‘Have you seen anything?’
‘Not a thing,’ said Rachael. ‘No one passed us. We found the militia easily.’
‘Has Abram Hailsworth arrived?’
‘Yes. He brought Mr Merriman with him about half an hour ago. They have gone off towards the house so that they can see how the land lies. Brother James has gone with them.’
Josiah’s first thought was that of alarm. Would Abram be able to contain himself? But even as he started to worry, three figures broke cover on the other side of the road and, bent double. ran across to them.
‘I am heartily glad to see you safe and sound,’ he said to the small group. We had better join the militia men so they can get the benefit of your scouting efforts.’
Abram walked over with Josiah. ‘I bet you wondered if I would be hot-headed when you found I’d charged off.’ he said.
‘It did cross my mind.’
‘Not to worry, Mr Merriman and Brother James were caution itself. We thought it a good thing to take a look at the house as soon as possible.’ They reached the group around Steven Hailsworth.
‘Abram, good we are all met. Good day to you, Mr Merriman, I am glad you could join the party. What is next, Constable Ainscough? Sergeant Olds here will take his cue from you.’
Josiah tried not to show the panic he felt. He had thought older and more experienced heads, more used affairs such as this, might now take over but there was no time to argue about it.
‘Abram, what did your scouting party find?’
‘In short everything is quiet. The house is over there near the river about five hundred yards away. From where we came out just now, there is a path across the fields that leads to a garden gate at the back of the house. Between that gate and the house itself there is a small orchard and then a formal garden divided from the orchard by a thick hedge of about six feet high. If we approach that way then we can probably steal up to the back of the house using the cover afforded by the trees and the hedge. That will be greatly helped by the fact that there is a thick mist over the river on that side of the house.’
‘Is there a similar well covered approach to the front of the house?’ asked Sergeant Olds.
‘In principle, yes,’ said Abram. ‘Further up the road there is a track that goes down to it but that path is rather open. Brother James reasoned that if they have set a guard, that was where it would be but as far as we were able to see there is no one on the road or at the front of the house.’
‘What about upper windows?’ asked Michael.
‘No sign at all,’ said Merriman.
‘At the back?’
‘’Arder to say.’
‘But there are no lights visible anywhere,’ added Abram.
‘Abram, how many servants does Elizabeth keep?’ asked Barbara.
‘A maid and housekeeper.’
‘The housekeeper would be up by now setting the range fires. There should have been some activity. Any smoke out of the chimneys?’
‘None,’ said Brother James.
Josiah pondered what these last remarks meant. Potentially there were four captives in the house. Up to that point he had assumed he would find Elizabeth and her son in the same room under a single guard. But the two servants complicated the matter. They could not rule out the possibility that the guard would split the group up making rescue more difficult. But to him, the safety of the servants were no less a priority than that of Elizabeth and the boy.
‘So there’s no sign of any activity at all?’ remarked Michael. ‘I would have expected there to be something to suggest there were guards present no matter how secure they felt about the control of their prisoners.’
Josiah looked at his friend. Michael had something on his mind. ‘What are you thinking, Michael?’
‘That there may be no guards at all. That this is a blind.’ As Michael spoke the first direct rays of sun came over the hills to the east. The sun would disperse the mist quickly losing them that advantage.
‘How early would an Irish tinker call to see the housekeeper about pots to repair?’ asked Josiah.
‘If he had a tip there might be good pickings to have, easily as early as this,’ chuckled Michael.
‘Would you be prepared to play the part, Michael?’
‘Yes. Mr Abram, is the track big enough for one of the wagons?’
‘I think so. I’d take the smaller one to be certain.’
‘I’ll come with you, Mr O’Carroll.’ It was Agnes. ‘Many of the tinkers who call at the Hall have wives or daughters. It will look less suspicious if I come.’
Barbara Hailsworth looked worried. ‘Are you sure, Agnes?’
‘Quite sure, ma’am.’
