Cursed - part 3

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part three of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

"Are you sure he's asleep?" I ask for the third time.
"Just go and check yourself if you don't believe me," Jane hisses.
I shake my head, staring anxiously at the dark house. Jane went to check because she has a lighter tread than me - she has the slightly spooky ability to move completely silently when she wants to.
"If he's not, and this goes wrong..." I trail off, letting her fill in the blanks.
"I'm sure," Jane says. I take one long look at her, then nod.
"Ok, let's go. Do you have it?"
"Right here," she says, patting her bag. I don't know where she got the rare ingredients that fill the bottle she is now touching, but within a few minutes of me telling her the plan, she was back with them. "We just need to empty it over his face," she says. "It'll change to mist and once he breathes it in, he'll sleep for hours."
I nod. "You ready?"
"Ready."
Together we go through the motions of the hastily made plan. Jane wanted to go up by herself, as there is less chance of her getting caught, but I put my foot down there. This is my mission; the risk should be mine, too.
We creep up the stairs and into Josh's bedroom. Janet quietly passes me the key she stole from his father's room. I get ready to unlock the chains around his wrists, but first Jane needs to knock him out - if he realises what we are doing, he will no doubt start yelling. Once Harrod gets his hands on us, we'll have no chance of getting Josh out of here.
It is too dark to see clearly in here, so Jane taps me once on the shoulder before creeping right up by Josh's bedside. In one quick motion, she unstoppers the bottle and empties it over his face, jumping back.
I can't see anything, but Josh continues to breathe deeply and I get a faint whiff of something sweet floating across the room. Without waiting to be told, I rush forward and unlock the shackles that bind him to the bed. Together, Jane and I grab him and start carrying him down the stairs.
With me holding Josh's feet and Jane his arms, we run to the horses. We have ropes to tie him down - we can't expect him to stay on unconscious, not at the gallop which we will have to ride at, at least until we escape.
So far, everything has gone to plan. My heart is beating at a frantic rate. If we can just get away, we have a chance to try to save Josh before the curse takes him - but we first need to hide him from those who would have him killed. Including himself. Not sure how we'll manage that.
We are tying Josh to the horse when something unexpected and unplanned for happens.
Josh starts to wake up.
"I thought he'd sleep for hours!" I whisper in panic.
"So did I!"
Jane and I stare in horror. It must be the curse, working the drug out of his system faster than we thought it would.
"Hurry," I say. "Get a gag. I'll tie him."
I lash Josh to his horse as fast as I can, but he is quickly becoming aware.
"Lara?" he mumbles groggily.
"Don't speak now," I say. "Don't worry, everything is going to be fine."
He starts to struggle. "What are you doing?"
"I'm saving you," I say shortly.
"You can't! There is no cure for the curse, you know that! I'll hurt you, Lara, I won't be able to help myself; no one with the curse can."
"You won't hurt me," I say, trying to buy time until he is tied.
"No, can't do this, you can't put your life at risk for me! Lara, I -"
His words are cut off as Jane stuffs a piece of material into his mouth - just in time, too. Someone would have heard him in seconds if his voice kept getting louder.
Josh is frantically shaking his head at me, but I ignore him. There is no way I am going to let him die - he should know that by now.
Jane and I mount up and I grab the lead that is attached to Josh's horse. He struggles, but he is tied too securely. Together, we gallop off into the night.

To be continued