Bonds of Earth, The

by Thompson, E. V.

They had soon found a great deal to enter on the surveyor’s map, but there was a strong westerly wind blowing and they decided to return to Goran’s farming land and crouch in the lee of the boundary wall while the surveyor entered the information.

  The second miner accompanied him to help with his instruments, leaving Alan Toms a short distance into Spurre land inspecting what he suspected might be an old capped-off mine-shaft, around which generations of rabbits had established a warren. If the hidden shaft linked up with the old mine it might prove of use to the planned Wheal Hope expansion.

  He was examining the area when a voice said, ‘Well now, there’s nothing I enjoy more than catching a poacher red-handed – especially if it happens to be a miner!’

  Startled, Alan swung around and saw Marcus Grimble advancing towards him carrying a fowling-piece, the long barrel of which was cradled in the crook of his left arm.

  Recognizing Alan, the mock-humorous expression on the gamekeeper’s changed to one of elation. ‘It’s you! Oh, this really is going to be a day to savour.’

  ‘Don’t be so bloody silly, I’m here on mine business.’

  ‘Mine business in a rabbit warren on the Spurre estate? No court in the land would believe such a story, and neither do I.’

  Alan was ill-at-ease at meeting up with the armed gamekeeper, but he was not frightened of him. ‘I couldn’t care less what you think, I was sent here to check out the land by Captain Pyne and that’s what I’ve been doing. If you don’t believe me go and ask him.’

  ‘Oh, I’ve no doubt he’d back up your story. What is it you miners are so proud of boasting about, “one for all and all for one”? Well, it’s not going to work with me – and it won’t work with the magistrate I’m taking you to.’

  ‘You’re not taking me anywhere. I came up here with a job to do and I’ve done it. If you want me you know where you can find me.’

  With this dismissive retort, Alan turned his back on the gamekeeper and began to walk towards the boundary wall, where the second Wheal Hope miner and the surveyor had heard the sound of voices and were peering over the wall at Alan and the gamekeeper.

  He had not taken many paces when, without warning, there was the loud sound of a gunshot behind him and he felt immediate pain in his back and neck. He stumbled and fell, his head striking a large chunk of granite, excavated many years before from the now capped-off shaft – and he knew no more.

  Behind him, with white smoke seeping from the barrel of the fowling-piece, gamekeeper Grimble stood looking at his victim, his emotions a confused mixture of elation and apprehension.

  While he was contemplating what he should do next, there was a shout from the direction of the boundary wall where the surveyor and miner had watched horrified as the gamekeeper cold-bloodedly shot Alan in the back.

  Suddenly aware of the enormity of what he had done and dismayed that there had been witnesses to the incident, Grimble turned and hurried away from the scene.

  Chapter 46

  ALAN TOMS WAS not dead, although he would have been had Marcus Grimble’s gun been firing anything heavier than birdshot. As it was there were many pellets from the gun embedded in his back, neck and scalp and one had clipped an ear.

  Perhaps even more serious was the blow to his head when he fell against the granite rock. He had struck it with the side of his head, close to the forehead, and even when he regained consciousness seemed to be disorientated.

  Alan’s two companions helped him to Elworthy Farm, the closest place from which they believed they might be able to summon help. When they reached the farm, Goran was on hand to help them take him into the farmhouse to a spare bedroom.

  Mabel was away at Agnes Roach’s farm and Goran called in Harriet Bolitho to attend to Alan, while Jenken was sent off to alert Captain Pyne on all that had happened. He would then ride on to fetch the doctor from his house in the nearby village of Rilla Mill.

  Jenken had no need to make the second part of his journey, the doctor being at Wheal Hope, where he was treating a young bal maiden who had managed to break a bone in her wrist wielding a cobbing hammer to separate waste from ore.

  The doctor hurried to Elworthy Farm accompanied by the Wheal Hope captain. Here, whilst the doctor examined the wounded man, Piran Pyne listened in grim silence to the story told by the shocked surveyor and miner who had witnessed the whole incident.

