Lies and Misdemeanours

by Rebecca King

  Doubts, worry, confusion and fear flooded through him, but he couldn’t think of one particular thing because of the chaos that surrounded him.

  “What’s going on?” he croaked, as sweat popped out on his brow.

  “Shut up,” someone replied, but his voice was not familiar to Charlie.

  With little ability to do anything else, Charlie lapsed into silence and waited.

  CHAPTER SIX

  It felt as though he had been carried for hours when in reality it was more likely just a few minutes.

  Eventually, the noise of the busy town dimmed and was replaced with an almost melodious silence.

  He was placed on the back of a cart. At least he assumed it was a cart because it smelled of hay and manure. Something else was draped over him but, despite the avid curiosity that plagued him, he remained perfectly still and silent while he listened to the steady clip-clop of horses’ hooves, and the occasional tweets of birds in the trees.

  He wanted to call out to ask what was happening. A wild thrill of elation swept through him. He wanted to cheer for the fact that someone had rescued him, but daren’t hope too much right now. The jailers may have just gotten him out of the area while the crowds were cleared. His death may still be imminent; and would be if Meldrew had anything to do with it.

  Had it been Barnaby in the crowd? If so, where was Hetty?

  He wanted his wife. He needed his wife.

  If someone had taken the audacious step of getting him off the gallows then they were not out of the woods yet. It was imperative that he keep quiet and make sure that he didn’t draw attention to what they were doing.

  He closed his eyes on a prayer. Although he had yet to see who his rescuers were, it was comforting to think that the Star Elite had been responsible. He knew that if it was them, he had a good group of men at his back. They would work to ensure that Meldrew was removed from office and wasn’t able to squirm out of his due sentence. The court the blackguard magistrate would be in next would not be his own, and there would be fair trial that would result in a just and fair prison term – or hanging.

  As his body rocked and swayed with the cart, Charlie found his thoughts captured by the one woman he had thought never to see again. Hetty; his wife. She had been there; in the crowd; looking lost and forlorn, yet so damned beautiful that his heart swelled with pride. While a part of him hoped that she cared enough to take such an incredible risk, another part of him was horribly appalled at the thought that she had placed her own life in danger in order to save him.

  The cart suddenly stopped. A rustling noise preceded the heavy weight being lifted off him. Before he could say anything, he was hauled to his feet. It was then that he realised that the ropes had been removed from his legs.

  When the hood was yanked off his head, his gaze landed on Wally.

  “Thank God,” Wally growled, and hauled him into a hug.

  “Thank you,” Charlie croaked in a voice that was too choked with emotion to say much else.

  “That was too close,” Wally whispered.

  “Where is Hetty?” Charlie asked as he glanced around in search of her.

  “Back at Derby. We lost her in the crowd,” Wally grunted. “We wanted the crowd to go wild, but we just didn’t expect them to go like that. It was madness. Utter madness.”

  “We have to go back for her,” Simon declared once his hood had been removed.

  He glanced at the men beside him curiously.

  It was then that Charlie’s good friend, Barnaby Stapleton stepped forward.

  “God; am I glad to see you,” Charlie whispered fervently, but couldn’t say anything else past the huge lump in his throat.

  His relief was so strong that all he could do was clasp his good friend a fierce hug while he battled to control his raging emotions. He knew that at some point in the not too distant future he was going to have to face the emotional repercussions of today. Right now though, there were considerably more important things to worry about, like getting away from the gallows, and finding Hetty.

  “Jesus, that was too close,” Barnaby growled as he slapped Charlie’s back and stood back to allow the rest of his colleagues to come forward.

  “Far too bloody close,” Luke agreed with a nod as he drew Charlie into a hug.

  Charlie thanked each of his other colleagues; Joshua, Marcus, Joseph and Brendan, with hugs and murmurs of relief before he introduced them to Hetty’s brothers.

  “We have met,” Wally announced ruefully.

