Mina felt her blood run cold. Gus, a wrecker? The wicked men who deliberately lured ships with false lights so they were dashed on perilous coastlines and their cargo plundered. She had read accounts that had made her shudder, of poor victims washing up on the beach and being clubbed to death by the wreckers waiting there for any survivors who might tell the tale.
No, she could not depend on Gus showing her any mercy when the moment came to push her off the headland. As for Reuben, he heartily despised her. She would have to rely on her own wits to escape. If the time she had spent since leaving The Hill School had taught her anything, it was that she had a strong survival instinct and deep inner reserves of strength.
For some reason, Nye sprang uppermost to her mind. What would he do without her? Probably go to the devil completely she thought, without her to keep him in line! She shot a considering glance at Gus. He was garrulous and liked to while away the time with conversation. She would have to work with what she had.
“We are, I collect under the cellars at Vance House?” she mused. “Did you know this place was the reason Nye accepted our marriage?”
Gus looked amused. “Why bless your soul, Minnie of course I did!” he twinkled. “This place is vital to our operations. This here passage,” he said taking his pipe out of his mouth and pointing with it into the distance. “Extends all the way from the cellars of Vance house to the beach.”
“A secret passage?” Mina asked with a glimmer of interest despite herself.
“Oh aye,” Gus agreed. “None other.”
“I wonder that Nye did not throw out the tenants as soon as he had the deeds to the place. Surely it must have put you in danger of discovery?”
Gus shook his head. “The Tavistocks are an elderly couple who mostly only use the second floor of the house these days. Rheumaticky he is, and she’s deaf as a post. They retires early of an evening without fail and keeps no dogs. Precious little trouble we’ve had of ‘em this past five year.”
“I see,” Mina murmured. “Gus, will you tell me truthfully? How deep is Nye in this business?”
Gus shifted on his barrel into a more comfortable position. “Well, about as deep as he can be,” he admitted, shaking his head. “Now, I don’t say as it was his fault entirely. Old Jacob Nye as acted as his Pa, was up to his ears in the trade. In the end, there weren’t a drop he served that had paid any custom.” Gus chuckled as Mina took in the fact Nye had not chosen to become embroiled with smugglers.
“When Nye come back from Exeter, fair flummoxed he was to find his old man hand in glove with a pack of smugglers. In the five years he’d been gone, The Merry Harlot had been run into the ground, so it had. It weren’t used by any of the posting coaches to stop at no more. The stables were in disrepair, the teams of horses all sold. The old man had lost interest since his wife and died and his boy up and gone. He never showed it, but he had a heart under that stony exterior.”
Gus shook his head. “A mistake, I’d urge him against time and again, but he’d never listen. “You never raised any young ‘uns,” he’d say to me and I’d say, ‘No, I made sure to clear out long afore I got saddled with any brats!’” Mina watched his face and the subtle change it underwent again in the shadows when he showed his truly callous nature. It chilled her.
“So,” she said softly. “Nye returned and found he could not disentangle himself or The Merry Harlot?”
“Now, Mina,” Gus said reproachfully. “Don’t go deceiving yourself that man of yours is a saint. He objected at first, it’s true, but when he saw what a loss The Harlot was running at, and how locals shunned the place, he knew he had little choice but to throw his lot in with ours.” Mina pursed her lips. “Promised old Jacob he did, that he’d get the place back up on its feet.”
“They were reconciled?”
Gus sucked in his cheeks. “Well, they were never really what you’d call estranged,” he pointed out. “Nye had dreams of being a boxer, not a landlord. Jacob never objected, but he said it wasn’t a sport for any man passed his prime of life. You need something to fall back on, after you made your fame so to speak.”
“How about smuggling?” asked Mina with a touch of acerbity. “Is that a job suitable for a man passed his prime?”
