A mounted magistrate led the coach, with two pistols prominent at his saddle and a sword at his side. Behind him marched four parish constables with long staffs and set, stern faces. The coach driver was middle-aged, with a broad hat partly hiding his face, while at his side sat a burly guard with a brace of pistols and a blunderbuss. Two more constables marched behind the coach, tapping their long staffs on the ground in time with their boots.
“That’s an impressive display of authoritarian force,” Bess murmured.
“It is,” Smith agreed.
Three men and one woman sat on top of the coach, yelling and shouting as they rattled the manacles that secured them. Four more convicted criminals sat inside the coach, three hiding their misery behind false bravado, and the fourth sitting in despondent