  “How?” Charlie asked curiously. “I mean, I didn’t think that there would be time for any of you to reach us.”

  “Long story,” Barnaby warned him. “I will tell you later. We need to look at getting you two out of here.”

  “I thought I saw Barnaby for a moment back there, but didn’t know if I was going out of my mind,” Charlie declared quietly as he watched Luke remove the ropes from his wrists.

  “Understandable,” Barnaby assured him as he looked down at his clothing. “Hetty looked a bit shocked too.”

  “We need to get Hetty,” Charlie sighed. “She -”

  “We will find her,” Joshua assured him. “Right now, half of Derby is likely to be looking for you two. We need to get moving.”

  “We were going out of our minds,” Luke warned with a rueful shake of his head. “That has to have been the worst operation I think I have ever taken part in.”

  “The executioner?” Charlie asked cautiously.

  “Real,” Marcus sighed. “We only arrived late last night, and didn’t get the time to get a man inside.”

  “I wanted you to see me so you knew that we were here, and to expect the unexpected,” Barnaby explained. “I tried not to venture too far away from Hetty, but the crowd just carried me away.”

  “God that was fierce,” Joseph sighed. “We struggled to get to you,” he admitted wryly.

  “We had to damned well fight our way back to the gallows to get you down,” Brendan snorted in disgust.

  “How did you know?” Charlie asked with a frown.

  “A rider reached us yesterday lunchtime. We were in Staffordshire, and were the closest. Sir Hugo is on his way, but is going to be a day or so late. We have a safe house lined up. Lord Afferley is a good friend of Sir Hugo’s, and has said we can use it while he is in London. He works with Sir Hugo apparently. It is far enough away for us to be out of Meldrew’s reach. We need to get you there as quickly as possible,” Barnaby growled.

  Joshua motioned to the cart. “Look, we can talk about this some more once we are at the safe house. We have to get out of here. I know that we have enough men here to fight out way out, but Meldrew is a rule to himself by the sound of it. We cannot risk all of us ending up behind bars, or being hung before Sir Hugo can get us released. Let’s get going.”

  “What about Hetty?” Charlie argued. “We can’t just leave her back there.”

  “She knows what to do,” Wally growled. “She has a friend with her.”

  He didn’t tell Charlie that they didn’t know if Mabel would have been able to stay close to Hetty in that chaos, but sensed that Charlie already suspected something had gone wrong.

  “Before we go any further, we have to get you two changed. We will meet back up at the safe house, but it is going to take an hour to get to,” Wally explained as he handed each man a pile of clothing. “Leave Hetty to us. We have men in the town who are on the look-out for her and will keep her safe once they find her. Get these on.”

  “You work with the Star Elite now?” Charlie asked in surprise.

  “I will work with Satan himself if it stops that bastard from hanging innocent people,” Wally growled fiercely.

  Momentarily lost for words, Charlie watched as Simon ducked when something dark and cloying was rubbed over his hair by Wally.

  “What is that?” He growled with a dark scowl at the offending gloop.

  Wally showed him the small pot. “It’s goose grease and soot. We have to change your hair colou
r,” he warned. “Just keep your bloody hat on and hope it doesn’t rain.”

  In spite of the dangers of the situation, Charlie grinned and watched Simon rub the sticky gloop into his tell-tale red hair before he wiped them on the straw Luke handed him.

  Both Simon and Charlie then changed clothes. Charlie stood back to watch the bundle of their old clothing being scrunched into a tight ball before Barnaby moved to the ditch that ran alongside the road. Once the clothing had been buried in the small hole he dug, he covered the pile over with sheep dung out of the field, and then hurried back to the cart.

  “Split the horses up and put the cart back,” Marcus ordered Joseph while he started to check the girths on the horses.

  Charlie was a little nonplussed by the sight of his colleagues working alongside Hetty’s brothers. Within seconds, the cart-horses had been released from the cart and saddled with saddles from the back of the cart, and were now ready to leave. The cart was pushed back against the side of the farmer’s barn in the far corner of the field. While it was being shoved into position, Joseph led several more saddled horses out of the barn.

