Soldier of Fortune

'It won't come to that, Frederic.'

'It must. It's agony being so close to such beauty yet forbidden to touch it or taste it. I only have to look at her to want her. Don't you have that same fire in your loins? Don't you have that urge to-'

'Be quiet,' snapped Catto, cutting him off. 'Miss Piper is not some tavern wench for you to tumble in the hay. She's a lady of quality and she'll bring in a far greater prize.'

'Captain Rawson won't bother about her.'

'I'll wager anything that he will.'

'How can you be so sure?'

'Because I exploited his weak spot — I appealed to his honour.'

Seurel was contemptuous. 'Honour!' he said with a sneer. 'What use is that? I never cared about honour when I was a soldier. The only thing I wanted to do was to make people suffer before I killed them.'

'Captain Rawson has higher ideals than you.'

'When it comes to women, he has the same ideals as me!'

Abigail Piper heard his crude laughter and quivered. She was sitting some yard behind them. To prevent her escape, they had bound her hand and foot and put a gag in her mouth. She had never felt so utterly powerless. One man had treated her with a modicum of respect but the other merely ogled her. Unable to understand Seurel's speech, she found his fervent glances all too comprehensible. There would be no Emily to rescue her from a man's clutches this time. With her hands tied behind her back and her mouth covered, she had absolutely no means of defence.

She was in a quandary. Desperate to be rescued, she did not want her freedom to be at the expense of Daniel Rawson's capture. If he fell into their hands, Abigail feared for his life. Even before her abduction, she had started to regret her decision to flee from home in the cause of true love. As a result of her impetuosity, she and her maid had undergone all sorts of pain and mortification and she had finally reached the British camp only to discover that Daniel did not requite her love in the way she had imagined.

Abigail had not only embarrassed him, she had now put him in mortal danger. It made her writhe with guilt. At the same time, she was praying for release from her predicament and that could only be achieved by Daniel's arrival. Whatever happened, one of them was going to suffer dreadfully. The conviction that it was all her fault made Abigail quake with remorse. Tears dribbled freely down her face. She was stuck on the horns of a dilemma. Needing him to come to her aid, she wanted him to stay away for his own sake and the more she thought about it, the more she felt she deserved her fate. Closing her eyes, she prayed for strength to endure her ordeal.

Edward Marston

Soldier of Fortune

Daniel Rawson came out of the trees and started to ride across the plain. Henry Welbeck was beside him, eager to support his friend and taking care to shed no blame on the woman who, in his opinion, had actually created the fraught situation. For most of their journey, the sergeant had held his peace. Daniel, too, had been lost in thought. It was Welbeck who first came out of his reverie.

'I wouldn't trust Will Curtis as far as I could throw him,' he said sourly. 'Watch him like a hawk, Dan.'

'He holds the advantage at the moment,' admitted Daniel.

'Not as long as I'm beside you.'

'Thank you, Henry. I appreciate what you're doing.'

'I want to see that young lass safe but I also want you to come out of this unharmed. Something tells me I can't have both.'

'Don't worry about me,' said Daniel. 'I can look after myself.'

'You can give Will Curtis a message from me. If anything nasty happens to you, I won't rest till I've caught up with the bastard and cut out his black heart. Will you remember to warn him?'

'I don't think he's a man who fears warnings, Henry.'

'He'll fear me when I catch up with him,' asserted Welbeck.

They rode on in silence until they got within a few hundred yards of a large hill. A voice rang out across the plain.

'Stop there!' ordered Catto. They reined in their horses. 'That's as far as you go, Sergeant Welbeck.'

'Is that you, Will Curtis, you yellow-bellied deserter?' shouted Welbeck, searching the hill with his eyes. 'Have the guts to show yourself, man!'

'Do as he says,' advised Daniel, trying to calm his friend. 'We don't want to antagonise him.'

'Speak for yourself — I bloody do!'

'Let me handle this, Henry.'

'Leave him there, Captain Rawson,' yelled Catto. 'Ride forward on your own. Do as I tell you or you'll never see Miss Piper alive again. Come on — leave the sergeant there.'

Daniel obeyed. Nudging his horse into a trot, he moved forward and let his gaze drift across the hill. He eventually saw something glinting in the sunshine and knew that it must be a telescope. It gave him a direction in which to guide his horse. When he was fifty yards or so away from the hill, he came to a halt.

'Keep riding forward!' demanded Catto.

'Let me see Miss Piper first,' retorted Daniel. 'You only get me if she is released without harm. Show her to me.'

There was a long pause then Abigail was pushed out from behind a large rock. She was still gagged and her hands were tied behind her back but Daniel could see that she was alive. Before he could address her, she was pulled back behind the rock. He eased his horse forward until he got close to the hill and well within range of any firearms that might be trained on him.

'Stop there and dismount!' ordered Catto. When Daniel obeyed, a second command followed. 'Remove your hat and coat and drop them on the ground.' Daniel complied once more. 'Now hold up your arms and turn round slowly so that I can see you're unarmed.' Aware of the man's scrutiny, Daniel followed the instructions. 'Good,' said Catto. 'Miss Piper will be released but, if you try any tricks, you'll both be shot down where you stand.'

There was a lengthy pause before Abigail came out from behind the rock again and began to scramble down the hill. Her gag and her bonds had been removed and she was able to cry out his name. Daniel strode forward to greet her. Weeping with relief, she flung herself into his arms. He patted her reassuringly.

'A very touching reunion,' noted Catto, 'but we no longer have any need of Miss Piper. Send her back to the sergeant. Go on — do as I say, Captain Rawson.'

'How many of them are there?' asked Daniel quietly.

'Two,' replied Abigail.

'Then leave them to me.' He stood back from her and pointed behind him. 'That's my good friend, Sergeant Welbeck. He'll take you safely back to the camp. Go on, Abigail — run!'

'What about you, Daniel?'

'I can't start worrying about myself until you're safe.'

After a final squeeze of his hands, Abigail turned and trotted towards Welbeck, looking back from time to time to see what Daniel was doing. He had already forgotten her. His mind was concentrated on his captors, both of whom had now appeared from their hiding places. Frederic Seurel was pointing a musket at him. Holding a pistol on the prisoner, Charles Catto came down to take a closer look at him.

'Put your hands up!' he said.

'I've no weapons on me,' Daniel told him, raising his arms.

Catto patted him all over. Satisfied that Daniel was telling the truth, he made him put his hands behind his back so that he could tie them tightly together. He then led both the prisoner and his horse into the shelter of the rocks at the base of the hill.

Bounding forward, Seurel put the barrel of his musket against Daniel's forehead. 'Let me blow out his brains!' he cried.

'Wait a moment!' cried Catto, pushing the weapon away.

'You said that he was mine.'

'That was before I realised that we could capture him. He's worth more to us alive than dead. If we take him back to the general he'll be delighted with us, Frederic. He can have the pleasure of killing Rawson himself. You must recall General Salignac,' he said to Daniel. 'He'd like to talk to you about his beautiful wife.'