Pengarron's Children

by Pengarron's Children (retail) (epub)

  * * *

  Philip and David Trenchard were frantically searching up and down the town’s street and alleyways. They had already been in three drinking holes but had found no sign of Zack Maynard or any of his gang.

  ‘If I see just one of Maynard’s lot I’ll break his bloody back if he doesn’t tell me the run went ahead all right and Jessica and the others are safe and on their way home,’ Philip snarled.

  ‘So will I,’ David said, thoughts of his sister’s safety taking precedence over his religious scruples. ‘Then I’ll break Maynard’s back for free-trading with them.’

  ‘Even if the run went smoothly, Father will be so damned furious with Jessie he’ll keep her cooped up at home for months on end. And about ruddy time too. He should have done it years ago. Pity she’s not more like Kerris or Miss Catherine. We’ll be the talk of the bay for months after this. Mother would have been worried out of her mind over it.’

  They were walking along the main street again, stopping every late reveller or more respectable pedestrian and asking them if they’d seen a man called Zack Maynard, but without any luck. They next decided to try a beer house that verged on the long strip of sandy beach; if they found no one there, they would try all the brothels.

  They walked past the houses near the beach and had nearly reached the beer house when they saw two men leave the place.

  ‘Let’s ask them if they know Zack Maynard,’ David said.

  When they hailed the men, the strangers walked quickly on without turning back to answer.

  ‘They think we’re out to rob them,’ David said as he and Philip began to follow them.

  ‘Maybe, but I want to see who they are.’

  The twins increased their pace and so did the two men in front of them. ‘Hey!’ shouted Philip. ‘Just a minute there. We only want to ask you something. We’re looking for someone.’

  The strangers broke into a run and the twins were quickly on their heels. Because the others had been drinking, they were caught easily.

  ‘We got no money! Got nothing of value!’ they cried.

  ‘We aren’t going to rob you. We only want to ask you if you know a man called Zack Maynard and where he can be found,’ David said severely, shaking the man he had in his grasp.

  ‘Ask fer un in one of the gin shops,’ the man said in a terrified voice. ‘’E’s usually in the one in the main street.’

  ‘You know him then?’ Philip dragged the man he was clutching by the collar of his rough coat to the light coming from a window of the last house. ‘I recognise you. You’re one of Maynard’s men. What happened tonight? Where is he? Have you been involved in a smuggling run?’

  David slammed the man he held captive against the same wall. ‘You’d better tell us what we want to know or we’ll slit your throats,’ he snarled. ‘Were you in Trelynne Cove tonight, the place you’ve brought in goods for Sir Oliver Pengarron’s sons?’

  ‘Aye, we were. Jus’ got back from there. But there was no run. Zacky reckoned ’e wouldn’t smuggle with no women. We went there jus’ to frighten ’em. Never to do no ’arm.’

  ‘No harm to who?’ Philip demanded, pulling his man away from the house as the occupants threw open a window and demanded to know what was going on. David followed suit.

  ‘To the ladies. We never touched ’em, honest! Couldn’t find ’em in the dark. They ’id away from us. We thought they’d slipped past us an’ run away ’ome,’ Philip’s prisoner blubbered.

  ‘Who did?’ David said.

  ‘Pengarron’s ladies, his daughter an’ niece.’

  ‘What about the other girl who was there? Our sister, Jessica Trenchard? Did she hide away with the others? Is she safe?’

  When neither man answered, Philip whipped out a large knife and cut his captive’s cheek. ‘You have two seconds to answer before this goes across your throat.’

  ‘E’s got ’er! Zacky!’ the man squealed, licking at his blood as it seeped past his lips.

  ‘Where? Where is she? Where’s he taken her to?’

  ‘On a ship by now, up at the Mount. They’m sailin’ on the next tide.’

  ‘Not if we’ve got anything to do with it!’ David growled. ‘Which ship?’

  ‘Dunno, Zacky never said, he wouldn’t take we two with un,’ the man David was clutching whined. ‘Please, mister, let us go. If Sir Oliver catches up with we ’ell ’ave us ’ung fer trying to kidnap ’is daughter ’n’ niece.’

  ‘Then good for him. How many men has Maynard taken with him on the ship?’ Philip snarled.