  ‘Where did Grimble go after the shooting?’ Piran Pyne asked.

  ‘When he realized we must both have seen what had happened he hurried off in the direction of Spurre Hall. We didn’t see exactly where he went because we were too busy rescuing Alan and getting off Spurre land in case the gamekeeper returned and shot us too,’ the surveyor explained, adding, ‘The man’s insane!’

  ‘Possibly,’ Piran Pyne agreed, ‘The chances are he was also drunk, but he’ll not get away with this.’ Turning to the other miner in the room, he said, ‘Tell everyone on the mine to be ready to come with me and find Grimble – and they are to bring pick-handles with them. We’ve had quite enough of Marcus Grimble. While you’re doing that I’ll go to the Hall and see Sir John – then we’ll go after his gamekeeper.’

  Alarmed, the doctor looked up from examining Alan and pleaded, ‘Let me see just how serious this young man’s injuries are before you take any such drastic action. There are a great many pellets to be removed from his body, neck and head and he is quite obviously suffering concussion, but unless any of the pellets have reached his lungs or other organs he should suffer no lasting effects. Report the matter to Sir John, of course, after all he is a magistrate, but don’t take the law into your own hands.’

  Piran Pyne shook his head, ‘Grimble wouldn’t be the way he is if he hadn’t been given Sir John’s support for so many years. Grimble has bullied his way through life because he knew he enjoyed his employer’s protection – tacit or otherwise. There are men – mostly miners – who are rotting in prison because Sir John refused to see his gamekeeper for the man he is. Alan is my sonin-law, but he is also a miner. I’ve had one miner crippled by Grimble and now this has happened. I’ll have no more men suffer because of this unholy alliance. We’ll deal with Grimble our way … the miners’ way.’

  The doctor looked at Captain Pyne in silence before shrugging his shoulders, saying, ‘Well, I’ve told you what I think, if you choose to ignore my advice there will undoubtedly be unfortunate consequences for everyone involved. I suggest you send for your daughter before you do anything else, she might like to be with her husband while I do what needs to be done.’

  Immediately after the shooting Marcus Grimble made his way to Spurre Hall where he found his employer giving his disgruntled head gardener instructions to turn the walled garden into a productive vegetable plot, sufficient not only to feed the whole household but also provide a surplus to sell in nearby mining areas, where such produce was always at a premium.

  The head gardener had worked all his life at Spurre Hall and prided himself on the spectacular flower beds he had so diligently nurtured in the garden that was now to be turned over to vegetables.

  Sir John greeted his gamekeeper with, ‘What are you doing here, Grimble? You should be out on the estate. I thought I heard the sound of a shot not long ago.’

  ‘You did, Sir John. There was a man, a miner, poaching on the estate, up towards the moor.’

  ‘Again? Did you catch him?’

  Grimble shook his head, ‘No, he ran off and, as you know, I can’t run as fast as I used to before I was attacked by that miners’ leader and his men. I fired after him to try to bring him to a halt but he got away.’

  ‘Did your shot hit him?’

  ‘It might have done but I was only carrying a fowling-piece and he had others with him, at least two of ’em and they’ll have helped him get away.’

  ‘Oh well, let’s hope he needed to pick pellets out of his backside when he returned to wherever he came from. He certainly won’t want to report it or he’ll know where he’ll end up. Well done, man.�
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  It was about an hour after the shooting when the Spurre Hall butler entered the study where Sir John was at his desk writing a letter. The baronet looked up irritably, but before he could complain about being interrupted, the butler said, ‘I am sorry to disturb you, Sir John, but there is a Captain Pyne from the Wheal Hope mine in the hall. He insists upon seeing you.’

  All his irritability vanishing, Sir John said, ‘Show him in immediately. It is probably something to do with mining commencing beneath the estate. That will be good news indeed!’

  The landowner was on his feet to greet his visitor when he entered the room – but Piran Pyne’s first words were not those of a man bearing good news. Grim-faced, he said, ‘I’ve come here to tell you that I and my miners will be coming on the estate in search of your gamekeeper, Sir John. If he gives himself up peaceably we will take him before a magistrate in Launceston to be dealt with there, but if he puts up any resistance he will suffer the consequences as my miners will be armed with pick-handles.’

