Aunt Marston blanched and gripped the edge of the kitchen table for support. Her eyes darted around as if seeking sanctuary from Midori’s questions. ‘Well, there was some friction between her and your mother, and perhaps you remind her of Hannah, sometimes. I’m sure that if she’s a little harsh, it’s just her way.’
Midori could see Aunt Marston was extremely uncomfortable and since she liked her, she didn’t want to cause her pain.
‘Very well. Thank you for answering my queries, Aunt. It’s very kind of you.’
Aunt Marston fled without another word and Midori was left to wonder what exactly had happened between her mother and Aunt Hesketh.
I guess I’ll never know.
Nico stood by the railing of his ship as it slowly eased away from Amsterdam and headed northwards. The temptation to turn its bow in a southerly direction instead was great, but he knew it was pointless going back to Plymouth. Even if he went there, he wouldn’t be welcomed by anyone, least of all Midori.
‘Argh!’ He gritted his teeth and gripped the wooden railing hard. Why can’t I stop thinking about her? It wasn’t as if he’d wanted to marry anyone in any case. Marriage was a burden, it tied you down, gave you responsibilities. And he wanted to be free. Didn’t he?
He watched the city disappear, to be replaced by flat coastline, and felt a great relief wash over him. Whenever he went to sea, the sense of freedom released the tension he always felt on land. For the next couple of months he’d be too busy to think about anything other than sailing and trade. At least, he sincerely hoped so.
‘And when I return, perhaps I’ll be sent on another journey to the Far East,’ he muttered to himself.
The thought should have filled him with joy, since he knew he’d stand to gain from it enormously, but somehow he couldn’t muster up much enthusiasm. It won’t be the same without Midori. All those long months at sea with no one to talk to. He swore softly and turned from the railing, walking abruptly towards the cabin.
‘I’ve never been lonely before.’ He had to conquer those thoughts, once and for all, and accept that Midori was not for him. She’d refused his offer, and that was it.
You didn’t exactly pick the best way of asking her, a little voice inside his head needled. He had to acknowledge the truth of that. In fact, once he was back in Plymouth he’d reverted to his old self, almost as if he’d been transported to his teenage years once again. He’d been boorish and grumpy, not to mention presumptuous in trying to persuade her with that kiss. Was it any wonder Midori turned me down?
Most women wanted to be flattered and cajoled. He’d thought Midori was different, but perhaps not as different as all that, deep down? Either way, there was nothing he could do about it now.
He took a deep breath and picked up his compass, then went to find the first mate to check on their course.
October 1642
After two months in the Marston household, Midori was beginning to feel a sense of belonging. There were still many things that seemed strange to her, but apart from Aunt Hesketh, the others all made her feel welcome. This was exactly what she’d hoped for, which was why she wasn’t best pleased at the thought that her newfound clan might be threatened by the possibility of an impending war.
Although no one seemed to know for certain how serious the conflict was, there were rumours flying around each day. Midori kept her ears open and at the beginning of October she found that she wasn’t the only one.
‘I heard today they were asking for volunteers to go with the army to Dorset.’ Daniel, who’d been picking at his food that day, pushed away his plate, giving up the pretence of eating.
Midori was surprised. Even at the age of eighteen, he was still fairly shy and rarely spoke, but she knew him to be sensible and intelligent. He’d obviously thought long and hard before raising this topic.
‘What nonsense,’ her uncle growled. ‘There’s no need for any armies. This silly dispute will be settled soon.’
‘I believe you’re wrong, Father. I’ve been listening, and there’s definitely a war coming. Why else would they be recruiting men? Almost everyone here in Plymouth is opposed to King Charles and it’s our duty to stand against him, surely?’
‘The argument between the King and Parliament will be resolved without any fighting, I tell you.’ Her uncle stared at his son, as if daring him to argue further.
