My Lord Deceived (18 page)

“I am just
going about my duties, Miss Baird,” Harrison replied blithely.

“Then if you
are completely satisfied that every inch of this house has been
destroyed, I am sure that you have other houses to wreck.” She
ignored her mother’s startled gasp as she followed Harrison through
the house. Her fury was so strong that she physically trembled with
the urge to shove the Excise man roughly out of the front door.

She hated to
feel so helpless, and wondered whether this was what it felt like
to be led away in chains. Her gaze flickered toward Hester’s house
across the street, and Kat wondered how she bore such infringements
on her personal space time and again. She could now understand
Hester’s need to get away from the village and seek sanctuary at
her mother’s farm.

The last Excise
man hadn’t completely left the doorway when Kat slammed the door
loudly behind them and turned to face the chaotic room with a
huff.

“Kat, you
really shouldn’t bait the man like that, you know. He will only be
worse when he comes back next time,” Agnes scolded. She swept Billy
into her arms and soothed him while she watched Kat begin to put
the furniture back into position.

“I take it that
you managed to secure everything?” She knew that mother and Billy
had, or the Excise men would have found the goods. She frowned and
considered the clean state of both of them. They hadn’t used the
manure pile by the looks of it, but never mind. At least they, and
the goods, were completely safe now.

“I don’t know,
Kat,” Agnes sighed when Billy had settled down and they all began
to put the house back together. “I think I have just about had
enough of this game.”

“What do you
mean?” Kat froze and looked at Billy, who stared blankly back at
her. They both turned to look at their mother.

“I mean that we
cannot keep doing this. There is far too much at risk. If we were
ever caught, one of us, if not all of us, would end up in
jail.”

“We need the
money though,” Kat replied.

“We can do
without it Kat. We will have our freedom and can live secure with
the knowledge that the money we earn is legitimate, and we will
have nothing to fear when Harrison and his men come to inspect
us.”

Kat couldn’t
find argument with that and merely continued to restack the
cupboard with a little too much care. It gave her time to think.
She wouldn’t be all that sorry not to have to go down onto the
beach in the middle of the night, and get thoroughly soaked while
she dragged heavy barrels, crates and things ashore. In the summer
it wasn’t too bad. In winter, it was back-breaking misery. Although
she would never say as much in front of Billy, at some point the
temptation would prove too much for him and he would sneak out
despite their best efforts to keep him away, and he would join the
smugglers on the beach. She couldn’t bear the thought of anything
happening to him; either prison or injury.

“What do we do
if we stop though? I mean, we can continue to run the market, and
we can just about get by with my wages from the tavern, but we need
the extra income.”

“We can make a
few cut backs on our purchases,” Agnes argued.

“We live
frugally enough as it is.” She didn’t want to argue in favour of
them continuing to smuggle, but they couldn’t really afford to cut
back any more than they already did. They didn’t starve by any
stretch of the imagination but they didn’t have much in the way of
luxuries either. They survived, just the same as every Cornish
family did in the height of England’s war with the French.

“Well, we have
enough put by to purchase more fruit and vegetables to sell at
market. Our suppliers can provide us with more stock and we can
afford the extra,” Agnes sighed, and slumped down in a chair
wearily, as though just the mere thought of all of the additional
stock left her exhausted.

Kat studied her
mother carefully. It was the first time she had seen her mother
almost defeated and could sympathise with the responsibilities,
fears and worries Agnes had. While the thought of extra stock and
more legitimately earned money was good, they couldn’t lose sight
of the fact that Molly wasn’t getting any younger. At some point
they would need to buy another horse to be able to continue to take
their goods to market. A new horse would cost them a pretty penny
and would undoubtedly wipe out the meagre amount of money that they
had managed to save.

“Before we
decide for definite, let’s break up the goods we do have and store
it ready for tomorrow’s market,” Kat suggested with a sigh.

