Thorns And Roses

Chapter Thirty

Now that the smoke started to disappear, people were running over and it was beginning to become clear just how bad the situation was.

And it was awful.

Eleanore's trembling hand rose to cover her mouth as she laid eyes on the carnage the blast had caused to the crowd. Now she could see the bodies. And the blood. So much blood...

A man almost knocked into her as he sprinted over to the carriage and appeared to be screaming a relative's name. Other people joined him, desperately searching through the chaos to find their loved ones and crying out in utter misery.

Those who had been fortunate enough to not stand directly in front of the letterbox were injured badly but some had started to come around, while others remained unconscious. The same, however, could not be said for those that had been directly stood in front of the letterbox.

A handful of people, who mere moments ago were cheering and smiling, now lay caked in blood and debris upon the ground. Their bodies unrecognisable and destroyed beyond recognition. All around them now, family and strangers - even a few police officers - began trying to assist them in any way they could. But they were frantic and helpless, most of them still in shock themselves. Eleanore could only watch and share in their agony.

A hand grabbed her shoulder and whizzed her around. Suddenly she was looking into the wide eyes of Amelia who was shouting something. She could see her lips were moving, but she simply couldn't hear what she was saying.

"Eleanore!" Amelia screamed. The side of her face was smeared with dirt and she had a graze on her chin from where she too had fell. "Are you hurt?! Eleanore can you hear me?!"

Amelia shook the baker hard by the shoulders but all she got in response was a hauntingly blank expression. Amelia knew Eleanore was in shock, but she appeared relatively unharmed, and so she left her there to run to the upturned carriage.

"Father!" She screamed desperately, pushing through the crowds "FATHER!"

Passing the second carriage that had somehow stayed upright during the blast, Amelia spotted Hooper nearby sprawled out on the stone steps of the building. He seemed conscious too and uninjured, just confused as he scrambled to get back on his feet and pick up his fallen cane.

Stepping over the broken glass and injured horse of her father's carriage, Amelia was relieved to see that Taylor had already made it out through the broken window and was dragging her father out too but struggling due to an injured arm. Helping him, she took her fathers arm and together they managed to lift him all the way out of the carriage and lay him on the ground.

Arthur's eyes opened when he was turned over and in a panic, he began hitting out with his arms and crying out.

"Father it's me!" Amelia took his wrist and noted that he grimaced in pain when she did so to his left one.

"Wh- ...what happened?" He asked after a bout of coughing from the dust.

"Explosion sir!" Taylor cried over the commotion, clutching his arm and gritting his teeth in pain "Are you hurt?"

"I- ...no I'm alright..." He groaned, attempting to sit up.

"We need to get you away from here, it's dangerous!" Taylor shouted. Looking around desperately, he finally spotted Winslow and one of Arthurs bodyguards crawling out from the other side of the carriage. Winslow appeared to be in a bad way, a vicious cut above his left eyebrow and a shard of glass wedged in his side. Jerry, his friend and Arthur's large bodyguard, was stood up straight with only a few cuts and scrapes on his face.

"Jerry!" He hollered "We need to get Arthur away from here - now!"

Instantly springing back into his professional job, Jerry raced around the side of the carriage and with Winslow's aid, helped Arthur up on his feet with an arm over his shoulder. "Come on!" They helped carry him over to the side of the road where a few other intact carriages were waiting. "Get in."