Alcingeria

Chapter Three: The Escape

Chapter Three The Escape:

Monday June 21st 1690

"Woo-hoo!" Shouted Don, clapping Macalister and I on the shoulder.

He took his pistol and motioned for us to get back as much as we could. He shot the lock off the box and opened it.

Sure enough, there were gold coins in various denominations neatly organized in columns built into the bottom of the container.

"We did it!" Exclaimed Macalister. "The fifty thousand is ours!"

"All thanks to the masterful planning," I said begrudgingly. "This is enough to retire on!"

"Well, the plan was pretty perfect."

Macalister laughed. Just then, a deafening gunshot sounded, and a split second later, a bullet ripped through the rear of the carriage, narrowly missing Don's head.

"Woa!" He exclaimed, ducking down, out of sight of our mystery attacker.

I peeked up through the rearward window and saw a dismaying sight; behind us, all on horseback welding flintlocks and swords, were five palace guards! Queen Mycta must have heard our gunshots and sent a few guards to investigate! She probably also heard about the three dead bodies within the city; the man, his wife, and the carriage driver. Word travels fast, especially if you're the Queen. On the bright side, I doubted that the four bodies of the border guards were noticed yet.

I saw one of the guards aim at the window with his flintlock. I ducked down with Don and Macalister just as a gunshot sounded, sending a bullet flying through the wood next to me. Fear filled me, and I ducked even lower down, hoping not to get shot through the wood. I looked down to my flintlock. I had to reload it, because I had shot the carriage driver. I reached into my pocket, picked up the flask of gunpowder and poured it into the barrel, then I put some in the open pan. Putting the powder away, I retrieved a cloth wad and one of the bullets, and rammed them both down the barrel.

"Take as many of them down as you can." I said with venom, cocking the lock.

They both nodded and reloaded their pistols the same way I had loaded mine. When they were both finished, I peeked up through the window. I took aim, sighting down the barrel and lining up a shot. I placed one of Queen Mycta's guards in the center, and pulled the trigger.

I saw blood shoot into the air as the bullet connected with my target, sending him flying off his horse. I ducked back down and reloaded.

"Good work, Redmond!" Don shouted as he fired.

"Did you get one?"

"I did, they're down to three men now!"

The two lucky shots must have been demoralizing for the guards. Flintlocks weren't the most accurate things, and firing from a moving platform just made things worse. I saw Macalister peek up and line up a shot, but the carriage took an abrupt turn and it threw off his aim. It was a good thing he hadn't fired yet.

"Sorry about that!" I heard Robert call over the thundering sound of hooves and the wooden wheels across the ground. "The road curved!"

Macalister peeked up again, by now Don and I had reloaded our guns and we peeked up again. I placed a palace guard in my sights, but the carriage took another abrupt turn. I looked out the window to see that we were now out of the walls of Relin, and we were now in the surrounding wilderness. Despite the fact that we were no longer in the province of Relin, Queen Mycta's guards kept chasing us. The terrain here was rocky and bumpy, so it was harder to line up a shot on them. When we stopped turning for more than two seconds, I peeked up again, but the carriage took another turn.