  His disbelief showing, Sir John spluttered, ‘You’ve come here to tell me you intend hunting down one of my gamekeepers on my estate? This is gross impertinence! Grimble came to tell me he’d caught a miner poaching on the estate and had fired a warning shot in an attempt to stop him from running away and persuade him to give himself up. This is what I pay him for and it is his duty to arrest poachers on Spurre land – even if it happens to be one of your miners. As a magistrate I demand you hand the man over to me and I will decide what action is to be taken – and against whom.’

  ‘The man Grimble shot was not a poacher and he must have been aware of it. The miner was on your land with another of my men, and a surveyor, acting on my instructions and drawing up plans in preparation for the work you and I have discussed. Furthermore, my man was not running away. He was quite coldbloodedly shot in the back at close range, most probably because he and Grimble had a disagreement when they were both drinking at the village inn a few evenings ago. I have two very credible witnesses who saw what happened today. It would seem to be the culmination of a long-running feud between Grimble and miners – a feud that is seen as having your support. Miners are convinced they will receive no justice from you, which is why I intend taking Grimble before a Launceston magistrate when we catch up with him.’

  ‘You have the audacity to question my integrity, Pyne? I will deal with Grimble, not a mob hell-bent on avenging some spurious wrongs – and if you set one foot outside the law I will deal with you too.’

  ‘You could have dealt with Grimble a long time ago, Sir John, but have done nothing. There are a great many actions Grimble could never have taken without your support – things like laying mantraps around the estate, for instance. When evidence of these are laid before an unbiased magistrate I have no doubt he will investigate them further. In the meantime, until Grimble is tried and convicted for the shooting of my miner there will be no work carried out on any ore beneath Spurre land.’

  Chapter 47

  RUMOURS CIRCULATED THAT immediately after Piran Pyne’s visit to Spurre Hall, Marcus Grimble was summoned and told his conduct had lost his employer so much money he could no longer afford to keep him. Furthermore, because the gamekeeper’s latest actions were likely to result in serious criminal proceedings, his presence on the estate had become an embarrassment.

  Grimble was advised to get as far away as he could, in the shortest possible time.

  Taking his long-time employer’s words to heart, Marcus Grimble removed himself further away than even the titled landowner had envisaged. Returning to his lonely cottage, the world he had known for much of his life gone forever, the disgraced gamekeeper put the barrel of a loaded shotgun into his mouth and pulled the trigger.

  This news was contained in a letter received by Nessa in London at breakfast time, before she left the Kensington house to go to the ragged school. Her mother’s letter also told of Alan’s shooting and revealed that Morwenna was expecting a baby.

  It had been two-and-a-half years since Nessa had seen her family and guilt had been building up inside her for some time at not paying them a visit. Her mother’s letter helped her to arrive at a decision.

  Reading the pertinent sections of the letter to those having breakfast with her, she said, ‘I feel I must go to Cornwall, Uncle, to see if there is anything I can do to be of help.’

  ‘Of course.’ Looking across the table at Sally who had been listening wide-eyed to the contents of Nessa’s letter, he added, ‘Sally has been here long enough to feel quite at home with us while you are away.’

  Aware that for all Sally’s apparent self-confidence, the Old Nichol girl had become extremely reliant upon her, Nessa said, ‘Oh, Sally will come with me. She was telling me only the other day that she has never been outside London and has never seen cows, sheep, or live pigs. It will be a wonderful experience for her.’

  The young girl’s undisguised delight was evident to all those about the breakfast table, but Cedric Couch said, doubtfully, ‘You have to return home at such a time, of course, but the thought of you both making such a journey without help troubles me. I will make some enquiries and see if I can learn of any responsible person who might also be travelling to Cornwall in the near future.’

  Father Michael expressed similar concerns when Nessa informed him she would be absent from the school for some time and told him the reason – but he came up with a solution that delighted her, after asking, ‘How did you travel when you first came came to London from Cornwall?

