Rumors Among the Heather

by Amanda Balfour

  Julie paced the floor. Trying to keep her head, she reached into her bandbox and replaced the bottle she’d tossed to Ribble with another half-empty bottle of wine. If Geoffrey checked, he could not prove the wine had been drugged.

  She finished undressing him and put him under the covers. Carefully, she disturbed the covers to give the appearance she had been in the bed with him. She knew as soon as Matthew’s escape became known she would be in danger if Geoffrey connected her as part of the plan. Even if he suspected her, she hoped he would be reluctant to admit he had been duped. If she could convince him her being there and Matthew’s escape were coincidental, he might just forget her presence when he sounded the alarm.

  She tore a piece of her chemise and unclenched Geoffrey’s fist long enough to leave it in his hand. As his hand closed around the piece of cloth, he began to snore. Julie pricked her finger and left some blood on his sheets. She left one of her hairpins in between the folds of the sheet. The little telltale things must be discreet, and not look like they were planted. She only prayed he would not remember much of anything except leading her to the bed, and then his inflated ego would take over from there.

  * * *

  “Uncle Matthew, wake up. Uncle Matthew.”

  Matthew did not stir. He thought he heard Ian’s voice, but he knew it could not possibly be him. He had to be dreaming.

  The door of the cell squeaked open.

  He turned with a jerk and opened his eyes as far as the swelling would allow. He came off the floor with his fists clenched.

  “What the—”

  “Shh, Uncle Matthew. It’s me, Ian. We’ve come to get you.”

  Matthew could not believe his eyes and ears. He thought he must be hallucinating. He walked over and put his hand on the boy. Then they both stepped into the hallway, where he peered through the small window in the door and looked out at the guards.

  “This is foolhardy! Have you thought this through? How are we going to get past the guards?”

  “Ribble said to wait here until he can get back down the cliff. Don’t move and I’ll be right back,” Ian said over his shoulder.

  He went over to the window and crawled half way through it. He tiptoed back over to where Matthew kept watch by the door. “Ribble and Miss Ha…er…a friend planned everything. His friend took the key from Dr. Hamilton to give to Ribble. He brought me up the cliff on his back, and now he’s taking the key back. When we hear a lot of noise, and the guards are distracted, we’re supposed to go down the stairs and over the side on the last landing. If we can make it to the beach, there’s a boat waiting. Ribble said to go to the old smugglers cave on the windward side of our island, and he would join us as soon as he can,” Ian finished, out of breath.

  * * *

  Julie took the key from Ribble and replaced it in the music box and rewound it. Gathering up her bandbox, she slipped noiselessly out the door. The cool night air seemed to revive her. She hurried down the steps and out onto the walkway. She took only a few steps before Ribble came up behind her.

  He grabbed her from behind and held on. Julie screamed, but no one came. She screamed again but still no one came. She looked at Ribble, but he only shrugged.

  Julie whispered, “Tell Ian I’m sorry.”

  She opened her cloak and tied it loosely, and reluctantly she tore her dress to reveal more of her breast. She rubbed dirt on her cheek and ran over to where the guards stood.

  Julie fell onto one of the men and cried out in anguish, “Help me! Lord, help me! Somebody do something! He tried to kill me,” she cried convincingly and pointed in Ribble’s direction.

  The first guard motioned for the second one to investigate. She kept her head down and covered by her hood. Carefully, she also kept out of the light of the fire so neither guard could get a good look at her face. Her efforts were not really necessary as neither guard’s eyes rose higher than her breasts.

  Julie clung to the first guard desperately. Momentarily distracted, he did not notice Matthew and Ian moving quietly down the steps and slipping away.

  The second guard returned with Ribble in tow. “Here’s the bloody bugger. I chased him halfway through the town afore I caught his worthless carcass. What’ll we do with him?”

  Before the first guard could reply, Julie rushed over to where Ribble stood and put her arms around him. “They dinnae hurt thee, luv? Gawd, ye’ve skinned yer nib!”

