Alcingeria

Chapter Four: Ignacio

Chapter Four Ignacio:

Monday June 21st 1690

Robert had managed to get up behind the guards at a reasonably close distance. Still, the four of us knew we didn't stand a chance against the twelve guards. Robert must have seen this, and he gave us a suitable order.

"Run!"

I had no objections, but my body did. I looked around, and after a fraction of a second, the wreckage of the carriage caught my eye.

"There!" I yelled, pointing to where the carriage had slammed into the tree.

Lifting my good arm sent a jolt of pain up it, I cried out and made a break for the wreck. Every step was painful, but a flintlock bullet to the back would be even more so. With that in mind, I pushed past the pain and retreated the short distance between me and the rear of the carriage. Two shots flew past me. Don and Macalister were already there.

"Where's Robert?" I asked.

Don pointed to Robert, still on horseback, riding away from the guards.

"Don't let him escape!" barked one of them.

As soon as the guard said that, six of his men rode after Robert. He was leading some of the guards away from us. Was that his big plan?

"Go! Go! Escape while you still can!" I heard Robert shout over his shoulder.

"Good on you, Rapier!" Cried Don, thrusting a fist in the air.

"Fire!"

A barrage of gunshots. We didn't peek them in case there were some who hadn't fired, and were waiting to bait us out. We had learned this trick when we were in a shootout with a few Law Enforcement Officers last year. Don had nearly gotten his head shot off.

Another barrage came, and the other side of the carriage was riddled with shots. Macalister deemed it safe to peek. He fired, and we heard a cry of pain. He had shot one of the guards!

"Nice work, Troll!" I exclaimed.

The palace guards were now down to four men, with the other six chasing Robert, this gave us a better chance of survival.

I leaned around the corner, hoping to get a shot in on one of them, but it hurt too much to lean.

"I can't lean around the corner!"

Don's eye fell of the blood that saturated my shirt. His resolve hardened and he looked around the corner, only to have a shot miss him by two feet.

"Not to worry, Kid!" He reassured me. "They can't aim anyhow!"

I leaned against the wreck of the carriage. Hearing my alias was a breath of fresh air, and it brought me back to better times.

My chest, forehead and arms were hurting badly. I saw that Macalister and Don were bleeding, but they only had a few cuts on their arms and foreheads, nothing too serious.

I heard the guards returning fire once more. I heard them advance a few paces. If that kept up, we wouldn't be able to hide behind here much longer! How were we going to get out of this?

"How many bullets do you have?" Don asked me.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out four bullets, plus the one I had in the flintlock.

"Five." I replied.

"Six." Don said after counting his bullets.

"Three." Macalister sighed with dismay.