When the ‘watch’ had disappeared again, Jonathan returned to his careful study of each of the smugglers. There was a man in a jacket and heavy fisherman’s jumper who he couldn’t identify because of a large flat cap but other than that knew now that Harry, Mr Peat (Kat’s neighbour), Mr Smithers, Charlie and Norman were all involved. There were some others who he couldn’t get a good enough look at to identify but was fairly certain that he could find them in the tavern. Although there were a couple of women on the beach, he was greatly relieved that neither of them was Kat.
Had she been telling him the truth when she had said she knew nothing about the smugglers in the area? He wasn’t sure. He wanted to believe her but given that she worked in the village tavern it was highly unlikely that she hadn’t heard any rumours at least. The tavern was a hot bed of gossip in any village and Bentney on Sea was no exception. Still, at least she wasn’t down on the beach to drag illegal goods off the sand. The knowledge that she was not guilty made his job of putting a stop the smuggler’s activities considerably easier.
He couldn’t see any gang masters, and considered the possibility that this was just a village operation. Although he couldn’t condone any kind of smuggling: it was what he had joined the Star Elite to fight after all, he was at least sympathetic to the villagers’ desire to make more money that would ease their way through life. He had seen enough to be confident that there were no spies being brought into the country, but he couldn’t help but wonder how long that would last. This was a route into England, and it wouldn’t be long before the French took advantage of it if Jonathan didn’t shut the door and quickly.
He puffed out his cheeks he waited until the patrol passed again and eased backward. He ambled around the cliff top and kept to the shadows as he moved to stand a little way down the cliff path, deep in the shadows to watch the procession go through the village. Up at the top of the cliff he heard the soft snort of one of the horses and suspected that they were headed to the huge barn that sat in the middle of nowhere. He made a mental note to investigate it further tomorrow.
He watched Harry disappear through the rear door of the tavern with his first load of cargo before he headed back down to the beach for another load of barrels and boxes. In total silence, he stood for over an hour and watched various villagers return the goods to their houses and various hiding places around the village until eventually, all activity ceased. He was about to head up the cliff path when the flurry of movement to one side captured his attention. With a mental curse he drew the hood of his cloak to cover his face and pressed himself against the cliff wall. He had to climb awkwardly, backward and up, until he was off the path and plastered himself against the cliff wall as he watched eight men carry two bodies silently past. They had to watch their step on the narrow path, and try not to slip while they carried the unfortunate sailors who hadn’t made it through the swell. Out at sea, the solitary light was extinguished. Jonathan knew that the ship had turned around and was now headed back out to sea.
He had no idea how many more bodies had been washed ashore. Each boat had four crewmen inside. Two of crew the crewmen had just gone by. Were the men going to head back down to the beach to fetch the other two, or were they now lost as sea? Until he knew for certain, he couldn’t move and had to wait and see.
He watched one of the smugglers hurry toward the hill with a bolt of cloth in their hands. The flat cap rendered them impossible to identify. He cursed and watched them disappear into the alley that ran along the back of Kat’s house. The lights to her home were all out. Everyone was in bed. He was glad that she wasn’t involved, and could now set about drawing an end to the smuggling operation in the village without any risk to her freedom.
He stood perfectly still and watched the men pass by on their way back down to the beach. He had no idea where they had just put the bodies, and glanced up at the path that led to the top of the cliff. They hadn’t gone far, so the bodies must have been left somewhere for burial later. Did they intend to bury them in the churchyard, or one of the field’s nearby? He had a duty to investigate, and took advantage of the path being empty to begin his search for bodies and cargo.
If he had glanced back at the small alleyway that led from Kat’s house, he would have seen a strong gust of wind blow the hat clean off one smuggler’s head as they came out of the sheltered protection of the houses, and the long mane of the woman he loved fly in wild abandon in the stiff sea breeze.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The following morning Kat stared up at the ceiling and considered the events of last night. They now had a fresh bolt of cloth and several boxes of tea, sugar and two kegs of finest French brandy. But there were also two bodies that who now required burial.
They weren’t the first men to die while they tried to bring the cargo ashore. It was another reason why Kat and her family had to quit smuggling. It was too dangerous and, with the winter on the way, and Billy desperate to join in the fray, it was impossible to continue.
Kat was weary beyond belief; weary with the need to lie, all of the subterfuge and nights without sleep. She was definitely not made for a life of crime and couldn’t wait for the day when she could become a normal citizen again.
Unfortunately, she also knew that most of the villagers would never quit. Not until the war with the French was won, or lost, and the boats stopped delivering the goods. She wasn’t sure if it was the challenge the villagers liked rather than the money it earned them but still, she was vastly relieved that the decision had been made now that she and her family would take no further part.
She had yet to tell Harry of course, and knew that he would at first object, but she was determined that her part in the operation was now at an end. She had kept their payments up to date and they had earned enough over the past few years to ensure that they could purchase their own small-holding. It was enough for Kat. She would look forward to the day when she could help her mother establish their little farm, and could spend the rest of her days growing fruit and vegetables while doing nothing more than helping out at market.
