The Captain's Daughter (28 page)

 His
startled questions were met with her demands to know why he never answered her
letters. He was clearly angry, but was it at her, or at being found?

“There are
certain people, very dangerous people, that must not know where I am. You
should not have come here. You might have been followed.”

“If I could
find you, a poor simple country girl, isn’t it obvious that they, whoever they
are, could find you without having to follow
me
.”

“Amy Sebbridge,
there is no one in his right mind who would even dare to accuse you of being a
poor simple country girl. Of course you are right, much as I hate to admit it.
I am going to have to review how I am to be contacted in the future.”

“There was some
luck and some chance involved, but I think a determined foe could track you
down, Ben. But that is not why I tracked you here. Why, Ben, please tell me why
you have not answered my letters?”

“Because, at
this stage, any form of communication is dangerous.”

“That is not an
answer Ben. You cannot even give me a good reason for your silence. I think you
don’t want our friendship to continue. You can forget me and forget my mission
to solve the puzzle, the enigma, of my origins.”

With that, and
with all her pent up emotion bursting forth, she marched away and down the
rickety steps, which swayed dangerously as if about to break. He called after
her, but she ignored his pleas for her to come back. Things might be different
later, but right now she was a woman scorned. At least, that is how she felt.
She was never going to see Ben again!

She retraced
her pathway through the maze. When she was rounding the curve that led to the
street where the coach was waiting, and just about where the clerk turned down
the lane, three workmen were standing talking on the other side of the narrow
street. It occurred to her that they looked familiar, but she was still deeply
agitated by her annoyance with Ben. Just as she neared the curve where the main
street would come in view, she felt she was being followed.

She walked
faster, and with great relief she saw that a sliver of the street where the
coach was could now be seen, although the coach itself was not yet in sight. As
she hurried towards the traffic filled street and to safety, now just a few
feet away, she was suddenly grabbed roughly and slammed into a doorway.

 Rough
arms gagged her and put a sack over her head. In panic, she struggled with her
assailant. While they held her arms pinned at her sides, other hands began to
tie her feet. Suddenly they stopped, and she was first jostled and then dropped
violently onto the hard cobbles. She heard yelling and then footsteps running
away. The bag over her head was pulled off. Ben was looking down at her. He
helped her up, and took off the gag and then the ropes from her feet.

“Are you all
right, Amy?” The depth of concern in his voice was palpable.

As an almost
involuntary reaction she put her head on his shoulder and wept, shaking as the
tears flowed down her cheek. He gently put his arm around her.

Sitting in a
nearby coffee shop, Amy, Leo, and Ben sipped the warm comforting liquid as Ben
explained that as soon as he was able to get out of his dressing gown and slip
on some clothes he followed her because of the danger she faced without an
escort in such a part of the city.

Leo told how
worried he was when he saw the three men enter the street after her and thought
they seemed to be following her. He hurried to the street but encountered the
three men returning. They stopped and stood talking and she was nowhere to be
seen. It was clear now that they were following her but had lost her.

Leo who knew
nothing of all that had passed in the last few weeks, naturally assumed that
the attack was random. Three ruffians who spotted a poor girl by herself and
wanted to take advantage of her. Amy and Ben knew otherwise.

She had
something she needed to tell Ben, so she waited until Leo was in the coach and
she was saying her goodbyes to Ben as he readied to return to his dilapidated
current abode.

 “Ben, I
saw these same three men this noon on the street by the Ramsey’s house.”

“I recognized
these men,” said Ben, “at least, one of them. The left side of his face is
badly disfigured. They are the same men who tried to rob the coach.”

“One of the men
I saw on the Ramsey’s street had his face obscured by his cap and his collar.
When I followed the little clerk who was taking my letter to you, one of the
three men had his face covered. I am sure they were the same three men. What
does it mean Ben? Why would the men who attacked the coach target me?”

A chill ran
down her spine at the thought she was being targeted. She noticed that Leo was
impatiently looking out of the window of the coach, probably puzzled why she
was taking so long to tell Ben adieu.

“There must be
some link, Amy, but I am absolutely mystified as to what it could be.”

“Remember the
warning in the unfinished letter?”

That cannot be
it. The mystery of your origins, if there is any mystery, cannot be connected
with an organization trying to kill French noblemen who have escaped the Reign
of Terror. There must be a simpler answer. They know we are friends, so I think
they are trying to get at me by attacking you. They likely wanted to lure me
out of hiding. We thwarted them this time. We must make sure they do not have a
second chance. You must be given protection.”

“Protection
from what?”

Leo had
approached without them noticing, and was puzzled by what he had heard.

“I will have to
trust you Leo, not to betray a confidence. We believe that Amy was targeted for
kidnapping.”

“Why?” Leo was
even more puzzled.

“I am in hiding
because I am engaged in opposing murderous agents of the
Comité de salut
public
, The Committee of Public Safety. They have discovered that Amy and I
are friends, and I believe they want to use her to force me out of hiding. I
have to make urgent arrangements to have her guarded. Please watch her until I
can make the necessary contacts.”