  ‘Just two others,’ one of the terrified men replied.

  The twins laid into Zack Maynard’s men with a ferocity that left them lying unconscious on the ground. Shouts made them turn round and they saw Clem, Oliver and Kane running up to them.

  ‘Is one of them Zack Maynard?’ Clem asked, pointing at the inert figures on the ground.

  ‘No, they’re two of his men. They told us that Maynard’s got Jessie on a ship moored up at the Mount. He’s planning on sailing away with her.’

  ‘It’s what we feared,’ Clem said, already beginning to move away. ‘Come on, let’s get a boat. We’ll row across.’

  Oliver stopped to prod the two fallen men with his boot. ‘They’ll be out long enough for us to get back and make sure they’re arrested legally.’

  The men ran down to the shore and pushed a rowing boat out into the cold, deep-green water. They jumped in and Philip and Kane rowed across to St Michael’s Mount. Oliver and Clem sat opposite each other, staring into each other’s eyes in the moonlight.

  ‘I hope we get Jessica back all right, Trenchard,’ Oliver said quietly.

  ‘Thanks,’ Clem said stonily.

  ‘I mean it. I know what it’s like to have your daughter in danger.’

  ‘Yes… thank you,’ Clem said in a less hostile tone.

  ‘Why did they do it, why did Jessica do it?’ Kane said, in an agonised tone. ‘What does Maynard want with her?’

  ‘He’d better not harm one hair on her head or I’ll tear him from limb to limb, I swear,’ Philip said heatedly.

  ‘If you get to him before I do,’ Kane muttered under his breath.

  David sat quiet, saying silent prayers.

  The sea was calm and it only took a few minutes to reach the Mount’s harbour.

  Oliver said, ‘We’ll head straight for the ships and climb aboard the first one. There’s only five that I can see. No talking from now on, we don’t want to advertise our arrival.’

  * * *

  A blanket was pulled off Jessica’s head and she blinked in fear as the face of her captor loomed up to hers. She was sitting on what she recognised with chilling terror as a ship’s bunk, her hands tied behind her back. Zack Maynard was sitting close beside her.

  She spat in his face. He smiled cruelly and used her long hair to wipe it off.

  ‘Sorry about having to be so rough with you, Jessica, my dear, but you did struggle a lot,’ he said in a mellow voice. He stroked her hair and she tried to move away but he pulled her back by a handful of curls. ‘Your hair looks a bit unruly but that’s how I like it. Don’t be scared.’

  ‘Don’t be scared?’ she hissed at him. ‘It’s easy for you to be brave while you have me prisoner with my hands tied behind my back.’

  Zack made a patient face then he pulled her in against his body while he untied the rope. Jessica tried not to think about his closeness. She surveyed their surroundings with a feeling of despair.

  ‘What are we doing on this ship?’ she demanded.

  ‘I’m taking you on a little journey, Jessica. I’m sure you are a girl who appreciates adventure.’

  ‘Where are you taking me?’

  ‘You’ll find out soon enough. The tide is coming in quickly. We’ll soon be setting sail.’

  When her hands were free, she thrust her arms between their bodies and he let her go without any further advances. She rubbed at her wrists where the rope had burned in her struggles.

/>   ‘I tied you up very carefully, Jessica,’ he said. ‘If you hadn’t struggled, your wrists wouldn’t be hurting you now.’

  ‘Thanks for nothing!’ she said ferociously. ‘Don’t expect me to do anything you want me to do without a fight.’

  ‘You’re certainly a wild young beauty, aren’t you?’ he leered.

  ‘Just what is it you want with me, Maynard?’

  He grinned at her. ‘I want you to be my woman. If you’re good to me, then I’ll be good to you. I’ll look after you well. But if you’re not good to me, I’ll dispose of you or put you in some foreign brothel.’ When she shuddered, he added, ‘I thought you’d see reason, Jessica. You’re an intelligent girl. You’re too good for some weak-chinned farm labourer. I’ve got money to spend on you, buy you pretty things, take you to high social functions.’

  ‘You’re fooling yourself,’ she said acidly, but the night’s events filled her mind again. ‘Where are my friends? What have you done with them?’

