Two years ago...

"Why?" Alex asked in horror.

"'Cos I said so!" her father boomed, causing Ned and Barto to flinch.

"We dinna get caught!"

"Ye almost did!" her father exclaimed. "That bloody Guard almost caught ye!"

Alex glared at her cousins. Both looked away and started to turn.

"Yer not goin' out of Meriwether until I say so," her father said with finality.

Alex stomped her foot and walked out of the cottage.

"Nae goin' out, d'ye hear me?" her father cried after her.

"Aye! I'll rot te death in this damned place!" she shouted over her shoulder.

"That bleedin' Guard's still lookin' fer ye! Yer uncles said so!"

"Then maybe I'll let 'im catch me fer good!"

*****

"This is everything?" Ralph asked no one in particular, hands on his hips as he studied the carriage before him.

"It is everything we can manage to haul," Levi murmured beside him.

"This is bloody stupid," Nicholas said, shaking his head. "This is the dumbest thing I have ever witnessed you do, brother." Aabha, Sophia's dog, made a sound beside his brother's leg. Mrs. Brigid Beagle, the black cat, meowed beside Aabha. It seemed both animals were in agreement to Nicholas' statement.

"Suicide," Maxwell said from where he leaned against the carriage door.

Ralph ignored them. "This is the only way."

"There are tons of ways, you idiot!" Levi, Nicholas and Maxwell exclaimed in unison.

"What is happening?" Ysabella's voice asked from somewhere above them.

The brothers looked up to see the twins leaning out one of the windows of the second landing.

"Nothing!" they all chorused.

"Why is that posh chest on the carriage roof?" Emma asked.

"Because it deserves to be flaunted!" Ralph cried back, irate.

"That belonged to your father, dear!" their mother's voice shouted from the other window.

Ralph groaned.

"And what is that inside the carriage?" the woman asked.

"The portmanteau father gave you, Mother!" Nicholas replied. "The one embossed with gold!"

"Ask Ralph what is inside the bloody portmanteau!" Levi added.

"Oh dear Lord, what are you boys up to?" was their mother's near-hysterical response.

"Something stupid," Benedict wryly replied from the doorway of the open front door. Beside him stood his three-year-old daughter, Ayah, who was looking at everyone with her curious green eyes.

"What do we have here?" Wakefield asked, joining Benedict and his daughter at the doorway. Before anyone could reply, Cole joined the crowd that was gathering in the driveway of the Everard mansion.

"Meg says to be careful, Ralph," Cole said. "And I will not be representing any of you should things go awry and you end up in the courts."

"Can we come with you?" Fiona asked.

Ralph let out a sigh and faced the people crowded in the doorway. Fiona and Faye were standing at the bottom of the stairs, each of them holding their little brother's hand. Harold was giggling for no apparent reason as he stared at Ralph.

"No, you cannot, Fiona." It was Levi who answered. "Your uncles are going on a trip to find Death."

Fiona and Faye's eyes widened. "Death? He is real then?"

"Indeed!" Cole replied. "Now, come girls, we do not wish for Death to know our names."

The girls looked scared now, but they also looked worried. "But Uncle Ralph promised to play with us. Death cannot take him yet!"

"Uncle Levi shall do the honor, Faye," said Levi, guiding the girls up the steps. "So long, brothers!" he said over his shoulder.

Ben simply shook his head and bent down to pick up his daughter.

It was then that Sophia walked out, looking quite amused. She picked up the black cat when it ran to her side.

"Ralph, you dimwit!" Emma shouted from above. She leaned farther out the window, her face furious. "Are you doing what we think you are doing!"

"What is it, dear? What is it!" their mother asked.

Ralph threw his head back to glare at her sisters. "I shall be fine, Emma! Get your body out the window before you fall! I am not quite too keen to catch you!"

"You must realize there are more of them out there, Ralph! You cannot be certain who you will encounter out there!" Ysabella said beside Emma.

"Let him be, darling!" Wakefield said. "It would be a nice scene to see this man literally bleed for love! And do be careful. Step away from the window!"

"For love?" Lady Alice asked. "What are you planning to do, Ralph Arnold Everard! And Ysabella, do step away from the window. You are in such delicate state!"

"We are going, Mother!" Nicholas said, righting his coat. He walked over to Sophia to give her a kiss. "Please, do keep my wife company while we are out!" And to Sophia, he whispered, "Keep her busy, darling. Have as many tea parties as possible."

