Cavalier's Fate

By Mike Hoover

On a September evening, two Royalist soldiers whose bodies testified their allegiance to a dying cause - for they were all wounds, grime and fraying doublets - had just escaped being crushed by several horses. Their riders, from the infamous regiment, the Ironsides , were were fast bringing the English Civil War to its close. Their faces, if one could see them through a fence of triple bars, would not have told any likelihood of relent, nor did they need the plate- steel added to their backs to make them look terrifying and sublime by turns. But the two fugitives whom they were chasing, and against whom they seemed to bear some personal malice, now looked to farthest end of a field, where a forest, dim but still visible, was beckoning them to safe asylum. The battlefield, some ways behind in the distance, was glistening with rain; the desolate land in front was thick with a slowly dissolving cloud of smoke, which called to mind the first breath wafted over creation. As there is always some embarrassment in presenting yourself disfigured, whether it be to the opposite sex or the grave, regardless of whether or not the reason is very gallant and solemn, this was in some ways a happy state of affairs; and the men began running all the faster. Our scene, the battle of Worcester -the year, 1651. "Is that a house, or do my eyes deceive me? A pile of stones in this part of the country is more like to be a tomb. Perhaps it shall be our own," said Davie, who, despite having a long stream of blood pouring down his face and his shirt torn to shreds, was smiling at their good fortune. "Keep running and we shall know soon," answered Miguel; "yet my lungs are near bursting, my throat parched - look down on me, old man," he said rolling his eyes heavenward as he paused to catch his breath, "I am sure I mortify your pride now."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0F5QBG4NV
• ISBN13: 9798280681293
• Release Date: April 2025
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 250 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.6" x 6.0"