Daniel’s mouth set in a mulish line. ‘War will come, I’m certain of it, and—’
‘Enough!’ Uncle Marston’s fist came crashing down on to the table, sending his knife spiralling to the floor with a clatter. An uneasy silence descended on the table while the two of them glared at each other for what seemed an age. Finally, Daniel averted his gaze, capitulating, and his father picked up his ale.
‘There will be no war,’ was his final pronunciation before he thumped down his tankard and declared the meal finished.
Midori hoped he was right.
But Uncle Marston was forced to eat his words, at least in part.
‘Have you heard that the whole of Cornwall has been secured for the King by Sir Ralph Hopton?’ Daniel ventured to ask a few days later. ‘It’s likely we’ll soon come under attack, too.’
‘I doubt it.’ Her uncle sent his son a quelling look, but Daniel ignored it, obviously too full of news to be stopped.
‘Ten thousand Cornishmen have risen in support of the King, I was told,’ Daniel reported. ‘Just think on it! They’re bound to come our way.’
‘Rubbish!’
Her uncle was adamant, but as a stream of Cornish refugees, supporters of Parliament, started to cross the Tamar in their search for a safe haven, it became more and more difficult for him or anyone else to ignore the situation. The Corporation of the City of Plymouth began to raise money in order to construct fortifications around the northern part of the town.
‘Proves that at least they take the threat of war seriously,’ Daniel murmured out of earshot of his father, who was incensed because a rate was levied and everyone had to pay their share.
The mayor of Plymouth, Philip Francis, was unequivocally on the side of Parliament, and any Royalists still remaining in the town were arrested. None of this helped in any way to sweeten her uncle’s temper, which had been simmering since Daniel had first raised the subject. He handed over his money to the Corporation very reluctantly. ‘The futility of all this effort, honestly,’ he grumbled.
Nonetheless, Midori noticed he kept an eye on all the various defensive activities going on in and around the town.
‘Everyone has been asked to help if they can,’ he informed them. Grudgingly he had to spare first Daniel, then Midori and finally Temperance and two of the servants as well, to assist with the building of crude earthworks at strategic points. Even small children had to help to the best of their ability, fetching and carrying whatever they could manage.
‘You don’t mind all this manual labour, Cousin?’ Daniel asked Midori as they worked side by side, their breath emerging as puffs of steam in the cold autumn air. His cheeks had a slightly pink tinge to them, as if he wasn’t used to talking to girls, but Midori pretended she didn’t notice.
‘No, quite the opposite, in fact.’ She paused to wipe her brow on her sleeve and smiled at him to put him at ease. ‘I like physical activity and to tell you the truth,’ she lowered her voice slightly, ‘it’s wonderful to have this freedom and be away from the house for a while.’ Daniel stopped shovelling and stared at her, so she quickly added, ‘I mean no disrespect, it’s just that I’m not really used to the life here yet.’
‘No, no, please don’t feel you have to apologise,’ Daniel cut in. ‘I can understand how difficult it must be for you, coming from such a different background. All the restrictions can become a bit wearisome for us, too,’ he admitted, ‘although please don’t ever tell Father I said that.’
Midori laughed. ‘I’m glad you’re not offended. And of course I won’t tell him.’
Digging dirt was infinitely preferable to the monotony of her days in the Marston household and the hard work dispersed some of her pent-up frustration. Labouring next to Daniel helped her to get to know him better, which was a bonus. It also kept her well away from Aunt Hesketh, who had stopped criticising everything Midori did, but instead glared darkly at her whenever they were in the same room.
‘I don’t understand why she’s so hostile to me,’ she commented to her cousins.
‘Oh, she’s just a grumpy old lady,’ Temperance replied, but Midori wasn’t convinced. It seemed more personal, somehow.
‘Well, I find it very tedious.’
She and the others worked hard and a rampart of the most basic type was soon built, with a turf-revetted front face and an external ditch. In an amazingly short time these primitive earthworks stretched from Eldad Hill in the west to the river Plym in the east, creating a formidable defensive line around the town.
