Chapter 2 #2
“Horses reared,” Papa said gruffly. “I slipped and twisted my knee beneath some infernal tree branches.”
Mama pulled him up into the carriage with help from Hollister. I stayed just outside the carriage door. “Sit down, sit down,” Mama commanded, and Papa practically fell into the seat, his injured knee sticking out in front of him.
“I’m afraid I can’t bend it.”
“Here.” Mama patted the seat beside her. “Lay down and rest your foot here.”
Papa did exactly that, smearing mud all along the cushion. He never would have been so careless with the carriage if he weren’t in serious pain. This was a disaster. I wiped the rain from my brow. “I can take one of the horses and go for a doctor.”
“No,” Papa said. “I’ve seen injuries like this before. Nothing is broken. It would be too dangerous for you, the horses, and the doctor. We’ll have to wait it out. Give up on moving the tree and make our way to the next town once the storm dies and the road dries out.”
“Until the road dries?” I said through gritted teeth. “Who knows how long that will be?”
Mama reached for his hand and cupped it in hers. “You think you can sleep in a carriage with an injury like this?”
Papa shrugged off her concern, the effect lessened by the grimace on his face. “I’ve spent the night in worse places.”
“As have I,” said Hollister. I knew they were both right.
Papa had served in the Carolinas and Walcheren, among other places, and sickness and hard conditions were no stranger to him.
Hollister had met Papa in Walcheren. He’d been one of the oldest soldiers still fighting.
“The groom and I will unharness the horses and take shelter under the carriage for the night. I need to look over the coach after what it just went through, but I’m going to need daylight for that. ”
Had the sun set? It had been dark from the rain for hours, but looking around, I realized he was right. A red haze blanketed the west. The sun hadn’t set yet, but it was setting and it would be completely dark soon.
“Evelyn can’t spend the night here in the carriage in her soaked and muddied clothing. She will catch her death.” Mama ran her free hand down her face and then squeezed Papa’s hand. “But we can’t move you.”
Papa turned to Hollister. “How close are we to the shepherd’s croft?”
Hollister wiped the rain from his face, leaving a track of mud in its place. “It can’t be more than half a mile.”
“Samantha, you, Charlie, and Evelyn should walk there and spend the night somewhere a fire can be lit.”
Mama shook her head. “I’m not leaving you here, injured and alone.”
“As I said, I’ve had worse nights, and you were far from me then.”
Mama lifted her chin. “But if I had been near, you wouldn’t have gotten rid of me easily.”
Charlie nodded his agreement with Mama. “I’m not leaving you either. I don’t need a fire. My clothes aren’t even wet.”
If either of them set foot in this deluge, they would be as soaked as I was, with no guarantee of drying off.
It would mean a miserable night for them.
Papa still couldn’t bend his leg, which meant he took up one seat on his own.
If Mama was determined to stay by his side, the last thing I wanted to do was get inside the carriage and make it damp and overcrowded for her and Charlie. “Send Hollister with me.”
Hollister nodded willingly. “I can get her there safely, make certain the croft is uninhabited and sound, and then return here to look after the carriage.”
“That is good of you, Hollister,” Mama said. “But Evelyn, you can’t spend the night alone in a rickety old croft.” She shook her head. “You will freeze.”
I smiled up at Mama despite the rain. There really wasn’t another choice.
Neither Hollister nor the groomsman could stay with me, as having a man in the croft would make the indecency of the situation infinitely worse.
The only concern about staying alone would be my safety.
If Papa sent me with a gun, I would be perfectly capable of defending myself.
“I can pack up some dry clothes in one of the oilskin bags. They might get a little damp, but between that and the fire, I will spend a much better night than you. I can survive one night like that. Can’t I, Papa?
” Papa was considering and didn’t answer.
He was a decisive man, but never rushed his decisions.
“As soon as the storm breaks in the morning, I’ll return.
I walk alone often enough when we are home at Blackwell. This isn’t much different.”
Mama leaned forward over Papa’s leg. “At home you aren’t next to a well-traveled road.”
I wiped my brow again. There was no room for me in the carriage and the cold was seeping deeper into my skin now that I wasn’t near the horses and just standing and waiting to be told what to do.
“No one is going to be out in this storm.” I raised my voice so they could hear me. “I shall be perfectly safe.”
“Charlie,” Papa said, his brows lowered and his mouth firm. “My pistol is in the pocket under the window. Give it to your sister.”
My smile was genuine this time, even despite the rain still drenching me. It was going to be a terrible night, but it was the best option. And it was the only way to make this night more comfortable for Papa.
Charlie nodded, quickly reached into the velvet and carefully pulled out the gun. His mouth twisted to one side as he examined it. “Perhaps I should go with Evelyn. I’m a better shot.”
Papa met my eyes, and the hint of spark there made my heart settle. We both knew that wasn’t true, but Charlie wouldn’t be persuaded he was wrong without several rounds of target shooting and we didn’t have time for that.
Mama sighed. She trusted Papa as much as we all did, and the sight of me still being pounded by the rain made it hard to disagree.
“No, Charlie, Evelyn is right. You shouldn’t get wet, and she’ll be back in the morning.
I hope all of our plans for Hattie are successful at this house party, because it isn’t off to a great start. ”
“They will be, Mama. You’ve invited a lovely bunch of men for her to be introduced to and it is impossible not to fall in love with Hattie.
” Besides, I was going to make certain of it.
It was my fault their family had been cast in such a shameful light.
If I’d told Mama or Aunt Pryor about Hattie’s sister Matilda’s plans to run off with Mr. Langly, their family would still be in good standing.
Instead, they’d spent the past two years out of society trying to recover from the scandal.
Matilda had confided in me about him, but not completely.
She never told me he was a groom employed by her father.
She only said they were running away for the romance of it all, and I’d foolishly believed her.
Shivers wracked my body, hard and unrelenting. I wrapped my arms around myself trying to stop them, but it did no good. We’d talked long enough. The sooner this carriage door was closed, the better. “I should go.”
The same concern that crossed Mama’s eyes flashed in Papa’s. They both wanted me out of this weather, but I’m certain it was also hard to let me go. “Be careful tonight. If you meet anyone with ill intentions, use the pistol. It isn’t only meant for target practice.”
I squared my shaking shoulders. Papa wouldn’t let me go unless I showed no fear over the possibility of shooting someone.
I could handle his pistol, of that I was certain, for he’d raised me as much a son as Mama had raised me a daughter.
But to shoot a living, breathing person? Could I do that? I had no idea.
It wouldn’t come to that, though. No one in their right mind would still be out in this storm, and the last thing Papa needed was to worry about me on top of dealing with the pain in his leg. I nodded, the short decisive kind of nod he would expect from one of his soldiers. “I won’t hesitate.”