“We are not
going to break those goods up while Harrison is in the area,” Agnes
snapped and glared at her daughter. Kat was sometimes so much like
her father that it made her heart bleed. She was so stalwart in the
face of adversity that Agnes often wondered where she got her inner
strength from. Even now, as outraged as she was by the callousness
of the Excise men, there was a forthright determination in her that
was so like her father that Agnes wanted to cry.

Since dear
Frank had passed, life had lost its sparkle and joy, and had been
replaced by a weary expectancy that had beleaguered her every step.
The only things that had kept her going were the market, and the
two people standing before her now. She would protect them with her
life, and couldn’t help but wonder what Frank would say if he knew
that she had allowed their children to be drawn into a life of
crime.

“Let’s get the
house cleared and then we can have some lunch. I don’t know about
you but I am starving,” Kat sighed. She nudged Billy into the
kitchen before her and left Agnes to silently contemplate the empty
grate in the hearth.

“Do you think
she is alright?” Billy whispered and into the sitting room.

“I think she is
just very tired, Billy, and she has a point about the smuggling. If
I am honest, I think we would be better to stop too.” She saw
Billy’s instinctive protest and waited for his argument, but none
came. Instead, he stared thoughtfully down the stairs before he
nodded before he disappeared outside.

After they had
eaten and ensured that the Excise men had left the street, Kat
began to unpack the boxes from the back of the drawers in her room.
Billy started to take them downstairs to Agnes, who waited with
paper and string. Together they broke the boxes of tea into smaller
packets that were carefully stored back in their hiding places.
They completed the same process with the bolts of cloth, which were
cut to order, and the barrels of brandy, which were poured into
bottles and jars they had purloined from Harry at the tavern. It
was a small industry in its own right, and Kat was rather proud of
their accomplishments. Still, she knew that they couldn’t carry on
for much longer. Harrison was becoming more and more determined to
catch someone in the village, and they had to be more and more
careful that the person he caught wasn’t any one of them.

A tiny shiver
of guilt swept through her at the thought of what Jonathan’s
reaction would be if he ever found out what they were up to. She
hadn’t exactly lied to him outright, but she hadn’t taken him into
her confidence either. She knew he would either be angry or
disgusted. Either way, if he did work for the government as he
claimed, he would have to report their activities to his best
friend, Mr Hamilton-Smythe. It would be ironic if they escaped the
persistent harassment of Harrison, and his men, only to be turned
in by the one man they had come to trust.

Late that
afternoon, a commotion outside the house drew everyone’s attention.
Mrs Barnaby was hurrying down to the harbour in floods of tears,
and was accompanied by a small group of people who looked as
harried as the fisherman’s wife.

Kat’s immediate
thoughts turned to Harrison. Had he caught someone with illegal
goods?

“Quick! One of
the trawlers has come back and there is a problem,” someone
cried.

Kat looked at
her mother and they hurried down to the harbour side along with
everyone else. They stopped at the edge of the crowd and watched as
the body of Mr Barnaby was taken off his boat. Brian, visibly
shaken, sat on the harbour side with a bucket between his
knees.

“What
happened?” Agnes asked Harry, who moved to stand beside them.

“He fell over
apparently and landed on his fishing knife. He didn’t die but the
cut was deep. They didn’t get him back to the harbour on time.”

Kat frowned at
that and doubted it was an accurate version of events. Mr Barnaby
was a fifth generation fisherman. Men with his experience didn’t
make amateurish mistakes like that. Accidents with fishing knives
were something a young deckhand would have in the middle of a storm
tossed sea. Today the waters were calm and winds were virtually
non-existent.

They stood back
respectfully while the boat’s crew carried Mr Barnaby’s body toward
his house. His wife wept quietly on her neighbour’s shoulder as she
followed her husband’s corpse home. A subdued silence settled over
everyone as they waited respectfully until the procession
disappeared from view. Once the group was gone, some of the locals
remained around the harbour side to chatter, while others quietly
ambled away.

