Scarborough Fair (Scarborough Fair series Book 1)

by Margarita Morris

  ~~~

  “Of all the crazy things to go and do,” said Mary for the umpteenth time. “He could have killed you!”

  George smiled weakly at her and didn’t try to argue. There was no denying she was right and only good luck had enabled him to escape with nothing more than a flesh wound.

  “Keep still,” said Ellie as George winced in pain. She was tending to his injury with water and vinegar. The bullet had sliced through the skin of his upper arm, tearing at the flesh, but had missed the bone and, thankfully, was not lodged in the muscle. She bound his arm tightly with a long strip of muslin cloth and put it in a sling.

  According to Walter, he’d missed Henry by miles. In a way George was relieved. He’d shown courage in agreeing to participate in the duel but at least he wouldn’t have a man’s death on his conscience for the rest of his life. But Henry’s shot hadn’t been as assured as it might have been which was why the bullet had merely wounded him and not killed him outright. It seemed that for once, fortune had been on his side. As far as George was concerned, the matter of the duel was over and they could let Alice decide who she preferred to marry. All that mattered now was rescuing her from the asylum, and Mary had been formulating a plan to that purpose.

  “The front door is kept locked and there are bars on the downstairs windows,” said Mary.

  “It sounds more like a prison,” said George.

  “Exactly,” said Mary. “But the patients take a walk around the garden every morning between ten and eleven.”

  “Aren’t they closely supervised?” asked Walter.

  Mary smiled at him. She had forgiven him for his part in taking George to the duel. “Yes, but here’s my plan.” Everyone looked at her in anticipation. “Ellie will dress like one of the nurses and join the patients in their daily walk. Alice can pretend to stumble and Ellie can lead her away. We’ll be waiting nearby with the horse and cart. We only need a moment to separate her from the group.”

  “It sounds highly risky to me,” said Walter.

  “Not as risky as taking part in a duel,” replied Mary.

  There was no argument to that, so everyone agreed they would go to the asylum tomorrow morning and take their chance.

  ~~~

  At the sight of Max and his two cronies, the dog went into a frenzy of barking, at the same time cowering beside Dan’s leg. Dan wasn’t sure which of them was more afraid of the men, him or the dog.

  Max took one look at Dan and sauntered over. “It’s busier than Scarborough Fair here today,” he said, blowing smoke from the side of his mouth. The men laughed at their boss’s joke, although it wasn’t a very good one, thought Dan. They must be real pricks to work for this jerk.

  “This is a demolition site,” said Max. “Didn’t you see the signs? I’d run along now if I were you.”

  Dan ignored him. Like he had with the dog, Dan was determined not to show any fear. “Where’s Rose?” he asked. “What have you done with her?”

  “Rose?” Max tapped his chin with his forefinger. “Now, would she be the dark-haired one or the blond one?”

  Dan looked from Max to the two men but their faces were giving nothing away. Dan didn’t know what Max was talking about. What did he mean, the dark-haired one or the blond one? Who else was here?

  “How’s Ryan?” Max tossed his cigarette aside and ground it into the dust with his steel-capped boot. “Recovered from his little bump has he?” His eyes never left Dan’s face and his lips curled at the corners as if he knew this question would unsettle Dan. “Guess he won’t be running a marathon any time soon. Very unfortunate, that accident of his.”

  Dan saw red. He dropped his bike onto the ground and approached the big man. “Well he’s alive,” said Dan, “but no thanks to you. He could have got himself killed carrying out your dirty business.”

  The two Geordies moved towards Dan, one on either side of him, but Max held up a hand to hold them off. “And what dirty business would that be?” he asked innocently.

  “You know perfectly well what I mean,” said Dan through gritted teeth.

  “Do I?”

  “The drugs business.” The words tasted foul in his mouth. “Why else did Dad have a box of cocaine in his car?”

  Max was completely unruffled by Dan’s allegations. “You won’t find a single drug on me,” he said. “I’m completely clean.”

  “That’s because you get other people to do your dirty work for you!”

  Max shrugged and reached into his jacket pocket for his packet of cigarettes. “You can’t prove anything.”

  Dan knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere standing here accusing these thugs of drug smuggling. They’d kill him in an instant if they thought he knew anything. Right now the important thing was to find Rose.

  “Where’s Rose?” he asked again. “Tell me where she is.”

  Max turned his back on him and started walking towards the car. Before Dan knew what was happening the two Geordies had grabbed hold of his arms and were marching him towards the Jaguar.

  “Get your hands off me!” Dan struggled to free himself but the men were too strong for him. One of them punched him in the back causing him to double over in pain. The dog was barking its head off but was helpless to do anything and seemed reluctant to approach the men. Max opened the boot of the car and the men pushed Dan inside. He tried to kick out at them, but they slammed the boot down and Dan was plunged into blackness.