  “Good Lord,” Simon whispered as he watched the men work.

  “Thank you,” Charlie murmured fervently to Joseph as he accepted one of the horses and quickly mounted. He turned to look at Simon, and opened his mouth to speak only for Luke to interrupt him.

  “You can’t stand around to chat. You, Charlie, will go with Marcus, Luke and Barnaby,” Joshua said. “You, Simon, will come with the rest of us.”

  Charlie pierced him with a stare. “I just can’t go and leave Hetty behind,” Charlie objected.

  Although the thought of going back to Derby filled him with sickening dread, he hated the thought of her not only struggling amongst the crowds, but being at the mercy if Meldrew if he caught her. He knew from his sight of her earlier that her red hair was stood out in a crowd. If Meldrew saw her, he would capture her for certain. The thought was horrifying.

  “She will come to us once it is safe, and is going to take a different route to all of us. She is with Mabel, so will be fine.”

  “You can’t leave them by themselves,” Charlie protested.

  He had no idea who Mabel was, but was horrified at the thought of what Meldrew would do if he caught either one of them. The gallows were already built. If she was captured, she too could be tried, found guilty, and be sentenced to death before any of them knew about it.

  “The lads from the tavern are in town,” Wally added. “They are going to help them get out. She is my sister, Charlie. I don’t like leaving her behind any more than you do, but it is imperative to all of us keeping our freedom, that we stay the hell away from there. Give her a chance to come to us.”

  “She is my wife, Wally,” Charlie argued. “It is my responsibility to keep her safe.”

  “She is your what?” Marcus demanded. He stared at Charlie in stunned disbelief.

  Charlie looked at his colleagues, and read the shock on their faces. “Hetty is my wife,” he announced.

  “You are married?” Luke shook his head in disbelief. “I didn’t think that I would ever see the day that Charlie Ryder was married.”

  “Wife or not, we have to get you out of here,” Barnaby growled as he mounted his horse and swung it around to face the opposite corner of the field. “We can talk about what to do about her on the way to the safe house. Now, move.”

  His stern gaze silently challenged Charlie to argue.

  “Let’s go,” Charlie sighed reluctantly.

  Although he allowed his horse to follow the group, his mind, body and soul was firmly back in the town with Hetty.

  As he rode across one coarse field after another, not for the first time that day, he silently began to pray – and it wasn’t for himself.

  He had not slept at all last night. He had not been able to settle his mind to anything other than the opportunities he had lost. The image of Hetty had hovered in the corners of his mind, and refused to leave him. By dawn, he was exhausted, but firmly resolute toward the fate that awaited him.

  The thought that she had willingly placed her life in danger, and risked putting her own neck in the hangman’s noose, in order to spare his was as humbling as it was horrifying.

  He realised now just how seriously he had underestimated the young woman who had crept up on him, and stolen his heart. He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry; be immensely proud of her fortitude, or stunned at her daring.

  “She has to be alright,” Charlie growled to nobody in particular as he paused at the brow of one particularly large hill, and looked back at the town. The place looked busy even from this distance.

  A steady procession of people was streaming down the busy road that led out of town. Now that the entertainment had vanished, there seemed to be no point in lingering, and it appeared that the majority of people had decided to make their way home.

  “I hope that lot aren’t looking for us,” Barnaby whispered as he studied the carriages that wove their way around the people.

  “I hope that Hetty is in that lot,” Charlie replied fervently. “She has to be leaving town.”

  “Mabel grew up in Derby. She volunteered to help guide Hetty out,” Joshua replied confidently.

  “We have to go the long route to Afferley, but most of it is through countryside. We will avoid the villages,” Barnaby added and threw a warning look at Charlie. “There is a lot to update you on.”

  “You may have been fooled by Cedric Meldrew and his men, but at least you had Simon and his family to work for you. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have known about today,” Joshua informed him.

