George walked to his father and touched his shoulder. “Father, what are we going to do about Walter? The poor man is really desperate and through no fault of his. He’s been good to us even when we had nothing. He worked with very little pay and remained faithful. Now that his sister and nieces are in trouble, what can we do to help?”
“If I step in directly, Howard will find a way of harming the rest of you. Whatever help I offer Walter shouldn’t be seen to come from me. I don’t want him coming after my family again, that man is so wicked that I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
“Perhaps I can help,” Elias stepped forward.
“How?”
“Your grace, I have always had this feeling that Howard might be hiding some secret which he doesn’t want the world to ever know. It must be something terrible that he did and if only I can find out what it is, that would make him afraid to continue harming people.”
“People like Howard are very dangerous and you could get yourself into great trouble by trying to confront him.” Lord Murray sighed. “There are better ways of doing things and if you give me a few days, I’ll think of something.”
“Your grace, pardon my audacity. Walter’s sister and nieces don’t have a few days. Howard intends to sell them to the highest bidder and you know what that means, sir. Imagine if that was to happen to Mary, wouldn’t you do all you could to keep her safe?”
“What can you do in a day or two, Elias?”
“Please just let me try. Howard offered me a job training his horses and maybe I can find out more about his life and secrets while working for him. Whatever happens, I’ll know that I tried to keep Mary safe and free from any scandals or harm. But at least let me try.”
“I’m very reluctant to accept but perhaps we have no other way.”
8
Frightening Ordeal
“Mary, you don’t have to cry so much,” Hannah told her. “Elias will be safe, father promised that.”
“You don’t know the kind of man Howard Prattle is. Mark told me that he is so dangerous that most people steer clear of him. Now Elias has gone to work for the man, what if something goes wrong and Howard discovers what he is trying to do?’
“You have to trust that Elias is an intelligent man and will not put himself into trouble unnecessarily.” Amanda said. “Dear sister, it’s so obvious that the man loves you deeply and would do anything to help the family. He’ll be alright.”
“What if he isn’t, what will his poor mother do? She has lost so much and Elias is all she has left. If something happens to him, she might just die.”
“We will pray for him to be safe while working for that wicked man,” Hannah said. “Mama always says that the wicked are on the earth just for a moment. When their wickedness is full, they will perish out of the earth.”
Mary was inconsolable and her father and brothers worried that she would make herself ill with anxiety. She wasn’t eating and spent many nights walking around the house like a ghost. Since no one knew where Elias was, they too were worried. But at least they had used a friend of Lord Victor’s to save Walter and his family, and hoped that Howard would never trace the twelve thousand pounds back to them.
At that precise moment, Elias was wondering what he had gotten himself into. After accepting to work for Howard, he had been transported by one of Howard’s goons to his farm in Wiltshire. It was huge and nothing much seemed to go on there, even though there were a few horses, wild horses as Elias came to discover. This was no training ground and he didn’t understand why he had been sent here at all. Still, he would make the most of it for his mother always told him that whatever life threw your way could actually become a stepping stone to greater things.
The only people on the farm were an old man and his equally old wife, who took care of the dilapidated farm house. In its heydays it must have been magnificent, but now most of the windows were boarded up with wood and the lawn and backyard were unkempt.
“What crime did you commit to end up here,” Barrows the old man chuckled through tobacco stained teeth. “This is nothing but a hell hole, and why a young one such as yourself would want to be here is a mystery.”
“Mr. Prattle said I was to train his horses.”
“Annie, this one thinks he can train those wild animals,” and the two of them threw back their heads and laughed so hard that Elias feared they would topple from their seats. Finally Barrows sobered up and turned solemn, watery eyes to him. “Son, if I were you, I would run for my life. This is no place for a boy like you. Hardly anyone comes here, and if you were to succeed to tame a single horse, you will have achieved the impossible.”
“I’ll have to try, or else I won’t receive my wages.”
“What wages?” Annie asked. She was a buxom woman who also chewed tobacco like her husband. The house was dirty and unkempt and she made no efforts to do anything about it. When she placed a tin plate in front of him and slapped a spoon load of some mashed stuff, he shuddered inwardly. This was his lunch no doubt. “No one is paid wages around here. You do what you have to do to survive.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Elias forced the food down his throat because he was hungry but determined that he would do all he could to survive. The fact that Howard had this farm meant that it was of some use and importance to him, even though it was neglected. Barrows showed him where he would sleep, a room above the stables which had an old bed and mattress that was full of bedbugs.
“The last man who came here lasted only two days before he fled. Let’s see how long you’ll last.”
Elias smiled, thanked the man and waited until he had left before he surveyed his surroundings. It was habitable enough, but he wasn’t going to be food for the bugs on the bed. He had seen an old well behind the house and decided that cleaning would be one of the first things he embarked on.
