Chapter 2:
Lizzy opened her eyes, the memories of that morning slowly flooding her brain. She squinted, opened and closed her eyes, testing her vision. She was not sure if her eyes were even open, for her surroundings were covered in suffocating darkness.
Her head was pounding, she instinctively tried reaching her forehand with her hand, but she was met with struggle. She pulled and pulled, but between the darkness and the headache, she did not know what to make of her situation. It seemed her hands with roughly tied together, the knot rubbing against her delicate skin. Her mama would surely worry if that would leave a mark, thought Lizzy with humor, but Lizzy had more pressing matters to think of. For one, she was almost sure that she had been abducted and she was likewise almost positively sure that the body next to her was none other than Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, the man who had proposed to her the previous day and whom she promised to loath for all eternity. This could not end well, she thought, pursing her lips.
She opened her mouth to whisper his name but she quickly closed it—she did not know where they were or if they were being watched. She thought the latter unlikely for they were in a most unfavorable situation—both tied up and in a darkened room. She suddenly became aware of rhythmic movement of the floor, or rather whichever surface they were on top of—it occurred to her that they were in a carriage. Or perhaps a less refined mode of transportation. There was an air hole at the top of the opposing wall, which did not reveal any light which meant it was already night-fall. If they had been traveling by carriage from morning until dusk, then they had been on the road for hours. That must mean only one thing. They were heading for Scotland.
"Oh my" whispered Lizzy, the realization washing over her. And here she had been worried this morning about Mr. Darcy proposing again, if only that had been her worry for the day. Now her mind was quickly going through the possibilities, which were too dark for her to want to wonder. They needed to escape. The first step was waking Mr. Darcy.
"Mr. Darcy" Lizzy whispered, nudging him with her body, as they were placed next to each other like bags of potatoes, resting uncomfortably in the corner of a cold, kitchen floor. "Mr. Darcy!" Lizzy said a bit more loudly but he did not even stir. She squinted her eyes hoping to see clearer, they had now adjusted to the overwhelming darkness and she could at least make out shapes. She could see his face now, even in the darkness she could see his handsome features but something seemed out of place...he seemed to be bleeding!
Before she could think much more on the subject or for any solution, she felt the halt of the horses and her body fell sideways on Mr. Darcy, who continued to lie there without any movement nor recognition.
"Ahoy!" said a voice from outside, a loud rattling followed, and a hard crunching of wet branches on the floor. It must be raining, thought Lizzy. She prepared herself for their arrival and thought the safest position was to be where they had left her: asleep. And so she closed her eyelids, keeping a tiny sliver open, enough to see the shapes of their bodies.
One of the walls opened into two, almost like a box, and the light from their lamps precipitated inside, providing a faint outline of the men's bodies.
"They are still asleep" said one gruffly voice. He took his stick and pocked Mr. Darcy, pricking his leg, but Mr. Darcy did not stir. He was about to poke the lady, but his friend stopped his hand.
"Enough" he said, and from the grimness of his voice, Lizzy knew at once that he was the one in charge. She could make him out to be in the front of the pack. There were three men there—the others, Lizzy could only presume, were elsewhere. She tried taking note of every little thing that could help her but the fact remain that there were three-abled men, most likely armed, and she was tied up, and Mr. Darcy was injured and unresponsive.
It was then that Lizzy realized that fighting would be futile. She had no exceptional strength but her mama always said that her tongue could kill. Well then, she thought with a smile, thinking her mama would feel happy that Lizzy was finally listening to her wise words, she must use the only thing she still had.
"George said to take them straight to Scotland" said a third voice, one Lizzy had not heard before.
"Aye" said the one in command. "We are in Cumberland, just short of Gretna Green. He said he would be there waiting with reinforcements."
"Humph" said the third voice, a gurgled laugh, "What would we need reinforcements for? The man is passed out and the lady looks rather harmless."
"Do not get any idea" said the one in command, "We have orders. They are to be untouched."
Thank Heavens, thought Lizzy, knowing at least her virtue would remain intact, at least until they arrived in Gretna Green and met whoever George was.
"It is almost morning—we must stop for the horses. We shall take turns guarding these" he said, "William, you shall go first. I will take a lie in. Roberts, tend to the horses. We are leaving in an hour, we must make haste and make it there before noon."