  She put her hands on her hips and turned to face the guards but still kept her face hidden by her hood. Her lips formed a pout. “I just wanted ye to scare him, not run him ta ground. Ye see, when he’s in his cups, he tries to beat me, but by morning he’s always sorry, ain’t ye, luv? Come along, dearie, I’ll put ye ta bed and ye’ll feel so much better on the morrow,” Julie said.

  She took Ribble by the arm and led him away. They left the two guards shaking their heads with their mouths open.

  “Did you see that old bugger, and did you see what he had on his arm? How can an old man like that have the likes of her to warm his bed when we’ve been out all night freezing? I tell you, lad, it’s just not fair. What an unlikely pair. Wonder what they was doing out at this time of the night. Oh well, some has it all, eh?” Both guards laughed.

  Out of sight of the guards, Julie and Ribble ran until they were out of breath. They stopped in an alley on the far side of town.

  “We did it, Ribble! We’re alive and Matthew’s free. However, we must part, my friend,” Julie said. Her voice cracked, and her eyes misted. She reached up to give him a hug. “I shall miss you.”

  “Aye, we did it fer sure, but let me get ye back over to the island. I can hide ye as long as need be. Those guards never will recognize a scruffy drunk with a patch over his eye. I look nothing like a well-kept gentleman’s valet. I can come and go. Let me look out for you.”

  “No, I can’t put you in any more jeopardy than I already have. I have a change of clothes stored in an old barn outside of town. I’ll go there now and change. You can come back later and get the dress. I must leave as quickly as possible. It’ll be daylight soon.” She looked at the sky.

  “I’ll go with ye to the barn and see ye off.” Julie started to protest, but he shook his head at her. “Tut, tut, I’ll hear no more. My mind’s made up,” he said with a wave of his hand, putting an end to Julie’s unspoken protest.

  Ribble and Julie walked hurriedly on until they reached the abandoned barn beside the trackway which Julie planned to follow over the mountain. She slipped silently into the old rundown barn. Once inside, Ribble kept a lookout while Julie changed in one of the stalls.

  When she finished dressing, she cleared her throat and said, “You can turn around now. How do I look?”

  Ribble turned around and blinked and looked again. Julie had pulled back her mass of curls with a ribbon. She had on the clothes of a ten or twelve-year-old farm boy. Her breasts were bound, and a long coat covered where the trousers clung to her hips. She pulled her cap over her eyes and began to strut around the room in the manner of a young boy.

  “What do you think? Will I pass?” Julie asked, a smile playing at her lips. She knew the answer to her question from the look on Ribble’s face.

  “’Tis madness, lass. ’Tis true enough ye could pass for a lad, but a man is bound to find ye out. I can’t let ye go. Ye could go by coach. No one would know ye dressed as a lad.”

  “We’ve been over this too many times. I have to go. You knew I planned to go before this happened. Nothing has changed. I can’t stay here, and this is the best way to do it. I have many miles to go. I must leave at once. Besides, the coach will be the first place Geoffrey would check. No, thank you. Going over the mountain is my best bet.”

  “But where will ye go, what will ye do, and have ye thought of money?”

  “Yes, I’ve thought of money. I’m not a complete ninny. I’ve been saving all I could, but I won’t need much money for my trip. Last market day I bought an old horse. I paid one of the village boys to feed and wate
r him for me. He’s hidden a little way down the road. It looks like something a farm boy would have, so I won’t draw attention to myself. Despite his looks, he’s strong and will carry me as far as I need to go. Tell everyone I caught the mail coach this morning. Let the staff think I’ve been called away because an aunt is dying and wants to talk to me. Here’s a letter for you to deliver to Geoffrey. It’ll explain why I left so suddenly. Have it delivered tomorrow. Mercy, it’s already tomorrow. I mean this evening.”

  “But where will ye go? What’ll ye do? Best I come with you.”

  “I’m not sure where yet. I might go to my aunt. She used to send us Christmas presents and lives near Aberdeen in Stonehaven. If she doesn’t take me in, I have enough money until I can get on my feet. Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself,” Julie said, trying to put on a brave front for Ribble.

  “What’s your aunt’s name? I might have heard of her,” Ribble asked.

  “Lady Catherine Blair. If something else presents itself, I may not go to her. My pride forbids me to go to my aunt, but I see nothing else I can do,” Julie said.

