Ambrose slid out from beneath the carriage, standing up. He cursed under his breath. Fixing the wheel had taken longer than he anticipated, but it was done now.
The other passengers were milling around the coach. He glanced up at the top of the carriage. Baldwin and his damned dog weren’t there.
Quickly, he walked to the coach, gazing in. His heart constricted in fear. Delia wasn’t inside. The coach was empty.
In a blind panic, he turned around. “Where is Miss Parker?”
“She went for a walk,” said Mr Hawkins, pointing in the direction. “She must have wanted to stretch her legs. It took so long.”
Ambrose cursed again. “What of the man and his dog? Where are they?”
“They went in the same direction,” said Mr Giles, studying him closely. “Hartfield, what is wrong?”
“She is in danger,” he cried. “That man is trouble!”
“Well, let us go and sort him out then,” said Mr Giles in a grim voice. “There’s no time to waste.”
Ambrose started running down the road with Mr Giles hot on his heels. He was glad of the other man’s assistance. Two people were better than one. And even though Baldwin was only one man, the presence of the dog would be a problem. It was vicious.
He cursed aloud. He had no idea what Baldwin’s intention was in pursuing her on this isolated road. It would take an eternity to walk with her back to the inn—it was over an hour away by carriage and would take considerably longer on foot.
But then, he stopped short. His heart filled with foreboding. A black carriage was parked on the side of the road. It appeared to be waiting like a malevolent spider.
His heart stopped. It was Baldwin’s carriage. He was certain of it.
He started running again. Of course, it was so obvious now. Baldwin had tampered with the coach’s wheel, knowing it would inevitably break down, and had given instructions for his own carriage to follow at a discreet distance. This had been his plan all along.
The man must have realised instantly that Delia was the missing lady. Those distinctive grey eyes. His heart contorted. He had tried so hard to keep her safe, to get her into the coach without Baldwin seeing her, but it hadn’t worked.
He reached the carriage. A squat coachman sat atop, glaring at him. He ran to the carriage, peering inside, but he already knew it was empty. It would hardly be sitting here idle if Baldwin and Delia were inside. It would be heading south already.
“Where is she?” he shouted at the coachman. “By Jove’s beard, I will pummel you if you do not tell me!”
The man looked frightened. He jerked his thumb in the direction of a field beyond. “She ran away into the hills. Mr Baldwin and his dog are after her.”
Ambrose cursed again. He turned to Mr Giles.
“Come on,” he cried, setting off in the direction the coachman indicated. “We must find her.”
They kept running. Ambrose’s lungs were straining. He didn’t know if the coachman had sent him in the right direction or not, but he had no choice but to assume he had.
Delia, he thought, his heart contracting with fear again.Delia, I am coming for you.
Chapter 38
Delia stumbled, trying to regain her footing. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. Luckily, she was no longer running through an open field, trying frantically to run through thick snow. She had seen some woods and headed straight for them. Now, she was weaving desperately between tall trees in a desperate attempt to evade her pursuer.
She heard the bark of the large black dog behind her. It was going to get to her soon. It was going to round her up like a sheep if it didn’t rip out her throat beforehand. She sobbed, almost falling. She couldn’t keep up this pace. She was going to collapse soon. And then what was going to happen to her?
She almost stopped. It was pointless. Jack Baldwin was going to find her and force her to go with him regardless of how much she fought him. She may as well give up and accept her fate. Returning home was infinitely better than running for her life through unknown woods in the middle of nowhere. How had she come to this?
Delia heard another bark, closer this time. She sobbed again.
She couldn’t keep running. Her lungs were strained to bursting point. Her legs felt like slack rubber. She was sweating and panting so hard that she was almost delirious.
But just when she thought she would give herself up and surrender, she saw a pile of large rocks which seemed to have an opening. Her heart leapt. It was a cave. She was sure of it.
With one final burst of energy, she ran towards it, almost sliding on the snow as she approached it. She scrambled into the darkness, praying that there wasn’t a creature within. She sat back against the wall of the cave, trying to catch her breath. If she could evade detection for long enough, Baldwin might give up and simply leave her alone. There were only a few hours of daylight left. The sky was growing darker.