Arthur looked up as I did. ‘And the moon will come up when the sun goes down, just as it does here. And the rain will fall and water the crops. It’s the same as here. But bigger and emptier.’
‘Can we …’ I began. Suddenly a figure rose up out of the shadows in front of us and my words became a gasp of fear. Arthur gripped my arm.
‘What’s this?’ said a voice. The figure came closer and I could see it was Morgan’s right-hand man, my father’s old friend Petroc. His stocky shape was silhouetted against the moonlit sea. Arthur and I scrambled to our feet, still clutching each other’s hands. I wanted to kick myself for being so stupid. We’d assumed the men would be down on the beach, and hadn’t bothered keeping quiet or taking care to listen for footsteps. And now we were discovered and our plan was ruined.
‘What are you doing?’ Petroc hissed. I saw the flash of a blade in his hand and felt my legs go weak.
‘Emily and I came outside for a walk,’ said Arthur. His voice was shaky.
Petroc stepped closer. He was a head shorter than Arthur, but twice as wide and I had no doubt at all that he could hurt or even kill us both if he wanted. In his hand he held an unlit lantern. I feared he could cosh either one of us round the head and we’d be dead before we knew it.
‘I seen you watching Morgan,’ Petroc said. ‘You watching him, and me watching you.’
‘That’s not true,’ Arthur stammered.
Carefully, as though he was taking real pride in his actions, Petroc put the point of his knife into Arthur’s neck. Arthur squeaked and I felt helpless rage that these bad men were causing so much everywhere they went.
‘Why were you watching Morgan?’
‘We weren’t …’ Arthur began again. Petroc pushed his knife a bit harder and I saw a drop of dark red blood trickle down Arthur’s neck and on to his shirt.
‘Why were you watching Morgan?’ Petroc said again.
He made to push the knife once more and I gasped: ‘Stop!’
Petroc kept the knife at Arthur’s throat, but he turned to me, giving me a frightening smile that showed the gaps in his blackened teeth. ‘Oh, she speaks,’ he said. ‘So, Miss Emily. Why were you watching Morgan?’
But I could say no more. My throat clenched and though I opened my mouth, nothing happened. I tugged on Arthur’s sleeve. Surely he could see that this couldn’t be any worse. We may as well confess to Petroc; we were as good as dead anyway.
‘We want to prove he’s smuggling,’ Arthur said slowly. ‘We want to tell the revenue men when he is bringing contraband ashore and we want to see him hang.’
‘What do you care if he’s smuggling?’
‘He killed Emily’s father.’
Petroc looked from me to Arthur and back again. He nodded his head. ‘I was sorry about that. I liked Amos.’
I stared at him, unwilling to accept his apology, if that’s what it was.
‘You want to see him hang?’ Petroc said.
Arthur and I both nodded.
‘So do I,’ said Petroc. He took the knife from Arthur’s throat and tucked it in his belt. ‘The man’s a brute.’
Not totally understanding, I clung to Arthur, still staring at Petroc. ‘What?’ Arthur said. ‘What are you saying?’
Petroc sighed. ‘I’m in. I’ll help you.’
‘We don’t need help.’
Petroc smiled his ugly smile again. ‘I think you do,’ he said. ‘If Morgan finds you as I found you, he will kill you. I can help.’
‘Why would you do that?’
‘I can’t lie, I’ve made a good living from free trade over the years,’ Petroc said. It was like we were chatting over a drink in the inn, not trembling on a cliff edge. ‘But when Morgan got involved it was all different. The risks are too great. The rewards too few.’
Arthur looked at Petroc curiously. ‘And that’s all, is it?’
The older man met his stare for a second, then dropped his gaze to his feet. ‘I know what he’s been doing to your mam,’ he mumbled. ‘I can’t bear to see how he treats Janey.’
Petroc had been drinking in the inn since I was a little girl. He would often help Da with odd repairs to the roof or the stable doors and Mam would always reward him with a drink.
‘I’ve always been fond of your mam,’ he said. ‘She’s a good woman, is Janey Moon.’
Arthur nodded. ‘She is.’
‘It ain’t right.’
‘It’s not.’
