Lord of the Far Island (20 page)

I slipped out of bed and noticed there was a key in the door. I turned it and now that I had locked myself in it was amazing what comfort I found, so I blew out the candles.

I lay there for some time while scenes from the day events kept flashing in and out of my head; and finally I was so tired, I suppose, that I slept.

It was inevitable that the dream should come.

There it was as vivid as it had ever been. There was the room with the red curtains, the table, the window seat, the firedogs the china ornaments. The storm-at-sea picture over the fireplace. I noticed that the wind was blowing the curtains. The door was moving.

Slowly it opened. Now that awful fear, that certainty that I was in great danger.

I was awake, with the familiar sense of doom upon me. At first I did not know where I was. Then I remembered that I was in the castle on Kellaway Island.

My heart was racing and I was trembling with fear.

It only the dream, I soothed myself, but the doom seemed to have come nearer.

Discovery in a Sketchbook

Sunshine filled my room and the terrors of the night had completely disappeared with the coming of daylight.

I rang the bell and Janet came in.

ave e slept well, Miss Ellen?she asked.

I said I had finally.

is always the same in a new bed,she answered, and went off to get my hot water.

When I went down I found Gwennol and Jenifry at the table. They asked how I had slept.

elp yourself from the sideboard,said Jenifry. here ham, eggs and deviled kidneys. If there is something different you would like, Benham will see that it brought for you.

I went to the sideboard on which were the breakfast dishes she had mentioned. I took some ham and eggs and sat down to eat them.

We were talking of the weather when Jago came in. His eyes went at once to me and he inquired solicitously if I had slept well and found all that I needed. He said that in an hour or so he would be ready to show me the Island. Could I be ready by then? I said that I could.

wennol or I could show Ellen if you are busy,said Jenifry.

ndeed you will not,he retorted. am determined to have that pleasure.

hich mount will you give her?asked Gwennol.

llen will choose for herself in due course,he replied. was wondering if I advise Daveth for a start.

he a bit spirited,said Gwennol.

erhaps theyl be well matched.He was eyeing me with an expression I couldn quite understand but it made me determined to ride the spirited Daveth.

After breakfast I changed into my riding habitart of my trousseau. They were pale gray and very elegant, and I had a gray riding hatall-crowned like a man top hathich I was well aware suited me well.

Jago looked at me with approval when I met him in the stable yard. ou are so elegant,he said. ou put us all to shame.

I laughed. his riding habit is part of my trousseau, and I can assure you I never had anything so grand before.

t least then you got something out of it! But we made a pact, remember, not to talk of the past? The people of the Island will be enchanted with you and I am going to enjoy introducing them to you and you to the Island. I shall take you first to the highest peak, from where you can see all around you and for miles out to sea if the air clear enough. Youl get the idea of the lie of the land, as it were. Then wel go down to our little township. It hardly thatut what in a name?

He was riding a white horse with a black mane and I had to admit that horse and rider looked magnificent; they suited each other. I found Daveth, as Gwennol had suggested, somewhat sprightly, but I was able to manage her. Jago glanced sideways at me on one or two occasions and I was delighted out of all proportion because I was a tolerably good horsewoman and, I believed, had his approval.

We paused at the top of the hill. What a sight lay before us! I had a wonderful view of the castle with its gray stone walls and battlemented towers. What an impressive edifice it was! It seemed impregnable, almost as though it were truculently inviting an enemy to come and try to take it and see what the result would be. In the past it would have been a perfect fortification against marauders. I could see the Blue Rock Island rising out of the sea.

Jago followed my gaze. lue Rock,he said. t a pity we allowed that to pass out of our hands. It belonged to the Kellaways at one time.

hat happened then?

our grandfather sold it. He was in financial difficulties. To tell the truth, he was a bit of a gambler. I think the family have regretted the sale ever since.

s that a house on it?

es. It Blue Rock House. The one built by that Gwennol I told you about.

oes anyone live there now?

n artist. He inherited it from the man your grandfather sold it to. I think he a nephewor great-nephew or something.

oes he live there alone?

uite alone. He not there all the time though. He travels around a bit, I believe.

s he a well-known artist?

don know enough about such matters to tell you. His name is James Manton. Have you ever heard it?

can say I have, although I don know very much about painters either. My mother was an artist. I remember how she always had a sketchbook with her and she used to draw pictures to amuse me. Perhaps I shall meet this James Manton.

e doesn visit the Island. He and your father didn like each other. Look. You can see the mainland. Can you make it out?

I could. t a comforting sight,I commented.

omforting.A faint frown appeared between his eyes.

ne doesn feel so cut off from the rest of the world,I explained.

oes it bother you then to feel cut off?

ot really, but I suppose one would always be aware of being on an island and therefore it nice to know that the mainland is not far away.

ne is, you know, when the weather is bad as youe discovered. There are some seas it would be folly to put out in.

es, but there is always the knowledge that it will change and that the bad weather won last forever.

He nodded.

will show you our community. It complete in itself. We are a little kingdom, you might say. There is much of long-ago times left on the Island and I intend to keep it that way.

We cantered across a green stretch and had come to the shore.

He showed me a stake stuck in the sand. t high tide,he said, hat will be covered with water. It been there five hundred years. At that time the lord of the Islandt must have been a Kellawayould order that a criminal should be tied to it at low tide. He would be given two barley loaves and a pitcher of water and left there. When the tide rose he would be drowned.

ow cruel.

t was the justice of the day.

ou don follow that practice now, I hope,I said jocularly.

o, but I keep good order here, as I told you. Look! There is the old ducking stool. It is used even now. Sometimes a man friend will duck his nagging wife, or there will be someone suspected of being a witch.

nd that still goes on?

