Philippe looked out of the stain glass window of the carriage, watching the buildings progressively become more sparse, and feeling the abrupt rise and fall of the chariot as the road became rougher as they exited the city. He was on his way a plantation in Plaine du Nord, a settlement due south west of the Cap Haitien. It was evening now, and although the sun was setting, the heat of the summer day still hung in the air. Through the lush palm leaves above the chariot, Philippe saw dark grey clouds beginning to form and heard the rumble of distant thunder.
The carriage skipped and jumped and one of the horse’s neighed as the right wheel skipped a pothole, the soldier to adjacent to Philippe inside the carriage muttered in discomfort, there were three more soldiers accompanying …show more content…
“Stay here, I’m going to see why Cedric let the horses loose”, the soldier grasped his musket and clicked opened the door, sliding out of the right side of the carriage.
“BANG BANG”, two successive gunshots followed, Philippe heard the soldier moan and the thud of the body hitting the dirt road. He felt his heart rise up into his throat.
With a shaking hand, Phillippe dragged himself over to the over to the left side of the carriage and hugged his knees to his chest. He felt sweat flood his breaches, his teeth chattered, a tear rolled down his hot cheek.
Minutes passed. Philippe stayed frozen in this fetal position, transfixed with fear. The sharp, splitting pain in his shoulder was growing worse. He closed his eyes, only hearing the buzzing of mosquitoes outside and his rapid, shaking breaths. Hot blood was now seeping through his wig and mixing with the sweat on his forehead. Then, penetrating the relative silence, Philippe heard the sharp crunch of a bootheel on dirt road outside.
Wearily, Philippe opened an eye. Surely some troops had come to rescue