Miss Morgan and the Gypsy

Prologue

READING, ENGLAND, 1853

Coughs intermingled with the thick clouds of smoke. The finishing school Harriet had lived in for years burned savagely, flames licking the night sky with limbs of red and amber, jutting about every which way. The raging fire was so evil and wicked in its haste to end the once-proud building, it would be nothing but ash and dust by the end of the night.

It was engulfed on all sides, poking out of windows, breathing inside the house as if it belonged there. It was so vindictive that the flames in some areas looked purple. The stones crumbled to the ground with a sharp crack and then a loud crash, landing on the earth in flames and with each one, Harriet felt hope slip through her fingers.

"Harriet?" A young woman just five years younger called out.

Harriet turned to Rosa Beaumont, a girl of only seventeen. Beautiful sable curls were heavy with smoke and ash, shocking against her fair skin that was covered in soot. Her chemise was caked with grime and mud from their escape. No one would look at the girl and think she had been ready to move on and participate in the London season. Her future prospects would've been enormous for marriage, thanks in no small part to her dowry, but now the thick grime covered her beauty and corrupted the treasured pupil of the finishing school., possibly forever ruining her with this scandal.

"Who were those men?" she asked, her big sapphire eyes shining in terror.

Harriet turned her attention to the far-off distance where among the thick smoke and powerful trees, caravans with girls from the school of all ages were trapped and locked. Harriet's heart broke at the sight, and she prayed to the good Lord that they would somehow escape.

"I don't know," Harriet replied, her throat clogged with heavy emotion and fumes.

Harriet, and the few girls she was able to sneak out, all watched in horror as the teachers were lined up on their knees. Men came behind them cocking their guns back and Harriet quickly turned, putting her hands over some of the young girls' ears, making the older ones follow. Loud shots filled the air and the fire's roar died for a moment and there was only silence.

Harriet's heart thudded hard against her chest, fear snaking its way up her spine and rattling her bones. Her breath came out in harsh gusts, her mind filling with panic and she tried thinking of what to do, of how to survive.

Rosa choked on a sob and frantically wiped the tears from her eyes. "What do we do? There's no way we can get a hold of the authorities and all of the other teachers were...were... We are far from civilization, how are we going to find our way?"

Weak eyes brimmed and stung with salty tears, but Harriet battled them away when she heard the young girls crying and coughing. The school had not prepared her for this and now she was the highest authoritative figure. She had graduated years ago with no prospects, no dowry, but had been gifted with teaching at the school and became a spinster. Now a spinster must find a way to keep these girls safe, to save them from the men and ruin.

Harriet had known how to impart the girls about social graces and proper etiquette. How to waltz in perfection and obtain husbands all the while be seen as interesting and respectable future wives. She knew all about how to manage a household and arrange flowers and converse in French.

But here in this wretched moment Harriet could not help but think, what good was learning to become a proper lady when one had to face survival?

She gathered her wits and turned to Rosa. She had managed to get only seven girls out of the school through an old passageway that had led them straight to the east rear of the forest, away from the men trying to capture them. The trees whistled in the sudden breeze and Harriet breathed down the lump of fear that wanted to jump out of her throat.

She turned back to the crunching of the wheels against the earth, the caravans rolling away and men shouting and howling. Others had torches and were walking in the opposite direction of where they hid.

Harriet turned back to Rosa, trying to steal her eyes of all her emotions as her strict voice whispered out—

"We survive."

Here is my next historical romance!!! What do you all think of the cover?

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