a dozen feet or so in front of the carriage. Through the soles of her shoes she could feel the pounding of dozens of hooves upon the earth and the noise grew to a thunderous clamor.
Dr. Nichols poked his head out through the open carriage door. "What is it?" he asked.
"I don't know," Tamara replied. She looked up at William, but his gaze was locked at the road ahead, eyes narrowed in the lamplight as he tried to see the oncoming travellers. "Is there an army garrison nearby?"
"No. No, there isn't."
The air was suddenly filled with a familiar, almost musical sound as an apparition blossomed to spectral being before them. In the night, washed in lantern light, Queen Bodicea seemed more ghostly than usual, and Tamara was struck with an aching, profound sadness at the sight of her. Tamara had never thought Bodicea's nakedness made her seem vulnerable. Until now.