The thought of not seeing Jonathan again filled her with dread, but she knew that to remain would only bring her more pain. At some point, the true nature of his responsibilities would become apparent and, if it wasn’t a wife, then at some point Jonathan would take a wife; someone who was far beyond what Kat could ever be. She couldn’t be around to watch. It would leave her too heartbroken. Although she refused to call it love, she held a deep affection for Jonathan that was deeper than she knew was wise. She was very aware that she wouldn’t entirely settle to a normal life again until she was far away from him.
Later that morning, she made her way down to the harbour side to the Shipwright Inn with renewed purpose. The tavern should be open by now and she needed to speak to Harry. She nodded to several sailors who sat on the harbour wall, mending their nets but she made no attempt to stop to chat. The need to tell Harry of their decision to leave the smuggling operation was so strong that little would be able to stop her from imparting the news.
She paused just inside the doorway to give her eyes time to adjust to the gloom within the main tap room. Apart from Mr Butler, who sat in his usual seat beside the empty fireplace, the tavern was empty.
“Harry? Where is everyone?” Harry stared at her as though he wanted to speak but didn’t utter a word. Cold dread settled over her and she read in his eyes that something was terribly wrong.
“Good morning, Kat. What brings you here?” Kat turned toward the all too familiar face of Harrison, and felt dread settle in her stomach. She thought of the bolt of cloth that propped up the wall in her sitting room, and the two kegs of brandy she hadn’t bothered to hide last night and felt sick.
“I am looking for Billy,” Kat replied weakly, and studied Harry carefully. “Do you need me to work tonight?” She tried to keep her voice conversational but just couldn’t do it. It came out as a monotone mumble instead that made her mentally wince.
“Yes,
please Kat, and no, I haven’t seen Billy.” It was the calmness in Harry’s face that eased her fears and Kat nodded. She glanced at Harrison as dispassionately as she could manage and turned away. “If you see him can you send him home please? We have to pick up some more vegetables from the supplier but I cannot find him anywhere.”
“Will do,”
Kat hurried out of the door, a fierce scowl on her face. She tried not to run up the hill toward home and muttered ‘Excise’ to anyone and everyone she passed. As she walked toward home she was aware of the flurry of movement in her wake was people hurried to pass the word on. By the time she broke through her kitchen door, her breath came in short pants. She glared at her mother who was in the process of starting to separate the cargo.
“Hide it,” Kat ordered as she tried to quell her panic. “Quickly.”
“What?”
“Excise,” Kat snapped. She grabbed the bolt of cloth and battled tears as she glanced around the sitting room. “Where is Billy?”
“He has gone for another riding lesson with Jonathan,” Agnes stammered and stared at Kat nonplussed.
“What?”
“I said it was alright for him to go.”
Kat stared at the bolt of cloth for a moment and frantically tried to think. Billy was the only one who could clamber up the narrow space in the chimney, but Kat was taller. With the grace of God, she may just be able to get into the cramped space and store the bolts out of the way.
She threw her mother a dour look, took a deep breath and shoved her head up the chimney. It was dark and a horribly small space. She had no idea how Billy did it, but she wriggled her way upward until she was wedged as far as she could go. She had to stand on her tip-toes, and could just about reach the narrow space they used as a storage space. Unfortunately, because she was wider than Billy, it was impossible to haul up the bolt of cloth as well so she had to wriggle back down again, reach for the roll and then shove it up the chimney before her. It took far more time than they had spare, and was a very dirty task but, eventually, she managed to secure both rolls in the cramped confines and wedge them in with two stones they kept beside the fireplace.
Once she was back in the sitting room, she hurriedly helped her mother stash the rest of the goods in the usual places and was just about to run upstairs to change when loud thumps on the door heralded the arrival of Harrison and his men. She exchanged a horrified glance with her mother.
“What do we do?” Agnes demanded, and wrung her hands indecisively.
“Answer the door,” Kat snapped. She dropped to her knees before the fire and quickly threw soot around her before she began to scrape out the still hot embers, and tried not to burn her fingers. It was the only thing she could think of.
She made no attempt to get up or move when Harrison stalked arrogantly into the house. She wiped a tickle of soot off her cheek with the back of her hand and continued to empty the grate.
“Heavens, Kat, anyone would think you are training to be a chimney sweep.”
Kat merely threw him a dirty look and continued to scrape the grate out. She dropped the ash into the bucket beside her and eyed the soot cloud that billowed out. It covered everything, including Harrison, with a thin film of muck.
Although she continued to scrape out the fireplace, she was acutely aware that the Excise men had begun to rummage their way through the house, and fervently prayed that they wouldn’t find the goods she had hastily stashed. They hadn’t had the time to use the usual places they hid the cargo and, because of Harrison’s impromptu visit to the market the other day, still had packages of goods stashed in there anyway. Their situation was about as precarious as it had ever been before and she didn’t know what to do about it.