Petroc sat down and arranged himself comfortably at the bottom of the rock. ‘Sorry about the knife,’ he said. ‘I knew you wouldn’t tell me ’less you were scared.’ He took the knife out of his belt and laid it on top of the lantern and another tin he’d been carrying. ‘So, what’s the plan?’
Arthur and I exchanged a look. Then we both sat down too.
‘We simply thought to watch from up here to see when Morgan’s contraband was landed. Then I would ride for the revenue men and they would catch him in the act,’ said Arthur shrugging.
My eyes fell on Petroc’s lantern and I felt a sudden rush of fear. ‘Tonight?’ I croaked. Would Morgan be smuggling his goods soon?
Petroc shook his head. ‘Twas supposed to be but the tide’s too high and the waves too rough. The boat will be dashed on the rocks’ he said. ‘I’ve come up to light the lantern. We’ve got red glass we put in when it’s not right. They see the red light and stay out at sea.’
Arthur stretched his leg out and tapped the tin with the toe of his boot. ‘What’s that?’
‘Ooh that’s good, is that,’ said Petroc. ‘Phosphorus.’
Arthur looked interested. I had no idea what he was talking about.
‘It glows in the moonlight.’ Petroc looked delighted. ‘Like a ghost.’
Now I understood. The strange ethereal light I’d seen wasn’t a spirit – it was Petroc’s paint.
‘I just paint the outline of a figure on the rocks,’ said Petroc proudly. ‘Keeps people away.’
‘This is clever,’ said Arthur. ‘Very clever.’
‘I heard that in Devon, they painted a horse and carriage,’ said Petroc, showing his gap-toothed grin again. ‘Whole thing. Wheels, doors, horse, all of it. Except the horse’s head. And then they sent it galloping through the town at midnight looking for all the world like a headless horse.’
‘Inspired,’ breathed Arthur.
‘Morgan won’t go for that fancy stuff, though,’ said Petroc. He seemed disappointed. ‘So I just slop it on the rocks, light the lantern, and go.’
‘Which rocks?’ Arthur asked. But I’d had enough of this chatter and wanted to know if Petroc really was going to help us. I tugged Arthur’s sleeve and he nodded, understanding.
‘Will you help us?’
‘I can keep him on the beach for longer,’ Petroc said. ‘Give you time to get the customs men down here.’
‘That’s good,’ said Arthur. ‘But what about you? You might be arrested too.’
Petroc shook his head. ‘I’ll take myself off in time, don’t you worry about me.’ Then he frowned. ‘But it’s not just Morgan you need to worry about you know?’
I felt another cold trickle of fear down my spine. What did he mean?
Petroc shrugged. ‘They’re all involved. Mr Trewin. Mr Kirrin …’
‘Even Kirrin?’ Arthur was shocked.
‘Oh he don’t get his hands dirty but he’s the one pulling the strings.’ Petroc leaned towards me and I tried not to flinch away from him when he was being so kind. ‘And if any of them get a hint that you were involved, they won’t be best pleased.’
Arthur and I both nodded. ‘What should we do?’ Arthur said.
‘Keep quiet, stay out of trouble, it’ll blow over,’ said Petroc. ‘Just be wary, that’s all.’
I was shaking so violently and my teeth chattering so loudly that I wasn’t sure if it was with fear or because of the cold night air.
‘Will they hurt us?’ I said slowly with a great deal of effort.
Petro
c shrugged. ‘Probably not. But it’s not a chance I’d want to take.’
Suddenly, he threw his hand out across my body and Arthur’s, warning us to be quiet.
‘What’s that?’ he said in a low voice. ‘I heard hooves.’
I strained my ears and there, through the darkness, a whinny echoed.
‘Someone’s coming,’ Arthur said.
We all got to our feet hurriedly. Petroc crept round the side of the rock and I followed, heart thumping. Up ahead, coming down the path I could see a dark figure and where the moon shone on his head I could see the bright streak of white in his hair.
‘It’s Morgan,’ Petroc hissed.
‘Was this you?’ Arthur sounded furious. ‘Did you know he was coming?’
But Petroc shook his head. He looked just as scared as we did.
‘Petroc, you fool. What’s going on?’ Morgan shouted. ‘Is someone here with you? I heard voices. Is it you, Emily Moon? Janey said she’d gone out.’