From the conversation, Lizzy could deduce that there were in fact only three men. Whatever substance they had forced them to smell must have been strong for they did not expect them to wake. They must have stopped plenty of times, if they had been traveling for over twelve hours, but they had clearly been knocked out. The first step was she needed to get untied. She waited for the men to leave, grumbling and complaining as they went. They were clearly all very tired. All she needed was one of them to untie her and then...well then she would figure out the next step.
She waited until the man named William put away the riffle, grumbling to himself about likewise wanting sleep, when Lizzy began to stir.
"Hmmm" she said, opening her eyes, pretending to be waking from a long dream. "Ahh" she gasped, applauding herself for theatrics, "Where in Heavens am I?" she whispered.
"Do not move!" said Williams, looking around him, to see if the men were still there. He did not know if to call them or if to stay. He looked confused and weak, thought Lizzy with a hidden smile.
"Please sir, do not hurt me!" she whimpered.
"La!" he said, pulling out his riffle, "Sit back down."
"I am sitting sir" she said innocently, "May I please relieve myself?" she asked.
"You may" he said with a toothless smile.
"Oh" she said, blushing, "No, I mean, can you untie me?"
"No" he said curtly.
Lizzy started crying, imitating the expressions and soft wails that Lydia was always prone to do. She had never thought her most ridiculous family members could teach her such important lessons for survival, but alas!
"Do you know who I am?" she asked, her voice again soft and calculated.
"Some chit named Elizabeth Bennet who the rich Mr. Darcy over here seems very fond of" he said with a nasty chuckle.
"Well then, surely you know that my family is not rich and though they love me very much, or at least I happen think of, they have no money to speak of and would not be able to pay a ransom for me" she said, her perfect reasoning confounding the man.
"Mr. Darcy will pay for you" he said, tilting his head towards the man next to her.
"He is currently unconscious on the floor, bleeding. So I am not sure how you expect that to happen" said Lizzy as a matter of fact. She could see Williams was exhausted and wanted her to shut it. Oh and how she loved to talk.
"Please sir, allow me to relieve myself" she pleaded, "I promise I shall come straight back into the wagon."
"Very well" he said gruffly, he leaned in, untied her hands and her feet and walked her over to the tree, where he stood next to her, his riffle near her head.
"May I have some privacy?" asked Lizzy, her hands on her lips. She was walking wobbly, not having used her legs in hours.
"No" he said, grinning again. Lizzy smiled weakly, turned around and modestly relieved herself and then walked back to the wagon slowly, taking note of their surroundings and her options. They were in Cumberland, they were still in England.
He shoved her back inside the carriage, his eyelids closing in on him. Lizzy could hear the other two snoring, both the one in command and the one who was tending to the horses. Williams was close to succumbing to sleep. She took her time sitting down and then simply held hands for him, as he tied her up and then shut the door grumbling.
Lizzy smiled widely, for not only had she stolen a knife from his pocket while he was walking her back, but she was almost sure that he forgotten to lock the door. She placed the knife between her hands cut open the rope and then reached over, feeling uncomfortable with the closeness but mustering courage, she cut open Mr. Darcy's ropes, liberating his hands. He needed to be tended to. Lizzy took out a handkerchief, which she had used to wrap the breakfast muffin she had nibbled on this morning, the only substance she had had, her stomach rumbled as if finally awakening, and she pressed on his forehead, hoping to keep more blood from coming out.
It was too soon when she once again heard the men rumbling and grumbling, and the carriage began to move. She thanks the stars that they had not checked the door—they had no reason to. The other men did not know that she had awakened and she had a nasty feeling that Williams did not want to admit that he had given her the decency to relieve herself by a tree.
She knew she must act fast.
"Mr. Darcy" she said, now shaking him. He began to stir, his voice and sounds thankfully drowned by the noise and movement from the horses.
"Where am I?" he said, opening his eyes. He looked at Lizzy and then around the room and looked very confused. "Ow" he said, touching his forehead and worried when he saw the dried blood on his fingers.