  A moment later the engine started and Dan felt the car bumping over the rough ground. He had no idea where they were taking him. But worse than that, he had failed Rose. She was still there, he was sure of it. And now there was nothing he could do to help her.

  ~~~

  Rose wanted to cry. She had caught most of the exchange between Dan and Max, when Lucky wasn’t barking, and from the sounds of a struggle at the end she could guess that the men had bundled Dan into the boot of the car and driven off with him. All this time she’d been wishing Dan would hurry up and get there, but now she wished he could have arrived just five minutes later, after the men had gone. He was in danger now and it was all her fault for texting him in the first place. And she and Zoe were no nearer getting free.

  How much longer would it be before her mother wondered where she was and called the police? Maybe she already had, but Andrea would have no idea where she was and wouldn’t be able to tell the police anything useful. The police could enquire at the charity shop and no doubt the nice old lady who worked there would confirm that she had dropped off some sheets, but after that there would be no trace of her. Rose could see the headlines already. Girl Goes Missing. Like Alice. But Alice hadn’t been tied up without access to food and water.

  “Was that your friend who was going to rescue us?” asked Zoe.

  “Yes,” said Rose. “And now they’ve got him.”

  “So what now?”

  ~~~

  “Let’s just run through this one more time,” said Mary. Her previous plan to get Alice away from Scarborough had failed miserably and she didn’t want the same thing to happen again.

  “Walter,” she said, “you’re going to stay with the horse and cart so we can make a quick escape.”

  Walter nodded, patting the pony on her flank. “Don’t worry, we’ll be there waiting for you.”

  Mary turned to Ellie who was dressed as a nurse. On her previous visit Mary had observed the dark grey dresses, white aprons and white caps worn by Nurse Cooper and her colleagues and had managed to improvise an outfit for Ellie that, at first glance, was close enough to that worn by the nurses of the asylum. “Your job will be to get Alice away from the other nurses. The patients will come outside for their walk in a few minutes. Are you confident you know what Alice looks like?”

  “Absolutely,” said Ellie. “I studied her photograph all last night. I’d recognise her anywhere.”

  “Good,” said Mary. “And remember to show her the brooch so that she knows I sent you.”

  “I’ve got it here,”
said Ellie, taking Mary’s Whitby jet brooch out of her pocket.

  “Splendid.” Mary turned to George. “For now you’re Alice’s brother. If we can’t extract Alice from the garden then we’ll have to go inside and you’ll have to distract Doctor Collins whilst Ellie and I track her down. Dr Collins won’t be able to refuse entry to a close family member like a brother, but if he finds out you’re the man Alice was planning to run away with, then he’ll have you evicted from the premises.”

  George nodded. His arm was still bound and in a sling.

  “All right,” said Mary. “Let’s do this.”

  They climbed into the cart, Mary sitting up front with Walter, George and Ellie in the back.

  Walter squeezed Mary’s hand. “Everything will work out fine in the end,” he said. Mary wished she shared his optimism, but her heart was all aflutter and she’d barely slept a wink last night for worrying about the plan. She gave him a weak smile back.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  She nodded. Walter cracked the whip and Daisy set off at a steady trot.

  ~~~

  Lucky barked as the car drove off in a cloud of dust. He was glad it was gone. He didn’t like the men, especially not the one who had whipped him. He sat down on the ground and licked his side. It hurt. The boy had been nice though. He hoped the boy would come back. He stood up and sniffed the handlebars of the bicycle. They smelt of the boy. He would remember that smell and know the boy for a friend if he saw him again.

  He looked towards the house. The girls were in the house. Should he go back inside? He wanted to. But the girl he loved best had told him to go. Then he remembered something. He’d been digging in the garden earlier when the other girl had turned up. He’d been sure he was going to find something. If he found what he was looking for and took it inside then maybe the girl he loved best wouldn’t tell him to go away again.

  He returned to the hole he had begun and carried on digging. The soil was dry and powdery and flew into the air, sending a colony of ants running in all directions. But there was a smell here, a smell of something that didn’t belong in the earth.

  His paws scratched against something hard. He stuck his nose into the earth and sniffed. Then he dug some more, and yes, there was definitely something here. He put his mouth into the hole and pulled out a black stone. The stone was attached to another black stone, and then another one. There was a whole row of black stones. It seemed special. He didn’t know what it was but he hoped the girl would like it.

  He trotted back to the house, the stones dangling from his mouth.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Dan rolled over in the boot of the car and a sharp pain shot through his right shoulder. The guy with the tattoo had wrenched his arm behind his back before shoving him into the car. Dan thought he might have torn a ligament. The last time he’d had a pain like that was when he’d suffered a rugby injury which had put him off rugby for life.

  It was pitch black in the boot, cramped and unbearably hot. He lay with his legs bent, the top of the boot only inches from his face. With his good arm Dan tried to reach into his back pocket for his phone but it wasn’t there. Those bastards must have nicked it. Now he was done for. He used his fingers to feel around in the darkness but couldn’t find any way of opening the boot from the inside. In the end he lay on his back and tried to work out where they might be going.

  He thought they had turned left out of the lane and he now had the sense that they were going downhill, so they must be heading towards the centre of town. But most of the time the car seemed to be barely moving and Dan guessed they had hit the traffic jam that he’d been stuck in earlier on the way back from the hospital. If only he could open the damn boot, he’d have a chance of jumping out and making a run for it. He tried once more to find a catch that would open the boot but found nothing. For now he had no choice but to lie still and try to stay calm. What was bothering him most right at that moment was that he was so thirsty. The cycle ride, the struggle and now being shut in a hot, confined space had left him drained. He was getting a throbbing headache. If he didn’t get something to drink soon he’d pass out, and then he’d have no chance of escaping the clutches of these thugs.

  The car lurched forward a few more feet and then braked again. At this rate it would take them forever to get where they were going.