We all looked at each other in terror. He knew we were here. He would kill us. A tiny sob escaped my lips. And then I had an idea. I pulled my cloak off and pushed it into Petroc’s hands, gesturing over the cliff. To my huge relief, he and Arthur caught on immediately.
‘Scream,’ hissed Petroc. ‘Scream.’
For once, my throat didn’t betray me. I opened my mouth and let an ear-piercing shriek out. It split the night.
‘Go,’ said Petroc. ‘Go.’
Arthur grabbed my hand and pulled me and we both ran as fast as our legs would carry us along the cliff edge in the shadows and up on to the grass verge. Then we hunched down in among the trees and watched as Morgan appeared in the moonlight.
‘Petroc you’re a blithering idiot, what have you done?’
Petroc was gripping my cloak like a shield. ‘It was the Moon girl, sir,’ he said. His breathing was ragged. ‘I was just lighting the lantern and she came at me. She gave me such a turn. I thought it was a bloody spirit. Some unearthly beast come to torment me.’
Morgan snorted and Petroc carried on. ‘I just panicked. I lashed out and she slipped. I tried to stop her but all I got was her cloak.’ He peered over the edge of the cliff. ‘She’s gone. I’m sorry, sir. I’m sorry.’
There was a pause. I could see the gleam of Arthur’s eyes in the darkness and hear our uneven breaths.
Then Morgan gave a bark of laughter. ‘She went over, did she?’
‘We should help her,’ Petroc said. I was more than a little disturbed by how well he lied. Could we really trust him?
Morgan clapped the smaller man on the back, so hard the sound bounced round the clifftop. ‘It’s too late for that,’ he said. He was jovial. ‘Come, let’s finish up here and then have a drink.’
‘What about Janey?’
In the shadows, I stiffened at the mention of my mother. Arthur put a gentle hand on my arm, warning me to stay still and quiet.
‘She’s already had a drink. She won’t notice her foolish daughter’s gone until tomorrow,’ Morgan said, sounding very much like he was pleased about it. ‘It means we can bring in tomorrow’s shipment unheeded. Come, let’s get the lamp lit. You do the paint.’
Whistling, Morgan busied himself with the lamp while Petroc sloshed paint on to the rocks. Arthur and I stayed where we were, hunched down under the trees. I was still shivering and Arthur pulled me close and wrapped his own cloak around me to keep me warm.
Eventually, the red light shone out across the sea and Petroc put the lid back on the paint tin. Without glancing in our direction – he was worryingly good at this – he nodded to Morgan. ‘Shall we?’
Morgan picked up my cloak, which was still lying on the ground. ‘If we leave this here, someone on their way to market will come across it and eventually someone will realise the Moon girl took a tumble,’ he said. ‘Then we won’t need to tell Janey anything – the news will reach her in another way.’
He balled up the cloak and threw it and it snagged on one of the rocks, hanging there like soiled laundry.
‘Always finding someone else to do your dirty work,’ Petroc said with admiration. He picked up his tin of paint. ‘It’s your turn to buy the ale.’
‘It’s always my turn,’ Morgan complained without any real annoyance.
And joking with each other as they went, the men strolled away, towards the inn, leaving Arthur and me alone.
Chapter 35
Phoebe
2019
I lay in my bed, looking at the other side of the room, where Liv had slept until a few days earlier. It was raining again and the wind was strong. I assumed – though I was no expert – that meant it wasn’t safe for boats to head into the little cove. I’d check the light tonight again. It had been blue for the past few nights, shining out over the sea, so I’d been pretty sure there hadn’t been any smuggling going on, though I was knackered because I had been staying up late to watch in case the light changed.
There had been no sign of Ewan, or Jed and Mark. I was pleased, because I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to act normally around them now I knew that Ewan was a fake name and Jed was in the sights of Devon and Cornwall police. At least this way I didn’t have to pretend.
‘Phoebe?’ Liv was calling. With a fair amount of effort, I got myself up off the bed and plodded to the top of the stairs. She was frowning up at me. ‘Have you just got up?’
‘I was tired.’
She rubbed her forehead, looking worried. ‘I need to go out. I was wondering if you could mind the bar for me? But if you’re not up to it …’
‘Where are you going?’
‘To speak some local breweries about getting some craft ales put on.’ She frowned again. ‘Is that okay?’ There was a sarcastic edge to her voice.