"Mr Darcy, are you unwell?" asked Lizzy, worried at how ill he looked. But she needed to him to get to his senses for if they were to jump, it needed to be done very soon indeed. By her calculation, they had already been on the road for an hour and they had very likely entered Scotland, they needed to jump now.
"Mr. Darcy, we were abducted, I need you to help me. Please" she begged, seeing his confused eyes and face, "We need to jump while the carriage is moving and hide in the trees until they leave." He nodded, once again reaching for his forehead—the pain must be excruciating.
He tried standing, clumsy falling and Lizzy hopped that they had not heard any sounds. They needed to jump now. They would not have time to open the door and then assess their options, they would open and then jump. She took Mr. Darcy's hand, opened the door, and together they jumped into the moving road. They fell and tumbled down the trees, they had fallen on a slope and they came tumbling, their bodies intertwined till they landed at the bottom of the slope, inches away from running water. Lizzy could feel Mr. Darcy's body on her and she looked up with worry, seeing if the carriage had stopped. But she could hear nothing. It seemed the carriage had kept going and she knew that they were covered by the slope which they had fallen on.
Mr. Darcy fell to the side of her and she had the sinking feeling that he was once again asleep.
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Lizzy laid there next to Mr. Darcy, with the sun beaming on them until she was sure that no one was not looking for them. But she also knew that they would eventually come to find them, once they realized the wagon was empty and their prisoners free. She could not remember the details of how she dragged him across the grassy floor, until a kind farm man with a wagon found her, took pity on her, and brought them to nearest hospital that was situated very close to the border to England. Lizzy did not know Scotland and she did not know if they would be safe but she knew that Mr. Darcy needed to be tended to. So she accepted the ride, thanked him profusely and arrived at the hospital with an unresponsive Mr. Darcy. Lizzy was quiet the entire ride there, looking around with worry, but knowing they were going the opposite way of Gretna Green brought her comfort.
Lizzy had taken coins from Mr. Darcy's pocket that she had found when had untied his hand earlier that morning. She had searched him in hopes of finding a weapon, money, anything, or if she were honest, even a crumb of food. His money purse had been missing, so the men must have taken it when they abducted them, but they must have missed the hidden coins inside Mr. Darcy's inside coat pocket. She was able to pay the man, who never had received nor seen an English pound in his life, and thereby thanked her profusely. Though they both looked disheveled and dirty, they were dressed in gentry clothes and with Mr. Darcy's few coins, she was able to procure a bed, in a nasty smelling room.
They were clearly under staffed and instead of waiting, Lizzy asked a boy to bring her a basin of water and began washing Mr. Darcy's head, taking a clean cloth that she found in the room and wrapping it around his head. When the nurse and doctor came, they moved her to the side.
"You may leave now" said the doctor, not bothering to look at her.
"I beg your pardon?" said Lizzy, shocked that she would be thus dismissed.
"I am afraid you may not stay here Miss, this is no place for a young lady" he said, tilting his head towards the other beds that were full of men.
"I must stay with him" she said, fearing she may cry. "I am his wife!" she said, in a strong and demanding voice.
"Oh", said the doctor, "I beg your pardon, Mrs…?" he said, taken aback. Lizzy thought quickly, she could not give them her real name. She did not know if they would come looking for them.
"Mrs. Imogen Taylor and my husband is Mr. Robert Taylor" she said, hoping she sounded confident.
"I see, well I can sense when I have lost a case. You may stay, but I fear you will get no sleep here" he said wryly, "The men can be very loud when in pain."
"That is quite alright" she said softly, thankful that her lie had worked. She could not leave Mr. Darcy. It was better that they stayed together and looking at the lack of staff in the hospital, she knew that she would need to tend to him to ensure his safety.
"He has a fever" he said, touching his head. "Miss Murphy will show you how to change his head wrappings and how to bring the fever down. I am afraid you are in for a long night."
"Indeed" said Lizzy, biting her lip. The doctor gave her a look of pity, pursed his lips and left the room.
And for the first time in the entire horrendous day, Lizzy allowed herself to cry.
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So excited to be back! I looked up whether its lizzie vs lizzy...dr. google says its lizzy?
Didn't realize I had reviews under moderated, I changed that but still can't see them...anyone know why they are not showing?
