Forever Safe (Beacons of Hope) by Jody Hedlund

Beneath the hat, this man’s hair was an inch longer and a shade lighter.
    “Stop!” Tom called, but the horses were already galloping forward and picking up speed. Without waiting to make sense of the situation, Tom sprinted after the carriage. He couldn’t let anything happen to Victoria. He had to stop the imposter before he got away.
    Tom forced his legs to move faster, but the gap between himself and the carriage widened. The driver glanced briefly over his shoulder, giving Tom a glimpse of hard-set features, a thin nose, gaunt cheeks, and a long forehead. He didn’t recognize the man from any of the places he’d been with Victoria over the past month. But from Arch’s sketchy description of the man who’d attacked him, Tom had a feeling they were one and the same.
    The man slashed at the horses with more force, but with a corner up ahead, he’d have to slow the carriage or risk toppling it. Tom glanced around for residents or servants who might be able to help him, but unfortunately, the large estates with sprawling yards were deserted. Everyone was already at the church awaiting Victoria’s arrival.
    He sucked in a deep breath and ran harder. His heart rammed against his ribcage in tempo with his hard slapping footsteps. Without slowing his chase, he dislodged the small pistol he wore strapped beneath his vest. He didn’t want to shoot. But he would if he had to.
    As the carriage neared the corner, Tom eyed the terrain at the bend—two willow trees, one long hitching post, and four boulders. If the carriage turned over and Victoria or her servant fell out, they could easily hit one of the barriers. And at that speed, the blow could be deadly.
    Victoria needed to close the door.
    As if she’d heard him, she grabbed the swinging door and poked her head out.
    “Close it!” he shouted.
    She leaned out further, her veil flapping in the wind. The carriage hit a bump, causing her to lose her balance. If not for the maid grabbing Victoria’s arm, she would have fallen out.
    The corner was fast approaching, and the driver showed no signs of slowing down. Panic spurted through Tom. “Get back inside, Victoria! Now!”
    Hanging on with one hand, she lifted her other into the air.
    Tom squinted. She was holding something. Was it her shoe? Before Tom could shout further instructions, she flung the item, which was indeed one of her wedding slippers. She missed the driver by a league. In fact, she couldn’t have been further away from him than if she’d purposefully thrown the shoe the opposite direction.
    “Get in and close the door!” he yelled again, irritated at her for her dangerous stunt. She was already in enough danger without dangling halfway out of the carriage.
    Once again, rather than listening to him, she leaned out and lifted her arm in readiness to throw. She flung her other shoe toward the driver. And this time, much to Tom’s surprise, the pointed slipper hit the man in the back. The impact startled the driver so that he jumped and knocked his hat loose. He fumbled after his falling hat, but in the process, he leaned too far to the left and jerked the horses that direction. The movement propelled Victoria back inside the carriage and thankfully slammed the door closed behind her.
    Instead of careening dangerously around the corner, the horses continued straight, running off the road and narrowly missing one of the willows. Swerving between two of the boulders and continuing across a lawn straight through a flower bed, the driver yelled curses at the team as he attempted to bring them back under control. The grass and dirt did their job to slow down the carriage, but the frightened horses were no longer responding to the driver’s frantic efforts to direct them back onto the road. They rumbled past a stately home and clattered down a small hill that led to the beach, picking up speed in the process.
    As soon as the wheels hit the sand, the vehicle slammed to a halt. At the unexpected force, the