  “I know. I am incredibly grateful to you all but cannot help but wonder what we should do now,” Charlie declared flatly. “Star Elite or not, you could hang for this if you get caught,” Charlie sighed as they cantered steadily across the fields. “Meldrew is nothing if not swift. If he gets his hands on us again, everyone will be hung so swiftly that Sir Hugo won’t even have the chance to saddle his horse before we are at the end of the hangman’s noose, and that includes Hetty.”

  “Sir Hugo knows about Meldrew, Charlie. He received Hetty’s letter and immediately sent a rider out to find us. We rounded up the men and came straight here, but didn’t arrive until last night. Sir Hugo has stayed in London to round up more men and notify the upper echelons in authority. He promised he would be a day behind us. Even with any unforeseen delays, he should be with us the day after tomorrow,” Joshua reasoned. “All we have to do is keep everyone out of Meldrew’s clutches until then.”

  “We will have a shoot-out with anyone who bloody well tries to take any of us,” Marcus said as he patted his gun. He took a moment to dig into his saddle bag and tugged out another gun, which he passed to Charlie. “In case of emergencies.”

  “That’s all very well and good,” Charlie argued as he took it off him with a nod. “But Hetty isn’t out of Meldrew’s clutches. Nor is Mabel for that matter. Both of them are still in that bloody town. Her red hair is beautiful, but it is like a bloody beacon. Meldrew will look out for her because she is not too hard to miss, is she? Not only that but she is my wife, and Simon’s sister.”

  Barnaby sighed and thought of the red-headed beauty who had looked petrified yet so determined, and could understand Charlie’s determination to get her back. If he was in Charlie’s situation, he too would fret and panic until he got a woman like that back into his arms.

  “Why in the hell did you let her do it?” Charlie demanded from nobody in particular. “You know that she is distinctive. She wasn’t even in disguise.”

  “She said that you would see her in the crowd. She was supposed to give you assurance,” Joshua warned.

  “She did make sure I saw her, but if I noticed her, then so could Meldrew,” Charlie reasoned.

  “Hetty volunteered for it. We argued with her but, in the end, she made it clear that she wasn’t going to stay behind at the house and fret. Nor could we move her to a s
afe house against her wishes. We needed everyone in town to help get you and Simon out. She couldn’t exactly stay at the mill by herself, now could she?” Barnaby reasoned.

  “She was quite argumentative,” Joshua added. “Mabel, her friend, said that a woman’s scream would be more distinctive, and would worry the crowd a bit more. She was right.”

  “I have never seen any crowd panic like that.” Barnaby shook his head in disbelief. “It’s pure bloody genius really.”

  Joshua threw Charlie a somewhat mischievous look. “The pouches worked well.”

  Charlie was starting to feel as though he had been living in a different country over the last few days and lifted his brows at Joshua.

  “Pouches?” He demanded querulously.

  “She carried two pouches full of pig’s blood. When she held them tightly they burst, and spilled blood into her pocket. It leaked through her dress. She started to scream that she had been stabbed. The more she clutched her side, the more the blood leaked through her dress, the more convincing she became. Mabel started to shout that there was a killer on the loose,” Joshua explained.

  “Pandemonium reigned,” Barnaby added with a proud grin. “She did us proud. It went better than we expected.”

  Charlie gave him a dark look. “I hope so. It is bad enough that she risked her life for us. I will be damned if I will sit back if our situations are reversed, and she ends up condemned for taking part in helping us escape.”

  He studied the fine tremors that lingered in his hands, and clenched his fists to hold them steady.

  “It was bloody risky. What if Meldrew’s men catch her?” Simon asked.

  “She won’t be strip searched, now will she? She could say that she had no idea where the blood came from. She was going to make sure that the pouches were disposed of so she wouldn’t be caught with them. There is nothing to prove that she did anything. Even Meldrew couldn’t condemn an innocent woman just for being related to a prisoner. The public wouldn’t stand for it,” Barnaby reasoned.