Hours later, with a clean room and stomach filled with wild berries, Elias thought he had accomplished something. He had tossed the mattress and bed out of the room, scrubbed the floors and walls as much as he could with some lye that Annie provided, and he hoped the bedbugs were all dead or gone.
There was a reason why Howard kept this farm and he would find out what it was. No one knew much about the man, or his family. All Elias knew was that he had married an heiress who never visited London and then suddenly her death had been announced in the papers. His second wife had once been his mistress and that’s all he could find out. No one knew where his first wife was buried and Elias knew that the old couple also had some secrets they knew, so the best thing would be to befriend them and find out more.
He put himself to work cleaning the empty stables, cutting down trees and hewing timber, and also chopping up firewood for Annie. At first they watched him in amusement and made fun of his efforts, but when a week passed by and he wasn’t leaving, they looked at him with renewed interest. Besides that, the front lawn and backyard were looking so much better after Elias had worked on them.
“You’re either the world’s biggest fool or a very desperate man,” Barrows told him one day when he came in for the one meal he allowed himself to partake of. The rest of the times he would eat the wild berries and other fruit from the trees in the woods that took up much of the land. “You’re obviously very hard working, why didn’t you find yourself work at the docks or elsewhere? This is a godforsaken place, why do you stay?”
“I was told there were horses to be trained and all my life that’s all I’ve done. If I can tame at least one or two of those wild ones, it will be something and Mr. Howard will be pleased.”
Annie snorted. “There’s no pleasing that one, no matter how angelic you choose to be. Devil’s own spawn if you ask me.”
Elias pretended to be interested in his food so the couple wouldn’t see that Annie’s words had aroused his curiosity. “I managed to get close to a couple of mares,” he told Barrows who whistled. “If they get used to my presence, perhaps I will capture two or three and get them tame enough.”
“Never seen anything like this,” the old man coughed and spit aside. “You really seem determined, just be careful of those horses and the ghosts that lurk in the woods,” he winked at Annie and Elias saw. “We never go that far, stick to the homestead is what I say.”
“I’ll be careful. Once I get two or three horses, I’ll train them out in the courtyard and keep them in the stable. Which is the nearest market?”
“Why?”
“I could sell one of the horses so we can have some food and all. Winter is coming and Mrs. Annie needs a new coat.”
The woman blushed and smiled, clapping her hands. “A new coat, oh dear me,” she patted his cheek. “You’re a lovely boy, thinking about old useless folk like us when our own son abandoned us here to die.”
Elias nearly fell off his seat. So these two were Howard’s parents. How interesting, and he was sure they had a story to tell.
Just as he promised, he managed to capture three horses. Two were mares and one was a colt, about a year old because these could easily be trained. Annie wept when a few days later he presented her with a new set of cooking pots, a thick coat and shoes. Barrows also got a coat, a tobacco pipe and shoes. Elias also bought groceries and a rifle for hunting.
“You can expect some game from now on,” he said as he left for the woods once more. He had sold one of the mares and the remaining two were finally settling down in their new home. But Elias still felt that the land held some sinister secret that he was determined to discover, especially since Barrows and Annie had no problems with him venturing out.
That evening he brought two guinea fowls and a large hare, which Annie received with delight. “Barrows can no longer hunt because of his stiff fingers and aged knees,” she laughed at her own joke. “He was never a hunter in the first place,” she said. “We were townsfolk before that good for nothing son of ours brought us here to take care of the place. He promised that we would be well fed but,” she shrugged. “This house and farm belonged to Henrietta’s family. Poor woman, if only she had listened to her folks when they told her not to be taken in by our smooth and sweet talking son.”
“That boy has caused us a lot of sorrow,” Barrows shook his head. “What did we ever do to deserve one like that?”
Elias had no response. He felt that the couple might be revealing secrets to trap him into saying something which they could use against him.
“Married Henrietta for her money, and took her to London. Poor girl couldn’t fit in so he brought her back and abandoned her here when she was with child. Her folks died of cholera and left the poor woman, and when Howard heard about it, he returned. That was the last she was ever heard of, then he brought us here to take care of the land.”
“Have you lived here for a long time?”
“Twenty years and we’ve seen people come and go, but none stayed more than a few days. This land is accursed.”
“How have you survived for twenty years?”
Annie sighed, wiping her hands on her new apron. “Over the years, we’ve been forced to sell the items in the house until there’s practically nothing left. We thought we would starve to death and wrote to Howard. His response was to send you here, and we’re glad he did. You’re a good boy, your mama must be proud of you.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Elias stood up. He had a great suspicion that the reason Howard held onto this piece of land was because somewhere out there, he had buried his wife and unborn child and didn’t want anyone to find out. What if he had murdered the poor woman to get rid of her after taking over all her inheritance and dowry?
