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Risky though it was on such a stretch of road, Gutesohnes whipped his teae the coach-route cut into the steepest side of the mountain above the River Orbe under a brassy sky thatdust "Half a league, my comrades!" he yelled at the horses as he held the reins with straining hands in a frantic effort to retain what little control he had left; he tried not to listen for the hoofbeats of the horses of the highwayoczy called out through the carriage&039;s open"Theythere"

"I&039;ll be alert," Gutesohnes shouted back "Just two days from Yvoire Two days! You&039;d think we&039;d be safe, so close to ho from the on-side , one of his pistols in his hand "Not that I will be able to hit anything, but it may back them off You say there are five men?"

"Yes I saw five," Gutesohnes cried out

"We turn on-side shortly, do we not? And the road descends?"

"Less than half a league," said Gutesohnes, his voice going ragged

"Very good," said Ragoczy, and sighted the barrel of his pistol to the rear of the coach; the vehicle swayed dangerously, but Ragoczy kept himself in place "I will fire above their heads-let us see if that slows theed As the turn brought the road behind the coach into view again, he took what aier, and almost immediately, the other The knuckles of his hand on which the barrels rested burned through his glove, but he ree to their pursuers Unable to discern what had becoroup of cloaked-and- on his knuckles to cool the welts; Hero was hanging onto the hand-straps and doing her best to maintain her composure

"They warned us in Cossonay that there are bandits about," she said without accusing him in any way as she watched him put down his double-barreled pistol and take a smaller pistol from under the armrest "This could have been avoided We should have employed out-riders"

"So they did warn us, and we reed as he inspected the pistol before readying hiain "And we kno that out-riders would be helpful, so long as they assisted us and not them I hope our second coach is estured toward the rear of their vehicle "There have been tis were ploys to put travelers into the hands of brigands, who posed as out-riders"

She considered this unpleasant possibility "Yes That could happen"

"One h the possibilities and make the best decisions under the circuo faster than we can, can&039;t they?" she asked, a slight tremor in her voice "They&039;ll overtake us"

"They can, but not safely As we topped the last rise, one of their e of the road; he and his hwaymen are noithout their leader and his deputy: their horses are tiring rapidly" He did not add that soon it would be unsafe for the four gray Kladrubers pulling the coach to continue at this precipitous pace, and that they, too, were becoe horses had been his e and it offended him that they should be put at risk

"Yes The servants-their coach should not be far behind us Do you think they&039;ll be set upon, as we have been? Isn&039;t there some way to warn theht to alert thehwayain at anyone today, not after that fall" He had great confidence in Rogier&039;s ability to deal hatever he encountered, but he kept that thought to hihtly to the hand-strap "I hope you&039;re right"

"They have lost a horse and I a the rider was injured, too Neither ht up from the fall" He remembered many times when he had been forced to out-run pursuers: it was an experience he never got used to "Can you charge my pistols for me?"

"I kno to," she said "Where is your-"

"In the small leather box, in the other armrest, the one with the broad shoulder-strap You can save me some time if you would tend to my pistols" He pulled hiain, just as Gutesohnes applied the brake to help the horses slon as the road began its sharp descent Ragoczy swore an oath in a language only he understood, his hand tree His ar of the brake, was off-aih in the chest of the lead horse of the five highway down the road, legs flailing, taking his rider and unseating, in addition to the stricken horse&039;s rider, two of the et over their fallen coy trot, holding the Kladrubers in as he regained control of the coach and his tea into a grove of trees and was slowed stillback, and not a h to be heard inside the coach and on the driving-box "I&039;m sorry about the horses They reed Gutesohnes, tugging back on the reins to keep the teaoczy slid back into the coach , narrowly avoiding a collision with a e of the road "I think we&039;re safe for now," he said to Hero as she handed hi us," she said uncertainly

"No And no one is e from the forest ahead of us" He stowed the pistol in the are-box "For noe seem to be safe If there are no ht, and be back at Chateau Ragoczy by nightfall to sh to venture as far as the lake"

She shook her head as she began to weep "I&039;mI&039;m sorry," she sta out his hands to her

"Becausebecause " She sobbed openly

"Because you are caler is past?" he suggested, having seen this kind of behavior on ht," she ad She pulled a small handkerchief from her reticule and dabbed at her eyes "I&039; onto her seat and putting his ar You have no cause to feel abashed"

She bristled at this "What do you mean, I have no cause?"

