by Rebecca King
“Sir Hugo would get her out, if Meldrew gets hold of her,” Joshua added firmly at the doubtful look on Charlie’s face. “She will be fine. She is really rather resilient, isn’t she?”
Barnaby glanced at Charlie. “She reminds me of some of our colleagues’ wives.”
“I still can’t believe she did this,” Charlie declared with a shake of his head.
In that moment, his stomach gave up the fight and he leaned over to one side of the horse, and promptly lost his condemned breakfast. Minutes later, he sat upright again and threw a rueful look at his colleagues.
“We will go back for them,” Barnaby declared firmly. “But you get to stay behind. Once you are safely hidden, we will go back and fetch her. If she hasn’t turned up at the mill, we will look for her in town. Meldrew knows what you look like, but he hasn’t got a clue about us.”
“We could tell Meldrew that we are in town to watch the hangings,” Joshua announced. “If the bastard challenges us, he has a fight on his hands.” He took a moment to glance at his watch and mentally calculated where the women should be by now. “They are in disguise now anyway, so Meldrew isn’t likely to be a problem to them anymore.”
He glanced at Charlie but knew from the look that lingered in his eyes that he wasn’t convinced, and wouldn’t be until Hetty was with him.
Charlie bit back a sigh of impatience. Although he knew that his colleagues had everything covered, his mind whirled in a confused kaleidoscope of emotions, thoughts, doubts and fears. He wished he could settle on one particular feeling and work on it but, all he could think about right now was that Hetty was back in that town, with his arch-enemy within spitting distance.
“You should have set fire to the gallows,” Charlie snarled.
It was bad enough that he had been put through his recent trauma. To think of someone as beautiful and innocent as Hetty going through something like that tortured him.
“She is stronger than you think,” Barnaby warned. “She may look innocent and doe-like but she has a heart of a tiger, she does. She will make a good wife for you. She was worried sick this morning, but not for her own safety. She was worried that she would be prevented from doing her job properly and you would get hung.”
Charlie nodded. He still wasn’t sure if he should be proud or appalled.
“I can’t wait to meet her again,” Barnaby added quietly. “We saw her last night, but only briefly because she was making plans with Mabel. She had already decided with Wally that they had to do something. They had planned things with a few of the regulars at the tavern. When we turned up, they were a bit wary until we gave them a note from Sir Hugo. We didn’t really get much chance to plan much, but we agreed that it would be us who got you down from the gallows while Hetty made her way out of the crowds with Mabel. Wally and his friends were going to act as a distraction, or a barrier in the crowd to make sure that Meldrew’s men, or the jailers, weren’t able to get anywhere near any of us. It worked too – sort of.”
He threw an unrepentant grin at Charlie, who rolled his eyes.
“I am indebted to you for saving me,” Charlie replied. “God knows where I would be if it wasn’t for all of this help.”
“We would have still tried to save you,” Joshua replied.
“Thank God we didn’t have to hang on your feet,” Barnaby sighed fervently.
Joshua yawned. “None of us got any sleep last night. We all went through the plans so many times that we know it like the back of our hands.”
“The safe house, Afferley, doesn’t fall within Meldrew’s jurisdiction. If he turns up, we can kill him because we work in authority; legally, and have Sir Hugo to support us. If the man has the gall to knock on the door, we have the authority to demand he get the necessary paperwork in order to arrest any of us. By the time he does that, Sir Hugo will be here.”
The harshness in Barnaby’s hard voice was so uncharacteristic that Charlie turned to look at him carefully. He frowned at the ruthlessness he saw in the depths of Barnaby’s dark eyes, but was very glad that the wheels within the Star Elite had turned so swiftly.
“The whole plan has, so far, gone better than we had hoped,” Barnaby assured him. “Hetty has done her job superbly, in spite of her worry.”
He looked over at Charlie and watched him look in the direction of the town for the fifth time in a handful of minutes, and frowned thoughtfully.
“We will keep them safer if we just keep moving,” he warned Charlie, just in case the man was thinking about going back, in spite of what they had said.
“They know we married,” Charlie growled. He heaved a sigh of disgust and shook his head.
Although he had considered that marrying Hetty had been the best course of action to take at the time, the association between the two of them now could very well condemn her.
“What?”
Charlie looked at his colleagues. “I married Hetty two days ago, while I was waiting to be hung.”
“Why?” Barnaby growled with a frown. “Last night nobody mentioned that Hetty was your wife. We just asked for her when we got to the mill house because she had sent the letter to Sir Hugo.”
“I thought it was the best way to keep her out of Meldrew’s clutches. If I was hung this morning, Sir Hugo would make sure she was protected while Meldrew was brought to justice. I wanted her safe.” Charlie cursed bitterly. “We married in the jailer’s office. For God’s sakes, she is my wife. Meldrew knows it.” He glared at his colleagues. “The bastard will want to get hold of her, if only to draw me out. She is the wife of a condemned convict who has just escaped his brand of justice. Right now, she is about as wanted as I am.”
Barnaby whistled through his teeth at the same time that Marcus cursed.
“We have to get her,” Barnaby growled.
