by Jade Lee
She could tell the words had an effect. Cordwain’s face twisted in fury, but he moderated his tone. “I got a bill of sale. Says I get those likes and she stole them!”
The constable heaved an exaggerated sigh. “I told you, I didn’t see her take any likes. But in the interest of fairness, Miss Shoemaker, do you have the likes he’s talking about?”
Penny straightened, silently thanking Samuel for his foresight. “No, sir. I don’t. I’ll let you search the shop, sir, and upstairs if you want. All you’ll find is molds for ladies’ feet. Nothing like what my father used to work on.” Then she stepped back, but kept her broom at the ready. “You can come in, but I won’t let him inside,” she said, glaring at Cordwain.
“Thank you, miss,” the constable said with a friendly smile. “Thank you, but I got no cause to be searching an honest establishment. I didn’t see you take any likes yesterday, so I have no reason to believe you’ve got anything now.” Then he straightened up, pulling his knee off Cordwain even as he stepped to block the bastard from entering the shop. “All I see right now is a loud and angry man unnecessarily disturbing the peace. And if it continues,” he said loudly, “I’ll have to arrest him.”
Cordwain scrambled to his feet. Fury twisted his features and the sight startled Penny. Certainly she knew the man was a villain, but at that moment he was more beast than man. The only thing that kept him from sinking his fists—and likely his teeth—into her was the steady presence of the constable between them.
Penny took a frightened step backward. So, too, did Mrs. Appleton as she pulled Tommy closer into her arms and breathed a low prayer. In truth, the constable was the only one who didn’t so much as flinch. Instead, he spoke in the low, tired voice of a man used to dealing with angry animals.
“Go on now, Walter. Yer likes aren’t here.”
They all watched, frozen in place, as Cordwain regained some sanity. He glared at the constable, and shot a venomous look at Penny. Then he spat a dark and angry glob at her feet. It landed splat on the stoop, before he spun on his heel and stomped away. A moment later, Jobby followed, having been released by the constable’s man.
Everyone waited. Penny held her breath in true fear while, beside her, Mrs. Appleton was still muttering a soft prayer. It was some five minutes more before the constable turned around to face her.
“You haven’t got his likes now, do you, Miss Shoemaker?”
Penny took a moment to gasp a breath. It was hard but she managed, and as she did, the constable gently pulled the broom from her hands. He leaned it against the wall, then looked back at her.
“He’s a dangerous man when riled, Miss Shoemaker. Got a temper meaner than a mad dog. And he won’t stop looking until he finds those likes.”
Penny opened her mouth to say something but he held up his hand.
“You got a bad deal, no arguing, Miss Shoemaker. And if you were to have taken those likes, then I wouldn’t blame you. But the law’s the law, and besides, what’s the sense in keeping something you can’t use? You ain’t going to be making boots for any lords and you can’t sell them without him knowing you have them.”
The constable stepped forward, his eyes kind but no less firm. Penny shied backward, not because she was afraid but because the man had a dependable kind of presence about him. And she was lying to him. She did know where those likes were. But her words were stopped in her throat as the man reached out to chuck Tommy under the chin.
“You got a babe to watch out for and friends here who don’t need any more problems. So if a bag of likes was to appear at the station house, then I wouldn’t look deep into it. I’d just be sure to get the things quiet-like to Cordwain. No questions. No fuss. And I’d count it as a personal favor to me. Can’t be a bad thing having the constable as yer friend, now can it?”
Penny nodded because he so clearly wanted her to. And besides, he was a good man. “No, sir,” she said softly. “I would like it very much if you were my friend. But, sir, he’s got my home and my shop illegally. That will was false. Neither Tommy nor I have gotten any money for it. The solicitor Addicock—”
“Yes, yes, I know. But I can’t do nothing without proof. All I can do is what I see before me. And what I see is that Cordwain is going to be dogging your every step trying to take a bite out of you and yours until he finds those likes. You’ve suffered a very great deal, Miss Shoemaker. I’d hate to see the troubles piled higher.”