Gus chortled. “Well, you has to leave the brunt of the more physical side of proceedings to the younger men, it’s true,” he reflected. “But when it comes to cunning, Mina,” he touched his nose. “Old dogs and foxes know best. Those young cubs and puppies don’t have nothing on us.” He gave a quick gesture for her to be quiet now, hearing Reuben’s footsteps approaching.
“Ah, here you are my lad,” he announced cheerfully, though Mina thought it was plain to see the younger man was still in a sulk. His cheek looked swollen from the blow Gus had struck him and he would barely look him in the eye. Mina wondered if there was some way, she could use their rift to her advantage, though nothing sprung immediately to mind.
“It’s growing darker out,” he muttered resentfully. “There’s a squall rising.”
Mina wondered how long she had really been missing from The Harlot. If it was growing dark, then it must be about six o’clock at least and it had not been long past lunch when she’d been struck on the head. She wondered how soon someone would raise the alarm that she was missing. She did not think the household would be complacent. After all, she had ventured little from the inn and had no friends or acquaintances in the village.
Then again, she had told Nye she wanted to start walking on the beach, but maybe that could work to her advantage? If they meant to drag her to a clifftop to throw her off, surely the one closest to the inn would be the most logical. She had escaped once to clamber down that cliff and the fact was well known. She had walked that cliff path with Nye only recently too. Perhaps they would be searching for her there, even now?
The next passage of time crawled interminably. Gus and Reuben moved out of her range of hearing, though she could hear snatches of their murmured discussions, none of it was intelligible. They spent some time shifting cases or barrels from one area to another. She could only suppose they were expecting a new shipment of goods at some point.
Mina closed her eyes and tried to relax to ease her throbbing head, but it was hard. Her ribs hurt, though she no longer believed they were broken, and she could not get comfortable on the hard floor. She had just managed to achieve a light doze when she felt her side nudged with a boot.
“Sit up,” said Reuben harshly, though she little knew why he bothered, for the next moment, he was jerking her shoulder forward and cramming a rag into her mouth. Mina turned her head away and began to struggle almost as a reflex.
“Less of that!” He cuffed the side of her head and jerked her upright. “Come and hold her!” bawled at Gus. “I’ll knock you out again,” he warned. “If you keep this up!” He was trying to pass a cord about her wrists now, Mina realized and redoubled her efforts. All was in vain, though and now her head was dizzy as well as aching.
Gus tutted when he joined them. “That’s too tight,” he said feeling her bound wrists. “You’ll leave marks on her flesh and then the cat will be properly out of the bag. Haven’t you got the sense you were born with, lad?”
“You do it then,” Reuben fired up angrily. “For I’ve no patience with her.”
Gus adjusted the cord and then the strip of cloth about her mouth. “Right sorry I am, Minnie my girl,” he muttered. “But we can’t have you crying out when we’re scaling the cliffs. Reuben,” he said as the thought struck him. “Whatever you do, don’t go pitching her over the side until we’ve taken this gag from her mouth, d’ye hear me? Never knew such a hotheaded young fellow.”
“I’m not a total fool!” Reuben griped, then froze. “What was that?” he hissed and turned to look over his shoulder. Mina’s heart lurched as she knelt on the floor of the passageway, for she had heard it too. Something scraping noise above them. “Someone’s in the cellars, moving stuff about!” Reuben said hoarsely.
> “Nonsense!” Gus scoffed heartily. “You think Nye would bring anyone here? And give away his knowledge of the operation? He’s not such a fool, I tell you!”
“He’s a fool for her!” Reuben seethed. “And my ears are better’n yours, old man. I tell you, someone’s up there!”
Something seemed to catch Gus’s ear now, for he turned sharply and stared toward the left. His expression turned grim and he darted to fetch something, Mina was dismayed to see was a pistol.
“Let’s get out of here,” Reuben said, also drawing out a pistol. He looked at Mina with open loathing. “I’ve half a mind to put a bullet through her now.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Gus urged. “We may have need of a hostage yet. Help me get her to her feet.”
