He threw his coat on and started toward the door. His fear for his sister renewed. “It would be just like my mother to try to punish me by destroying Agatha.”
Hurrying after him, Olympia said, “You took her power away and her symbol of her power, that damned house. She is probably trying to dim your victory over her.”
Once in the hall, Olympia called for Pawl, Artemis, and Stefan. “Do not argue,” she said when Brant frowned. “You do not know what you might find when you return to that house. It would be wise to have someone at your back.”
“Agreed,” he said.
“And it would not hurt to have one of these as well,” said Pawl as he walked up and handed Brant a pistol.
“Good man,” he murmured as he pocketed the gun but Pawl had already run out to call for a carriage. “Let us just pray we are not too late.” He looked at Olympia. “How soon do you see something before it actually happens?”
“I have so few visions it is difficult to say. Not long, if I recall correctly. So, go, and this time bring Agatha back here.”
“I will.”
He would not leave the girl within a mile of his mother ever again. As he leapt into the carriage Pawl had already called for, and the others joined him, he cursed himself as an idiot. He should have known his mother would seek some revenge for what he had done. What better way to strike at him than to hurt the sister he had been trying so hard to save. His mother knew the house did not mean all that much to him.
“You got this carriage quickly, Pawl,” he said, hoping talking would keep his mind from preying on all that could be happening to his baby sister. “They are usually a bit slower to answer a call.”
“Did not call,” said Pawl and grinned. “Saw it sitting outside m’lady’s cousin’s house and told the man Sir Orion had told us to take it.”
Artemis and Stefan laughed and Brant found he was able to smile. “I hope this Orion does not scold Olympia too much for this theft.”
“Nay,” said Artemis, “especially not when he learns why we stole it.”
And that quickly his mind returned to thinking on all that could be happening to Agatha. He was so tense by the time they reached the street where Mallam House was that his bones ached. Just as the carriage rolled to a halt behind another carriage parked before the house, Minden threw a screaming Agatha into the carriage and leapt in behind her. Brant leapt from his carriage but it was too late for the driver on the other one whipped up the horses and Minden’s carriage lurched into motion.
Brant leapt up next to the driver of his carriage. “Follow them!”
“’Tis dangerous to go that fast through these roads,” the man protested.
“I will pay for any damage. Now, move!”
“M’lord,” he began again.
“Move now or I will kick you off this box and drive the cursed thing myself. That is my sister that swine has just run off with.”
The driver did not argue anymore. Brant soon realized that, despite his hesitation, the man knew how to handle his team on the narrow roads and do so at high speed. From the look of the carriage they chased, Minden’s driver was not as skilled. Brant could only pray that his sister was not harmed during what was supposed to be her rescue.
Minden’s driver did his best but disaster struck quickly. In turning a corner, the man judged wrong and Brant held his breath as the carriage teetered on two wheels and then fell over. He could hear Agatha screaming and watched as the horses dragged the tipped carriage a little ways farther before stopping. The fact that the driver had fallen off the box and the reins were no longer held in anyone’s hands may have helped that quick halt, Brant thought as, the moment his carriage stopped, he jumped to the ground.
His driver, Pawl, and Olympia’s nephews were right behind him as he ran to the fallen carriage. “See how the driver is,” he told Pawl and then looked at his driver. “Can you do anything with the horses?”
“Aye, m’lord,” the man said and hurried over to calm the frightened animals.
Brant approached the fallen carriage slowly, Artemis and Stefan flanking him. The silence inside made him uneasy. Carriage accidents caused too many deaths for him not to be afraid for his sister. He was only a foot away when the door, now situated at the top of the turned-over carriage, opened and Minden scrambled out.
Brant lunged forward but, for an aging roué, Minden proved very nimble and went down the other side of the carriage. He ran around it and saw Minden hobbling away. It was easy to catch him but, as he drew close, Brant was reluctant to touch the man. Minden could no longer hide that he had the pox. He looked wretched and unclean. Either he had been in such a hurry he had not bothered to try and hide the sores on his face or they were so bad now that he could not hide them any longer.
“Give up, Minden,” he said.