He shrugged his shoulders. ld customs remain and in a place like this more so than on the mainland. Come along, I want you to meet some of the people. I want them to know that you are my honored guest.

We had come to a group of houses surrounded by fields. A man driving a cart was coming towards us. He touched his forelock and called out: ood day to e, Mr. Jago.

ood day,responded Jago. his is my ward, Miss Ellen Kellaway.

ood day to e, Miss,said the man.

nd a fine one, Jim, eh?

ye, Master, is indeed a fine one.

He passed on.

ll these people,said Jago, re our tenants. Every bit of the land is Kellaway land owned by the family for the last six hundred years.

In the center of the houses was a shop, the window of which was crammed full of goods. It seemed to be a linen draper, hosier, tallow chandler, hardware man, grocer and baker all combined. I made up my mind that I would take an opportunity of visiting that shop as soon as possible.

From one house in the street came the cheerful sound of much merrymaking.

can guess what happening here,said Jago, ecause I know there a new baby in the house. It a christening party. They wouldn like it if I passed by and didn well-wish the baby. Wel dismount and join them for a moment.He shouted: oy! Come and hold the horses.And as if by magic a boy appeared.

ake mine and the lady,said Jago; and we dismounted and went into the house.

hy is the master,said a woman, dropping a curtsy.

We were in a small cottage in which several people were gathered, and there was hardly room for Jago and mearticularly Jago. It seemed like a doll room when he stood in it.

is honored we be,said the man who seemed likely to be the woman husband.

here the baby?asked Jago.

he be in her cradle, Mr. Jago. would be an honor if you bless the child like and take a piece of the cheeld fuggan.

He would, he said, and I should too.

nd a glass of sloe gin, Master, to wash it down.

l have it,said Jago.

The cake was cut, and both Jago and I had a piece and a glass of sloe gin, which burned my throat a little.

ood luck to the child,said Jago.

ay she grow up to be a good servant to her master,said the baby mother.

ye,said Jago, o be it.

We came out into the street where the boy was patiently waiting with our horses. We mounted them and drove on through the cluster of houses.

ou find most of the houses similar,Jago told me. heye what are known as Lives Cottages. They were put up in a night and therefore the owners have a right to live in them for a number of lives. For instance if a man builds it, it is his for his lifetime, that of his son and his grandson. Then the cottage reverts to the landowner. On the mainland there are Moonlight Cottages which have been built in a night but remain the property of the builder for evermore. The only condition is that they must be started after dark and finished before dawn.

an anyone build a cottage in that time?

f they are fully prepared and have their materials ready they can have the four walls standing and the roof on. That is all that need be. How did you like the cheeld fuggan?

little too yellow.

h, that the saffron great delicacy here. Don let anyone hear you say you don like it.

I had learned a great deal about the Island that morning. It was a community of fishermen mainly, although there was some agriculture. There were many little coves where boats were moored and we passed fishermen mending their nets as they sat among the lobster pots. They all called a respectful greeting to Jago and I felt a certain pleasure in their respect for him.

He told me that there was a fair once a month when traders came from the mainland. That was if the weather permitted. Then the islanders shopped and stocked up until the fair next visit. Goods of all kinds and description were sold at the fair. It was an event much looked forward to.

He then began to tell me of other customs. ishermen don like to land with their catch until daybreak. They think the Little People might carry them off if they did. There is a great fear of the Little People or the Piskies, who are said to have very special powers, not always kindly.

He went on to talk of their superstitions.

hen people are engaged in a hazardous way of life they become superstitious. When fishermen are at sea they never mention rabbits or hares or any wild animals. It unlucky. If they meet a minister of the church as they are setting out in their boats they would turn back.

ow did such superstitions start? I wonder.

t may have been that someone met a parson on the way to the boats and didn return; and perhaps it happened a second time. That all that would be needed with such people. And once a superstition is born it seems to live forever. In the old days these islands were also a sanctuary for those who wanted to evade the law. We here were a law unto ourselves. Many an outlaw settled here; some found political asylum and became subjects of the ruling Kellaway. You see, it an interesting history this of our Island and we Kellaways have something to be proud of.

nd the line is unbroken all through the ages?

es. If a female inherited she was in duty bound to marry and her husband would then take the name of Kellaway.

t been a wonderful morning,I said, difying too. I feel Ie learned so much and it made me want to learn more and more.

He turned to me and laid his hand on my arm. want you to stay here, Ellen,he said. can tell you how much I want you to stay. When I saw you in London it was the Devil own job not to snatch you up and insist that you come down and get to know your family before you rushed into marriage. I can tell you how much restraint I put upon myself.

still can understand why you came like that. Why didn you tell me who you were?

t was the whim of a moment. You were so immersed in the prospect of marriage and then, when it fell through, I felt my chance had come. I wanted you to come here freely, because you wanted to. It difficult to explain. Suffice it that I happy you are here.

I was touched by the emotion in his voice. I was finding his company stimulating. He had intrigued me from the moment I had met him at the recital; he had frightened me in the house in Finlay Square; but that morning on the Island I decided he was the most fascinating man I had ever met.

He seemed to make a great effort to curb his emotions. las,he said, e must now return to the castle. There is so much I want to show you, but perhaps you have had enough for today. Get Gwennol to show you round the castle but don listen to too many stories about the ghosts.

re there ghosts then?

t would be strange if in six hundred years we hadn managed to collect a few. Most of them are in the dungeons. There have been one or two over the centuries who have tried to wrest our heritage from us, for to rule an island is the irresistible longing of some men. I can understand it, can you? It a little world in itself, a little kingdom. Perhaps you begin to feel that, Ellen. Do you?

certainly thought you must be rather proud when they show you such obvious respect, as they did this morning.