Mina braced herself as the two of them grabbed none too gently under her arms and dragged her upright. Mina was sure the scuffle they made had caught someone else’s ears for she heard a muffled voice and cursed the fact she was now securely bound and gagged.
“Let’s go,” Reuben said, viciously yanking her arm.
Mina gave a muffled sound of pain and Gus seized her about the waist. “You’ll have her over, you’re so rough,” he upbraided Reuben who only growled back at him like a cur.
She wasn’t how far along the passage she was forced to stumble and trip, but after a few minutes, the passage took a steep incline and they were climbing upwards and it seemed to have grown very narrow.
Reuben was forced to lift and push her through a tight opening, and she felt the sea air on her face and heard the crash of the waves. She saw nothing though, as her eyes had not yet adjusted from the gloom of the passage. They paused for a moment as they all three of them caught their breath.
“Take her arm, Reuben,” Gus puffed as they paused a moment. “For she’s no balance with her arms tied behind her.”
Reuben swore and seized her arm none too gently as she stumbled over uneven ground. She wished she had a better idea of where Vance House was situated but all she could remember Nye saying was that it was on the outskirts of Jeremy’s estate.
Her eyes were finally accustoming themselves, but little good it did her, for night had indeed fallen. She caught once again of the gleam of a pistol barrel and remembered both men were armed. Her blood ran cold. Try as she might, she could figure out no happy outcome from her predicament. Her feet dragged as she wondered how far she was expected to walk in her bound and weakened state.
As she stumbled again, Gus caught her and whispered to Reuben. “You’ll have to put her over your shoulder, lad.”
“Damned if I’ll carry her,” Reuben argued back.
“She’ll be going off in a swoon if you don’t,” Gus pointed out.
It suddenly struck Mina this was an excellent suggestion. She could not slow them down any more than if she made them carry her dead weight. And why should she aid them when every step drew her ever closer to her demise? Taking her cue from Gus, she swayed and then dropped like a stone onto the rough track they were following.
“I told ye, ye young jackanapes!” Gus said roughly. “Now look what ye’ve done!”
“Me?” Reuben carped back at him. “How’s this my doing, I’d like to know?”
“Because ye bloody near caved her head in this morning, that’s why! Bloody idiot!”
At this a loud, clear voice rang out. “Halt in the name of the law!” and all hell broke loose.
Mina rolled into a ball at the sound of a gunshot and only the fact she was gagged prevented her from screaming. She fancied it was Reuben who had fired, and now another gun made reply from elsewhere.
“Hold hard, you fool. You’ll give them our location!” Gus swore as Mina scrabbled about on the floor, trying to roll to her knees. She would not put it past Reuben to turn his pistol on her, so strong was his dislike and her first instinct was to try and get as far from him as possible. Luckily, he was darting this way and that, peering wildly into the darkness as though to pierce the shadows for their attackers. Very likely, he still thought her unconscious.
Feeling deafened, Mina managed to find her feet and stagger back until she hit a convenient boulder, which she made haste to scramble around her abductors were distracted. She had just taken another step backwards when two arms closed about her and a hand clamped across her mouth.
She rolled her eyes, trying to see who this newcomer was, when she heard him swear to find her already gagged. At the sound of his voice, she sagged with relief, for it was Nye. She could have cried if she hadn’t been so paralyzed with fear. Before she knew it, she was scooped up and borne a few feet away behind some gorse bushes. Even as Nye set her down, she heard Reuben’s bellow of fury at finding she had gone.
“Where is she? I’ll kill her! I’ll kill her!” he roared.
“Untie her—check her wounds,” Nye said in a furious undertone, and Mina perceived he had handed her into the care of Edward Herney.
She made a muffled attempt to warn Nye and would have grabbed at him to stay him if it were not for her bonds. She made a sound of distress in her throat as Herney fumbled to open his penknife to free her.
“Be calm now, Mrs. Nye,” he tried to soothe her, but Mina paid him no heed for she could hear shouting and scuffling down on the beach. Her ears craned for another gun shot and when she heard two more shots in quick succession she flinched and turned so fast she almost fell.
