A Touch of Scandal by Jennifer Haymore

Author:Jennifer Haymore
Language: ron
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Nobody moved or spoke. Kate squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember how to breathe. And then sound erupted. Outside, the coachmen shouted and cursed.

“Damn it to hell,” Garrett muttered, his words hardly distinguishable over Reggie’s sudden, loud sobs.

Kate pried her eyes open to see Becky hunched on the door—now the floor—her bright blue skirts tangled with Kate’s brown ones.

Becky moaned, and then she looked up at the ceiling—the opposite door—her face white. “Garrett…?”

Still clutching her sobbing brother in her embrace, Kate forcibly turned her head to see Garrett hanging over her, Reggie, and Becky, somehow managing to keep his weight off them. He swung his legs down, looking for a foothold near Kate’s head on the broken, muddy, window.

“Your Grace!” came a call from the outside. “Your Grace, is everyone all right in there?”

Still grasping the door handle overhead, Garrett hunched over her. “Kate?”

“I’m all right,” she gasped. Using her hands, because she couldn’t adjust her body to see him properly, she explored Reggie’s small frame. He seemed unhurt, only terrified.

His poor body shook like a leaf.

“Rebecca?”

Becky responded in a trembling voice. “I fell on my arm… It… hurts, but…

just… please. I have to get out of here. Please get me out of here, Garrett.”

Fumbling at the handle on the overhead door, Garrett assured the coachman that everyone was alive.

Garrett glanced down at them. “Close your eyes, all of you,” he commanded.

“And cover your heads. The glass on the door is cracked—it might break.”

Becky found a woolen blanket they’d had on the seat, and using one arm, pulled it awkwardly over her face. Garrett quickly removed his coat and draped it over Reggie and Kate’s exposed faces and arms. Kate held her shuddering little brother tightly, murmuring soothing words of comfort to him as Garrett levered the door open.

Kate winced when she heard the cracking sound of the glass. Seconds later, it exploded, raining down over Garrett’s coat, and she flinched to think that he might’ve been cut by the razor-sharp shards.

Carefully, the coat was removed. “It’s all right,” Garrett said softly. Kate opened her eyes to Garrett’s softened—and blessedly uninjured—face haloed by bright blue sky.

Cold air washed over her face, and she released a breath of relief.

Voices came from outside the carriage, negotiating how best to help them out.

“Reginald first.” Garrett reached for the boy, but Reggie clung to Kate, looking up at her with wide, dark eyes.

Gently, she pried him off. “Garrett’s going to lift you out, Reg.” She winced, realizing belatedly that she’d called the duke by his first name.

Garrett ignored her faux pas and held his arms out to Reggie. “Everything will be just fine. It’s over now.”

“No!” her brother cried. “I want Katie!”

“She’ll come right after you,” Garrett soothed. “I can’t get to your sister until you’re out, lad.”

Becky whimpered, and Kate glanced down at her. Her face was pale as death, and Kate’s heart gave an alarmed lurch.

“Go, Reg. I’ll be with you soon, I promise.” She thrust Reggie at Garrett, and he lifted the wailing boy into the arms waiting to deposit him on solid ground outside.

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