  ‘Couldn’t catch ’em. Was going to try for a huge ransom off Sir Oliver Pengarron but they were clever and hid from us. Didn’t have time to wait for daylight to find them. Don’t worry, my dear, we wouldn’t have harmed them. Was going to take them up the coast a little way and when the ransom was paid, set them free. We would have had a good chance of getting away if we left them unharmed because Pengarron wouldn’t have rested till he caught us if we’d hurt them.’

  ‘They might have got home by now and raised the alarm. My father, my brothers and the Pengarrons may be coming after us even now.’

  ‘I don’t think so. I reckon your friends are still hiding away and will be too afraid to come out till daylight. By then it will be too late to do anything, we’ll be well on our way to a new life.’

  ‘Why take me? Why couldn’t you leave me alone?’

  ‘It’s very simple, Jessica. I want you for myself, always have. Don’t worry, I won’t share you around.’ He put a hand on her shoulder which she tried to push away. ‘You’re just for me, my dear.’

  He made to kiss her and Jessica struggled with all her might as he tried to cover her mouth with his.

  ‘You’ll be disappointed,’ she spat at him. ‘I’m not a virgin. I’ve been with a man before. Like you said, Zack, I like a bit of adventure.’

  ‘You bitch!’ he roared. He slapped the side of her face viciously, leaving a crimson weal and making her scream out. He got up and paced the cabin floor angrily. Jessica curled up in the corner of the narrow bunk, holding her face and trying not to cry. Then he said in cool, nasty tones, ‘Never mind. I’ll enjoy having you anyway. I’m not sure you’re telling me the truth. I’ll take you as you come and we’ll see the truth of it then.’

  ‘You bloody swine!’ Jessica cried.

  ‘Now that’s something I don’t like, women swearing. Say you’re sorry!’

  ‘Go to hell!’

  He grasped her cruelly by the throat and banged her head against the wall of the ship, choking her. ‘Say you’re sorry!’

  Jessica was in agony but she tried to shake her head. He tightened his grip until she could bear it no longer. ‘S… sorry,’ she choked.

  There was a knock on the door and a voice called out, ‘Cap’n wants to see ’ee, Zack.’

  Maynard took his hand from Jessica’s throat and she collapsed in a heap on the bunk, gasping and spluttering. ‘I’ll be back and I’d better find you in a more co-operative mood.’

  He locked the door and she got shakily off the bunk. She tried picking up a tankard but her hands were trembling. She tried the door handle but couldn’t move it at all. Feeling for the first time in her life that everything was hopeless, she went back to the bunk, sniffing back her tears.

  * * *

  Oliver, Clem, and their sons had reached the first ship. Philip climbed up an anchor rope and kept lookout, then quickly and silently the others followed until they were all on board.

  ‘Looks like a French merchantman,’ Oliver whispered. ‘There don’t seem to be many people about so this one is probably not getting ready to set sail. Come on, we’re wasting time here, let’s try one of the other ships.’

  A voice came to them. ‘Qui est là?’ They turned to see a sailor with a pistol in one hand, a lantern held high in the other.

  ‘We’re looking for a girl who’s been kidnapped,’ Oliver said in French. ‘We are looking for a ship getting ready to set sail.’

  ‘That will be the Morning Star, berthed last in line. She’s heading for the Tropics,’ the sailor said in his own language. ‘Who has been kidnapped?’

  ‘This man’s daughter,’ Oliver said, pointing to Clem. ‘A sailor by the name of Maynard took her and he tried to kidnap my daughter and niece too.’

  ‘I know the captain of the ship,’ the Frenchman said. ‘I will come with you and get you on board. He will have nothing to do with kidnapping.’ He turned to Clem. ‘Don’t worry, my friend, we will get your daughter back.’

  Kane translated his speech to the Trenchards and the gathering followed the sailor down the gangplank and along the pier, passing another four ships until they came to the Morning Star.

  The sailor stood on the gangplank and shouted permission for himself and his fellow companions to come aboard. There was a scuffling as someone ran for the captain. The men stood about impatiently. Philip wanted to charge the ship but Oliver advised caution. He was afraid if Maynard and his cronies panicked, they would kill Jessica.

  The captain appeared a few moments later to greet his French friend and welcome him aboard. Zack Maynard was with him.

