0373298811 (R)

by Ann Lethbridge

  She cast him a look of anguish. ‘Tommy’s gone.’

  ‘Gone where?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ Tears welled. Impatiently she blinked them away. ‘He went with Linette to feed the ducks while we...while we—’

  A glance out of the stable door showed dusk rapidly approaching. He pulled her into one of the empty loose boxes, out of Ned’s earshot before she said something he knew she would regret.

  ‘We will go and fetch them home since they are late,’ he said.

  ‘I went. They aren’t there.’

  Anger rushed up from his belly. ‘You went? Alone? Have you no care—?’

  She brushed his words aside with an impatient hand. ‘The duck pond, Blade. Two streets from here. And I am safely back, but Tommy isn’t there.’ Panic filled her voice.

  He kept his own voice calm, matter-of-fact. ‘You are sure you did not miss them on your way? That he is not safely in his room?’

  ‘If he was do you think I would be here?’ she hissed. ‘I am not a fool.’

  He put his hand on her shoulder. ‘No, you are not. Does Tommy know his way back from the duck pond?’

  ‘I don’t know. He has been there many of times, but he’s barely eight years old. He could easily have got turned around, and as far as I know, Linette has never been there before.’

  ‘Do we even know they arrived there?’

  She stared at him, shook her head and swallowed. ‘No,’ she whispered.

  ‘Then we search from both ends. Ned will follow all possible routes to the pond and we will go to the green and work our way outwards.’

  She licked her lips. ‘Do you think Linette...?’

  ‘I don’t think anything but that they have missed their way. Wait here.’

  She clutched at his sleeve. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘I need a moment to prepare.’

  ‘There’s no time.’

  ‘Five minutes,’ he said. ‘It is getting dark. I need my pistol.’

  She winced, then nodded, releasing him.

  He raised his voice. ‘Ned, with me.’ Up in his room in the loft, he armed himself, while he told his man what he knew.

  His worry, that the young hotheads who talked of taking action might have seen this as their chance to wreak havoc on the government they hated, didn’t make sense. All the talk he’d heard in the inns had been of marching against the barracks, against the soldiers and militia involved in Peterloo. He could not see them kidnapping a child who was only peripherally connected to Tonbridge.

  If the lad wasn’t simply lost, then it was more likely the abbess and her minions out for revenge. Out to take the girl back. She was a very pretty girl and he would not put it past the woman’s greed to want her cake and eat it too. If so, Tommy was simply collateral damage. Cold filled his gut at the thought of what that might mean for the boy. It could mean his death, or it could mean something worse. Young boys were as valuable as pretty young girls, perhaps more so, to some. Or they might simply return him or abandon him, fearing Tonbridge’s wrath. How he hoped it was the latter.

  He ran down the wooden ladder with Ned close on his heels.

  Caro looked ready to tear his throat out. ‘What took you so long?’

  ‘Ned, scour the streets close by,’ he ordered. ‘Work your way towards the green. If you come across street sweepers or vendors, ask them about the girl with a little boy. Especially ask the men. She’s a beauty.’

  Ned nodded and ran off.

  ‘We will take the route you usually use with Tommy,’ he said.

  ‘I searched that way already.’

  ‘This time we will ask if anyone saw them. We must discover if they arrived or not.’

  She closed her eyes briefly and took his arm.

  Inwardly he cursed. So many hours had elapsed since the boy had left home, it might be impossible to find anyone who had been on the street at that time.

  The sweeper on the corner, an old man with rheumy eyes and clawed hands, stared at them blankly. They moved on, but no one had seen either the girl or the child and they reached the green no further ahead.

  Two boys were throwing pebbles in the pond. He strode towards them.

  ‘They were not here when I came a few minutes ago,’ Caro said.

  ‘Lads come and go and return betimes.’

  On his approach the boys dropped their pebbles, which they had been clearly skimming at the ducks that were racing about in a mad flutter. He glared at them.

  ‘We weren’t hitting them,’ the bigger boy said defiantly.