Sophia chuckled, shaking her head. "You are merely going because you want to see him suffer, do you?"

"Of course!" Nicholas said, not even bothered that Ralph could hear everything. He turned and climbed inside the carriage.

"Oh, for the love of all that's holy! What is going on!" Lady Alice demanded. "Stop right there, Maxwell! Where do you think you are going, all of you!"

Wakefield laughed as the brothers ignored the women upstairs.

"Ralph!" Emma, Ysabella and Lady Alice shouted when Ralph climbed inside the carriage.

Wakefield walked forward and peered through the window. "They shall be there on time, I believe."

Nicholas shook his head. "Did you inform them of my request?"

"Of course."

With a contented smile, Nicholas nodded. "Good."

Maxwell let out an impatient smile. "Well, should we not go along? My family is waiting for my return."

Wakefield tapped the side of the carriage with a smirk. "I would love to be a witness to it all, but I am not taking any risks. My wife shall have my head if I ever dare." Shaking his head, he added, "Survive, you three."

*****

"We have been here long enough," Maxwell complained, pocketing his watch.

Ralph peered out the curtains of the carriage. "Those bloody bastards said they will be on time."

"Patience, brothers," Nicholas murmured. He was leaning his head against his seat, his eyes closed.

Ralph and Maxwell shared a look. "We are cramped inside this carriage for nearly the entire day with our mother's bloody humongous portmanteau filled with all gems we can spare, Nick," said Ralph.

"You are being too patient," commented Maxwell. "Is this all for show?"

"Well," Nicholas said, opening one eye, a corner of his lips lifting, "I am a very patient man. Or have you forgotten?"

"That you waited for Sophia while drowning in sorrow?" Ralph scoffed.

"I did wait. That is the point."

"You were a living dead," Maxwell pointed out. "One would think you were haunting your own bloody estate."

"I was miserably patient then," Nicholas said, unperturbed with the taunting. He turned to Ralph. "Any moment now, brother, they are—"

The three of them stiffened when they heard the sound of horses' hooves.

Ralph snapped his head to Nicholas. "You told the driver to not do anything, yes?"

"I believe Levi took care of that."

"And the wheel?"

"Somewhere out there." Nicholas pointed his thumb to the other side of the road.

"And the guns?"

"Wakefield said he shall ask his footman to do hide them under the seats," Nicholas replied.

"Was there anything you personally took care?"

"None, of course."

Maxwell was already peering out the window.

"Is it them?"

His brother frowned. "I see Guards."

"What?"

"Town Guards."

"What the bloody hell—"

"Ah, bloody hell," Maxwell groaned as he pulled away from the carriage window.

"What is it?" Ralph demanded when Maxwell leaned against his seat and closed his eyes, looking as though he would rather be somewhere else.

"What is it?" Nicholas repeated, sitting straight.

Ralph was growing impatient. Why would Town Guards be here? "Bloody hell, Max, what is—"

The horses were now outside and footsteps were coming toward them.

"Relax, Ralph, we did not commit any crime," Nicholas reassured. "Surely they are merely curious why a lone carriage is parked on a lone road."

"I am worried that the ones we are waiting for will arrive anytime soon. It will be a disaster."

"I would not worry about that," Maxwell wryly murmured.

"Why—"

A knock on the door interrupted Ralph's question.

"Please open the door, gentlemen," a man's voice ordered.

Ralph froze.

He knew that voice.

*****

"D'ye see, Lex?" Ned asked, followed by a chuckle. "We can roam 'round freely!"

Alex grinned. "Aye! Ye 'ave a brain 'fter all, cousin!" She looked down at herself while atop Siege. "Where d'ye get these?"

"Ralph Everard, 'cors!" Barto retorted with a guffaw.

Alex stiffened.

"Remember when we went te Ysa? Barto and I? When ye went missin'."

Alex remained silent. How long had it been? Months? She could hardly count the days now. "Ack!" she cried. "Stop. I don't wanna hear the rest of it."

Ned and Barto shared a look and shrugged.

Alex looked back. The road was dark behind them. The last lamppost they passed by had a broken light. But ahead, she could see the illuminations. Yet there were no carriages in sight.

"Should we pick up speed?" Barto challenged Ned and Alex. And without waiting for a response, he kicked his horse and galloped away.

