Will lifted my hand to his lips. When my tears continued to fall, he put his arms around me and pulled me against him. I cried into his coat for a few minutes, until he released me and gave me his pocket-handkerchief. Mopping up my tears, I sniffed and found my hands were shaking.
‘But she wasn’t laughing at you, was she?’ Will asked gently.
‘Oh no. We’ve talked since I returned. I don’t know how I could have blamed her. She was only thirteen. What did she know of the world? He persuaded her into that room and then threatened her. She had to do what he said and not tell, or it would be the worse for me. Poor Mary! She was trying to help me. And instead she ruined both of us.’
‘Good God,’ said Will. ‘I’ve been about the world and heard and seen a great deal. But that is villainy indeed. And from a man I’ve been working for! My poor Isabelle.’ He paused, looking at me. ‘You consider yourself ruined, do you?’
‘A whole winter alone aboard a ship full of smugglers?’ I gave a watery laugh. ‘Yes. In the eyes of the world, I’m utterly ruined. I don’t care, though,’ I shrugged. ‘I had the time of my life. And I’m no longer married.’
‘That I did hear,’ said Will, his voice more cheerful. His eyes gleamed in the moonlight. ‘So what do you do with yourself instead?’
‘Oh, I lead the most ordinary of lives,’ I said with a slight sigh. ‘It’s all terribly respectable, of course, though less elegant and sophisticated than formerly. I sew and I darn; I’m learning to bake. I take long walks every afternoon. And I read to improve my mind.’
Will regarded me gravely for a moment. ‘Are you teasing me?’ he asked.
‘No, I’m quite serious.’
‘How do you stand it?’
‘I confess I have to make a considerable effort. It is good to be with my family, of course. But even that can be too much of a good thing some days.’
‘And do you have any suitors in this thrilling new life?’
‘You jest! I told you, I’m disgraced. No decent man would have me!’
Will caught his breath as though he were going to speak. He got up and paced the garden again. Then he came and stood in front of me.
‘Isabelle, I took a solemn vow with myself not to say this to you,’ he said. I held my breath, wondering what was coming next. It wasn’t at all what I expected: ‘How would you feel about a spell of privateering?’
‘Privateering?’ I repeated blankly.
Will nodded, sat back down beside me and grasped both my hands in his. There was mischief in his eyes now. ‘The crew all got off the charges,’ he said. ‘As we hoped they would. We’ve got the money we all saved up the last two winters doing extra runs and being thrifty and we’ve bought our own ship. The skipper has called in some favours and got a licence to sail as a privateer for several months. We leave Weymouth in a few days.’
I felt excitement rush through me, making my fingers and toes tingle with anticipation. ‘But aren’t privateers … ?’
‘Pirates? Yes. They are pirates with a government licence. It’ll be dangerous. But the possible rewards are good.’
I didn’t care about profits. I cared about going to sea once more, about excitement and being with my friends. And above all being with Will. ‘Just give me five minutes,’ I said to Will.
He laughed, but caught my wrist as I got up to run towards the house. ‘Are you sure about this?’ he asked. ‘I didn’t think I ought to ask you. I have no right to disrupt your life like this.’
‘What life?’ I asked mischievously. ‘Will, I’m absolutely certain,’ I said.
He shook his head with a rueful smile. ‘You mad girl,’ he said. ‘I’ve missed you so much. Would you really trust me?’
I smiled down at him. ‘It turns out I was betrothed to a murderer, married to a smuggling ringleader and spent the winter aboard a smuggling vessel. So really, it seems quite fitting for me to run away with a pirate next.’
Will laughed and pressed a package into my hand. ‘I owe you this,’ he said. ‘It was my excuse to come and see you one last time. Don’t forget to leave your parents a note.’
Some ten minutes later I was in the garden once more, dressed in a simple gown, as I no longer owned any boys’ clothes; a small bag packed with a few essential items. On the kitchen table, I’d left a note and the package of money for my family. I’d counted the notes. There were two hundred pounds in it. Unable to believe my eyes, I’d taken twenty and left the rest to make them more comfortable.
Will was sitting on the garden wall, swinging his legs and waiting for me. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of him.
‘Ready for another adventure?’ he said as he pulled me up beside him. We both jumped down into the lane beyond the wall.
‘More than ready,’ I assured him. ‘If you hadn’t turned up soon, I’d been thinking I was going to have to run away to join a travelling fair or some such thing.’
Will laughed and pulled me close once more, his arm around my waist. My heart beat fast, but I wasn’t afraid. I looked up and met his eyes. Will stroked my cheek, looking down at me. ‘You have no idea what a relief it is to have told you everything. And to have heard your tale.’
‘I’m glad. Me too.’
‘I’m not sure I’m a man of honour, you know,’ said Will. ‘In fact I think I’m a dishonoured one, whether I did anything to deserve it or not. I’m on the run. I’ll probably be on the run all my life. I’ve broken all sorts of laws in my smuggling career. Are you sure you want to throw your lot in with mine?’
‘I was never more sure of anything,’ I told him, my words heartfelt. I felt a rush of love for him as he stood close to me in the darkness of the lane. Will caught his breath as he stood looking down into my eyes. Then he slowly bent his head and touched his warm lips to mine.
I let go of my bag so that I could wrap my arms around him and kiss him back, tasting his sweet breath, losing myself in my smuggler’s kiss. Will tightened his arms around me, holding me close against his chest, and kissed me fiercely.
When we broke apart, I was breathless and happier than I ever remembered being in my life.
‘Then it’s a deal,’ Will said. It took me a moment to remember what we’d been talking about. I must have looked puzzled for a moment, because Will laughed joyfully and lifted me right off my feet in a bear hug.
‘Let’s go,’ he said, releasing me at last. ‘It’s a long walk from Gloucester to Dorset.’
‘Walk?’ I cried horrified. ‘You’re not serious?’
Will threw back his head and laughed again. ‘You’re still the easiest person in the world to tease, I see.’ He took my hand and started to walk. ‘No we won’t go all the way on foot. There’s a carrier’s cart going as far as Bristol with a load of lime. We can get a lift with them.’
‘My, you do know how to treat a lady, don’t you?’ I said with a grin. I didn’t really believe he was planning to travel all the way to Bristol in a manure cart. But then, with Will, I could never be quite sure about anything.
Marie-Louise Jensen (née Chalcraft) was born in Henley-on-Thames of an English father and a Danish mother. Her early years were plagued by teachers telling her to stop reading and stop writing stories and do long division instead. Marie-Louise studied Scandinavian and German with literature at the UEA and has lived in both Denmark and Germany. After teaching English at a German university for four years, Marie-Louise returned to England to care for her children full-time. She completed an MA in Writing for Young People at the Bath Spa University in 2005.
Her books have been shortlisted for many awards including the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and the Branford Boase Award.
Marie-Louise lives in Bath with her two sons.
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CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
About the Author
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Smuggler's Kiss Page 25