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the stinging blows.
212 THE PRINTER S VAMPYR
With this constant thrashing, and the rough jostling of the carriage,
Mr. Trundle decided to return his attention back to saving Wygate;
therefore, he slid back, moving out of reach of the thrashing driver,
quickly readjusting his hold on the rail and lowering himself over the
left side. The driver, no longer able to thrash Mr. Trundle, returned to
handling his horses since they seemed to be slowing down.
As Mr. Trundle dangled over the side of the carriage, he took another
quick look inside. He now saw Wygate was fully bound, gagged and
being held upright by his captor who was yielding a knife at Wygate s
throat. Mr. Trundle, angered by this, lifted up his right hand, made a fist
and slammed it into the main side window of the carriage, shattering the
glass inward with the one solid blow.
The captor, and Wygate, were both astonished at this; however,
the captor was beginning to fear that this deranged man, who was,
now, dangling from his carriage, was about to make his way inside. Mr.
Trundle, noticing the frightened gaze of the man, put his face and arm
through the broken window and screamed,  Come here you f_____g
bastard! I want to  play with you!
 Don t! the kidnapper shouted, drawing the knife closer to Wygate s
throat.  Or I ll kill her!
 You do and I ll rip your f_____g head off! Now give me that boy!
 Boy? said the man, perplexed by this reference concerning his prey.
Mick Stanford, by this time, had caught up with the carriage and
leapt onto the other side, the right side, barely grabbing a hold of the
carriage rail, allowing Mr. Sullivan s good horse to pull up and trot away
to the side of the road, which allowed Mr. Sullivan to retrieve him later
on in good order. Mick also saw, through the other window, that Wygate s
captor was holding a knife at Wygate s throat. He could also see the
captor was looking back at him quite concernedly, wondering what he
Mick was going to do. Mick, quickly assessing his options, noticed that
Mr. Trundle had his sights set on the kidnapper; therefore, Mick, decided
he would then go after the driver; and just as Mick tried to swing himself
up and onto the carriage the driver took a sharp left-hand turn onto
Glasshouse Street, cutting off another horse and driver causing the horse
to rear-up suddenly on its hind-quarters and  bray loudly in protest; and
as this startled horse was coming down it caught Mick square in the side,
causing Mick to release his grip on the carriage-rail and go tumbling off
into the street, barely being run over by the two careening carriages and a
scared, prancing horse.
WILLIAM M. CULLEN 213
But this careless careening caused other drivers to act hastily, forcing
them and their carriages to move quickly and awkwardly towards the side
of the road in a hasty fashion, making some of their wheels to become
intertwined and locked up, which upended a few carriages causing
several passengers to become injured; but, luckily, no one was seriously
hurt. Within a few moments some of the  ladies caught up with Mick,
rendering aid to him while the others ran on to the other injured parties.
(Mick ended up with a broken rib and a fractured hip for his heroics, not
to mention a multitude of abrasions and bruises.)
Mr. Trundle, still barely holding on, swung wildly while shouting
at the driver,  You stupid bastard! Who taught you how to f_____g
drive! The driver pressed on, racing for Piccadilly Street. And just as Mr.
Trundle was able to right himself, the driver made another, sudden, sharp
turn, this time to the right, heading back out, and onto, Regent Street;
apparently, still trying to shake Mr. Trundle loose while getting back
out onto a major thoroughfare where he could head north, for whatever
reason; and in doing so he caused another wreck by forcing two carriages
to run into each other where they ended up locking their front wheels
together causing each carriages boots to rise up together and then come
crashing back down, slamming hard onto the road, splintering their
wheels.
 Damn you! shouted Mr. Trundle, still holding on for dear life,
returning his attention back to Wygate s captor, shouting,  Give me that
damn boy! further confusing the captor about the sex of the person he
held within his arms. Mr. Trundle could see that the man was searching
his mind, wondering what to do. Suddenly, the man removed his left arm
from around Wygate s waist and grabbed Wygate at the crotch, squeezing
it, causing Wygate to wince considerably from the intense pain.
Wygate, tho hurting from the pain, realized the man had removed his
arm from around him, grabbed at his hidden dagger from inside his dress,
pulled it out and jammed it with all his available might into the back of
the man s left hand, skewering it all the way through and even cutting
into his own pelvis. Then, due to the searing pain he inflicted upon
himself, Wygate pulled the dagger out, suddenly wanting another go at
his captor, if possible. Instantly, due to the excruciating pain in his hand,
the man released and dropped his own knife, shoving Wygate severely to
the floor causing Wygate to lose his knife, kicking at him violently with
his right foot, forcing Wygate to move achingly towards the carriage
214 THE PRINTER S VAMPYR
door where Mr. Trundle was still dangling and threatening, still trying
desperately to get inside.
The man, who no longer wanted his prey, punched Wygate angrily in
the back of the head, causing Wygate to slump violently forward against
the carriage door. Then the man, seething with anger, began stomping on
Wygate s back, causing the already battered Wygate to bust through the
carriage door, splintering the latch as he went. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]