CHAPTER SIX
“Stop this carriage,” Rose demanded suddenly. Her voice lashed through the silence so sharply that Barnaby jolted in shock.
“Oh, God,” Barnaby swore. “Don’t start that again.”
His groan was insulting; his put-upon sigh even more so, but Rose ignored him.
“Just stop the carriage. Look!” She commanded pointing to their right.
Barnaby followed the direction of her hand. It took him a moment to see what she had noticed. When he did, he immediately hauled back on the reins and stopped the carriage.
“Is it them?” she murmured quietly. She had no idea why she was whispering. The four men racing across the horizon would not be able to hear her. They were at least half a mile away.
“I think it is safe to assume that it is,” Barnaby replied. He studied the darkness over his shoulder and tried to shake off the deep sense of foreboding that settled over him. “We need to get off this road.”
“Can you see someone?” Rose glanced back but could see nothing but impenetrable blackness.
“No. It may be that group are moving into position to try to intercept us further down the road. I don’t doubt another group is coming up behind us as we speak,” he growled.
“What do we do?”
“Stay calm.” His tone was far sharper than he had intended. He forced himself to soften his voice as he continued. “We can’t go forward or back without being accosted by someone so we have to think of another way out of this area.”
“We can’t walk without some form of lighting,” Rose protested when she watched him eye her dress. “It is pitch-black out here. We will break our necks.”
“Keep your dress covered,” Barnaby ordered with a nod to her bright skirt clearly visible in the dark. “Cover it over with the cloak.”
Rose immediately flung the loose folds of the cloak over her knees, and waited to hear what he wanted to do.
“We need to ditch this carriage and ride on the horse. We don’t even have a saddle so it won’t be easy,” he muttered seemingly to himself.
“I can’t ride,” Rose confessed.
“It doesn’t matter. The horse is big enough to take the both of us, but not far.” He looked at her quite purposefully. “I don’t even know if it is happy to take a saddle but we have to risk it. I need you to stop asking questions and help me.”
“What do I do?” Rose asked looking around helplessly.
“Keep watch and tell me if you hear any horses.” Barnaby swiftly began to remove the straps and released the horse from the carriage before he made a makeshift bridle to use in lieu of proper reins. Murmuring soothing noises to the animal he carefully bridled the horse and rested his weight on the beast’s back to check if it would bear his weight. When the animal merely stood docilely munching on hedgerow, Barnaby vaulted onto its back and then off again. The horse continued to munch.
Rose watched him dismount with effortless grace and took several steps backward when he approached her purposefully.
“What are you doing?” she asked warily as she continued to back away.
“Getting you onto the horse.”
All she could do was squeak and cling to him as he deposited her onto the horse’s back before he climbed up behind her. The horse merely waited for a command before slowly and carefully picking his way through a nearby gate.
“Cover your dress up. We need to be as dark as possible,” Barnaby murmured.
Rose eyed the brilliant white of his shirt. “What are you going to do then?”
Barnaby glanced down and winced.
Rose removed the cloak and draped it over his shoulders. The cold air immediately bit at her bare skin. It was piercing but of little consequence in light of the danger surrounding them.
“’scuse,” he muttered. He placed a hand on her hip and slid her against him. Once she was as close as it was humanly possible to get he wrapped the ends of the cloak around her until her dress was largely covered. “That should do. Just sit still, and if you could hold it in place that would be better.”
Given that the horse was also black he knew they were practically invisible to anyone nearby. All they had to do was stay that way and not make the same mistakes as the men trying to set up a trap for them up ahead.