"I understand you do feel abashed," he went on, "and it saddens h to see that you deserve your name, and that you have done better than almost anyone-man or woman-could hope to have done" He felt her relax under his arh regard, whether you do or not"

She raised her face, her eyes red and still filling with tears "You always knohat to say to brightenher head slowly

He kissed her cheek "You e you, which is not the case"

"So you say," she murmured while she crumpled her handkerchief and wiped her face with it "Oh, what&039;s the purpose of reassurance, but to help us forget our failings?"

"I would rather think it has to do with coes of devotion" He took her hand which did not contain her handkerchief and brought it to his lips "I a my pistol," he went on evenly "Yours is a very useful skill"

She laughed a little "One you knew I possessed"

"No," he corrected gently, "one I hoped you possessed With your travels, I thought it likely that you had been taught to shoot"

"Oh, yes," she said,"My father insisted"

"Very good," Ragoczy approved, and pulled her a little closer to hihtened up "I should hope not He would have slappedso important"

He bit back the sharp rehts, and instead, he kissed her hand again "I thank you for being ready to help in a difficult situation"

"It was that," she agreed, and gave a long, slow sigh as she settled against his shoulder "I wish I didn&039;t seem to unravel when difficult situations end"

"Better then than in theat a walk now, oversteeply There were fare ahead He tapped on the ceiling of the coach to gain Gutesohnes&039; attention, then called out, "Why are we slowing down? Is the tea like that," answered Gutesohnes "The teaain No, Saint-Ivroc is less than a league ahead You know Saint-Ivroc"

"Very soczy recalled "Maybe fifteen houses at h and a fountain"

"And a tavern for theinn," Gutesohnes added "Do you want to stop?"

"Why?" Ragoczy asked

"To hwaymen live here In remote places like this, robbery is often the only way to oczy considered for the better part of a minute, then said, "If the coach seeive theh, and then ill continue on, at an easy pace"

"Very good," said Gutesohnes, and pulled the team down to a sloalk so that the coach rolled into the town as inconspicuously as possible

"Would you like to step down?" Ragoczy asked Hero as he felt the coach finally stop

"No, not really Not here," she answered "It is all so empty Is it just that it&039;s mid-day and they&039;re all at dinner?"

"Perhaps You need not alight if that is what you want," he said as he opened the door and let down the steps Descending, he went to the front of the team and patted the neck of the off-side wheeler "I a stolen by those roughians," said Gutesohnes as he cli-box "And you wonder why I prefer being a courier"

"You oczy as he reached up into the botto-box for the wooden pail, which he took to the trough and filled for the wheeler nearest him; the leaders had sunk their noses into the water He held the pail while the horse drank, then went and refilled it for the other wheeler Looking about, he said, "The square is truly deserted just now"

"It&039;s h, as you see Most places are shut for the dinner hour Andmen died in the recent wars, or so I have heard" Gutesohnes made a quick survey of the square "There is one open door, I see"

"Where?"

Gutesohnes cocked his head toward the tavern that faced theto eat and drink"

"As suits you best," said Ragoczy, then added, "Will you bring a bottle of cider for my companion?" He offered the pail of water to the second wheeler, holding it while the gray gelding did his best to shove his nose through the bottom of the pail

"Certainly," said Gutesohnes, already striding away toward the tavern

Hero leaned out theof the coach "You are not going to join him, are you?"

"No, I a soon" He pulled a twig from the nearest horse&039;s mane "I want to reach Lausanne before sunset"

"You fear hwaymen? No" He put the e so obvious I want a chance to inspect the coach thoroughly and make any repairs needed before we venture on"

"Do you think repairs will be necessary? This coach is so new, and we have not used it too harshly" She sounded worried

"I think the axles should be inspected, and the wheel-rie and may need repair And after the e careened down the " He patted the ruray coat "And the horses will need to be groooczy, they will have to be bathed"

"Well, if you will drive gray horses " she said "They show every speck of dust and grime"

"That they do," he said "I&039;ll want to clean ain"

"Will you trust your tearooms?" she asked

"If they were the liver sorrels, I would probably brush them down myself But these Kladrubers are not so attached to their people as the liver sorrels are" He watched a cat with a h and into an alley between two closed buildings "The horses will need three days of rest after such work as they have had"

"Will you bring the liver sorrels back froe any time soon?" Hero asked "I do so like theoczy before winter, that much I can assure you" He patted the shoulder of the on-side leader as he an to wonder how er Gutesohnes would take for a quick meal; they should be under way soon, he told hi the escape froed thes and feet by the ti to spread over his face, a bottle of cherry cider in his hand