Strike at Midnight(31)
*
Thankfully, Ginger was still there and in one piece when I left the ship. I paid the kids what I had promised them, then made my way off from the docks.
The way back I took wasn’t the nicest, but it was the quickest route, and I didn’t like to hang around this way for too long in the dark. A lot of things happened on these roads, and I didn’t want to be a part of it.
The lane I chose had no lighting whatsoever aside from the moon, but even that seemed to shy away from this part of the kingdom. This place was also a bit close to the Nightmare Woods for my liking, but it wasn’t like I was right by them. They were just south of me, and I was leaving them behind with every step Ginger took. It wouldn’t be long before I would be back at Melodies with a nightcap and an update for Sir Raymond. Then it would be goodnight for me.
The lull of Ginger’s canter and the darkness surrounding me had started to make my eyelids droop. It was rare that I got so tired without a few shots of alcohol to help, but these surroundings were proving to be an alternative tonic.
A few times I jolted up and wondered where I was and I was glad that this time, Ginger had listened to my instructions. Luckily, we hadn’t ended up in a ditch somewhere.
It was about half a mile away from home when I could hear what sounded like a horse and carriage coming in my direction.
Ginger’s ears pricked up and I started to urge her to the right of the road so they could pass, but she was being stubborn. Apparently, she didn’t feel like we should move, and I rocked back and forth to urge her to hurry up and shift out of the way. It wasn’t my death wish to die on a darkened road and be splattered beneath a carriage, as there were more honorable ways for a renegade hunter to go—like being killed in the line of duty, or by saving an innocent child. Anything to make me look like the hero I wasn’t.
I could see the carriage coming for me now, and it wasn’t slowing down. The moon wasn’t exactly playing ball in sharing its light, but there was enough for them to see me if I could see them. And they still weren’t stopping.
Shit. Ginger still wasn’t moving, no matter how many instructions or insults I threw her way, and the carriage was almost upon us.
“Stop!” I tried shouting at the driver—or drivers, I could see now as they got closer—but the bastard just whipped his horses to go faster. What the hell?
“Ginger, for fuck’s sake,” I shouted, and I did put a bit of force behind my kick this time. It was a life-or-death situation, and I would make it up to her later.
The kick worked, and she reared up enough that I could tug her reins to the right so she landed on the side of the road. She let out a sound that was most likely telling me I was going to pay for that, but we had moved just in time for the carriage to go sailing by.
“Assholes!” I shouted, turning in the saddle to give them the finger. But then I saw something in the back of the carriage. Or wagon, I should say. I could see it wasn’t a carriage now, as it had a covering over the top that left half of the back open. It had a gap big enough for me to see what appeared to be a gagged man pop his head up before dropping back out of sight again. Holy crap. Why me? Why now?
Ginger was more than ready to give chase—the little harlot—and I was urging her around to race after them before I could rationally talk myself out of it.
Wasn’t this the way I had wanted to go out? As a hero? My death might as well happen while trying to rescue somebody, because going down a dark lane towards the Nightmare Woods was bound to get me killed.
The wagon thundered down the lane and we chased after it. The guy in the back could be a guilty criminal for all I knew, but then they would be heading to the jailhouse—not to the scary forest that even scary things avoided.
We raced after them and Ginger put everything into the run. I just had to hope there was no water nearby or something dangerous like a cliff edge because Ginger would be sure to follow.
Not that there were any cliffs this far inland, but I didn’t know where they were heading. And I didn’t intend to find out. We were catching up with them as we had the advantage of having no wagon to pull, and I was going to ensure the bastards stopped the thing before we went much further.
The crossbow on Ginger’s harness felt very welcome beneath my hands as I reached down for it. It lifted off easily enough and I aimed it at the wagon’s wheels. I didn’t expect it to do any damage, but release it at the right time and it became an obstacle, something wagon wheels weren’t very good at navigating over.
It was loaded to fire three arrows before I needed to reload—a Jacque modification special—but I caught the wheels with the first one. The wagon wobbled slightly, so I fired again before they could straighten up with a faster speed. The front wheel hit the arrow and wobbled more than the others, so I fired again.
“What the hell is going on!” I heard a shout from the front of the wagon, and I was right on their rear end now. The kidnapped man had managed to sit up again, but he was thrown back down by the momentum of the carriage before I could make out anything else.
The wagon had slowed down a bit, and I nudged Ginger to its left. She picked up her speed to keep up with it, and I had to give the mare credit. She loved a bit of adventure.
She kept up with the wagon enough so we were side by side, even though she was having to navigate through the longer grass on the side of the road. But she did it.