So would she, she realized. But the anger was still inside her, the simmering fury at the injustice of it all. It made no difference to anyone else—or at least not enough of a difference—that everything that had happened was wrong. She was still being asked—and by a very reasonable and kind man—to give up the last connection she had to her father. And the last hope she had of giving Tommy his birthright: a shoe shop a block off Bond Street and a livelihood that would support him and his family for generations.
So she lifted her chin and spoke a bold-faced lie. “I don’t have the likes and I don’t know where they are.”
The constable nodded slowly, his mouth pressed into a weary line. “Then I’ll be swinging by here more often just to check on you. Can’t promise more than that.”
Penny swallowed, her gaze darting nervously to where Cordwain had disappeared. “I understand,” she said softly. Then just before the constable moved away, she touched his arm. “Sir!”
He swung to her, his look patient. “Yes?”
“How did you know to come here this morning? How did you know this would happen?”
The man gave a halfhearted shrug that was part embarrassment, part amazement. He was thinking of Samuel, she realized, even before the man spoke. Everyone reacted to her mad toff like that.
“Well, had a visit from a gent,” he said. “Told me all about Addicock and his thieving ways. We had quite a talk about needing proof, which he says, by the by, that he’s going to get. Then he said Cordwain’d be here this morning. Probably before I wanted to be out of bed. And that he’d be causing mischief to a shop of ladies that haven’t done anyone any harm.”
“So Mr. Morrison convinced you to come?”
The constable smiled ruefully. “It’s my sworn duty to protect the people of my district, and that includes you, Miss Shoemaker. And when a man tells me when and where a disturbance is going to be, then I’d be derelicting my duty to ignore it, now wouldn’t I?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
The man tipped his hat with a smile. “Wouldn’t be me that you need to thank, miss. That would be Mr. Morrison. And if you don’t mind my asking, exactly what is your relationship with the gent?”
Penny felt her cheeks heat, but she forced herself to say the truth. “He’s helping me, sir. Nothing more than that. Just…helping me right now.”
“Ah.” There was a wealth of meaning in that one word, but for the life of her, she couldn’t interpret it. Instead, she shifted uneasily and asked the question that had pressed in on her from the moment her eyes opened this morning.
“Um, you wouldn’t know where he is right now, would you?”
The man shook his head, and a frown creased his brows. “Not a single idea. But it worries me what a man might do to help a pretty miss.” Then his gaze got very heavy, very strong. “If you see Mr. Morrison, would you tell him what happened here? Would you tell him what I said about the likes?”
“Of course—”
He cut her off. “Tell him Cordwain’s dangerous. And it’d be safest for everyone if someone was to find those likes and get them to me. You tell him, Miss Shoemaker. And then you look to young Tommy there and you think on what to do.”
Penny felt her gaze drop to the floor in shame. Was she risking everyone by her stubbornness? “Yes, sir,” she said softly. “I’ll tell him. And…and I’ll think about it.”
“Good girl,” he said. Then he turned and walked away.
She might have done it right then. She even lifted her head to call the constable back, a half breath awa
y from telling the man everything. She would have except her gaze fell not on the constable but down the street to where Samuel was running pell-mell right toward her.
Chapter 11
Samuel rushed to the dress shop, his brain spinning uselessly about his own failure. He’d had it all planned, but he’d never accounted for the disorganization of other people’s homes. Bloody insane! How could anyone find anything? It was all well and good for his own rooms to be somewhat cluttered, but at least he had an excellent memory and a general sense of organization. Apparently not the Shoemaker household. Everything had been stored haphazardly, as if placed where it had been last used, not where it belonged.
How could he have been expected to find anything? And now because of that, his entire plan for the day had been wrecked. It had been a simple plan. He knew Cordwain would try to catch Penny before she was fully awake. Indeed, Samuel had counted on just that possibility, waiting an interminable amount of time in the alleyway outside the former Shoemaker shop.
