Spirit of the Highway

by Deborah Swift

Jacob saw my meaning immediately and busied himself again, rubbing his chin with his hand, and shuffling some of his papers randomly about.

  I persisted, leaned forward to catch his eye. ‘No matter what it took, we said we’d build a new way of living. “Dig it from the earth itself.” That’s what you said.’

  ‘I know. But things are different now,’ Jacob said. ‘The royals have gone. We have to give Cromwell a chance, see what he’ll do for us. He’s an ordinary man, a farming man, not an aristocrat.’

  ‘For God’s sake Jacob!’ I thumped my fist on the table. ‘You turned Kate against the Diggers. I can’t believe you’d do that to me.’

  Jacob stood up, looked me hard in the eye. ‘She made her own mind up. Do you seriously think I could persuade Kate to anything if she didn’t believe it?’ He sighed, shook his head at me. ‘We discussed it, yes, but it was nothing personal against you. There’s few will stand up for their ideas now. Even old Winstanley himself has given up. And anyway, look at it all.’ He patted the papers before him. ‘With all this new legislation my father needs me.’

  ‘You can’t mean it? You’re not really going to follow your father’s trade?’

  ‘What’s wrong with that?’

  ‘It’s a merchant’s life! Based on gold and greed.’

  ‘My father leads a good, honest life.’ His eyes flashed at me, and I realised I had insulted him.

  I tried a calmer tone. ‘Come on, Jacob, are you telling me you’d really give up the Diggers for a soft living of wool and worsted?’

  ‘I don’t know. But Father’s getting so the Constable’s position is too much for him, and when they elect again, I thought I might stand.’

  ‘You?’ I was flabbergasted.

  ‘Is it so surprising?’

  ‘But it’s a job for an old man.’

  Jacob squared his shoulders. ‘Father was my age when he took it on.’

  I sat down, put my head in my hands, pressed my fingertips to my forehead whilst I took it all in. A merchant, that was bad enough. But Constable? I thought back to our youth, to Jacob, the rebel I used to know. But then, I realised he was a phantom. It was always me. I was the rebel; Jacob had always been the one offering sensible advice, the one for moderation and hanging back.

  ‘So you see,’ Jacob said with a hint of apology, ‘if I’m going stand for Constable, it wouldn’t sit well to be breaking the law.’

  I stared down at the table. ‘Kate said you’d had a change of heart, but I didn’t believe her.’

  ‘Not exactly a change of heart, just that I’m nearly twenty now — no longer a youth — and there’s new priorities —’

  ‘Alright, alright.’ I cut him off, stood up again. Was there nobody left who felt the way I did? ‘I suppose there’s no point in asking if you’ll be at the meeting. Day after tomorrow at our usual meeting place — the old barn. Whistler and Barton are coming, and they’re bringing some others. Should be quite a crowd.’ I was still hopeful.

  ‘Will your sister Abigail be there?’

  ‘Wouldn’t miss it,’ I said.

  ‘She never mentioned it,’ he said. ‘Then maybe I might stop by. But I won’t be staying. Abigail’s one of the reasons I want to stand for Constable. To get a bit more regular money coming in. I have hopes in her direction.’

  ‘I wagered as much. Does your father know?’

  ‘I haven’t told him yet, no. But I’m sure he suspects it’s a girl that’s driving me. She’s lovely, your sister. And I can tell she likes me. I was going to ask your father’s permission to walk out with her, but since … well, I thought I’d give your mother a bit of time for grieving. I dare say she might take a month or two to arrange her finances and decide on a dowry.’

  ‘Mother’s left all that to me,’ I said, ‘now I’m the man of the house.’

  Jacob frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Father left her very little. It will be up to me to help our girls.’

  Jacob sat down again. ‘You’re not serious? You can’t be expecting Abigail to be wed on what you earn?’

  ‘Why not? Are you saying I can’t provide for my own sister?’

  ‘No, no. Course I’m not saying that. It’s just a surprise, that’s all. And the Diggers lifestyle is not … is not …’

  ‘What?’ I stuck out my chin towards him.

  ‘Look, you know what my father’s like. He’s not an easy man to persuade. He has his own ideas on the sort of girl that …’ Seeing my face, his words petered out.

  I did not budge.

  Jacob sighed. ‘From the hints she’s let drop, I’d say Abigail’s got her heart set on next spring. For the wedding, I mean.’