  ‘By ship from Falmouth.’

  ‘A sailing-ship?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You will find there is a much faster – and more comfortable – way to travel now. A steamer goes from here to Bristol once a week, calling at various ports along the way. You could take it as far as Plymouth then hire a carriage to carry you on to your home.’

  ‘It sounds excellent … but Uncle Cedric will still insist that I wait until he has found someone to accompany us.’

  ‘Then why don’t I undertake the task?’

  ‘You? Why should you do that?’

  ‘Because I, too, have not seen my family for a number of years. My brother is vicar of a parish close to Bodmin and my father lives nearby. It is time I visited them again. Besides, I feel in need of a short rest from my work here and our other teachers can cope until my return.’

  ‘I can’t argue with any of that, Michael, and I – and Uncle Cedric I am sure – would be delighted if you came to Cornwall with Sally and me – and the steamer sounds a very exciting adventure for all of us.’

  ‘You took your time getting back to the farm, Jenken.’

  Goran made the observation when Jenken brought a horse back to the stable at Elworthy Farm after delivering piglets to miners; first at the mining community on Caradon hill, then the Wheal Hope. The piglets would be kept in sties in the yards and gardens of miners’ houses, fed mainly on household scraps and ultimately provide a source of meat, or sold on to swell the families’ incomes.

  ‘I was held up at Wheal Hope … and you’ll never guess who was the cause.’

  ‘It’s been a hard day and I’m a little slow on guessing at the moment. Tell me.’

  ‘Nessa … Nessa Pyne!’

  His air of irritability and professed tiredness vanishing, Goran said, animatedly, ‘Nessa…? She’s back? How long has she been here?’

  Well satisfied with Goran’s excited reaction to his news, Jenken replied, ‘She arrived home yesterday and brought a young girl from London with her – a very pretty young girl named Sally.’

  Waving Jenken’s description of the young girl aside impatiently, Goran said, ‘Never mind the young girl, tell me about Nessa. How is she looking? Why has she come home? Is she home for good?’

  ‘I don’t know, but I doubt it. A young vicar came with her too, Father Michael. My ma was up at the mine and I gave her and the boys a ride back here in the cart. On the way Ma said this Father Michael is the one who sta
rted the school where Nessa is teaching in a poor part of London and who Nessa’s always telling Annie about in her letters.’

  Perturbed by news, Goran asked, ‘Why has he come to Cornwall? And when you say he’s young … how young is he?’

  ‘I’m not very good at telling people’s ages, I suppose he must be twenty-something. Ma seems to think Nessa’s brought him home to see if Annie and Cap’n Pyne approve of him.’

  ‘You mean Nessa’s going to marry him?’

  All the excitement Goran had felt at the news of Nessa’s return disappeared and although it had frequently crossed his mind that she must be meeting men in London, he had never considered the possibility she would meet someone she really wanted to marry!

  Watching his employer closely, Jenken belatedly remembered how Goran invariably reacted on the occasions when Nessa’s name came up in conversation. He had realized long ago that Goran had probably been in love with Nessa at the time she left Cornwall and still had strong feelings for her.

  ‘No one’s said anything about it – but why else would he come all the way to Cornwall from London with her?’

  Later that evening, when work was over and Goran returned to the farmhouse, he passed on the news of Nessa’s return to his mother and she was delighted.

  ‘That will make Annie happy. She’s been saying lately that with Alan being laid up and Morwenna expecting, she wished Nessa was around to talk to. As she’s said more than once, it seems a very long time since she saw her. Because of Morwenna’s news and what’s happened to Alan I expect Nessa thought she ought to be home with her family.’

  ‘It seems she’s brought a vicar with her, Ma – a young vicar. Jenken thinks she’s probably brought him home with her to see whether Annie and Piran approve of him.’

  ‘You mean she’s getting married to a vicar! Now that’s a step up in the world for a miner’s daughter, even if he is a captain. But Nessa can’t have said anything to Annie about marriage, or she’d have told me.’