Once Cordwain and his thick-necked nephew went to terrorize the ladies, Samuel had picked the lock and entered the establishment looking for Penny’s family Bible. A quick search of the house would give him the proof he needed to establish the will false, and then he’d rush back to Penny’s side in time to see that Cordwain did not get out of hand.
Except, of course, he had not found the Bible. He had found a bloody mess. In fairness to the Shoemakers, it appeared that Cordwain had rampaged through the entire house looking for the likes, but still. A book ought to be on a shelf with other books. Except the shelves which still contained their items were filled with clothing and toys. And the ones that had been spilled about the floor had held crockery. As if Cordwain had expected the missing likes to be in the kitchen!
The illogic of it all gave him a pounding headache. He’d searched as long as he could, but in the end, he’d had to cry defeat. He might have pushed it a bit longer, but he’d had a nagging pressure in his thoughts regarding Penny’s safety.
What if the constable had been late? What if the man hadn’t been able to contain Cordwain and Jobby? What if Penny took it into her head to attack when she ought to allow the men to handle the potentially violent bastard? Or much more likely, what if her temper got the best of her? She’d strike out when she ought to stand back. And in the ensuing melee, who knew what could happen or who might get hurt?
It was the pressure of those questions that had him leaving the Shoemaker residence without the Bible. And when he would usually walk to the dress shop, pretending to merely be out on a morning’s stroll, he had increased his speed until he was running full tilt. He only eased up his pace for a half breath when he saw the constable speaking calmly to Penny and Mrs. Appleton. There was no crowd, nothing untoward at all unless he counted the broom leaning oddly against the outside of the building.
Penny was standing in the doorway, Mrs. Appleton and Tommy a step behind. They were safe. Everyone looked safe. He exhaled in relief until he noticed that the constable was taking a deuced long time talking to the women. A deuced long time.
Bloody hell. The constable was no fool and he had a way about him. He had a discerning eye and a surprisingly logical mind. Who knew what he could be saying to Penny and what she might be induced to say in return?
He’d barely eased up his pace when he leaned forward and ran again. He knew the very moment she saw him. She was looking up to call to the constable, who had just started to turn away. Then her eyes narrowed and her body jolted. At least that was what he thought happened. It was hard to tell given how much his vision was jumping around from his run.
Then she took a step forward, her mouth open on a soft cry. Their eyes locked and everything about her seemed to soften. Her shoulders eased down, her chest shifted as she inhaled, and best of all, her mouth curved into a soft smile. He would remember that look for the rest of his days. It was a smile of relief and of welcome. And he hadn’t seen its like since he was a boy and hours late coming home. But a smile from his mother was nothing compared to this from Penny. Without even realizing it, he closed the distance between them. She’d barely stepped a few feet outside of the doorway when he skidded to a stop before her.
Then they just looked at each other. He would usually have reached for his words. Wasn’t his mind sputtering a mile a minute? And yet nothing found its way to his lips. He just stood there staring at her as he struggled to calm his racing heart.
“You missed everything,” she breathed.
“I couldn’t find the Bible. I looked and looked. Whole place was a bloody mess.”
“It was awful. I was so afraid.”
“I’m so sorry.”
And then nothing. Just a long pause as they stared at each other and his heart thundered in his ears. Then she frowned.
“You went looking for the Bible?”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Good. That’s good. I had it planned, but I couldn’t find it.”
“I was thinking about that this morning. I think I know where it is. And then there was the banging again. And you weren’t here this time.”
“I’m so sorry. Tell me where. I’ll go again.”
“The constable was here. Everything’s fine. Thank you for sending him.”
Again they both lapsed into silence. He was staring at her, cataloging the shadows under her eyes, the places where the sun caressed her skin and where her mouth had tightened in fear. Or anger. With her, it was usually anger.