‘We’ll likely be ready for attack by the end of November,’ Daniel said.
‘But what if the earthworks don’t keep the Royalists out?’ Temperance asked, her voice slightly trembling. ‘Will … will they kill us, too?’
‘No, of course not. They’ll not wage war on women and children,’ Daniel replied, but as he exchanged a look with Midori behind Temperance’s back, they both knew it could happen.
Uncle Marston still refused to acknowledge that war was imminent, but he was proved wrong yet again.
‘There was a battle on the twenty-third of October at a place called Edgehill, I hear. The die is cast now,’ Daniel told them. ‘There’s no going back and everyone will be forced to choose sides – King or Parliament.’
‘Hmph,’ was her uncle’s only reply, but Midori knew that for him, the choice was easy. He’d been talking for months about King Charles’s ineptitude and arrogance.
‘I firmly believe the King has his heart set on restoring the Catholic faith in England,’ he’d declared. ‘There’s bound to be a plot, stands to reason. Well, he has a Papist wife, doesn’t he? And he’s done nothing to curb her activities in that department. Besides, he has far too much power. Just look at the favouritism shown to his friends.’
Midori’s choice was also clear. According to the rules she lived by, her duty belonged to her family. Whatever path they chose, she would follow. Having only been in England for a few months, matters of state meant little to her, but she understood there could be only one ruler of a country. And although she felt it was wrong to fight the King, whom she understood to be England’s equivalent of the Shogun, she didn’t particularly care who won, but honour made her fight on the side of her clan.
‘Parliament it is then,’ she muttered.
Chapter Twenty-Four
November 1642
‘They need more men to defend the town, Father, and I would like to join them.’ Daniel, his face flaming with embarrassment, had seized his chance to speak while his father had a mouthful of food.
Uncle Marston choked on a piece of pickled herring and fruit pie, a dish Midori found distasteful. ‘What’s that? Join the fighting? Not on my life,’ he gritted out between coughing bouts.
Daniel bravely tried again, his courage and stubbornness earning Midori’s silent respect. ‘But, Father, I have it on the best authority that Sir Ralph Hopton is marching this way. He’ll try to storm our defences, so every man is needed.’
‘You’re not going, and that’s final. One skirmish and it’ll all be over. I have but one son and I want you to take over the business from me, not fight futile wars.’
‘Futile! How can you say that, when they’re fighting for our freedom to keep our faith? If the Royalists had their way, we’d all be Papists. You said so yourself. And no doubt your precious business would be confiscated to boot.’
‘Don’t be impertinent. We are amply defended by the force already in place. There’s no need for you to go. Your place is here with me, learning to be a merchant. That’s my final word.’ Midori’s uncle looked at his wife, who had gone as white as her starched collar. ‘And think of your mother.’
‘Oh, Daniel, don’t do anything rash, I beg you.’ Aunt Marston sent him an imploring look. ‘Your father is surely right. And why should you go? You don’t even know how to handle a weapon.’
‘I can learn, just like everyone else. And someone has to.’
‘Well, it won’t be you!’ His father exploded with rage and a torrent of words poured out of him, the gist of which was that fighting was for people who had nothing better to do and no son of his was ever going to join them. During the entire tirade, Daniel didn’t say a word, but his expression remained mutinous.
Midori sympathised with her cousin, but she could see her uncle’s point of view, too. Daniel was his only son and he’d never been trained in the arts of fighting. She rated his chances of survival in a battle as fairly low, if not non-existent, and she would have been very worried for him if he’d gone off to fight.
An idea came to her and she mulled it over while slowly chewing her pie. After the meal, she followed Daniel into the garden, where he’d no doubt gone to cool his anger and frustration. She found him leaning his forehead against the trunk of a fruit tree. His breath was coming out in angry clouds of steam and he reminded her of a skittish horse. ‘Cousin?’ she said quietly. ‘May I have a word?’