  Oh Lord. That soon. ‘I’m glad, Jacob. She’ll make you a fine wife. And she’ll have a fine dowry, never you fear.’

  He looked at me hard. I’m sure he read the doubt in my eyes, but I blustered my way out of there, taking my leave of him before he had time to consider it more.

  All this talk of weddings punched a hole in my ribs, when I could see no future with Kate. Jacob said Kate had made up her own mind about the Diggers, but I wouldn’t believe it. It was too frightening to think she would go back to being the Lady of the Manor, and I would be just another of her tenants.

  Once I’d left Jacob’s I thought about it all the way back to the Manor. I supposed I should be glad about Jacob’s plans. I liked Jacob, or at least I used to. And Abigail would be all lit up, I knew. It was just that I didn’t know where I was to get the dowry, and I wasn’t at all sure I wanted a flaming Constable for a brother-in-law.

  *

  On Thursday we met in the barn after the men had finished work and gone home. I’d set out planks on barrels and crates to make a horseshoe of benches. Whilst I impatiently waited for my Digger friends to arrive, Cutch tinkered with the bearing on an axle he was mending. I began to suspect that most of his repairs were in fact bodges. His face was screwed up in concentration as he whittled away trying to fit a wooden peg where it obviously was not meant to go.

  Voices from outside warned me of men approaching, and I stood up to greet Barton and Whistler, and two of their friends, raw apprentices by the look of them, and soon there were a scant dozen of us. I noticed Abigail and Kate creeping in at the back, along with Margery and Susan, the other women who supported our cause, and my heart lifted to see them.

  Kate was still dressed in a fine gown of some sort of silky shimmery stuff, with her bright hair braided with black lace instead of wearing a cotton coif like the others. It disconcerted me to see her like that. I couldn’t get used to it, the fact she was the lady of the manor. Part of me wished she’d worn her homespun like she used to, and been back to the Kate I knew.

  ‘Friends,’ I said, when I had gathered their attention, ‘let us pray.’ It had been the Digger’s founder, Winstanley, who had set the habit of always starting meetings with a prayer, and I thought it would suit the grand and grave tone I’d planned for my speech.

  Dutifully everyone got to their knees on the straw and closed their eyes, even Kate in her fine dress. I had only just begun when I heard a disturbance. I opened one eye to see Jacob sidle in, and sit just behind Abigail. Again I began, but this time I was interrupted by Elizabeth, dressed in a billow of pink muslin, sauntering in like the Queen of Sheba.

  God’s breath, how had she heard about it? I snapped both eyes open and glared at her but she took no notice, just swished her skirts to one side and sat down on the rough plank next to Jacob, settling herself, to my mind, far too close.

  My voice stuttered as I lost the thread of what I was saying, and I had to make do with a simple hasty prayer instead of the stirring one I’d imagined. Curses. Jacob was smiling at Elizabeth, and poor Abigail would have no idea. Probably didn’t hear either of them come in, for she was still fervently praying, a small frown of concentration between her brows.

  ‘Amen,’ I finished, aiming a dart of disapproval at Elizabeth.

  ‘Amen,’ they toned, Elizabeth�
��s a little too loud so that everyone turned to look at her.

  I gathered my scattered thoughts and brought out the plans I had worked on that showed Markyate Manor estate divided up into neat plots, one for each man, and the communal orchards and threshing areas. I outlined the plans, glancing over to look at Kate to see if she understood them. Her face was immobile as she listened intently to what I was saying. Suddenly I was nervous. I wanted to impress her, prove that I could run the estate better than Downall, build a new world, one better and fairer than before.

  In my enthusiasm I spoke too fast, my words tumbling over each other. ‘Don’t you see? If we can just organise the land, each man will tend his own part, vegetables and peas and a place for chickens to lay, even a pig, well yes, certainly a pig or two … but all will have a share in the produce of the whole. So if one man’s harvest fails, he will not starve.’

  ‘But won’t it be a deal of work to divide one man’s plot from another? Why waste all that labour on building fences?’ Elizabeth piped up.

  It was unusual for a woman to interrupt in this way. Barton’s eyebrows raised, and Abigail turned to see who had spoken. Her face fell, to see her sister sitting so close to Jacob.