She made no attempt to control the ash cloud as she threw the bucket of soot over the manure pile, and turned away with a small sense of satisfaction when the Excise men began to cough. It wasn’t enough to put them off their duties though and she returned to the fireplace to scrub while they finished their search. At least if they were caught and carted off to jail, the fire place was going to be clean, she thought morosely. She refused to look at her mother who stood uselessly beside the door. She was just like Billy when the Excise men arrived. Although she didn’t cry when they had gone, she was still barely able to function. Thankfully Kat took after her father, and was able to at least attempt to continue with some semblance of normality. She wanted to scold her mother to act naturally and would have done if one of the Excise men hadn’t appeared in the doorway. She glanced dismissively at him instead and turned back to cleaning the grate.
It took far longer than it usually did. While she cleaned and re-set the fire she couldn’t help but wonder why the Excise men had chosen to go from the pub straight to Kat’s house. It was as though they had been given specific information on who was involved in the smuggling last night. She hated to think that someone she knew, and trusted, had betrayed her but that was looked increasingly likely.
Her thoughts immediately turned to Jonathan and she scowled at her mother.
“Why did you let Billy have another riding lesson? You know it will do no good and only fill his head with nonsense. We cannot afford a riding horse, you know that.” She couldn’t keep the censure out of her voice and watched her mother snap her attention back to Kat’s chastisement.
“I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I know we cannot afford a horse but you never know if he will have the opportunity to ride when he is an adult. It is another skill that he may need in life.”
“It won’t do much good if he is a fisherman.” She ignored the Excise man’s snicker and continued to stare pointedly at her mother. “It would help if you didn’t encourage him.”
“It won’t hurt,” Agnes replied dismissively and began to sweep at the soot on the floor. “There is no harm in it so you leave the boy be. At least it gets him out of the house for a while and away from all of the fruit and vegetables.”
Eventually the Excise men left empty handed again. This time Harrison didn’t speak and appeared almost angry as he slammed out of the front door. Agnes slid the bolts home on both the front and back doors and turned toward her daughter. They both turned at the low rumble that came from the chimney and watched as one of the stones Kat had used suddenly landed with a heavy plop into the grate.
The rumble of soot was the only warning they had before one of the bolts of cloth followed it down and scattered a fine layer of dust over the sitting room and its occupants.
“Tell me about the smuggling, Billy,” Jonathan urged. He walked alongside Billy and looked up at the young boy’s face. The carefree joy he had seen on his narrow features moments earlier had been swiftly replace with a wary blandness that warned Jonathan that getting information out of him was not going to be easy.
“What smuggling?”
“Come on now, you and I both know that it is going on.” Jonathan fought to keep the impatience out of his voice. “Tell me who is involved and you can have Percy.”
Billy’s eyes bugged at that and he stared at him with a mixture of hope and horror on his young face. “I can’t keep Percy,” he whispered dejectedly several moments later. “We can’t afford to look after him.”
“He can stay here and you can come and visit but you get exclusive use of him if you tell me what I need to know.”
“Why do you need to know, I mean you are not going to be here very long,” Billy sighed.
“Now who told you that?”
“Everyone in the village says so. You hardly stay around for more than a few weeks at a time and then are gone for months. Everyone says you are unreliable and have no interest in the village.” Billy watched anger appear on Jonathan’s face for a moment and wondered if the man was going to order him to get off and go home.
Instead Jonathan sighed, and wondered if Kat thought the same and that was why she seemed determined to keep her distance from him.
“Does Kat think the same?”
“I don’t k
now,” Billy replied vaguely. Jonathan knew that the boy did know but was trying to protect his sister.
“I like Kat, Billy, a lot. You need to know that. I would like her to spend a bit more time here but to do that I need your help.”
“Why would you want her to stay here? Do you want her as a servant?”
Jonathan smothered a laugh that was tinged with horror. The divide between the families was larger than he had thought and he briefly wondered if it was insurmountable and he had spent the most of his life wishing for something that could never happen. “No. I most definitely do not want your sister as a servant.”
Several moments of stilted silence settled between them until Jonathan decided that a change of subject was needed.
“Have you seen anything of Brian Meldrew lately? He hasn’t started to pester Kat again, has he?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen much of him since Mr Barnaby died.”
“Brian worked on Mr Barnaby’s boat?”
“Yes, he was there when Mr Barnaby fell on his fishing knife.”
“What is Brian doing for a job now?”
“He is still taking Mr Barnaby’s boat out with the rest of the crew.”
Jonathan’s brows rose at that and he turned to stare at the boy. A glint of suspicion lurked in his eyes and he studied the ground beneath his feet thoughtfully.
“All of the crew are going out with Brian?”
“Not all of them. Most of them transferred onto other boats a couple of days later. I think a couple of them have gone to work on boats further around the coast, but at least two of the original crew have taken over the boat.”
“They paid Mrs Barnaby for it?”
“I don’t know,” Billy sighed. He liked Brian. Whenever Brian spoke to him he always offered him an apple and was like the big brother Billy had always wanted.
My Lord Deceived Page 17