any more time with than was necessary. She suspected he could charm anybody with a single smile if he put his mind to it. Unfortunately, he seemed to have an acute disliking for Rose, and found her more irritating than attractive. It made Rose more determined than ever to shake him off.
When she reached the end of the road, she quickly stepped in front of the carriage and crossed the road.
“You can stop following me, you know,” she suggested hopefully when he caught up with her.
“You know I can’t do that,” Barnaby replied. He waited a couple of more minutes until it was evident that she was slowing her pace a little. “Are you ready to get on board now?”
“I told you I am not going to be involved in stealing anything from anyone,” Rose bit out through clenched teeth.
Before Barnaby could reply, a darkened shadow suddenly jumped out in front of her. For the second time that night her scream was stifled by a hard hand clamped over her mouth. This time, though, it wasn’t Barnaby, it was Chadwick. Rose fought hard by kicking out wildly with her legs. She twisted and writhed in a valiant attempt to break free. Chadwick grunted and staggered as he tried to drag her toward the alley and failed miserably. His curse was blistering when Barnaby took him down in a flying tackle.
“Get onto the carriage,” Barnaby bellowed as he slammed a beefy fist into Chadwick’s face. He didn’t waste the time to make sure she was doing as instructed and began to pummel the man beneath him so he couldn’t pose any further problem to them.
Rose watched in horror as Chadwick landed several blows on Barnaby that forced him to move away. When he did, Chadwick slammed a fist into the side of Barnaby’s jaw so hard that his teeth smashed together. Barnaby growled and threw several punches back. When he saw Chadwick reach for his gun, Barnaby redoubled his efforts to disarm the man and the fight swiftly turned brutal.
Rose saw the flash of the wicked looking weapon beneath Chadwick’s jacket, and knew she had to do something before Barnaby was shot. Rummaging around in the back off the carriage, her hand brushed against a long metal bar with a bend at the end. She had no idea what it was for but it was heavy enough to suit her purposes. Jumping off the carriage she charged toward Chadwick, hefted the bar high above her head and brought it crashing down on the back of his head with all of her might. He fell to the ground without a murmur.
“Thank you,” Barnaby gasped as he drew in several deep breaths of air. Glaring at the back of the man’s head, Barnaby pushed to his feet and took a moment to catch his breath.
When he looked at Rose, he realised then just how terrified she was. Without a murmur, though, she had risen to the challenge and just saved both of their lives. He didn’t give a second thought to what he did; he hauled her against him and simply held her.
“Are you alright?” he murmured as he leaned back to look closely at her.
Rose nodded toward Chadwick. “Should we take him to the magistrate?” She didn’t want to touch him, or stay around him any longer than was necessary, but if they had to take him to the magistrate then she would prefer to do it while the evil man was unconscious.
“Not at the moment. We still need to get out of here, Rose. He has company,” Barnaby murmured.
When she looked at him questioningly her gaze immediately fell to the bruises she could see on his neck and face. “He has hurt you.”
Barnaby touched several sore spots. “It is fine,” he dismissed.
“Have I killed him?” She hated to ask but couldn’t shy away from the possibility. There was a very real chance that she might be the one who went to gaol if she had. The thought of that made her want to cry.
“No. He is unconscious,” Barnaby assured her. “Look, we need to get out of here.” He glanced up and down the street and swore when he realised they were no longer alone.
“Who are they?” Rose whispered as she eyed the four vicious looking thugs now lined up along the end of the street blocking their exit.
“Chadwick’s men,” Barnaby sighed.
“What do we do?” Rose whispered, stepping back nervously when the men began to move toward them.
“We need to leave the area,” Barnaby reported. He looked at the heavy iron she held. “Keep hold of that and don’t be afraid to use it again.”
Rose nodded without hesitation. She would if she had to.
“Damn it, there are more of them,” Barnaby murmured bitterly. He nodded to the new group of men now standing at the opposite end of the street.
“We are surrounded,” she whispered in horror. “What do we do now?”
Barnaby knew they were going to have to fight their way out of this situation, and needed to do so before Chadwick woke up and gave his men orders to kill them.
“I am going to have to drive fast to get us out of here,” Barnaby whispered. “You need to hang on and hit out at anybody who tries to clamber on board. Keep them off us, Rose.”
Rose nodded and readily climbed aboard the waiting carriage. “What do we do with him?” She nodded toward Chadwick who had yet to even twitch.
“Leave him. They won’t allow us to leave the street with him if we do try to take him. Besides,” Barnaby said as he hauled himself onto the seat beside her. “We will waste too much time trying to manhandle is worthless carcass. Let the magistrate deal with him if he is still here in the morning. Hang on.”