  Chapter 25

  The three younger men who had smuggled with Zack Maynard recognised him and shouted his name together. Maynard took to his heels and Kane made a desperate lunge alter him.

  ‘Zack Maynard!’ he screamed. ‘Stop and fight like a man.’

  Maynard didn’t heed him. With his mouth set in a grim line, he flung himself down a short wooden ladder and headed for the cabin Jessica was locked in.

  When the French sailor told the captain about Jessica’s plight, he ordered his crew to find and capture Maynard’s men.

  Jessica had heard the running feet and the thumps overhead as Maynard’s men were hauled on deck and beaten. Fearful for her life, she lifted a lantern off its hook and hid behind the door. As Maynard came rushing through it, a knife held ready to put at her throat with the intent of using her to bargain for his freedom, she smashed the lantern down on his head. He reeled forward under splintering glass, crying in pain as the cabin was plunged into semi-darkness. Kane dived into the cabin and brought his clenched fists down on the back of Maynard’s neck. Maynard cried out again and sank to the floor unconscious. Kane kicked him over and delivered a blow to his jaw for good measure.

  Clem rushed into the cabin and took Jessica into his arms. She had her eyes on Kane where he stood in the shadows as she said shakily, ‘Thank God you came. I was so frightened. He was going to take me overseas.’

  ‘You’re all right now, my love. He won’t hurt you again.’ Clem raised her chin and kissed her tear-wet cheeks. ‘Look what he’s done to you,’ he gasped, horrified at the sight of the angry weal that covered the side of her face. Even in the gloom it was clearly visible. ‘I’d like to kill the swine. Did he do anything to you?’

  ‘No, thank God, you got here in time. I just want to go home, Tas. He said Olivia and Cordelia are safe. Is that true?’

  ‘Aye. Master Luke’s taken them home.’ Clem looked up and listened. All had gone quiet. ‘I think your brothers and Sir Oliver have dealt with Maynard’s gang.’ Clem turned to Kane. ‘Thank you for what you did, Kane. He’s been worried out of his mind about you,’ he informed Jessica.

  ‘Have you?’ she asked Kane and moved towards him, his concern for her warming her heart.

  Kane stepped forward and she could see him better. His face was black as thunder. ‘How could you? How could you put yourself into so much danger, and Olivia and Cordelia too after what nea
rly happened a couple of days ago? You want horsewhipping, Jessica Trenchard!’

  Reeling in shock, the rest of her face turning as red as the angry weal, Jessica sought refuge in her father’s arms again, burying her face in his shirt and sobbing. Kane’s hostility had come from out of nowhere and blocked out every other emotion she was feeling.

  ‘How dare you speak to Jessica like that!’ Clem snarled. ‘Have you no feelings, Kane Pengarron?’

  Oliver appeared in the doorway, bending down as Clem had had to do to see into the cabin. ‘Is Jessica all right, Trenchard?’ he asked gently.

  ‘We got here in time, thank the Lord,’ Clem said, glaring at the gangleader’s still body. ‘What about his men?’

  ‘Trussed up like geese for the pot. I’ll make sure they hang, every last man of them.’

  ‘Thank you for your help, Sir Oliver,’ Clem said. It was only one of a few times Clem had given the baronet his title and spoken to him with respect. He felt he owed him that.

  Oliver inclined his head. ‘I’m sure you would have done the same for me.’

  ‘Aye, personal feelings don’t come into it when there’s occasions like these,’ Clem muttered, giving Kane an icy look.

  ‘Thank you, Sir Oliver,’ Jessica whispered through her tears.

  ‘I’m glad you are safe but your escapade has led us a merry dance, young lady,’ Oliver replied sternly.

  Jessica hung her head in shame and Clem held her protectively.

  ‘I think, Trenchard, it would be a good idea if you kept your daughter on a tight rein in future. Like you, she has a habit of upsetting the peace of my estate. And I also think it would be wise if she doesn’t see my daughter or niece again for a very long time.’

  Clem was furious. He could hardly believe he and his daughter were being spoken to like this immediately after her ordeal and with the perpetrator lying at their feet. ‘Well, I think it would be a better idea if they never see each other again!’