  ‘You were one of the lads playing cricket last time we were here,’ Blade said.

  The lad nodded.

  ‘The little boy who was with us, he joined you for a while. Have you seen him this afternoon?’

  Both boys shook their heads.

  ‘You do remember him, though?’ Caro asked.

  ‘Right gradely lad,’ the younger boy said. ‘Fetched the ball for us.’

  ‘He’s lost. He was supposed to come here with his nursemaid, but they didn’t come home. We think they might have missed the way. If you see him, will you bring him to Sixty-Five Bleaker Street, please?’

  Her voice was heartbreakingly steady. She was barely holding on.

  ‘The whore haven for sluts and their bastards?’ the older boy said, curling his lip.

  Caro winced.

  ‘Watch your language, lad,’ Blade growled at him, angry for Caro and for the maligned women.

  ‘That’s what my ma calls it,’ the boy said, shrugging.

  Blade glared at him. ‘Never mind that. It is the boy we are concerned about. Your mother wouldn’t see an innocent child left to come to harm, would she?’

  ‘If I sees him, I’ll bring him,’ he said sullenly.

  ‘There will be a reward for whoever finds him,’ Caro said.

  The lad visibly cheered. ‘How much?’

  ‘A pound,’ Blade said.

  ‘We’ll find him for you, mister, don’t you worry.’ The two boys shot off, planning how they would spend their money, no doubt.

  With night getting closer, Blade felt his own sense of panic rise. Skepton wasn’t a huge place, but it had its dark corners and unsavoury characters. Where to look next? As he stared around him, he had the feeling of something missing. Something that ought to be here, but was not.

  Something or someone.

  ‘Where do you think we should look next?’ Caro asked, her voice full of misery and fading hope. ‘Perhaps they got turned around and instead of going south, towards home, they went north.’

  ‘It is possible.’

  He just wished he could think of what it was that was sitting at the edge of his vision and refusing to come into focus. ‘Who else was here the day we came together?’

  She stared at him blankly, then frowned. ‘The boys playing cricket. An older couple out for a stroll. A nursemaid with a little girl.’

  None of those were what he was seeking. He stared at Caro, trying to think. The tiny dried sprig pinned to her coat caught his gaze.

  ‘The flower girl,’ they said in unison.

  ‘She is always here,’ Caro said. ‘Every time we came, she was standing on that corner.’

  ‘Likely she leaves before it gets dark, but she might have seen them.’

  ‘Blast, those boys probably know where she lives, too.’

  Blade pointed to the inn on the corner adjacent to where the flower girl sold her little posies. ‘Someone there will know.’

  * * *

  Caro didn’t hesitate when they reached the door into the small inn beside the green. Blade did not know about her past, but she had spent more time inside similar taverns before she had been rescued by Merry than she cared to remember.
He gave her an odd look as he held the door open for her to enter the taproom where a young man was polishing a pewter mug.

  ‘What can I do for you, sir?’ the lad said in a broad Yorkshire accent. He glanced at Caro with a frown. ‘Miss,’ he added.

  ‘We are looking for the flower girl who sells lavender on the other corner,’ Blade said.

  The lad’s expression became less friendly. ‘What do you want with her?’

  ‘We need to talk to her,’ Caro said. ‘Nothing else.’

  ‘What’s she done?’

  ‘She has done nothing, as far as we know,’ Blade answered. ‘But she might have seen something. We have lost a girl and a small boy, and we are hoping she might have seen which way they went.’

  ‘I don’t suppose you saw them?’ Caro asked, glancing at the small window facing the green. ‘She was wearing a blue cloak and he is about this high.’ She gestured with her hand. ‘They would have been on the green at about three o’clock.’

  The young man shook his head. ‘I was working out back then,’ he said. ‘Sweeping the yard.’

  ‘But the flower girl might have seen them,’ Caro said.

  ‘She might have.’

  ‘Do you know where we might find her?’ Blade said, tossing a shilling in the air.