Josiah went back to giving orders. ‘Michael and Agnes, get the cart ready. Brother Peter will help you. He’ll also hide under the cover behind you in case it develops into a fight.’ Josiah grinned at Peter who unexpectedly smiled back.
‘Sergeant Olds take your men round the back of the house. Mr Abram and Brother James will show you the way. Get as close as you can without being seen but don’t attack until I give a signal. Then force your way through the doors with all speed. Abram, you know the inside of the house. Wait behind the militia. Help guide them in searching the rooms if it comes to a full assault.
‘Mr Merriman and I will follow the route of the wagon from cover. I’d like your head gamekeeper to come to protect us if that is alright, Mr Hailsworth?’ Steven Hailsworth looked over to the man who nodded his assent.
‘Please bring him back in one piece, Constable, or I’ll have no grouse to shoot next year.’
‘Noted, Sir. If we get a chance to enter quietly from the front we will. Let’s hope this door is ready to be pushed open or at least carelessly guarded.’
The militia formed up and Abram led them round the back. As soon as Josiah knew they were well away on the path, he gave the nod to Michael and Agnes to set off. The cart made its way up the road and he saw it make the turn into the lane. Then he led Merriman and the gamekeeper across the fields to intercept the line of the approach.
They got to the track a little in front of the cart and watched as it ambled past their position. Agnes with a shawl over her head and Michael were singing. Presumably, Michael thought that it would keep Agnes’s spirits up. But though the tune was beautiful, the few words Josiah could catch were too wistful to be really cheering. They followed the wagon on their side of the hedge.
There was no sign of anyone and no challenge. Michael pulled up in front of the house and got down. Josiah positioned himself as far forward as he could so that he would be able to hear anything that was said if the door of the house was opened. He kept Merriman beside him and gave the gamekeeper instructions to guard Agnes who looked exposed and rather frightened sitting out in the open on the top of the wagon.
Josiah heard Michael knock on the door. There was a pause and then he knocked once more. Then he began to sing again, his Irish voice sounding natural and cheerful in the gentle morning sun. Then he knocked again and shouted, ‘Any pots to mend?’
35
Desperate Measures
Josiah could just see Michael’s silhouette against the lightening sky. He watched as his friend looked through the front windows of the house and then went round both sides of the building. He came over to the hedge behind which Josiah and Merriman were hiding and knocked out his pipe. As he did so he whispered to Josiah. ‘I can’t see any life at all.’
In reply Josiah and the others climbed out of hiding and ran quickly to the main door.
‘Can we get in from here?’ he said to Michael.
‘I think so, lad. Give me your truncheon.’ With its butt he deftly cracked the glass in one of the leaded lights in the front window and opened it. Josiah climbed in. He found himself in a comfortable sitting room. Making his way carefully over to the door to wh
at must be the hallway, he listened. The house was quiet. He opened the door, peeked into the empty hall and went through it making for the front door. The bolts were drawn back and the key for the door on the floor. The door was unlocked and he simply opened it to let the others in.
Slowly they went through the downstairs rooms. The kitchen was empty and the range cold. Only the sonorous ticking of a grandfather clock disturbed a second sitting room. Michael and Peter went down into the cellars from the kitchen while Josiah, Merriman and the gamekeeper climbed the stairs. Three doors ran off from the landing. The first led to what looked like a child’s room, which was empty, but the bed had been slept in. The next, led to a lady’s bedroom and dressing room. This too was empty but the bed was undisturbed. They were about to go into the third room when they heard the only sound so far that might be a sign of life. Someone or something was knocking rhythmically on floorboards above their heads.
They backed up and found the narrow stairs that led up to the attic rooms. Josiah signalled that the gamekeeper should go first with his gun at the ready. The drumming had stopped but one of the plain boards on the stairs creaked. Immediately it started again, this time with greater intensity.