  ~~~

  It was hot in the basement and Rose had started to drift off. She was terribly thirsty and guessed Zoe must be feeling the same. If they didn’t get out of here soon they’d end up in hospital suffering from dehydration, or worse. Rose tried not to think about what would happen to them if they couldn’t get out. When was the building due to be demolished? She couldn’t remember. But surely the builders would check the place over before sending in the wrecking ball? But what if the builders didn’t come for weeks or months? They’d be dead by then. She felt like crying but didn’t want to risk losing fluid from her body so she forced herself to hold back the tears. She jerked her head up at the sound of Lucky’s paws clattering down the basement steps.

  “Lucky, good boy,” cried Zoe. Her voice sounded thick. “Come here.”

  The dog trotted over and stood in front of them, looking from one to the other. Now they were sitting on the floor, they were at the same height as him. He was probably wondering why neither of them gave him a pat.

  “What have you got there?” asked Zoe. Lucky dropped the object in front of his mistress and sat back, his pink tongue lolling from his mouth, clearly expecting some thanks for his gift.

  “What is it?” asked Rose.

  “It looks like a necklace,” said Zoe. “It’s quite a fancy one. Made out of black stones. He must have found it in the garden. He’s been digging there for days.”

  Rose leaned over to get a closer look. “Oh!” she said.

  “What is it?”

  “I know that necklace.”

  “What, this old thing? It looks like it’s been buried in the ground for years.”

  “Well maybe it has,” said Rose, “but I still know it. It belonged to my great-great-grandmother’s friend, Alice, the one I was telling you about. The lady who was locked up here. I’ve got a photograph of her wearing it on the sea-front.”

  “No kidding!” said Zoe. “So what was it doing in the garden?”

  “I don’t know.” Rose bit her lip. If the necklace had ended up buried in the garden, what had happened to Alice? Was she buried there too?

  “I hope we’re not going to end up buried in the garden,” said Zoe, as if she could read Rose’s thoughts.

  “Yeah, me too.”

  ~~~

  There was a knock at the dressing room door. Kitty put down her pot of rouge, pulled her robe tight around her waist, and went to see who was there. The show wasn’t due to start for another forty-five minutes. Gentleman visitors usually called afterwards to ask her to dinner, although she’d put a stop to that since meeting Jackson. Not that he was here anymore. He’d vanished into thin air after that business in the church with Alice and the nasty man with the ginger whiskers. Kitty opened the door and peered out into the dingy corridor beyond. It was Alfie.

  “Please Miss, sorry to bother you, but I’ve got a letter for you.”

  “Who is it from?” she asked.

  “Dunno Miss. But it’s got a foreign stamp, see?” He pointed to the stamp in the top right hand corner which was indeed, foreign. “Will that be all Miss?”

  “Yes, thank you Alfie,” said Kitty, clutching the letter. She closed the door and took the letter back to her dressing table.

  The envelope was slightly crumpled and the ink smudged as if the letter had travelled many miles to reach her, here in Scarborough. She opened it carefully and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.

  Amsterdam,

  1st September, 1899

  My Dearest Kitty,

  By now you must think me a vile rascal for deserting you. However, if you have it in your heart to forgive me, please know that I fled from Scarbo
rough in extreme circumstances. But I now realise this was the cowardly thing to do. Kitty, I am on my way back to you now and am asking you to marry me.

  If you are willing, we can set sail for Amsterdam and start a new life away from the dangers that await me in my own country.

  I will wait for you tomorrow by the harbour. I hope that you will join me. If you do not, then I will leave Scarborough and never bother you again. But no other woman will capture my heart in the way you have taken it prisoner.

  With deepest affection, your ever loving,

  Jackson.

  Kitty had to read the letter twice more to fully take it in. He hadn’t abandoned her after all, well only temporarily and because of circumstances beyond his control. If the man Kitty had seen in the church was Jackson’s employer, then it was no wonder Jackson had fled. But here was her chance to escape the life of the stage, her chance to travel and see something of the world, her chance to marry a man who, even if he was a bit of a dark horse, was someone she loved.

  She looked at her painted face in the mirror. She was still an attractive woman, but for how much longer? It was the end of the summer season and audiences were dwindling. Soon the theatre would close for the winter and Kitty would be faced with the prospect of living on her savings until the next season, assuming that the theatre manager still wanted her. Younger performers were coming on the scene all the time and Kitty knew that one day she’d be relegated to the dust heap of faded artistes, mocked for being old-fashioned, mimicked cruelly by a new generation of stars.

  There was a sharp knock at the door and Kitty jumped.