  ‘That I do, seeing as how she’s my sister. You’ll find her at home helping Ma get me da’s tea ready for when he’s finished at t’mill. I used to work there, too.’ He held up a mangled hand. ‘Got me fingers caught, so now I do this.’

  Blade pulled his wrist from his pocket and revealed a wicked-looking hook. ‘You have my sympathy, lad.’

  The boy stared at the implement. ‘Stap me, it might almost be worth...’ He glanced down at the twisted fingers clutching the rag.

  ‘It isn’t,’ Blade said. ‘Now tell us where we can find this sister of yours.’

  Instead of giving them directions, the lad went in search of his employer and came back without his apron, saying he would take them to his dwelling. ‘It’s a bit rough,’ he explained. ‘They doesn’t like strangers. They especially doesn’t like soldiers.’

  ‘I am no longer a soldier,’ Blade said stiffly, clearly not happy his calling had been instantly recognised.

  ‘Ah, but they wouldn’t ask, like, would they?’ The lad flashed a grin and led them out of the inn and into the part of town where Caro had found Linette the day before. Once again the panic in her chest, the tightness, the difficulty breathing. Would the girl have gone back to the abbess and taken Tommy with her if she was lost? Or was there some far more sinister reason she had taken Tommy? He must be terrified by now. He was a brave little man, but he would not understand what was happening. Would be asking for his mama. Wondering why she did not come to fetch him.

  Guilt swamped her. If she had not let her wanton desires run rampant, this would never have happened. Heaven help her, if they found him she would never neglect her duty again. She promised. Please.

  They stopped at a small tenement near the edge of the town. ‘Wait here,’ the tap boy, Bert, said. He went inside and they heard the clatter of his boots climbing the stairs.

  Caro looked at Blade, who was looking very stern and very fierce. ‘Let me talk to the girl.’ She didn’t want her frightened into silence.

  He nodded tersely. ‘Caro, I am sorry this happened.’ He grimaced. ‘I feel as if this is my fault. I should have been on duty—’

  ‘I am equally to blame. I put her in charge of my son, when I knew nothing about her.’

  They both subsided into silence. No doubt he had as many regrets as she did, and yet, no matter what happened, she would always treasure the memory of their time together. Wicked as it was, she knew she would. Because inside she really was the shameless hussy her father had named her.

  Bert returned in a clatter of boots followed by the girl from whom they had bought lavender a few days before.

  She looked worried and dipped a little curtsy. ‘Bert says you are wishin’ to see me, ma’am...sir.’

  ‘You remember us?’ Caro asked.

  The smile the girl directed at Blade lit up her face and made her almost pretty despite her wind-chapped cheeks and a missing front tooth. ‘I do. Most generous the gentleman was.’

  ‘Do you recall the little boy with us?’ Caro asked, forcing herself to speak calmly.

  ‘Oh, yes. Sweet little chap. Bert says you’ve lost him. He was at the green today.’

  ‘You saw him?’ Caro’s head spun. Blade caught her by the elbow, held her steady.

  ‘Oh, yes. Happy as anything he was, getting to drive such a grand carriage.’ She looked at Blade. ‘Was it yours, sir?’

  ‘Drive a carriage?’ Caro said, astonished. ‘Are you sure it was Tommy?’

  ‘Well, as to that, ma’am, I don’t rightly know his name, but it was the lad who was with you when your man bought the lavender. Light hair. Blue eyes. Fair jumping up and down he was to get up on the box with the coachman.’ She frowned. ‘I wondered at the girl letting him get up there, but she didn’t seem to take no never mind about it, so—’ She shrugged.

  ‘The girl with him,’ Blade said quietly, clearly wanting to make sure he did not scare the young woman. ‘Did she go in the carriage also?’

  ‘Climbed right in, sir. A gentlemum opened t’door to her.’

  ‘Did you see the gentleman?’

  ‘No, sir. Just his arm when he opened the door.’ She frowned. ‘He had on a black coat and yellow gloves.’

  Just about every man in Yorkshire would fit that description.

  Caro looked at Blade. ‘What do we do now?’

