I waited, holding my breath, muscles tensed as the sound of the horses drew closer. The horse’s face appeared next to where I hid, then its shoulders, and I let out a gust of breath as I darted from behind the brick. I raced for the buggy, ducking low, and then grabbing onto the side of the seat and hopping up. The man holding the reins let out a short yell of surprise, reaching for what I was sure was his gun. My heart slammed against my ribs as I drew in a quick breath and kicked him hard in his shoulder. He jerked to the side, recovering quickly as he too came to his feet on the seat, the gun he’d managed to retrieve firing in the air right before he dropped it.

The horses let out shrieks of fear, the one in front of me rearing up and sending both me and the man slamming into the wall of the compartment behind us. The horse let out another shriek, and the man and I both grabbed on to what we could as the horse’s hooves hit the pavement, jarring me so that my teeth clacked together and my ears rang.

A scream sounded from inside and though it was muffled, I could tell who it was. Charlie.

As I began to turn, I spotted the gun the man had dropped on a small ledge near the wheel. Holy shit. I attempted to go low and reach for the weapon, but the man grabbed the back of my jacket and yanked me up, spinning me around and flipping me so that now we were on opposite sides of the seat, and I was farther from the gun. Mother fuck!

From the corner of my eye, I saw movement from the other buggy where the horse was exhibiting equal fear, shaking its head and emitting ear-piercing shrieks as the driver tried to get it under control. Then Emily appeared, eyes wide, mouth open, a switchblade clutched in her fist and ropes hanging from her wrists. I gaped, and that momentary pause caused the man I was fighting to get his bearings and lunge at me, his fist connecting to my jaw with a crack.

Emily climbed around the buggy as the man at the helm gained control of the horse, but then she let out an ear-piercing shriek as she lunged forward and lodged the knife in the side of the man’s neck and then just as quickly pulled it out, ducking away from the sudden spurt of blood. I let out another jolt, my stomach dropping and my focus on Emily allowing the man I was struggling with to get in another solid whack on my cheekbone. Fuck!

The man Emily had stabbed let go of the reins and brought his hand to his gushing wound as the horse took off running.

It all happened in less than thirty seconds.