Through the Smoke by Brenda Novak Read Free Book Online

difference in their progress as the horses struggled to pull the carriage, seemingly by inches, through the snow. Frightened that they wouldn’t reach her mother after all, she peered at the earl’s face. Would he give up? Turn back?
    He stared out at the black night, his expression grim.
    “What if we can’t get through?” Rachel asked, her nails curling into her palms.
    “Then I will come first thing in the morning,” Dr. Jacobsen replied. “Just as soon as this bloody storm passes.”
    The earl glanced at him. “Morning might be too late,” he said. “We will get through.”
    The stubborn set of his jaw brought Rachel a degree of comfort. At least the earl was a man of his word. At least he meant to uphold his end of the bargain despite the difficulty of doing so.
    Hold on, Mum. We’re coming. We’re coming.…
    Twice the carriage became stuck, and Lord Druridge climbed out to help free the wheels. The third time, he told his driver to unharness the horses.
    “Are ye certain, m’lord?” Rachel heard the man say from her seat inside the carriage.
    “We will take the horses and go on. You take the donkey tethered behind and go back.”
    “But m’lord, ye ’aven’t the tack. An’ ye know these ’orses are rarely ridden in such a manner.”
    “I believe I can handle my own animals, Timothy. It won’t be the first time I have managed without a saddle.”
    Rachel looked out as the liveried servant nodded dumbly.
    The doctor, still seated across from her beneath a lap blanket of his own, gaped in surprise. “See here, my lord,” he said as soon as Druridge appeared at the door. “You say we are going on? We will never make it in this—”
    “A woman is ill,” the earl interrupted. “And you are a physician. You tell me, where does your duty lie?”
    The doctor mumbled something about Lord Druridge being too young and reckless for his own good, but he complied by heaving his considerable bulk out into the storm and trudging through the snow to help the driver free the horses. Rachel followed.
    “Let’s go before the drifts are up to our necks,” Jacobsen grumbled, taking hold of the reins of one horse and stepping into the driver’s laced fingertips to climb up.
    Rachel’s dress became sodden and heavy in the few minutes it took for the earl to untie Mrs. Tate’s beast and exchange him for the horse the driver held. She felt the weighty fabric pulling her back, making her movements awkward as she hurried to help.
    Lord Druridge jumped astride the second animal, a chestnut-colored gelding. The horse snorted and tossed its head, its huge body steaming from the exertion of having pulled the carriage. Obviously, it wasn’t happy about this latest change, but Druridge brought the animal under control and turned it so he could say farewell to his coachman. “Safe journey, Timothy.”
    The donkey brayed pitiably and Timothy sent them a forlorn glance. “Aye, m’lord. The same to you.”
    Rachel wondered how
she
would travel. She was perfectly willing to ride Mrs. Tate’s donkey, but the earl had just given Gilly to the coachman.
    “Are you coming?” Lord Druridge asked.
    She blinked against the snow clinging to her eyelashes as he extended his hand to her. She hesitated, but she seemed to have little choice in traveling companions—unless she wanted to ride with the corpulent doctor, who was having a devil of a time controlling his mount.
    Raising a tentative hand, she allowed the earl to pull her up in front of him.
    “Don’t worry about Timothy,” he said, following her backward glance. “He’ll manage.”
    “I am more worried about us,” she admitted and leaned to one side to stare at the ground, which seemed too far away for comfort. “I have never ridden such a large horse and certainly not one that is more accustomed to pulling a carriage than bearing riders.”
    The earl’s voice came as a low rumble in her ear. “It is far more comfortable than riding astride a donkey. You