  ‘There’ll be no fences,’ I said. ‘The land is not ours to divide. The moles and creatures of the earth don’t have such ideas! No, we will take down the fences that divide this land from the rest.’

  Kate’s forehead furrowed at this, but I carried on. ‘Of course I don’t deny that every man needs a sense of ownership and pride,’ I said, to regain their attention. ‘It is good to take care of something and feel it bloom under your hands.’

  ‘I don’t see what’s wrong with working the land the way we do now,’ Elizabeth said. ‘Constable Mallinson told me he’d put Mr Downall in charge so that the men could all work together for the good of the village.’

  I glared at her. Here I was doing my best to convince Kate, and my own sister was belittling me. But Elizabeth ignored my black looks. She twirled a ringlet between her fingers and said, ‘Constable Mallinson was most interested when I told him of your meeting today and these plans Ralph has to share out the Fanshawe land. Constable Mallinson’s on some sort of Parliament committee, and said he’d like to be here to discuss it … in fact I’m surprised he’s not here already —’

  Jacob held up his hand to her, ‘Wait!’ he said. ‘You told my father I was coming here?’ He strode towards her. ‘When?’

  She blinked. ‘This morning,’ she said as if surprised he should ask. ‘He came into the apothecary’s a few hours after you did, for a headache powder. I just happened to mention it. You didn’t tell me not to. Why? Have I said something wrong?’

  She knew damned well she had, but she fluttered her eyelashes artfully and Jacob groaned. ‘No, no. It’s just, well, I’d told him I was finished with the Diggers.’

  ‘Oh!’ Elizabeth’s eyes grew round. ‘Is that what this is, a Diggers meeting? You never told me that,’ she said to me accusingly, using the word ‘Diggers’ as if it was the work of the Devil himself. ‘Is that right, Ralph? The Diggers are illegal, aren’t they?’

  ‘Yes,’ I was forced to admit. ‘But Parliament should never have banned them. What’s wrong with a few men meeting together to decide how best to farm their land?’

  Cutch was staring at Elizabeth’s flushed face with awe, but the other men were shuffling in their seats, faces filled with unease. Whistler had already jammed his felt hat on his head. He tried to catch Barton’s eye.

  ‘I reckon if Constable Mallinson’s coming, we’d best save our breath for another day,’ Barton said.

  ‘He might not come,’ I said stubbornly, feeling the meeting, and my chance to convince Kate, slipping from my grasp. ‘This isn’t strictly speaking a Diggers meeting, just a few friends —’

  But the assembled group were already on their feet and making for the back door. And not a moment too soon. I saw Abigail turn to look as she felt the vibration of approaching hoofbeats.

  The barn emptied like river water out of a holed bucket. I’d never seen people disappear so quickly.

  I peered out through the big double doors at the front. Two horsemen in the meadow. Mallinson must have loaned Downall a horse, for there he was, cantering alongside him, astride one of Mallinson’s heavy hunters.

  I ran back inside. ‘It’s them. What should we do?’ I asked Kate.

  ‘Nothing,’ she said, shrugging her shoulders. ‘There’s nothing to see. Everyone’s gone. Jacob can go out the back way and walk Elizabeth home, and —’

  ‘She can see herself home,’ Abigail insisted. ‘She got here by herself didn’t she?’

  ‘I’ll see her home,’ Cutch said, holding out his arm. ‘It would be my pleasure.’ Elizabeth turned her back and ignored him.

  ‘I’ll stay and greet my father now he’s ridden over,’ Jacob said. ‘It will give him a chance to meet Abigail again.’

  ‘I’ll wait here too, then,’ Elizabeth said, ‘and you can walk home with me afterwards. It’s getting late, and there could be highwaymen abroad. I’ll need some protection.’

  ‘Miss Chaplin,’ Cutch said, ‘I’d be happy to escort you.’ His voice was almost pleading.

  Outside, I heard the thud of boots as two people dismounted. ‘No, Cutch. She’s my sister. I’ll walk her home,’ I growled, ‘and we’re leaving now.’ The last thing I needed was another conversation with Downall.

  Elizabeth looked sulkily at me, and squirmed away from my insistent grip on her arm.

  ‘Miss Chaplin, I advise you to take up this man’s kind offer,’ Jacob said, looking at Cutch. ‘Although I would be happy to escort you, dusk is falling, I may talk with Father a while, and you have a fair way to travel.’