‘It’s fine.’ My tone matched hers and I wondered how we’d got here after so many years of friendship. ‘I’ll be down in ten minutes, if you can wait?’
‘Thanks.’
I showered quickly and threw on some clothes, then headed downstairs to the bar. Liv was hovering by the door, looking professional with a folder and papers. ‘I’m hoping to get us some guest ales,’ she said. ‘We can promote them and hopefully they’ll make people want to come here.’
I didn’t really care about guest ales, but she seemed nervous and I did care about that, so I smiled. ‘I bet you can charm their socks off.’
‘I hope so.’
She gave me a small wave. ‘Open the door at eleven, or thereabouts. Any problems, just give me a call. I’ll be back by the end of lunchtime.’
She headed out of the door and I was left alone in the bar. I checked my watch – I still had almost an hour before I had to open up. I could watch some Homes Under the Hammer on iPlayer, I thought. Or, I could go and have a look in the cellar. I thought about it for thirty seconds, then casually sauntered to the door of the pub, and stuck my head out to check Liv’s car had gone. It had. The weather was looking clearer too. The wind had obviously blown the rain away and it was brightening up. Satisfied that Liv was out of the way, I locked the pub door again and headed for the cellar.
Quietly, I went down the steps and felt for the light switch. It was just as it had been the other day. Barrels of beer, boxes of wine and spirits. A pile of boxes of crisps. Nothing untoward. Nothing that would suggest anyone was planning to hide drugs, or firearms or illegal immigrants anywhere. I was almost disappointed.
I checked my watch again. I still had a while before opening time. So I started at one side of the cellar and began to search. I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, really. Just something that shouldn’t be there. I opened boxes, moved barrels and shifted bottles but found nothing. Until, I opened a box of cheese and onion Walkers and there, on top of the crisps, was a brown A4 envelope.
I took it out, thinking it was just a mistake. Perhaps Liv had put her post in there accidentally. But there was no name on the front and it was heavier and thicker than a letter would be. With slightly shaky hands, I very carefully pe
eled open the flap, making sure I didn’t tear the paper, then peered inside.
It was money. Cash. A stack of £20 notes and a few tenners. I pulled it out of the envelope and looked at it. Was it fake? I held one of the notes up to the light, but it seemed legit. Liv was hiding cash in a box of crisps and I could only think of one reason why – she was being paid for doing something dodgy. For letting Ewan use the tunnel and the cellar, presumably. Perhaps for helping him in other ways. I had no idea. But the cash and the text message I’d seen from Liv’s credit card company proved to me that my best friend was involved in this – whatever it was.
‘Bloody hell, Liv,’ I said out loud. ‘Bloody hell.’ I was scared for her and what she’d got tangled up in. I even felt guilty that I’d somehow allowed her to get into this mess without noticing. But mostly I was angry. Furious, in fact. What on earth was she thinking? She wasn’t stupid. Considering I’d been friends with her for most of my life, I suddenly felt like I didn’t really know her at all. This wasn’t just her life she was messing with; her actions were putting my whole career in peril. How could she? How dare she?
Seething, I pulled my phone out and took a photograph of the money, and the envelope. Then I carefully put the cash back and sealed the flap again, hoping no one would see it had been opened. I laid it on top of the crisps, took another photograph, then shut the box. I wanted to make sure I had evidence, if I needed it.
Still angry, I went upstairs and sat on the window seat in my bedroom, staring out over the sea. My mind was racing and I wanted to scream. How had things got so bad for Liv that she’d get mixed up with a bunch of criminals? Maybe she didn’t have a choice, a voice in my head warned. Maybe they’d threatened her and she had no choice. But why didn’t she tell me? I wondered. Why didn’t she come to me, her oldest and best friend, and ask for help? I could have sorted it. I was sure of that. Why didn’t she trust me to help her? Clearly we didn’t have the friendship I thought we’d had.
Slowly, and sadly, I reached up and unclasped my moon necklace, letting it drop into my hand. That was that, then. Twenty-five years of friendship done and dusted. With a sudden rush of fury, I kicked out with my leg, slamming my trainer into the end of the window seat. Everything had fallen apart, and I didn’t know what to do about it.
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