“You maniac!” She shouted as she reached the ground floor and ran to the door. “You’re all insane!” She struggled with the handle of the front door before finally flinging it open and running out into the cold.
“What happened?” Punch asked, grabbing Robert’s arm with his wounded hands as Robert hurried past him.
“That sour old hag…” Robert panted. “She was in your room. I wanted to kill her!” Robert leaned on the railing and coughed deeply, staggering for a moment.
“She wouldn’t tell me.” He continued to pant, his voice raspy. “I was so angry. I pushed her down. I wanted to throw her through the window. I wanted to hear her scream as she fell.”
“Chum,” Mr. Punch put his arm around Robert’s waist to support him.
“I couldn’t do it. I threw a chair through the glass. I wanted to show her what I was capable of, but I…” he coughed again. “She got away. I’ve got to get her.”
“No.” Mr. Punch said quickly. “We got worse problems. There’s been shooting. Cecil and Iolanthe Evangeline.” Punch pointed to the closed drawing room doors.
“She’s here?” Robert’s eyes widened. “I heard the sound, but I didn’t…”
“We gotta get in there.” Mr. Punch said quickly. “Come on.”
“Let me do it.” Robert said, hurrying down the stairs still breathing rapidly.
“Not a chance,” Mr. Punch followed.
“Go see if Adrienne…where’s Fuller?” Robert asked alarmed.
“I sent him and Toby with Gamilla. Adrienne’s safe in the servants’ hall.”
“How can you be sure?” Robert moaned.
They heard a struggle coming from within the drawing room.
Robert raced to the door, followed by Mr. Punch. Pushing open the pocket doors, they saw Cecil lying on the floor with Iolanthe standing over him—a pistol aimed at his heart.
“Stand back!” Iolanthe shouted at Punch and Robert. “Less you want me to shoot you, too.”
“Cecil!” Robert shouted.
“I missed the first time, but I’ve got him where I want him now.” Iolanthe growled. “I won’t miss again.”
“Please,” Robert said slowly. “He has a child.”
“Don’t matter to me!” Iolanthe shouted wildly.
Mr. Punch lunged toward Iolanthe, knocking her down to the floor. The pistol flew out of her hand and Robert grabbed it as it skittered across the wood floor.
Iolanthe writhed and screamed, trying to break free of Mr. Punch’s grasp. She kicked at him. Punch could feel the blood rising on Julian’s legs where he’d been burned.
She managed to free one arm and pounded Julian’s back and shoulders with her fist, finally striking him on the back of the head with such force that his body went limp and he fell on top of her.
“Dear God!” Robert screamed as he helped Cecil up.
Robert rolled Julian/Punch off of Iolanthe and pulled the man’s limp body toward himself. He knelt down and cradled his companion as Cecil lumbered toward Iolanthe.
“Give me the pistol, Robert, and I’ll finish this once and for all.” Cecil shouted.
Robert handed the pistol to Cecil.
Iolanthe ran to the corner of the drawing room, overturning tables and chairs as she went. She grabbed a large curio cabinet by its spindles and overturned it—sending glass shattering everywhere.
Cecil stumbled backwards, but caught himself on the leg of an overturned tea table. He aimed the pistol toward Iolanthe Evangeline who grabbed a lit oil lamp and flung it toward Robert and Mr. Punch.
“If I’m goin’, you’re all goin’. Let’s see if His Lordship can survive two fires!”
The lamp shattered to the floor and immediately started burning the Persian rug. Without getting up, Robert reached for a table cloth from the upset table closest to him and beat the fire with it. However, that only served to fan the flames.
Male voices signaled the arrival of Chidi and his son who had heard the commotion from the servants’ hall and been dispatched by Adrienne to investigate.
Ty Chidi grabbed a large urn filled with pine and winter branches and poured the water over the fire, stamping at it with his feet until it was out.
Gros Chidi rushed Iolanthe who screamed as he drew near. She rose her leg and kicked Chidi in the stomach, crumpling the man into a heap on the floor. She took that opportunity to rush toward the drawing room doors. Making her escape through the foyer and the already open front door.
“She’s not free. Not this time,” Cecil growled, chasing after her.
“Ty Chidi,” Robert said, still cradling Julian’s body. “Is your father terribly hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Gros Chidi coughed. “Just got the wind knocked outta me.”
“Are you certain?” Robert asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Ty Chidi, follow Mr. Halifax.” Robert said quickly. “Gros Chidi, please tell Miss Adrienne that Lord Fallbridge is hurt and, then, have some of the other men go after Mr. Halifax as well.”
“Yes, Sir.” The men said in unison.
Robert ran his hands over Julian’s face. “Come on, then. Come back to me.”
Julian’s eyes opened. Robert immediately knew that it was Julian who had awakened and not Mr. Punch.
As the smoky tendrils of blackness swirled around Julian’s eyes, he squinted and looked around the room.
“What’s happened?” Julian asked. “I smell fire.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Robert said gently. “Nothing at all.”
Robert helped Julian to the settee.
“Can you see?” Robert asked.
“Yes.” Julian nodded.
“Are you in any pain?”
“My head. And my legs…” Julian answered.
“Don’t worry,” Robert said. He spotted the figure of Mr. Punch on the floor where it had landed when Iolanthe rampaged through the room. “We’ll protect you.” He picked up the puppet and placed it in Julian lap. “We’ll protect you.”
Meanwhile Iolanthe Evangeline ran through the sugar cane fields. She had a vague sense of where she was. She recognized the house as being that of Manuel Fontanals. She was familiar with Mr. Fontanals who had been a frequent patron of her establishment in New Orleans. Spotting a shack at the rear of the property, she saw her opportunity to hide. Racing toward the shack, she opened the door and hurried into the cold darkness inside.
She was startled by the sounds of wheezing and sputtering. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw two people crowded together in a narrow cot. Their dark skin was made sallow and pale by sickness. On a chair in the corner, she spotted Marjani, passed out from sheer exhaustion, wrapped in a fine quilt.
“Help me…” The woman in the bed groaned.
Tears rose in Iolanthe’s eyes.
“I’ll help you, Girl,” She said.
Did you miss Chapters 1-98? If so, you can read them here.
3 comments:
That's a lot of action! I find this series so exciting. I hope that Iolanth doesn't do anything to the nice nurse!
Very exciting.First we see her ready to kill Cecil and almost destroying the house and now we see Ioanthe with tears in her eyes. Could she really feel compassion for another human being?
Hello Darcy! Who knows? Perhaps Iolanthe has some of the milk of human kindness about her. Or, perhaps she's about to sneeze. Have a good night!
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