  ‘I don’t suppose you recognised the carriage, did you?’ Blade asked.

  The girl gave him another winsome smile and Caro felt a squeezing pang behind her breastbone. Really? She was jealous? After her promise? She took a deep breath, quelling such a stupid sensation.

  ‘It looked like a hired carriage,’ the girl said.

  ‘Did it? What makes you say that?’

  ‘Has a sign on it. Words.’

  ‘What did it say?’ Caro asked.

  ‘I’m sorry, mum. I don’t know. But it was green. The Green Man rents out a coach what’s green.’

  ‘It do,’ Bert said.

  Blade looked thoughtful, then pulled out a shilling. ‘You’ve been very helpful, Miss...’

  ‘Daisy,’ the girl said, shaking her head. ‘I don’t want your money, sir. Not for helping a little lad find his way home.’

  ‘Then take it as an advanced payment for lavender sprigs. I’ll have one every time I see you,’ Blade said.

  ‘Go on with you, sir,’ the girl said, refusing the coin. ‘You pays when you sees me.’ The girl spun around and went back indoors.

  ‘Us Mullhollands are good people,’ the boy said proudly. ‘Pleased to help, sir.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Blade said with a bow.

  The boy tipped his hat and ran off.

  ‘I suppose now we go to the Green Man,’ Caro said.

  ‘We do,’ Blade replied, his tone grim.

  ‘Who do you think was in that carriage?’ Caro asked, racking her brains trying to understand what was going on.

  ‘A man by the name of Butterworth,’ Blade said.

  Caro’s mouth dropped open in astonishment.

  ‘Come on,’ Blade said. ‘I’ll explain as we go. We need to hurry.’

  Chapter Ten

  Blade was furious. At himself, but more importantly at the innkeeper, who had told him that Butterworth had left two days before, but had neglected to mention the hire of a carriage.

  While he fervently wished Caro safe at the Haven, he didn’t bother to suggest he take her home first. She wouldn’t have listened. To tell himself the truth, in her position
he would not have listened either. Who was this Butterworth character and why had he chosen to abduct Tommy? Did he plan to use the lad to bleed Tonbridge?

  ‘Do you think he’s seeking a ransom?’ Caro asked, so in tune with his own thoughts it struck him as eerie. And there was hope in her tone, which was strange to say the least.

  ‘If so, a note might have arrived after we left,’ he said. ‘We’ll have to go back and see, but I think we should at least find out what the innkeeper knows before we do.’

  She nodded her agreement.

  As they arrived at the Green Man, Ned came running up. ‘He left town on the box of a carriage rented from here,’ he gasped. ‘Tommy was trying to take a turn at the reins and nearly ran an old fellow down at the crossroads. Still blaspheming he was, when I found him sitting on his—’ He turned bright red. ‘Sorry, Mrs Falkner.’ He bent over, winded. ‘When I didn’t find you back at the house, I thought to come here and see if the landlord knew where he was going.’

  ‘Good plan, Ned. Please remain here with Mrs Falkner while I see to matters inside.’

  ‘I’m coming with you,’ she said.

  ‘It would be better—’

  Her glare stopped him cold. ‘Very well, but please do not interfere. This time I am asking the questions.’

  He marched in. As luck would have it, the landlord was coming down the stairs into the dark panelled entrance hall. ‘Mr Read,’ the landlord said. While his lips smiled, his eyes darted about looking for escape.

  Blade let him get two steps towards the kitchen, then trapped him against the wall. ‘Tell me again about how Butterworth left two days ago and never said where he was going.’

  ‘Mr Read, how dare you, sir?’ the greasy fellow protested, his foul breath making Blade want to gag.

  Blade lifted his left hand and placed the point of his hook very close to the landlord’s eye. ‘I dare because I am stronger than you and better armed. Not to mention that Butterworth has abducted a child and when he is caught, and he will be, you will be an accessory.’

  The man shrivelled like a punctured pig’s bladder. He swallowed noisily. ‘He never said nothing about no abduction. Him nor his doxy.’