Charlie sighed. “I know. I just hate the thought of her having to try to get out of there by herself, especially having heard about everything she has done for me. It doesn’t seem right that she face Meldrew alone.”
He was stunned by the fact that she had been so incredibly brave. It was humbling, and left him deeply touched and, if he was honest, more in love with her than ever.
Silence settled over them all as they rode through the countryside. Everyone scoured the area but, for all intents and purposes, they could have been on the only people in the county because they didn’t see any sign of anyone as they rode across field after field toward Afferley.
“Let’s get you to the safe house and wait for the others. Then we will go back and fetch her.”
With no other option available, Charlie reluctantly nodded.
Hetty was cold, miserable and exhausted.
“Do you think everything is alright?” She whispered to Mabel, who looked equally as tired.
The entire town was in the process of being searched from top to bottom. Every inch of every room had been turned upside down. Thankfully, no trace of the four prisoners who had escaped death earlier that afternoon had been found as yet.
Hetty felt a fine sheen of sweat break out on her brow as she watched the heavily cloaked men stalk arrogantly down the road. She was sure that she had ‘guilty’ written somewhere across her forehead for the world to see. Surely the jailers would recognise her – wouldn’t they?
“Oh God, brace yourself,” Mabel warned. The look of horror in the older woman’s eyes made Hetty’s own eyes widen in terror.
She scoured the area and didn’t have to look too far to realise what had caught her friend’s attention.
There, further down the road, was the very man they were trying to avoid: Cedric Meldrew.
“We can’t go that way. We will be done for,” Mabel whispered urgently.
She tugged the hood of her cloak higher over her head and ushered Hetty into a narrow alleyway beside them. They had no idea where it would lead them, but anywhere was better than the main street right now.
“Why isn’t he out searching with the jailers?” Hetty whispered. She lengthen
ed her stride to keep up with Mable’s half-run. “Slow down a bit. If we start running we will draw attention to ourselves.”
She glanced around the nearly empty streets and tugged on Mabel’s shawl until the woman slowed her pace to a fast walk.
“I can’t help it,” Mabel cried in a hushed whisper. “He isn’t searching with the jailers because the arrogant oaf won’t get off his idle backside and do it himself. He knows he has got half of the town on guard for him. That wastrel has everyone working for him, and will bully anyone who refuses to help him, you know that.”
Hetty sighed and nodded. “Do you think that we really stand a chance of proving he is the one responsible for Blagmire’s murder? I mean, he has so many people scared of him –” She almost careered into Mabel, who suddenly slammed to a stop, and turned to place herself directly in front of her.
“Now don’t you start that, Henrietta Jones. You and I both know that man is as guilty as sin. He has committed a crime here.” Mabel pierced Hetty with a hard stare. “If he has done the crime, there is evidence somewhere. Those men from the War Office will know what to do. They have done as they said they would so far. Right now, we have to stay away from Meldrew, and try to get out of this blasted place.”
Hetty studied the determination on her friend’s face and nodded. “So, what do we do?”
Mabel sighed and looked around them. She drew Hetty with her toward the shadows and lowered her voice. “We have to get off the streets, or we are going to be stopped and searched.”
As if to emphasise her point, the low murmur of voices in the distance suddenly began to grow louder. Another search party was on its way toward them. She didn’t know whether it was the darkness or not but, for some reason, she started to feel incredibly alone and frightened, in spite of the fact that Mabel was with her.
“I can’t do this, Mabel,” she whispered frantically as she listened to the voices grow louder.
“In here,” Mabel declared suddenly, and grabbed hold of Hetty’s elbow in a firm grip as she dragged her into an empty yard at the back of one of the terraced houses which lined the street.
They closed the gate and stood perfectly motionless while they waited, and listened to the sound of many boots on the cobbles on the other side of the wall. A couple of minutes later, a small group of jailers walked past, and the noise they made began to dim. Hetty slumped with relief and rested her forehead against the cold wood of the gate for a moment while she willed her nerves to settle.
“We need to rest, sweetheart,” Mabel sighed. “I am exhausted, and so are you by the looks of you. Once we are rested, we can leave just before dawn. Nobody will think anything of us moving around the tradesmen going about their business. We can move a bit more freely then. Especially once the place has been searched and the jailers have come up empty handed. They will have to expand their search, and will focus on other areas. By then, Meldrew is likely to have searched the surrounding villages, including Hemsley. You can come to my house. We can say that we have been there all along, and that you have come to stay with me overnight because of your brother’s hanging.”
Hetty couldn’t see any argument with her logic, and nodded. “Come on then. I have money with me so we can find somewhere to stay, if this damned place isn’t too over-run with people to be full.”
She linked arms with Mabel, for her own comfort more than Mabel’s and, together, they headed off in search of a bed for the night.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Charlie began to pace backward and forward in front of the fire; oblivious to the warmth emanating from the roaring flames.
He glared out of the window at the darkening sky, and shook his head in disgust as his frustration and fear grew. He was so focused on Hetty, and what had happened to her that he was oblivious to the splendour of his surroundings.
“They should be back by now,” Charlie declared to nobody in particular as he stalked toward the kitchen table and stared blankly down at the scarred surface.
