Ada & The Earl (The Woodhouse Series #1)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

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*Train to Edinburgh, Scotland*

Fight, flight or freeze - three responses when you find yourself in a less-than-ideal situation.

Fight back, "fly" away or freeze and hope for the best.

As the bowler-hat man turned to me, it was no longer Louis the useless's life on the line. Mama raised me to always help others, regardless if they deserve it or not.

Louis definitely did not - but I wasn't going to let anyone be pushed off a train on my watch.

I punched the man in the face and he groaned, collapsing against the seats. I grabbed Louis by the lapel of his jacket and pulled him back in, just as we entered a tunnel.

"Well, aren't you full of surprises!" Louis exclaimed as I hit the man with his cane, preventing him from getting back up too soon.

"As I mentioned before my departure..." I looked at Louis, dishevelled but relieved. "Ladies are more than feathers, frills and pearls."

His expression told me he was impressed as the man began to stir. "Time to go!"

Leaping over the man, I kept the cane with me as we slipped out of the carriage and made our way through the train, looking back to make sure we weren't being followed.

"Why is a man trying to push you off the train?" Deep down, I was thinking why I never thought of it myself and seeing how much he annoyed me, I'm not surprised someone else had a shorter tether than me.

"I have no idea..." Louis replied, bewildered over the fact that his life had just been on the line. "I got up to return your book, my back to the door and the next thing I know, he entered and grabbed me, trying to push me out of the window!"

"You're welcome by the way..." I grumbled, annoyed he hadn't actually thanked me. "Look, we just lay low for a bit. If he can't find us, he won't hurt us."

"We?" Louis remarked.

I nodded, regretting my decision. "Unfortunately, I'm now involved..."

Louis turned and panicked. "He's back." The masked man was up and noticed us, fast approaching.

"Run!" I cried as we headed through the train. In the dining cart, patrons were enjoying food as we hurried along, apologising for disturbing them. I pushed Louis ahead, handing him the cane, as the masked man grabbed a knife. I picked up a metal tray, throwing it up as a shield as the knife, thrown with great force dented the tray as I dropped it, the patrons gasping and screaming in horror.

I threw forks and knives back, the patrons around us horrified and ducking as Louis and I reached the other side. A dessert tray to my right was all I had left so I kicked it at him, and he couldn't move, stuck between two chairs. It crashed into him, he fell forward and then lost his balance, causing the chair and cart to flip and go down with him.

Louis and I laughed and headed through the doors at the far end, arriving in the cargo bay. Wooden boxes and trunks were piled high, held down with ropes and the darkness allowed for the perfect cover.

"We stay put here for a while..." I exhaled as I moved a box to barricade the door. "You could help."

"Oh...sorry..." Louis ran over, helping me move a box before the door. "I'm just wondering why this man is after me."