‘If you must, but I’m not really fit company at present.’ He looked up briefly, then closed his eyes again. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s all right, I understand. I’ve come to talk to you about that. It seems to me your father is right in a way, but—’
‘Not you as well.’ He stared at her and just then he reminded her so much of her mother it made her heart flip over. The family resemblance was clear, especially with that red hair so like Hannah’s. Unlike his aunt, however, he also had freckles that stood out against the pure white of his skin.
‘Wait, hear me out. I’m with you. What I mean is that you will be needed eventually, because I don’t think this war will be over quickly. Your father is wrong about that. So if you’re patient, the time will come when he’ll have to let you go. I thought perhaps you’d like to be a bit more prepared for that.’
‘How do you mean?’ Daniel glared at her suspiciously.
‘Do you know anything about fighting?’
‘I can defend myself as well as any man.’ His chin rose a fraction and Midori swallowed a smile.
‘Yes, but can you fight with a sword? Shoot a bow and arrow?’
‘No, not really.’
‘There you are, then. I can help you. I learned swordplay, archery and self-defence from my father and brother. If we could find a quiet spot where no one can see us, I can teach you. I would hate to see you march off to be slaughtered unnecessarily. And you wouldn’t be doing anyone else any favours, either. You want to help the Parliamentary cause, don’t you?’
Daniel frowned at the implied slur to his manliness, but reason won and he nodded. ‘Your words make sense, Cousin. I would like to learn. Can you really teach me?’
‘Yes. I promise I’m not making it up. I’ll prove it to you, but we need privacy. Perhaps the garden at night after everyone’s abed?’
‘No, they might hear us and it’s perishing cold at this time of year.’ He thought for a moment. ‘We can go down to the sea. There must be some secluded area there where we could practise. What excuse could we give, though?’
‘Let’s just say we’re still needed for digging duties. It’s the truth, after all – there is still some work going on – and we don’t need to tell them we go elsewhere first for an hour or so.’
‘Sounds like a good plan.’ Daniel grinned. ‘Can we start tomorrow after breakfast?’
�
��Yes, of course.’
‘But what will we use to fight with? I don’t even own a sword.’
‘I do, but it won’t be necessary to use real ones at first. We’ll practise with sticks until you know the moves.’
‘Right. Until tomorrow, then?’
Midori sent up a swift prayer to the gods that what she could teach Daniel would be enough to keep him safe eventually.
They found a deserted part of the coast where no one could see them and Daniel put down the sack he’d been carrying, taking out its contents. Two sturdy sticks, which he’d cut himself from a copse of trees on the outskirts of town, and a bow and arrows he’d managed to borrow from a friend.
‘Is this all we need?’ he asked, turning around, then gasped as he took in the sight of Midori removing her petticoat to reveal the hakama hidden beneath. ‘Dear Lord, but what are you wearing, Cousin?’
Midori smiled. ‘You don’t honestly expect me to fight in a gown, do you? I need to be able to move my legs.’ She demonstrated the split in her skirt-like garment and Daniel’s mouth formed a soundless O.
‘It – it isn’t seemly,’ he stammered, turning a dull shade of red. ‘I shouldn’t have embroiled you in this.’
Midori raised her eyebrows at him. ‘As I recall, this was my suggestion. And if it doesn’t bother me, why should you mind? Besides, who’s to see? Come now, if you wish to learn, you’ll need to set aside your prejudices. I may be a woman, but I assure you I can teach you a thing or two. Do you trust me?’
He swallowed, his eyes still wide, but nodded. ‘Yes, yes I do.’
‘Then forget what I’m wearing and concentrate on this.’ Midori picked up one of the sticks and threw it to him, then proceeded to demonstrate basic fighting techniques.
She breathed in deeply of the cold sea air and felt more alive than she had for months. It was so good to be practising her skills again, doing something she was good at. It made her blood sing.
Daniel quickly grasped the rudiments of sword fighting and defence. ‘You’re doing well,’ Midori praised, as they took a short break.
The Gilded Fan (Choc Lit) Page 23