“Aye,” Wally nodded. “Unfortunately, we don’t know what happened once we had left town. They were supposed to have met with the men from the tavern, and then go to Mabel’s house in the village. Because the men most probably got carried away by the crowd, the women will have to make their way back to the village by themselves. It shouldn’t take this long, even on foot. Something tells me that they have been forced to stay in town.”
“I don’t think I can stand another minute of waiting like this,” Charlie growled. “I hate it.”
The sudden rattle of the kitchen door drew everyone’s attention.
Wally shot to his feet and picked his gun off the table. Charlie and Simon were right beside him.
At first, when Joshua appeared in the doorway, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. The dark look on his face warned everyone that he was alone.
“Where are they?” Wally demanded querulously, and hurried to the door to peer outside, as though he expected them to materialise out of the darkness. He turned to look at Joshua almost accusingly only Luke to nudge him aside as he entered the house behind him.
“They must have decided to stay in one of the taverns because there is no sign of them,” Luke reported darkly. “I have ridden around several times, and been to the meeting place Wally told Hetty to go to by the church. They have not appeared at Mabel’s house either. Joseph is there still, but he hasn’t seen anyone.”
“Hasn’t Meldrew made a house call yet?” Barnaby’s brows lifted when Luke shook his head.
“Not yet, but it is inevitable I suppose.”
“There is nothing to link the two. Hetty and Mabel are friends, but there is nothing to suggest that Mabel had anything to do with this morning,” Wally said firmly.
“Joseph knows to bring them here the moment they arrive.” Luke helped himself to an apple and took a bite of the zesty fruit. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment.
“Is there any sign of the men from the tavern?” Wally growled with a frown.
Luke shrugged. “I don’t know what many of them look like. There is nobody out and about around Hemsley, if that answers your question. The entire town is almost deserted. Only the jailers are out in Derby. I think everyone there has gone home to wait for their houses to be searched. Those who don’t live in town have taken to the taverns. It was quite obvious that I was one of only a handful of the public who dared venture outside, the rest were jailers. I think Hetty and Mabel must be hiding somewhere so that Hetty doesn’t get stopped.”
“They can’t stay in Derby overnight,” Simon protested. “If Meldrew catches them, they will be held to ransom, and all of this will have been a complete waste of time.”
Charlie took a deep breath, braced his hands on the kitchen table and leaned over them for a moment while he contemplated what to do. It was difficult to understand if he was angry, or worried sick. He knew he would go stark raving mad if he had to endure a single moment more of the torture of not knowing whether Hetty was safe or not.
Joshua sighed. “We went back to the tavern in the village but, in contrast to town, it was empty. We don’t know if people are just keeping their heads down because of what happened, or whether they are caught up in Derby somehow. The innkeeper has never known the place to be so empty.”
“There was something odd about that innkeeper,” Luke growled.
“Why?”
Joshua shook his head and took a seat beside him. “He kept asking us questions about who we were, and where we came from.”
“Innkeepers make conversation,” Charlie said quietly.
“I know, but he was too conversational; and too probing for an innkeeper,” Joshua countered with a scowl. “Damned if he didn’t want to know my boot size.”
“What did you tell him?”
“Just that we had been to see the hangings, but we making our way home seeing as the convicts had escaped,” Joshua sighed.
“Did he ask about me, or say anything about knowing us?” Simon asked.
“Not
a thing. Strangely closed mouthed about it, but I got the feeling that he knew something,” Luke replied. “Damned shady character, if you ask me.”
“He wasn’t involved in today’s arrangements. As far as I am aware, he shouldn’t even know about it,” Wally replied.
“Any sign of Hetty at the mill house?” Charlie asked hopefully only to curse when Luke shook his head.
“Sorry, no.”
“We have to go into Derby again and take a look for ourselves,” Brendan sighed and glanced at Marcus, who nodded his agreement.
Charlie sighed. “If they have taken a room for the night, they will set out as soon as it is light. We need to make sure that we are in town to look out for them.”
“What if they have already got out though?”
“We will go to Mabel’s first and see if they are there. If not, then we know we have got to go into town,” Charlie countered.
Now that he had started to push his worries to one side, logic had started to work for him again. It felt like he was slipping on a comfortable pair of boots. For the first time in several days, he began to relax as his years of experience working with the Star Elite came surging forward, driven by his determination to find his wife.
The helpless prisoner facing death by execution was gone. In his place stood a ruthless warrior who would do whatever he needed to do to protect the woman who mattered more to him than anything, or anyone else, in the world.
He glanced at the clock on the mantle. “We have about three hours before we need to leave.”
Barnaby looked at Wally and Simon. “You two need to stay here.”
Wally and Simon stared at each other. “We are coming too,” Wally protested.
“We can’t stay here,” Simon protested. “We have to do something to help find her. Hetty is our sister.”
“You have to stay here.” Charlie looked pointedly at Wally’s wild mane of red hair.
“He can colour it like I have,” Simon countered.
Charlie was already shaking his head. “You are both still recognisable to Meldrew. He knows what you look like.”