“We are
returning to Stokely-on-Arne tomorrow. I will be safe once I am home,” said
Amy.

“It is the very
opposite Amy. There is a measure of safety in the city. In the country you are
isolated and alone. I am not trying to scare you, but you need to be guarded
and protected.”

“If I may
interrupt, said Leo, “I and my friends could guard Lady Amy.”

“I appreciate
the offer, Leo, but these are real evil men. You have the best of intentions,
but you are no match for these men.”

“I know I don’t
look it, but at Cambridge I was in—please tell no one what I am telling you,
because I am betraying a confidence, only because of the urgency of the Amy’s
situation—a society that I must not name. We performed certain services for His
Majesty’s government. I also cannot say what they were. We were well trained in
ordnance, firearms, and fisticuffs, and in certain other arts of defense and
offense. I can get a hold of my friend and fellow member of the society, Pigsly
Comyn, within the hour and I will apprise some of the others by tomorrow.”

Ben was faced
by one of those snap decisions that life tosses at you. Leo’s story sounded
almost exotic, but Ben realized his own story would likely seem just as
outrageous. He had to go by personal impressions of Leo, and such impressions
can be deceptive. He decided he had little choice.

“Can you go to
Stokely-on-Arne with Amy?”

“That is no
problem for me.”

“What about
your studies?” Amy was concerned.

Leo laughed.
“That will not be a problem either.”

“How will I
explain it to Mother?”

“Simple,”
smiled Leo. “You stayed with me for several days. What is unusual about me
desiring to stay a few days in the country? You will have to be a little
discreet in how you bring it up to your mother, that’s all.”

“I can do
that,” said Amy.

“There is one
thing that concerns me,” said Ben to Leo. “Since the criminals seem to be
watching Amy, it would be best if they didn’t know that you are accompanying
her and her family to their home.”

“They won’t,”
said Leo. “I don’t have a coach, but Pigsly does. To get to Cambridge, we have
to pass through Stokely-on-Arne, except this time we will go no farther. Even
if someone were following us, which I am sure will not be the case, they
wouldn’t know where we disappeared. And being so near Cambridge, I can call on
reinforcements very quickly. A number of my friends would be game for this
lark.”

“It is no lark.
This is deadly serious,” said Ben.

“Perhaps I
didn’t use the best of words. They will consider this an adventure, and trust
me, we have faced worse than deadly serious on a number of occasions.”

Leo looked on
with a grin.

“I much
appreciate what you are doing, Leo, but may I have a word with Amy alone?”

“Most
certainly,” assured Leo, a trifle embarrassed.

While Leo
hurried back to the coach, Ben purposely turned his back so he would block
Leo’s view of Amy.

“What is it you
want to tell me?” asked Amy.

“This,” said
Ben, and kissed her passionately.

The next morning
,
immediately after breakfast they set off for home. For the sake of anyone that
might be watching, they had arranged for Pigsly’s coach to wait on the busy
thoroughfare. In actuality it was only a few hundred feet from the Ramsey’s
townhouse, so Amy was safe. A good scream would bring them apace.

Amy had not
seen Pigsly’s coach, but the description made her wince. She was told it would
be quite obvious when they entered the thoroughfare. It was painted green with
yellow daffodils as decoration. When they left the Ramsey’s street she was
keenly watching for it. She needn’t have strained her eyes. A blind man could
have spotted Leo’s friend’s coach. It was worse than she imagined.

As they wended
their way through the crowded carts, coaches, and wheeled vehicles of all
descriptions, a bright green coach with bright yellow daffodils followed them.
Little chance that the villains would not immediately notice it. Of course,
they would not know the significance of it, and it would be only one of myriads
of vehicles—that is, while they were in the city.

As they headed
out of the city on the road than ran north to Stokely-on-Arne, it would be
obvious that it was headed the same way as the Sibbridge coach, but even that
was nothing to worry about. Many vehicles were headed in both directions. It
followed them at a respectful distance.

Old Eben the
coachman, had been told that Piglsy’s coach was following them for protection
because of all the recent incidents with highwaymen. This seemed reasonable to
him, so he didn’t ask any more questions. He was given a loaded pistol, and was
told to fire it in an emergency.

Amy’s mother
was oblivious to all that was going on. She knew, of course, that Leo and
Pigsly were following them in Pigsly’s coach, but she did not know the true
reason why. As would be expected, they had not told her of the kidnapping
attempt, or anything else that might trouble her. All seemed quite normal to
her. Amy could not imagine how her mother would react if she only knew what was
really going on.

“I asked Leo
why his friend is called Pigsly,” Mattie suddenly broke in, to Amy’s surprise,
since Mattie had been dozing.

“Doesn’t he get
angry at people calling him that?”

“Leo said that
only his friends call him that. It’s a sign of affection. But he wouldn’t tell
me why they gave him that nickname.”

