When Sparks Fly Read Free

face pale. “Mama is hurt?”
    â€œI’m not sure,” she admitted. “Jarvis is still trying to reach the carriage.”
    â€œThen I have to go help!” Percy exclaimed, starting past her.
    She grabbed his arm. “Let Jarvis and the stranger handle it.”
    â€œBut we don’t even know if we can trust that fellow!”
    â€œIt’ll be fine, don’t worry.” If he’d meant them harm, surely he would have already tried to take advantage of them. His gruffness perversely reassured her, especially after months in society, where the men she could least trust were always the most charming.
    When Percy still hesitated, she added, “We have to prepare a place for your mother in the coach. She’ll need blankets and cushions, in case she is hurt.”
    That sent the boys scurrying to arrange a comfy bed on one of the seats, while Meg shrank into a corner, sucking her thumb and crying softly.
    â€œIt’s all right, Meg,” Percy told her as he plumped up a cushion. “As soon as Mama is here, we’ll go to an inn and get chocolate, won’t we, Ellie?”
    â€œCertainly.” Giving the boys something to do had been the right approach.
    â€œThat man called us brats,” Tim complained as he spread a blanket. “He doesn’t even know us!”
    â€œI’m sure if he did, he wouldn’t call you that,” Ellie said soothingly as she climbed out to hunt for Jarvis’s flask of whisky. Aunt Alys might need it.
    Hearing a noise, she squinted at the embankment and spotted the stranger headed toward her, carrying Aunt Alys. The postboy and Jarvis were at his heels, leading the horses from the post chaise.
    â€œIs my aunt all right?” Ellie asked, her heart in her throat.
    â€œShe’s alive,” the man responded, “but unconscious. I think her leg is broken, and she’s taken quite a knock to the head. She needs a doctor right away.”
    Ellie hurried to open the carriage door. “Is there one in the next town?”
    The man leaned inside to set Aunt Alys upon the seat with an odd gentleness for a man so gruff. Then he faced her with a scowl. “As I told your coachman, you won’t make it to Hensley. It’s eight miles off, even if you could maneuver up that icy hill beyond the bridge. My house is nearby—you can sit out the weather there. I’ll send someone to fetch a doctor.”
    â€œGoodness gracious, I don’t know,” Ellie murmured. How could this fellow fit seven extra people into his cottage, much less provide food and bedding for the children? They might be trapped for days. “Perhaps you should consult your wife first.”
    â€œI’ve got no wife. And you’ve got little choice.”
    If they went on to the next town they could buy what they needed, but he seemed certain of the impossibility of that.
    â€œHe’s right, miss,” Jarvis said. “What lies beyond that bridge ain’t navigable at present. And the road back to the last town is sure to be as bad.”
    They looked to her for a decision. It felt strange to be in charge—usually Aunt Alys arranged everything. But Ellie trusted Jarvis, even if she didn’t entirely trust the sooty stranger. “I suppose we have no choice.”
    As the men discussed how best to turn the coach around, she realized that she and the children needed items from the abandoned post chaise. She would just run back to the river for some clothes and other items. She might even drag a—
    â€œWhere the devil are you going?” the stranger called as she headed off.
    â€œTo fetch some necessities from our trunks.”
    â€œLeave them be.” He came after her. “We have no time for such nonsense.”
    â€œBut there are things we need,” she protested.
    Grabbing her by the arm, he began tugging her back to the carriage. “Nothing worth the risk of drowning in the river, Miss