From the book...

Out of sight beyond a bend, came the roar of car engines.

Militia.

Sophie was carrying Bella and she cast around for somewhere to hide. There was nowhere. No ditch, no trees—

Hugo and Freddy stepped in front of her.

An open car, pitted with dents and holes, raced towards them, another vehicle close behind. Beside the driver in the first car was a man in a black coat and a cap, aiming at them with a rifle.

The vehicle screeched to a halt and the guy jumped out. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

Sophie froze, her insides churning. Bella wriggled and wailed.

The man lowered his gun and took off his cap, and Sophie did a double take. His face was smeared with grime and his fair hair had been cut short, but those startling blue eyes were unmistakable.

‘Rupert?’ Sophie sagged in relief. Standing before her wasn’t a member of the militia, but an aristocrat. Two years ago, he’d courted her, offering an ‘open marriage.’

Rupert glared at them. ‘You’re out here — with a baby?’

Freddy offered his hand. ‘Good to see you, old chap.’

‘Get in.’ Rupert gestured with his rifle at the cars. ‘Now.’

They all hastily obeyed. Sophie squeezed with Bella into Rupert’s car with Hugo, and Freddy and Charlotte clambered into the second. The brown leather of the seats was split and scratched, and the doors were grey except for a sliver of green paint. No, it couldn’t be. ‘Is this the Laceys’ car?’ Sophie asked the driver, her voice tentative.

‘It is, Miss.’

Sophie swallowed. What state was the Manor in?

The vehicles turned around and sped off.

With the holdall on her back and Bella on her chest, Sophie sat straight and upright, holding on to the half-height door. There were no seat belts in this world.

Sophie shuffled forward, closer towards Rupert in the front passenger seat. The collar of his coat was frayed and grubby. Very different from his regular clothes. She yelled over the wind whistling around the car. ‘Rupert, what are you doing here?’

‘A militia has taken Radden Hall.’ He kept his eyes on the road.

Rupert’s home was the other side of the county. Grand, rambling, but with no moat. Impossible to defend.

‘I thought you were emigrating?’ shouted Sophie, as they rounded a bend.

‘I am. The Laceys are too.’

A sharp crack like a breaking branch joined the sound of the wind.

‘Down,’ yelled Rupert.

Sophie and Hugo huddled as low as they could. Bella, squashed under Sophie in the seat well, screamed.

Bang … bang.

Oh god. Sophie pressed her face into the seat. Thud, crack, bang. Bella screaming…

Sophie pushed her face harder into the seat. If a bullet hit her, would it also kill Bella? Would the holdall protect them? She unclipped the sling and shoved Bella further into the seat well. Please, please make it stop.

But the bangs grew louder.

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