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Back Cardinal Black Save as PDF
Chapters (44)
  1. Title Page
  2. One: Into the Storm
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Two: London Calling
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Three: The Malignant Seven
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Four: Squirrels and Cats
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Twenty-Six
  32. Twenty-Seven
  33. Twenty-Eight
  34. Twenty-Nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-One
  37. Thirty-Two
  38. Five: Revelation
  39. Thirty-Three
  40. Thirty-Four
  41. Thirty-Five
  42. Thirty-Six
  43. Thirty-Seven
  44. About the Author

The man inside was bundled up in a heavy brown coat and a brown woolen cap with a white tassel atop it. He gave a start and instantly lifted his hands at the sight of the four barrels looking him in his sharp-nosed face.

“Take off your coat and cap, get out the other side and run,” Julian said.

It was done at once and without protest. As soon as the driver was gone, Julian put on the coat and the cap and said to Matthew, “Both of you get in. I’ll get us the hell out of here.” When they were inside, Matthew put the useless gun on the seat beside him and Firebaugh collapsed into a heap on the other side. Julian closed the doors and climbed up to the driver’s seat. A movement to his right caught his attention: a small figure, crouched down and running as fast as possible across the road behind the coach. Julian had no time to dwell on Miles Merda; he flicked the reins and shouted “Giddap!” but the horses would not move.

Julian saw the whip upright in its stand. He put his gun aside to pull it out and crack it across the reluctant rumps. “Giddap, damn you!” he shouted, and with this added incentive the team lurched forward, the traces jingled, and the coach’s wheels began to roll.

A shot rang out and the lantern to Julian’s right exploded. He saw Samson Lash coming like a destructive force of nature across the road in front of the team, followed at a short distance by Cardinal Black. Before the team could pick up any kind of speed, Lash had thrown himself at the horses and grabbed hold of any leather strap he could find to stop their progress. Julian reached for his gun but Lash was too close to the team and shooting a horse was not productive; as the coach rattled to a stop, Julian struck out with the whip at Samson Lash, who took two strikes until he grasped hold of the whip’s bitter end. Before Julian could let go of the whip’s handle he was yanked off the driver’s seat, cast into space, and down upon the crust of the road.

The breath bellowed from Julian’s lungs. Lash gave him a kick to the side that Julian instantly knew through the searing pain had staved his ribs in. Julian desperately gripped the gun; he rolled away from the next kick, which grazed across his shoulder, and heard Lash shout, “Finish him, Black!” as the vice admiral tore away toward the coach. With two more strides Lash reached up, grasped one of the door handles and ripped the entire door from its hinges, exposing within Firebaugh and a terrified Matthew whose first impulse was to kick out at Lash’s face.