As Kat began to
make her way home, she turned back to cast one last look at the
harbour side. Her gaze landed on Brian, who still held the bucket
while he studied her. The malicious gleam in his eye unnerved her
but rather than let him know how much he disturbed her, threw him a
dirty look and hurried up the hill to catch up with her mother and
Billy. She couldn’t help but wonder whether Brian had been involved
in Mr Barnaby’s demise but then immediately dismissed the notion.
Brian was a bully; someone who thrived on being able to pick on
those he considered weaker and smaller than he was. He wasn’t a
cold blooded and ruthless killer.

“There is one
problem,” Agnes sighed and threw Kat a worried look. They watched
Billy walk alongside Henry, Hester’s son. Assured that his
attention as diverted, Agnes sidled closer to Kat and lowered her
voice for Kat’s ears only. “With another one of the smugglers down,
they will need your help, now more than ever.”

The following
morning Kat let herself out of Dentham Hall, and made her way back
down the driveway. She felt strangely deflated that Jonathan hadn’t
been there. It felt as though the house was hollow and devoid of
life, and she hated it. She was uncomfortable with the fact that he
had become so important to her in such a short space of time.
Although she had grown up seeing Jonathan around and about the
village, she had never really spent any time with him. He had just
always been there. Even as a young man, he had been exceptionally
handsome and she, along with about every other female in the
village, had watched the young boy turn into the handsome and
debonair young man who was capable of making the old and young
swoon with delight whenever he passed. He had always seemed to be
on the fringes of her life. Always there but always set far
apart.

It was still
that way now, especially now that he spent so much time away from
home while he took care of his ‘responsibilities’. She had to admit
that she was intrigued to know what those ‘responsibilities’ were,
especially given that they demanded so much of his time and he was
adamant that he wasn’t married. Not all of his ‘responsibilities’
could be down to government business, could they? She hadn’t dared
ask his uncle about it whenever she read to him. It seemed wholly
out of place and she didn’t want to raise the old man’s suspicions
that she had too much interest in his nephew.

She slowly made
her way toward Tattersnell, where the market was in full swing. Her
mother and Billy had set out at first light with a cart full of
fruit and vegetables, and a lot of additional extras for their
regular customers. She could only hope that everyone came to
collect their orders because it had become imperative that
everything was moved on as quickly as possible.

She walked
through the throng and called greetings to those she knew well. She
nodded politely to those she wasn’t all that familiar with as she
dodged and weaved around the children, livestock and people.
Suddenly, the noise in the market dimmed. She glanced up and froze.
There, only a few feet away, was none other than Mr Harrison, the
Excise Officer. Kat’s heart leapt in her throat as she watched him
inspect the contents of the stall. She tried to keep her face
impassive while her eyes scanned her mother and a clearly terrified
Billy. She silently willed Billy to keep his wits about him and not
crumble in front of the nosy inspector, and headed toward them.

“Oh, I am
sorry,” she muttered as she bumped into a large, solid wall of a
chest.

“Kat? What on
earth’s wrong?” Jonathan growled, and drew her to a halt when she
would have rushed by him.

Kat’s gaze
snapped toward him and she stared at him in astonishment. Delight
warred with guilt before it was completely swamped with urgent
impatience. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the sight of
him, tall and debonair, before her. At any other time she would
have been happy to stop and converse with him only right now, she
had other things on her mind - like what she had to do to divert
the attention of Harrison and his men before they discovered the
baskets behind the table.

“Harrison is
harassing mother again,” Kat snapped and walked past him with an
angry scowl on her face. Her fists clenched with indignant fury and
she wondered just what she would have to do to get rid of the man
once and for all. She saw the relief on her mother’s face when she
realised Kat was there.

“Harassing us
again, Harrison? I really must warn you that you are seriously
becoming a problem. Whoever your contacts are have really led you
by the nose on a wild goose chase, haven’t they?” Kat drawled. Her
eyes were filled with hatred.