He was reaching out to touch the crease by her mouth, soft now but ready to pull deep at a moment’s notice. His hand was halfway to her face when he heard a snort from beside them. Both of them jolted, and then Samuel cursed himself for being so unobservant. How had he missed that the constable had sauntered up to stand right beside them?
“Yes, miss,” the man said with a chuckle in his voice. “I can see that he’s just helping you through this rough spot. Not a thing more to it, is there?”
Across from him, Penny blinked and flushed a dark red. Samuel reacted more to that than anything else as he stepped forward.
“What happened here, Constable? Are the ladies all right?”
“What happened is just what you said would happen, and I thank you for the tip.” Then he glanced significantly at Penny. “But Cordwain’s an angry bear of a man. I doubt the ladies will be safe until he gets what he wants.”
Behind him Penny drew breath to object, but both men raised their hands to stop her, each speaking over the other.
“I’ll see it gets set right. I swear it,” Samuel said.
“You think on what I said, Miss Shoemaker,” said the constable. “Most things ain’t worth a body’s life.”
Samuel eyed him sharply. “You think he’s that violent?”
The constable grimaced. “Not usually. Not in a thinking kind of way.”
Samuel nodded, agreeing completely. Cordwain was not the kind of man who thought through his passions. But catch him at a bad moment, and there would be lethal rage. “I’ll watch out for the ladies as well,” he said.
The constable grinned. “Thought you might.” Then with a tip of his hat, he sauntered on his way. Samuel and Penny watched the man walk on, his step not exactly jaunty, but not that heavy either.
“I believe I like that man,” Samuel said, surprised by his own words. There weren’t many people who impressed him. Fewer still that he actually liked. The constable met both categories, and that was quite the surprise.
Beside him, Penny murmured her agreement. Her words were almost too soft to catch, but he heard them. “He’s a kind man. I didn’t like lying to him.”
He processed immediately how she felt and exactly what she had lied about. He knew he should say something soothing. Perhaps promise again to fix everything, though he was beginning to fear that he couldn’t. But before he could speak, she lifted her chin.
“I will not tell you where the Bible is. First of all, you couldn’t find
it, even if I were very precise.”
“If you were exactly precise, I wouldn’t fail to find it.”
“And you’re not leaving me again. Not with that bastard banging on my door two mornings in a row.”
What she said wasn’t logical, but the sentiment was plain as day on her face. She’d been frightened this morning, and when Penny got frightened, she usually responded with fury.
“Did you get him with the broom?”
She blinked, then flashed him a quick grin. “Square right on his sewing arm. He’ll remember that whack with every stitch he pulls for the next three weeks.”
He nodded slowly, enjoying her satisfaction at the blow but not liking that Cordwain would be thinking of her at all.
“He didn’t bother Tommy, did he?”
“You’re not distracting me, Samuel. I’ll go with you tonight after the shop’s closed. I was born in that house. I know where all the hiding spaces are and all the noisy boards.”
“Absolutely not!”
“Then I’ll be going without you. That’s my Bible and my home. I’m getting it tonight.” She paused. “Though it would be a damned sight easier with you picking the lock.”
Samuel grimaced, his belly tightening with an unwelcome and unaccustomed fear. But in the end, he had to surrender to the inevitable. He knew her words were no idle threat. It would be illogical to argue with her when he knew she would do it no matter what he said.
“Very well,” he said. “But you will do exactly as I say, when I say it.”
She snorted. “I’ll do nothing of the sort and you know it.”
He sighed. That, too, was exactly logical.
She was ready the moment Tommy fell asleep, but she knew Samuel wouldn’t arrive for another hour yet. He had tried for a good ten minutes to convince her to wait another day. Probably so he could sneak in and try to find the Bible on his own again. She had adamantly refused. So with a huff, he’d said he’d come by at eleven o’clock precisely. Late enough, he hoped, for Cordwain to have given up work for the night. Cobblers as a rule tended to work when they were able, night or day, but daylight helped enormously.