Читать книгу The Impostor Prince - Tanya Crosby Anne - Страница 6

Northern Scotland, 1831

R eady to strike when the leader gave the word, seven men watched from their perches within the trees as the unfamiliar vehicle approached—for the third time.

They needed this loot, but something about the closed carriage left the leader ill at ease. Though unmarked, it was far too luxurious to leave itself so vulnerable.

Either the occupant was foolish or lost…or the carriage was bait to catch a thief.

Ian MacEwen cupped his hand over his mouth to call out a signal, but indecision froze his lips. Twice before he’d let it pass, but the carriage’s presence was like a frosted pitcher of ale set before a thirsting man. It didn’t matter that it might be laced with poison; its sparkling contents were tempting beyond reason.

“His direction’s as bad as me Minny’s haggis,” remarked one of his men.

“A week ago, I’d ’a given the use of my cock for that haggis,” commented another, almost too quietly to be heard.

But everyone heard.

No one answered.

What did one say to a man who’d lost his youngest daughter to a battle against hunger? Almost three years old, Ana had been her name—sweet and shy, with little red curls and a button nose. Everyone understood why Rusty Broun was here tonight. He had three more little birds waiting at home with their mouths open wide and their bellies as empty as Glen Abbey’s coffers.

“Trust me,” Ian said to his men.

And he knew they would.

They followed him blindly, consumed with hope. Good men, all of them. They’d leave this place if they could, but where would they go? To London to feed off sewer scraps? Who would take them in with their wives and their bairns?

No, he had to do something. But what?

Silence was his answer, a ponderous, weighted silence that trampled heavily over bracken and snapped twigs below.

Anticipation was as thick as the lowering fog.

As yet, they hadn’t killed for their loot, but tonight…they might be forced to wield their weapons if the approaching vehicle was a trap.

Someone could die.

How many more children would die without their aid? The image of little Ana’s suffering face spurred his decision once and for all. He called out the signal for his men to strike.

Let consequences fall where they may.

“Kiak-kiak-keiek-keiek!”

Within the instant, the carriage was beneath them.

Ian was the first to descend.

Drawing the black hooded mask down over his face, he landed cleanly upon the rooftop. Before the driver could shout, he had his blade at the Asian’s throat. Rusty Broun came down behind him, motioning for Ian to move below into the carriage. His blade replaced Ian’s at the driver’s throat. The rest of his men dropped to the ground, surrounding the vehicle, barring its path through the woods. Forced to slow down, the carriage careened sharply. Ian nearly lost his grip, but swung back and managed to open the door.

Stunned by what he saw inside, he dropped to the ground, staring stupidly at the occupant.

All thought of highway robbery vanished.

It was like staring into a looking glass.

His hesitation cost him a jab in the jaw.

Ignoring the bone-splitting pain, he sprang into action and flung himself into the carriage, hurling the stranger backward and knocking the blade from his hand. The knife flew upward, smacked the rooftop and ricocheted downward, skimming the man’s head, drawing blood.

The carriage bolted into movement.

Ian struggled, pinning his opponent to the floorboard, slamming his head down. He tried to tell the man to stop so that he could remove his mask and reveal himself, but the man fought like a lion.

Frustrated, Ian slammed his head down into the man’s face. “Stop!” he commanded.

Finally, the stranger ceased struggling long enough to allow Ian to reach up and snatch the hood from his face.

For an interminable moment, he stared down into uncannily familiar eyes.

Bloody hell—the man could have been his twin.

It just wasn’t possible. “Who are you?” Ian demanded, confused.

“Who are you?” the man countered. Without warning, he bucked, renewing his struggles. Ian had little choice but to head-butt the fool again, but the devil hang him if he’d meant to butt so hard.

The man’s eyes rolled back into his head and he ceased struggling at once, going limp. Ian checked for a pulse and exhaled in relief when he found it strong. There wasn’t much time before the man regained consciousness.

Blast it all, what was he supposed to do now?

Certain it was no coincidence that they shared the same face, he snatched off his hood and jerked the man up to quickly remove his coat, waistcoat and shirt. He switched shirts with the man while the carriage thundered over uneven terrain, drew his own hood over the man’s head, then shrugged into the man’s coat, leaving the waistcoat for later. He opened the door and yelled for the driver to stop.

The man complied at once, and Ian dragged the former occupant of the carriage out onto the grass and laid him down.

“You are not dead yet, denka-sama,” an unfamiliar voice remarked, unmistakable relief in his tone.

Ian peered up at the driver. Somehow, the little bugger had managed to escape Rusty’s blade.

Ian didn’t respond immediately.

The shouts of his men were coming nearer now.

They would find the man, he was certain, and whether the stranger revealed himself, or not, Rusty would know what to do with him.

“Let us return home, denka-sama?” the foreigner asked. “We should never have come here.”

Home.

That’s where the answers to Ian’s questions lay waiting to be discovered. Somehow he knew it. Still, he stared down at the hooded stranger, undecided.

“He is alive?” the driver asked.

“Alive as you and me.”

“Then let us go quickly!” the driver persisted. “No good can come of this now!”

“Over there!” he heard Rusty Broun shout in the distance.

His men gave a frenzied battle cry, and he knew they’d been discovered.

“Go!” Ian ordered the man, bounding into the carriage.

At once, the driver whipped the horses into motion.

He didn’t even give a backward glance as they sped away. There would be no turning back.

Instinctively, Ian knew the answers to Glen Abbey’s troubles lay at the end of their destination.