“Nay, I’ll cut you if you can’t keep still,” Herney reproached her in the ominous silence.
“Herney?” called a voice. “Herney? Do you have her?”
To her surprise, Mina found she recognized that voice. It was Guthrie, the younger Riding Officer from St Ives.
“Aye sir,” Herney responded. “Though I have not managed to free her yet, poor lady.”
“Step forward, I say! Bring forth the woman!” called another voice arrogantly. That would be Havilland, Mina realized recognizing the voice of the older and far less agreeable officer.
“Yes sir,” Herney called out and apologizing to Mina, he took her about the waist and lifted her out to where a semi-circle of uniformed men who seemed to belong to the local militia were stood brandishing lamps and swords. There must be eight of them, Mina thought blankly, staring about her. Then she noticed the dark heap on the ground. It was Reuben.
Gus was kneeling nearby, very pale, his eyes squeezed shut and blood pouring from his shoulder. Her eyes scanned the company with painful anxiety for her husband. At last she hit on him, stood with his hands behind him and a rifle pointed to his middle-back. He stared stoically into the distance and did not meet her eye. He was under arrest, she realized despairingly.
“Look out!” shouted Officer Guthrie, hurrying forward then Mina’s whole world slipped sideways, and everything turned black.
22
“There now, poor thing,” crooned a voice near Mina’s ear and she caught a whiff of sal volatile under her nose. Twisting away from it, she opened her eyes to find a plump, elderly matron bent over her with a look of extreme concern.
“Wha—?” Mina scanned the dark room to find herself in a comfortable lady’s sitting room, lying on a sofa. “Where am I?”
“Why, you’re safe here at Vance House, Mrs. Nye. I’m Nellie Tavistock and the officers bade me to keep you quiet and get you rested—”
“I must see my husband at once!” she said sitting up and dislodging a good deal of cushions. Her head swam and she nearly sank back down again. That was what she got for crying wolf, she thought contritely.
“There now! You mustn’t go upsetting of yourself, Mrs. Nye!” the plump old lady said as Mina moved a hand to the back of her head which was now dressed with a bandage. “I bathed your poor head myself and your wound is nicely cleaned and covered.”
“Thank you.” Mina flushed. “I do not mean to sound ungrateful, Miss Tavistock, but—”
A knock on the door interrupted them. A look of exasperation passed over Nellie Tavistock’s amiable countenance. “There now if it isn�
�t them again! You stay there,” she ordered and hurried over to the door.
Mina listened to the low murmur of voices, steadily rising, until poor Miss Tavistock was thrust aside and Officer Havilland brushed past her.
“She’s conscious now at least,” he said, looking Mina up and down as his colleague stayed by the door apologizing to the Miss Tavistock who was a good deal ruffled.
“I certainly am,” said Mina swinging her legs onto the floor with a wince and shooting out a hand to the arm of the sofa to steady herself.
“She’ll be fetched off again in another swoon, like as not!” cautioned Miss Tavistock who was becoming less amiable by the minute. She scurried to Mina’s side and turned a ferocious expression on the officers.
“That can’t be helped, my good woman,” said Officer Havilland briskly. “I must needs have an account from Mrs Nye immediately.
“The good doctor,” Miss Tavistock bridled, “said as she was not to be bothered—”
“Where is my husband?” Mina cut across this interchange. “Not another word will I speak until I have had some speech with him!”
“He has been taking to the holding cells at St Ives,” said Guthrie apologetically.
Mina gasped as an irritated expression passed over Havilland’s face.
“That need not be your uppermost concern, I assure you,” Officer Havilland said with a sneer. “The onus is now on you to clear your own name from our investigations.”
Mina turned to Miss Tavistock. “Would it be possible to send word to Viscount Faris? I believe he was your landlord until very recently?”
Miss Tavistock looked flustered. “My Lord Faris? Of course, but—”
A Bride for the Prizefighter: A Victorian Romance Page 31