  Elizabeth smiled winsomely at him, though I could tell it cost her dear. ‘Very well, I shall take your advice, Mr Mallinson. I look forward to meeting you again. Perhaps I may call you Jacob?’ She dipped her head.

  ‘Ho there, Chaplin!’ A shout from the threshold.

  Too late. I couldn’t get away now, Jacob’s father had seen me.

  Cutch held out his arm for Elizabeth to take, but she flounced ahead of him out of the back door.

  Moments later, the portly figure of Constable Mallinson appeared before us with Downall glowering behind. Constable Mallinson glanced round at the plank benches, but then spotted his son.

  ‘Jacob! I wasn’t expecting to see you here. Did we miss the meeting?’ Constable Mallinson asked.

  ‘The prayer meeting?’ Jacob said, his downcast eyes giving away his discomfort.

  ‘No. The one about the plans for the estate? Elizabeth Chaplin told me there were moves afoot to divide the land.’

  ‘Did she?’ Jacob said. ‘I don’t know where she got that idea from. She must have misunderstood. Sorry if she’s brought you here on a wild goose chase. There was a prayer meeting, but it’s over. When Elizabeth said you were coming I waited to greet you.’

  Downall frowned and glared at me. ‘Nobody told me anything about a prayer meeting. You should have told the workers.’

  ‘It was for family and friends only, on account of our losses in the recent wars,’ Kate said, putting on her most charming smile. I breathed a sigh of relief. So she was still prepared to defend me against Downall.

  ‘I can’t see a Bible anywhere, or any sign of worship.’ Downall walked around the barn searching with an eagle eye for anything incriminating. He picked up a hemp jerkin that someone must have left behind in their hurry, and dropped it back on the bench with distaste. ‘And a barn is an odd place for worship. It smacks of dissent. Why not use the Manor Chapel, or the church like most good folks?’

  ‘Now Downall, I’m sure there were no dissenters here, not with my son in the party,’ Constable Mallinson said.

  ‘Would you care to come into the Manor, sir,’ Kate said, hurriedly, ‘as you have taken the time to ride over. Abigail will fetch us some cakes and ale.’

  Kate did not invite me, b
ut I felt there was nothing I could do but follow everyone inside to the drawing room. I did not trust what might go on behind closed doors.

  Mallinson sniffed at the lack of comforts, but Abigail pulled out the best chair for him, and he dusted it down before sitting. Despite Abigail’s pretty curtseys and pleasant smile, he ignored her as she brought in the jugs and the tray of tankards, and set them on the table. It was clear he viewed her merely as a servant. I caught her gaze, and she gave me a resigned smile, before sitting quietly near the window, her eyes fixed on Jacob.

  Constable Mallinson turned to Kate. ‘Lady Fanshawe, I have had an application from your husband to the Sequestration Committee, the committee which deals with the land of the late King’s sympathisers. It appears your husband has had a change of heart.’ He smiled, waiting for Kate’s reaction, but she was silent. ‘He now wishes to side with Parliament, in order to retain his lands. He says he’s prepared to sign a writ to say he has been misguided and to swear that he will not take up arms against Parliament again.’

  ‘Is that all he must do?’ I asked. ‘Just sign a paper? He won’t be deported?’ My heart sank.

  ‘No, it is not as simple as that. There are eight men on the committee and everything about the estate will be weighed in the balance before we agree. And there is the matter of the fee — a third of the yearly tithe. There are also a number of other considerations, such as ensuring the land is managed by someone reliable — someone who will keep Cromwell’s Puritan values in mind.’

  Downall nodded, and looked smug.

  ‘What will happen to my husband if you refuse his application?’ Kate asked.

  ‘He will stay in exile. He will not be permitted to land on English shores again. His estates will be divided and the buildings sold, to fund the workings of Parliament.’

  ‘And what about his wife?’ Kate straightened her back, narrowed her eyes. ‘What of her?’ Something about her intent manner told me she did not intend to give up her land without a fight.

  ‘A Royalist wife would have no place here,’ Downall said.

  Kate was quick to retort. ‘Royalist or not, at the moment this wife stands for her husband, and will rule in this house.’ Kate drew herself up taller. ‘Be so good as to leave us now, Mr Downall. We no longer need your assistance.’