  Ribble insisted on walking down to where she had left the horse tethered. Julie mounted. “Wish me well, Ribble. This is the last I shall see of you.”

  “Letting ye go sticks like grit in me craw, lass. I’ll ask ye once more to stay. It ain’t safe for ye to go so far alone. I told you about those friends of mind. They would take ye in no questions asked. A woman by herself, unprotected, anything could happen.” Ribble scratched his head. “I cannae believe he would treat you so shamelessly. He is a wild one for sure, but he’s not mean-spirited.”

  “After everything that has happened… Besides, you know the reasons why I have to go. Papa always said to quit beating a dead horse,” Julie said with a hint of irritation in her voice.

  “I suppose there’s no way to stop ye then. Lean over and let me fix yer hair ribbon more like a lad’s,” Ribble said with a twinkle in his eye. “I hate to do this to ye, lass, but I think it’s for the best.”

  Julie turned her head to see what he was talking about and fell into the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

  * * *

  Julie came to and found Ribble watching her. Gingerly, she touched her jaw with her bound hands and looked in disbelief at Ribble, who sat across from her.

  “Let that be a lesson to ye. Never trust anyone. Especially harmless old men,” he said with a chuckle. He reached over to her. “I’m going to take the gag off ye, but if ye start in to screamin’ yer head off, then I’ll have to clap her back on. Ye ken?”

  Julie slowly nodded her head. As soon as the gag came away, she lashed out at him. He just barely brought his hand back with all fingers intact.

  Ribble laughed. “Dog my cats, if ye ain’t a wildcat. Even so, no more of that, lass.” He scratched his head and said, “I don’t think there’s another like ye. Yes, sir, I think ye’ll do.”

  He handed Julie some water in a tin cup. She held it in her bound hands and brought it up to her mouth, but her gaze never left Ribble.

  “I’m not going to turn ye over to Hamilton, if it’s what ye think.” Julie’s body relaxed involuntarily. “No, I’d never, but I couldn’t let ye go off by yerself. Yer a tricky one and I know ye’d take off the moment my back’s turned, so I had to bind ye. I’ll not hesitate to put yer gag back in place if ye give me cause.”

  “Where are you taking me?” Julie ground out.

  “Some place safe. I’ll have to think on it for a while. A friend of mind’s got a fishing boat just a little ways more down the coast. He’ll take us north and to the island. Won’t anybody see us. Come nightfall, I’ll cross over and stash ye some place safe.”

  “You’re just prolonging my journey. I can’t stay. Let me go. Please,” Julie said with a break in her voice and tears starting to course down her cheeks.

  “Ye’re wasting yer time with them tears, lass. I ain’t letting ye loose and that’s that,” he said. He dusted his hands and stood up to put a log on the fire. “I would’ve done the same, if’n I was ye. Ye air a caution, that’s for sure. So full of piss and vinegar, ye almost make me wish I was young again. Heh, heh! Ye’d certainly give a man a race for his money.”

  Ribble hobbled Julie and settled back against an old oak tree to rest. Julie glared at the sleeping man before searching the area for a stick or a rock to throw at him, but grass and weeds were all she could find. She chafed at her ropes, but they would not give. She sat, stewing in her own juices, and cursed Ribble. She teared up again but she knew it would be a waste of tears. He would do with her what he thought prudent, and she might as well save her strength for the ordeals to come. She would pick her battles.

  Chapter Eight

  Matthew and Ian took a circuitous route down alleys and through hedges to the beach. Once there, they uncovered the boat, and together began dragging it out to sea. The tide had already ebbed, forcing them to push and pull the boat several hundred yards before reaching water deep enough for the conveyance to float. Exhausted, they fell more than stepped into the boat.

  Matthew wrapped his hands around the oars. He grimaced, looking at his bruised hands as he began to row. His aching palms sent shivers of pain up his arms when he pulled against the force of the water, but he was thankful it was not worse. When they were a good distance from shore, he checked the direction of the wind, but the wind that had brought his rescuers into shore had vanished, and the sail could not be used. Matthew picked up the oars again and once more put his back into an unequal resistance to the strong current of the cold Atlantic moving against him.

