Chasing Eliza by Rebecca King

just witnessed. Could she
hold it together until they got to safety?
    “ Eliza.” Edward shouted snatching Guinness’ reins and leading
him around until they were all facing the same way. “Do you ride?”
He rapped his knuckles harshly on her knee, hard enough to snap her
out of her daze.
    “ Do you ride.” He reiterated, watching the man stagger towards
them, his sword raised in attack.
    “ Y-yes.” Eliza whispered, trying desperately to cling to the
relative reassurance of Edward’s familiar voice. “Y-yes I
ride.”
    “ Then can we go now please?” Edward snapped sarcastically,
hoping that if she realised he was angry with her it would be
enough to break whatever fear had gripped her.
    Pushing
Guinness forwards he slapped the big horse harshly on the rump,
rewarded when the big horse immediately lunged forwards. The sudden
movement of the horse snapped Eliza out of her trance more
effectively than Edward and he watched as she immediately snatched
up the reins and began to ride the beast away from the clearing.
Ignoring the snarls of the man running towards them, Edward nudged
his own mount into a canter and dragging the remaining two horses
behind him, took off after her.
    “ Which way?” Eliza shouted as they rode across the rough field
towards the far corner. She had ridden as a child and knew how to
handle a horse, but Guinness was simply immense. Although his solid
bulk beneath her was reassuring, she wasn’t sure she could handle
him jumping over the low slung hedge directly ahead of
them.
    “ Go to the corner, I think I can see an opening we can go
through to get on to the road. Do you know where we
are?”
    “ I think we are near Lymster, but can’t be certain in the
darkness.” Eliza replied studying the area for a while as she tried
to make out the shadows of the surrounding countryside. “I need to
see a stone marker.”
    “ If we get onto the road, we can find one.” He watched as
Eliza settled into Guinness’ rhythm despite her earlier concern,
and was answering his questions clearly enough to reassure him that
she was managing to hold her fear at bay.
    They
left the field and stepped onto the flat road surface with a sigh
of relief. Edward glanced back but could see nothing in the top
corner of the field except dark shadows. The horses behind him
trotted along happily enough now they had left the scene of the
bloodshed.
    With no
imminent threat of pursuers for now, they had the time to slow to a
steady trot without the fear of Guinness losing his footing on the
uneven surface.
    “ Stop a minute.”
    Eliza
glanced across at him, every nerve stretched taught by what she had
just experienced.
    She had
seen enough carnage and bloodshed to last her a lifetime and to
watch Edward, whom she had considered her saviour calmly kill those
two men, chilled her to the bone. She was very grateful for the
warmth of the woollen cloak that smelled so much of him, a man she
didn’t know at all. Mentally she chided herself. In spite of
everything that had happened, she had only known him a matter of
hours and simply had no way of knowing if he was a cold-blooded
killer, or the sensual seducer she had encountered in her room at
the inn.
    Dutifully she reined to a stop and glanced across at him only
to find three sets of reins being pushed into her hand.
    “ Hold these for a minute; I need to check Guinness hasn’t been
injured from the fall.”
    “ Is he alright?” Eliza queried hating the thought that the
animal could be hurt trying to help them.
    Edward
ran his hands gently over the warm flesh of the large animal,
reassured when he was met with nothing but a soft snort of pleasure
as Guinness enjoyed the attention. Eliza watched as he crooned
softly to the animal for several moments, rubbing him gently
between his ears before giving him a pat.
    She
shouldn’t allow herself to be so distracted by him but he was an
enigma, a puzzle that demanded she discover which one was the real
Edward. The harsh,