Chapter 29 #2
When Daniel spied the cabin, he considered staying back and waiting for support. At the very least, scouting the cabin, perhaps sneaking up and peering through the window so that he would not be running into a trap or putting Alison in any more danger than she was.
Pickle, however, had other ideas…
Daniel climbed down from his horse a solid one hundred feet away from the cabin. He clutched Pickle to his chest, but the dog began to yap and wiggle wildly, desperate to free itself. It had Alison’s scent and like Daniel, it was desperate to get to her.
Despite his best efforts, Daniel dropped the little terrier, and it took off in the direction of the cabin, barking its head off the whole while.
“Pickle!” Daniel cried after it. “Come back!”
He cursed under his breath and looked around as if for help… or an idea. Nothing came to mind and by then, Pickle was almost at the cabin, still barking frantically. With no choice, he ran after it.
Daniel trudged and tripped through the thick snow, his blood surging and his mind racing with possibilities of what he might find. When Pickle reached the front of the cabin, it started to scratch at the door, and its barking grew louder.
A moment later the door swung open, revealing the tall burglar who Daniel had already scared off once. Seeing him in the doorway, Daniel wasted no time.
“It’s her mutt!” the tall burglar said. “How’d he…” His eyes widened when he looked up to see Daniel charging for him. “Hobbs! We got –”
Daniel barged into the tall burglar, picking him up around the waist and tossing him into the cabin as if he was a sack of wheat. His body tumbled through the air and crashed hard into the floor; this had the cabin shaking.
“Oi!” a voice cried out. “How did you –”
Daniel was on the second burglar without so much as a pause. He was the shorter one, the leader, and Daniel reached him, grabbed him by the collar, and drove his fist into the man’s already-broken nose.
“Argh!” the shorter burglar cried out, head snapping back, blood spraying through the air. “Wait, I can –” Another punch caught his nose and his head snapped back again.
His blood was up. His body was shaking. Fire pumped through his veins and in that moment, Daniel might have very well killed both men without a second thought. But in his rage, he managed a quick glance around the cabin, and that was when he saw her.
“Alison!”
She was lying on a single cot in the corner of the cabin, eyes closed as if she was fast asleep. Daniel gasped and shoved the shorter burglar down, then swept to where she lay.
“Alison!” He fell to his knees, panicking as he gently touched her shoulder. He saw that she was breathing, and that had him exhaling with relief. Then he saw the bruise on her right eye…
He spun about and snarled like a wolf. He pushed himself to his feet, hackles rising as he stalked across the cabin where the shorter man was on his knees, blood dripping from his nose, body shaking with fear.
“Please…” the man begged.
“What did you do to her?” Daniel seethed.
“Nothin’, I swear!”
“Tell me!” Daniel grabbed him by the collar again as he raised his fist as if he might hammer the man into the ground like a rusted nail. “What did you do!”
“I barely touched her!” he squealed. “Honest! She wouldn’t shut her yapping. And she was wiggling about, fighting us off. I tripped is all. Dropped her and -- argh!” Daniel’s fist broke across the man’s face for a third time.
It was then that the taller burglar came at him.
He threw himself at Daniel, wrapping his arms around Daniel’s shoulders to try and pull him away.
And it might have worked, was it not for Daniel’s rage.
He roared his fury and flipped the man over, tossing him onto his back, at which point he drove his boot into the man’s face with a crunch.
And again. And again.
He pummeled the two men to within an inch of their lives.
Daniel had never felt such anger. Such wrath.
He had never felt such a need to protect someone he loved.
He pictured Alison lying on that bed, the bruise on her face, and all he wanted to do was ensure that these men would never be able to hurt her again.
“My lord!” Godfrey hurried into the room. “My lord!” he cried and threw himself at Daniel. Arms wrapping under Daniel’s, he pulled him away as Daniel struggled. “It’s over. There’s no need –”
“Get off me!”
“You’ve won,” Godfrey assured him. “She is safe.”
Daniel could not remember much of what happened after that.
The mayor rushed into the cabin, along with five other men who were members of the local watch in Whitehaven. They subdued the two burglars with handcuffs and promises that the criminals would be taken to London on the following day. They checked Daniel for injury, just as they did Alison.
And through it all, Daniel stayed by Alison’s side, holding her hand, sobbing softly, telling her everything would be all right.
But how could it be? In his mind, this was his fault, because had had abandoned her, he had made her feel as if he wanted nothing to do with her, he had…
he had brought this on her simply by being him.
He prayed that she would forgive him, while knowing that he did not deserve it.