  His strength sapped by his treatment in prison, he fought off cramps and fatigue. To rest for even a short time would be unthinkable. At any moment, the king’s navy could overtake them or blow them out of the water. His life and Ian’s depended on his endurance. Just as the sun began to appear on the horizon, they rounded the tip of the island and came ashore into a small sheltered cove known as Smugglers Cove by the islanders.

  Matthew pulled the boat onto the sand and almost threw Ian out just as they beached. “Run like you’ve never run before. You must be in the castle before anyone misses you. Go, lad, don’t stop for anything!”

  Ian took off in a run, stopping only long enough to wave good-bye. Matthew watched the small figure disappear from sight. Although grateful, he wondered what Ribble could have been thinking to put the boy in so much danger, but what was done was done.

  He wiped out any footprints left by Ian. Then he secured the black sail around the boat and pulled a plug from its hull. He watched as it sank silently to the bottom without notice save for a few air bubbles that found their way to the surface. Wrapped in black, it looked like any other huge rock at the edge of the ocean.

  Satisfied with his work, he turned his thoughts to climbing the cliff behind him. He tried not to leave any footprints in the sand or disturb anything. He made his way from rock to rock up the cliff face until he reached the cave.

  This particular cave he knew well. As a boy, he and his brother Michael had fought many make-believe battles and dreamed fantastic dreams here, but never once had he thought this same cave would be his refuge from his own countrymen. Climbing steadily, he wondered if Michael would have risked everything for Prince Charles.

  Cautiously, he stepped inside. As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, he began to feel his way around the hole in the earth that would be his new home. He had no doubt everything had been readied for him. He could always depend on Ribble, who knew what needed to be done and did it without being told. Matthew employed him, but the man had proven his friendship many times over. Of his many acquaintances, there were few he could count on as he did Ribble.

  Matthew stumbled over his broadsword, dirk, extra clothes, and his great coat lying beside a pallet on the earth floor. He sank onto the hard makeshift bed. It felt like a feather bed to his abused body, and he quickly closed his eyes in an effort to sleep. Only a short time ago, he had been bitterly
resigned to the hangman’s noose. His future did not appear much brighter, but he had hope, and he was free, but for how long? As sleep drifted closer, his tense, tired muscles began to relax. His last thoughts were of Julie’s proud, haunting face dancing in front of him.

  Several hours later, he jerked awake. It was late afternoon by the waning rays of the sun outside his cavern. He reached out and felt the cool damp earth, and his fingers sought the sharp edge of the dirk beside him.

  With an effort, he stood up and stretched. Feeling more alive after his rest, he began to take an account of his own injuries. Although his eyes still carried some swelling, his vision was not as blurred. Movement caused him pain, but he did not think anything felt broken.

  Slowly, he fumbled his way to the entrance of the cave and began his search for candles or a torch or something to help him find his way. Patiently, he searched for and found the cache. He lit a candle and began to inspect his new home, careful to stay away from the entrance to the cave. He realized he could not burn a candle at night, but during the day, if he were careful, his candle would go unnoticed.

  Matthew also discovered a supply of hardtack, cheese, wine, fruit, and water. He sat down and began to eat. For some reason, food had never tasted better or the wine more smooth. Sated, he let sleep overtake him again.

  * * *

  Julie and Ribble lay in the hold of a fishing vessel that tossed them carelessly from side to side. Ribble’s friends had taken them on board without any questions asked. They seem to accept it as the normal thing for Ribble to bring a bound and gagged woman dressed as a boy aboard their vessel. They placed Julie underneath several lengths of fishing net. She’d fallen asleep only to awake to the rocking of the boat and the inevitable aroma of fish past and present.

  The odor grew more intense as the day wore on and the sun waxed hotter, but Ribble did not seem to mind. He sat down close to Julie and closed his eyes in sleep. He stayed that way until the sun started to set. After leaving for a short time, he returned, picked her up and carried her to the top deck where he lowered her into a long boat. Julie looked around, trying to get her bearings. She could see they were moving toward an island.