9
A Gruesome Discovery
“I’ve been out here for two months now,” Elias thought to himself as he dressed one morning. He had bought himself a new bed and mattress and had done the same for the old couple. The house was looking cleaner because Annie made an effort when he brought her a new set of curtains. He made money by catching game and selling it to the local folk around the village who didn’t poach.
“They wouldn’t look nice against a dirty backdrop,” she had said. He had helped her scrub the floors of the house. The couple only used the kitchen, living room and one of the bedrooms on the ground floor. The stairs leading to the first floor were rickety and unstable. “No one has been up there for years,” Annie said. “Nothing to see. We stripped the rooms bare years ago so it’s all empty.”
It was while he was cleaning the stables later that morning and removing very old straw and other worthless items that he found the old trap door. It must have been used by smugglers or fugitives in olden days, because though still solid, it was very old. There was a large metal rung that was probably used to open it. Elias thought about opening it but hesitated. What secrets were down there, if any?
“What are you doing, boy?” Barrows called out from outside the stable and Elias quickly covered the door up. He walked out of that part and went to meet the old man.
“Since the two horses are now settled, I was thinking of getting two more. These stables need to be cleaned to accommodate some more animals, so I thought about repairing a few more stalls.”
“You’ve done a good job so far,” Barrows looked really pleased. “If only this had been done sooner, we wouldn’t have had to sell off some of the nice items we found in this house. May Henrietta and her folks forgive us for doing that, but we were desperate.”
“Mr. Barrows, did you ever think about returning to London?”
He thought about it then shook his head. “Howard was a good boy growing up, but greed got the better of him. We were simple folk and gave him what we thought was good for him at the time, but he wanted more. He wanted to be like the lords and ladies he saw all the time at the racing tracks. The boy was drawn to horses from a very young age and spent every waking hour with them. We tried to take him to the church run school but he would only run away to go to the races. When he became a teenager, he started bringing money home and at first we took it because he told us that he earned it from doing odd jobs at the tracks,” Barrows leaned against a stall, sadness lining his old face. “Then we found out that he was placing bets, winning some and losing others. At that time we didn’t want anything to do with his money so he left home. The next thing we heard was that he had married Miss Henrietta. She had come to the races with her father and to this day, we don’t know what he did to convince her to marry him. Annie says he must have seduced and ruined her, forcing her to accept him.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, sir.”
“He never brought her to meet us because at the time we heard that he was rich and was definitely ashamed of us. He brought us here because he knew reporters might one day sniff out the story of his life. This is the only way he could get rid of us, and he told us that if we ever showed our faces in London again, he would deal with us.”
“So why keep sending people here? Wasn’t he afraid his secret would be revealed?”
“He charged us never to tell anyone that we’re his parents, so those who came in the past just thought we’re caretakers. You’re the only one who knows who we are, please promise you’ll never say a word to anyone.”
“You have my word. My own father died a few months ago and I had to sell all my horses. That made me desperate enough to take this job, but I’m glad I came. Now I can catch horses and sell them, and by the time Mr. Howard comes to check on them, he should find enough to keep him happy.”
“Trust me, he won’t be happy. You must have done something for him to want you out of London like us.”
“But I hardly know the man. He’s just seen me training horses, that’s all.”
“In any case, I’m glad you came. The missus is very happy because we’re now being taken good care of. I feel stronger and will even help you out in the stables to keep out of her way. She actually sent me out here.”
Though Elias was disappointed that he wouldn’t get the chance to explore further, he didn’t show it. He found out that Barrows was still a strong man and
two days later, he was the one who came across the trap door.
“Boy, get in here quickly, will you?”
“Yes sir,” Elias entered the stall and stopped short, staring down at the exposed door and pretending that he didn’t know it was there. “What’s that?”
“A trap door,” Barrows said, staring at it curiously. “We’ve lived here for twenty years but never found this. Where do you think it leads to?”
Elias shook his head. “Maybe it was used by smugglers long ago, or fugitives. Who knows where it leads?”
“I could ask Old Granger. He was a constable in this area for so many years and should know a little bit about the history of Henrietta’s family. Do you know where he lives?”
“Yes sir, Mrs. Annie showed me when I took her to the market the other day.”
“Good, can you run and call him? Ask him to come with a few other people just in case there’s trouble down there.”
Elias needed no second bidding but was off like a shot. He returned about an hour later, followed by Old Granger, his two sons and some other village folk. They were all surprised to see the trapdoor which no one had ever discovered.
“You young ones, heave ho!” Granger said, pointing at his sons and Elias. “Let’s find out what is down there. Bring enough lanterns.”
Opening the trapdoor took the effort of nearly six men because it was obvious that it hadn’t been disturbed for years. But finally there was a creaking sound and the six men jumped back as it fell, exposing some stairs.
For A Love So True (Married to the Murrays Book 3) Page 4