There were two rooms off the attic landing. It was clear that the noise was coming from the one at the end. Quietly Josiah opened the door.
Tied hand and foot under a large window opposite were three women and a boy. Two, one older than the other, were dressed in black dresses with white aprons. The third woman wore a smart silk dressing gown. The young boy was also in nightclothes.
They all had their mouths silenced with cloths and their hands were bound. They were hog-tied and their bonds were fixed to the floor so that they could not shuffle about. As soon as they saw Josiah the two younger women and the boy started to make muffled cries. The older woman, presumably the housekeeper, made no effort. She appeared to have fainted.
Josiah stepped into the room. As he did so the urgency and volume of the captives’ noises got louder and it was accompanied by them widening their eyes. They seemed to be nodding furiously towards his feet. He looked down but there was nothing there. He took a second step. The prisoners went wild, struggling and throwing themselves about as much as their bonds would allow. Then, against the black leather of his boot he saw it. A strong linen thread about six inches above the floor. On his left it was fixed to the wainscoting with a hook, on the other side of the room it was fixed to a weight on a small see-saw. This was balanced by a lighted candle held over a pile of blackpowder from which a trail led to a short fuse on a grenade behind the door he had just opened.
Gently he moved his boot back from the thread but the designer of this deadly trap seemed to have thought of everything, for the line was sticky with resin. There was a clunking sound from the sea-saw; the weight was now half over its edge. The cord tightened further, the weight fell off the sea-saw and there was a blinding flash as the black-powder ignited.
He had not expected to feel his body hit the floor but he did. He even coughed as the smoke from the powder got to into his throat. He looked up and saw Merriman ripping the fuse out of the grenade.
‘Stop having a bloody rest, lad! Get up and give me a ’and with this abomination!’
There was a pounding of feet on the stairs and into the room charged Abram, Michael and Rachael.
Rachael ran over to Josiah and helped him up from the floor. Her face was white and she was out of breath. She put her hand up to his forehead and pushed back a few strands of hair that were over his eyes. ‘Thank God you are alright,’ she said. ‘I thought… well, we all thought… just… well… thank God everyone is alright.’ Then she looked embarrassed and went to help the housekeeper.
Josiah opened the window. ‘Agnes,’ he shouted. The young woman appeared in view in the garden. ‘Tell everyone that we are alright, including Elizabeth, her son and her servants.’ He was pleased to see that Agnes gave a little jump for joy at the news before shooting of to spread the word. He shut the window and saw another heart-warming scene of Abram embracing Elizabeth while being hugged by Robert.
When the cloth was out of the housekeeper’s mouth, to Josiah’s great relief, she started to recover. The maid had bad bruises round her ankles and wrists but could walk when she had rubbed some life back into her numb feet. She got down the attic steps by herself only taking Michael’s arm for steadiness on the larger stairs down to the hallway.
Elizabeth wanted to do the same, but Abram would hear none of it. Picking her up in his arms he carried her downstairs. Josiah heard the cheers as they emerged through the front door. Rachael took Robert down by the hand.
‘Are you one of the Children of Fire?’ said the boy.
‘Yes I am. I am Sister Rachael.’
‘I thought so; I have seen you when Mummy has taken me to hear Brother Elijah preach.’
With everyone gone Josiah was left alone with Merriman. Josiah offered his hand to the powder man. ‘I, well we all, owe you our lives.’
‘It were my life too lad and I ‘ad the advantage of knowing the fuse on the grenades where the weak link in McBrinnie’s infernal device. But I wouldn’t have been ’ere if you ’ad’t had the foresight to send Master Abram to fetch us. Reckon you saved your sel’ there.’
‘Thanks anyway.’
They went down stairs. Outside Mr Hailsworth had brought the brougham down the lane. Elizabeth and her son were being attended by Barbara Hailsworth. Rachael was making the maid and the housekeeper comfortable on the wagon. It was clear that they were all being taken back to Hailsworth Hall so that they could be looked after.
