Rosa frowned. She knew he spoke Italian, or at least she thought he did. She opened her mouth to translate for him and got a sharp dig in the ribs from his elbow. Quickly she closed her mouth again and moved a little closer to Hunter. She wasn’t going to succeed in escaping from the Di Mercurios only to be killed by bandits on a dusty Italian road.
‘Denaro!’ the chief bandit shouted, then slowly, working his mouth around the unfamiliar word, ‘Money!’
The three bandits from behind the curricle edged closer.
‘I’m afraid I don’t carry much with me,’ Hunter said a little too flippantly for Rosa’s liking. They were being threatened by four men with pistols and swords and here he was pretending not to understand them and refusing to hand anything over.
‘Money,’ the chief bandit demanded again.
A squat, swarthy man with the complexion similar to that of a toad jabbed Rosa lightly with the tip of his sword and leered at her, giving her a perfect view of his three remaining teeth, all black and rotten in his lower jaw.
Rosa fought the nausea that rose up from her stomach, desperately trying to suppress the gag that threatened to escape from her throat. Although she reasoned vomiting over a bandit might not be a bad way to get him to leave you alone.
‘Money,’ the toad man repeated, his accent thick and his eyes roaming over Rosa’s body.
She felt Hunter shift in his seat beside her and wondered if he was reaching for his coin purse. Thinking of the small amount of money she’d been able to keep safe throughout the journey to Italy and her subsequent imprisonment, Rosa felt her fear melting away and a white-hot fury consuming her instead. They had no right to steal her money, no right to ruin her plans for the future.
Leaning forward, Rosa made to stand and give these bandits a piece of her mind when she felt a restraining hand on her arm.
‘Sit down,’ Hunter said calmly, as if he were talking about the weather at a garden party. ‘Or you’ll get us both killed.’
‘At least I’m trying to do something,’ Rosa hissed.
‘Something reckless and stupid.’
‘They will not get my money.’
‘Is that small purse of yours worth your life?’
Rosa hesitated. He didn’t understand. That small purse was her life. Without it she wouldn’t have a way to fund her passage back to England. She wouldn’t even have a way to feed herself. She’d be forced back to the Di Mercurios, forced to throw herself on their mercy. No doubt she would be locked away for another five months and once she’d given birth they would take her child away from her.
Rosa was saved from having to answer by the toad man grabbing her by the waist and squeezing in a lascivious manner. With a squeal of outrage, she thumped him on the head and was just steadying herself to throw another punch when there was a flurry of movement beside her.
Hunter leapt from his seat, barrelled into one of the bandits, sending him crashing into the second man. Whilst the two criminals struggled to disengage from one another Hunter softly grabbed both their flailing pistols and fired a shot towards the chief bandit, making him dive back into the bushes.
Rosa watched in disbelief as Hunter sprinted after the man, leaping through the air as he reached the undergrowth and throwing a punch that sounded as though it hit its mark. There was a distinct crunch of bone and a yelp of pain, followed by a few moments’ silence. Eventually Hunter hauled himself up out of the undergrowth with a casual grin.
The two men he’d disarmed moments ago glanced at one another, then rushed towards him and Rosa heard herself gasp as Hunter sank to the floor and kicked out with a foot just as they reached him. Both men tripped, sprawling to the ground with shouts of pain. Quickly he aimed both pistols and fired a shot from each towards the bandits’ heads.
Rosa squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the explosion of blood and brains from the two bandits, but as she pressed her lids together she heard a low whimpering. Cautiously she peeked and saw a spasm of movement from the ground. For a moment she wondered if Hunter had missed from such a short range, but then realised he’d aimed a few inches above the men’s heads.
‘Run,’ Hunter ordered. ‘Now.’
Rosa watched as the two bandits wobbled to their feet and ran, not sparing a backwards glance for their compatriot left behind.
As Hunter turned slowly Rosa could feel her pulse beating in her throat, a warm, rhythmic reminder of how alive she felt right now. He strolled nonchalantly back towards the curricle, as if he was out for an evening walk and hadn’t just single-handedly bested three armed bandits. In the mid-morning sun his blue eyes sparkled and Rosa had the sense he was enjoying himself.
Beside her the toad man hesitated, looking over his shoulder as if checking for possible escape routes.
‘Run,’ Hunter repeated, his voice low and dangerous.
For a moment Rosa thought the toad man would obey, but she saw the flash of defiance in his eyes just a second before he looped his arm around her waist and pulled her body tightly against his. She felt the cool metal of the pistol against her neck and knew this scared man holding her captive was very dangerous. He had been abandoned by his comrades and could see no way out. One false move and he would probably fire out of fear.
‘There’s no need for that,’ Hunter said, keeping his tone soothing. ‘Let the lady go and you have nothing to fear from me.’
Everyone present knew Lord Hunter was lying. He’d taken three men out without even breaking a sweat in the mid-morning sun, Rosa couldn’t see a situation that worked out well for the toad man.
She felt the tremor of the bandit’s hands, sensed his uncertainty as he shifted from one foot to the other.
‘What’s your name?’ Hunter asked in flawless Italian.
‘Er-Er-Ernesto,’ the bandit stuttered.
‘Well, Ernesto, why don’t we make a deal? You let go of my friend here and I will let you walk away.’
‘Walk away?’ Ernesto asked in surprise.
‘That’s right. You haven’t hurt either of us, haven’t taken anything. I see no reason you can’t just walk away from this.’
‘I’m not stupid,’ Ernesto said with a sneer. ‘You’ll kill me as soon as my back is turned.’
‘Like I killed your comrades?’
Ernesto the toad man hesitated.
‘Just start backing away. If you see me raise my pistol before you get out of range then shoot me, but I give you my word I will not harm you unless you make me.’
Rosa studied Lord Hunter’s calm demeanour and reassuring expression. It was hard not to trust him, she realised.
‘The money?’ Ernesto asked, but Rosa could tell his heart wasn’t in it.
‘No, Ernesto. We leave here with our money. You leave with your life.’
Ten seconds passed, then twenty. Rosa could hear a soft mumbling as Ernesto reasoned his options out to himself. After what seemed like an eternity his grip on her loosened.
‘Keep your pistols low,’ Ernesto said. ‘Or I’ll shoot.’
Slowly he began backing away down the road, his eyes fixed on Thomas. Thomas stood still, his arms relaxed by his side, watching the bandit calmly. Rosa couldn’t quite believe his heart wasn’t pounding or his hands slick with sweat, but he looked completely composed.
As Ernesto got to the bend in the road he stopped for a moment before turning and running. They could hear his heavy footsteps for at least thirty seconds after he’d disappeared.