Ned threw Alex a glance and shouted, kicking his horse as well.

"Ye can't ever beat Siege!" Alex shouted after them, kicking Siege. But her horse would not budge. "Oi!" she said, frowning down at the horse. "Come on, Siege!"

Siege made a whining sound and started to prance.

"What the bleedin' hell's wrong with ye?" Alex asked.

It was hopeless. Siege was in no mood to run. Giving up, Alex sighed and watched Ned and Barto start to disappear around the bend ahead. She looked behind her again. Wickhurst was merely a few miles away, Beechworth even nearer.

She shook her head. "Nae," she murmured. "'Tis better te stay where we belong, aye, Siege?" In response, the horse let out a whining sound and began to pick up speed. Alex grinned and bent down. "Why don't we show Ned and Barto what we got, eh?"

Siege neighed and galloped down the road.

When Alex and Siege appeared after the big bend, she found that Ned and Barto were slowing down. Before she could shout out her question, she saw the carriage beside the road.

A smile curved her lips when she saw the large trunk on top of the carriage roof. It widened even more when she saw that it was missing a wheel.

Her cousins stopped and waited for her. When she arrived, Ned whispered, "The driver's sleepin'."

Alex grinned. She motioned with her head. "Go."

Ned and Barto exchanged another odd look which Alex ignored. The two seemed to be keeping a secretly of late, but she thought it better not to ask. So long as they did not prod her with questions regarding her latest adventure, she was fine with them keeping to themselves.

The two men hopped off their horses and approached the carriage. Alex had her eyes on the targets—the giant chest over the carriage and what looked like a portmanteau inside the carriage which was large enough to cover the window from inside. Her father would be ecstatic. She had just recently regained her freedom and it would be a pleasure to bring home treasures on her first day out of Meriwether.

Alex was envisioning her father's face later when Ned knocked on the carriage door, saying, "Please open the door, gentlemen."

Barto and Alex snorted at Ned's perfect impersonation of a gentleman's speech.

When the door did not open, Alex jumped off Siege, prepared to take over.

"Take care of it," whispered Barto to Alex, "I'll take care of the driver." He then went to where the driver was sleeping and Alex stepped beside Ned.

"Open the door," Ned repeated, knocking on the door.

Alex sighed when no reply came and she brushed Ned aside, not too patient to wait for the people inside the carriage to collect their weapons.

She rapped on the door again. Still, nothing. And just as Alex started to reach for the door handle, the door swung open, revealing familiar faces.

Her eyes widened when she saw Ralph smiling down at her. He looked her up and down.

"I see you have finally managed to dress up as a Guard after all, bandit."

*****

She looked astonishing in a Guard's uniform. But the look on her face was priceless.

Ralph would have loved to enjoy her shock, but his own heart was pounding hard against his chest that he began to feel the panic start at the pit of his stomach.

"Ah, bloody finally!" Maxwell exclaimed all of a sudden, squeezing between Ralph and Nicholas to jump out the carriage door. Alex gaped as Maxwell landed right beside her. "Good evening, Ned," said Maxwell, ignoring Alex. "Where is that brother of yours?"

"Takin' care of the driver, guv!" said Ned with a grin. "Have ye been waitin' long?"

"Yes!" Nicholas retorted, also jumping out of the carriage. "I cannot feel my legs!"

Ralph gulped when Alex started to glower. "What the bleedin' hell is happenin'?" she demanded at her cousins.

Ned simply shrugged. Barto was busy chatting with the driver.

Ralph cleared his throat.

Alex sharply turned to face him. "What's the meanin' of this, Guard?"

Ralph smiled and took a breath to regain his composure. Seeing this woman after more than three fortnights reassured him that he was doing the right thing. "I have given you enough time to deal with things on your own. And to long for me." When she frowned, he added, "I hope it worked?"

Before Alex could say anything, Ralph reached for her hand and pulled her inside the carriage. Maxwell and Nicholas leaned against the door just as it closed, preventing Alex from escaping.

"Make it fast, brother," said Maxwell.

"You still have the rite of passage to go through later," added Nicholas, his voice laced with excitement.

Ralph barely heard his brothers for his eyes were on Alex sitting across from him. Her fury was apparent, but Ralph's desperation was stronger.

Bloody tarnation, she was beautiful when irked.

Ralph cleared his throat.

"Now, how do you wish me to propose?"