Josiah walked over to Elizabeth. She stood up as he came towards her. ‘I believe I owe you thanks for my own life and that of my son,’ she extended her had to Josiah. ‘Thank you, Constable.’
‘It was my duty, ma’am. There are a few things you could tell me if you have the strength.’
‘Anything.’
‘How long were you held captive?’
‘From late last evening until you rescued us.
‘How many of them were there?’
‘Just two.’
‘Would you recognise either of them again?’
‘No, they wore masks at first and made their desires clear more by gesture than speaking. They blindfolded us at times, presumable so that they didn’t have to do everything with their masks on.’
‘How did they get in?’
‘They simply knocked on the door. When Mary, my maid, went to answer it they seized her. Then they charged into my room and look me captive, then they woke Robert. They caught Mrs Jones, my housekeeper, off guard downstairs in one of the storerooms. Then they took us upstairs at pistol point and tied us up. Finally, they rigged the explosives and left almost exactly at midnight, the grandfather clock struck, just as they left. I suppose they even locked the front door after them.’
‘They didn’t bother. The door was open.’ Josiah turned to Abram. ‘Mr Hailsworth, I have kept my side of our bargain. How is the powder to be moved?’
‘Using the canal,’ said Abram. ‘They would not be able to move that amount of powder very far by wagon. It took three wagons to get it from the mill but a barge could take that amount of powder easily and still leave space to hide the barrels under other cargo. Also Phelan boasted early on, that the powder was only part of the plan. There was a shipment of muskets and small arms on its way to them. It is pretty clear that was coming by canal as well. I am sorry, Constable, but it looks to me that Phelan Hayes has got clean away.’
36
Taking the High Road
A swell of dissatisfaction came over Josiah as he watched Brother James at the reins of the wagon, accompanied by Agnes and the gamekeeper leaving for Hailsworth Hall. Elizabeth’s servants were safe on the back, being cared for by Rachael.
He ought to feel elated, after all they had saved Elizabeth, b
ut he felt that they had completely failed. Phelan was gone and hundreds would die if the powder got to Ireland.
Merriman came over to join Josiah. ‘Good night’s work, Constable.’ Michael and Brother Peter strolled over to join them.
‘Mr Merriman,’ said Peter, ‘I have to take the second wagon back to the Hall and pick up Brother James and Sister Rachael. I have time to take you back to the mines and give your pony a rest.’
‘That’s ’andsome of you, brother.’ Merriman shook hands with Michael and Josiah, and then accompanied Peter across the fields to the copse where the other wagon was still secure.
‘So that’s that,’ said Josiah.
‘Know what you mean. It feels as if we’ve only done half a job,’ said Michael. Josiah looked at his old friend. ‘Do we believe that what Phelan told Abram was the truth?’
‘About moving the powder by canal?’ said Michael.
Finally, Josiah’s frustration got the better of him ‘Oh rats! Phelan wanted twenty-four hours head start according to Abram. We’ve cut that in half, there must be more we can do than stand here like idiots.’ He started to walk briskly in the direction of their horses. ‘Let’s see if Mr Bridges thinks they really are taking the powder by canal. We’ll ride to the powder mill.’
Fortunately, they made good time on the road from Hayfield towards Macclesfield. Josiah shouted to Michael as they rode.
‘The gang was never large. Phelan, McBrinnie and a third member who was away dealing with the arms. When Phelan killed McBrinnie, he was on his own until the arms arrived. The fellow who came with them must have helped Phelan capture Elizabeth but there was still the job of getting the powder away.’
‘So a trap and no guard,’ shouted back Michael
They swung into the powder mill, which was just waking up to the day’s work. Mr Bridges was in his office. He leapt to his feet as they came in.
‘Is she alright?’ he said immediately.
‘Yes, she wasn’t guarded. There was an explosive trap set for anyone trying to rescue her but Mr Merriman defused it,’ said Josiah.
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