“Don’t mistake
me,” said Amy, “I don’t mean anything unkind, but Pigsly does remind me just a
little of a pig. He isn’t fat, but he is a little overweight. However, it is
not his weight, but somehow his face. The way it is rounded, I think that’s it,
and his little moustache.”

“Few porkers
have moustaches,” Emma broke in, “in fact, I don’t think I have ever seen a
mustachioed pig.”

“I thought you
were all sleeping,” said Amy.

“How could
anyone sleep with you having silly conversations?” complained Emma.

“We’re not
having a silly conversation,” replied Amy. “We were having a serious discourse
on Leo’s friend and a reasonable curiosity about his feelings, since no one
wants to displease the one who is guard...”

She caught
herself before she said something her mother didn’t need to hear. Fortunately,
her mother had not noticed.

They grew
silent, and the clip-clopping of the horses’ hooves and the swaying of the
coach and the warm day soon lulled her sisters back to their drowsy napping. Amy
was not immune to the enticements to sleep, but she could not. Too many worries
and concerns plagued her, and new worries seemed to arise out of nowhere.

The journey
home seemed long and boring that morning. She was uncomfortable and her throat
was dry. Troublesome thoughts took advantage of her discomfort and kept
prodding her. Three men had attacked her and tried to kidnap her, and would
have accomplished their goal except for Ben’s intervention. They had been
watching the house where she was staying while in London. Why?

Ben thought the
men targeted her, and she agreed with that, but is it possible that it really
was just random. She could not be sure they had even seen her or paid attention
when she got into the coach at the Ramsey’s house. They were not in front of
the Ramsey’s but nearer the main thoroughfare. Perhaps, their next job after
whatever they were doing to the Ramsey’s street was where she next encountered
them. Perhaps the attack was just a crime of advantage, and not planned.
Gagging her and putting a sack over her head might just have been to get her
away from where people might hear her screams and come running, to a place
where the local denizens didn’t care about a screaming girl. She shuddered
again at the thought. Although she realized that Ben’s theory seemed to have
more merit.

But there was
another thought that came to the fore. It was always somewhere in the back of
her mind. It caused her to be angry with herself, and she tried vigorously to
suppress it, but it periodically made its way into her consciousness. Could she
trust Ben? Ben was kind and gentle and endlessly helpful, but was she being
fooled? Was he putting on an act, for some reason only known to himself?
How
can I even think such things
she screamed silently to herself?

But there was a
faint worry that began to bother her. She hadn’t even thought about it at
first. But if they were hardened criminals who were accustomed to fighting, why
did they run off? Ben did not appear to be armed, yet they left almost
immediately. At first, this morning as she turned these thoughts over in her
mind it seemed to be only a fortunate turn of events, but it began to make her
more and more curious. Why did they not fight? Was it too near to the busy
street?

She could not
suppress these questions, and others from the past. The mysterious occurrences
at Hillside House. Ben’s disguises. Perhaps her worries were stimulated by her
residual annoyance at Ben, because she was still not convinced by his reasons
for seemingly ignoring her letters. And if her attackers were targeting her,
how did they know where she was staying? To her knowledge, outside of the
Ramseys and Ben, who would know where she would be living while in London?
Maybe some at the ball might know, but these were all the cream of society such
as Lord Eskman and some of the young men that had been eyeing her, and she
supposed some others, but they would hardly be consorting with some evil people
from long ago. The idea was ludicrous. But Ben had strange and shadowy
acquaintances. But that was ridiculous. Ben had rescued her. She soon felt
ashamed at even letting such a thought cross her mind. And so they shrunk into
the recesses of the less than conscious parts of her mind, where they could
hide until they next attacked.

That night,
filled with all her worries and questions, Amy found it difficult to quiet her
troubled mind. Sleep only came by fits and starts.

On Friday
morning, Emma, who was now able to get around without help shocked Amy at
breakfast by suggesting they take her telescope and go to the hill crest.

“Leo and Pigsly
will be there to see we are safe,” she observed.

“They might not
want to go there,” objected Amy.

“I very much
doubt,” replied Emma, “that they would rather be stuck here with two old
people, rather than up on the hill spying on everyone in four shires.”

“I doubt you
can even see much of one shire from our perch.”

Since Mattie
did not wish to go, and also did not wish to part with Leo, the final
arrangement was that Leo would remain at the house while Pigsly would go with
them. How Leo felt about his decision, he never revealed, but while Pigsly
spent much of the afternoon with Amy and Emma on the remains of the ancient
Roman camp atop Camp Hill, Leo spent the same time holding skeins of yarn for
Mattie and her mother. But maybe he did get more pleasure from Mattie’s company
than he would have from the company of the others. The depths of the human soul
are hard to uncover.

To Amy, Pigsly
seemed like an overgrown child. She had no doubt, based upon what Leo had told
them in confidence, a confidence she felt the deepest of obligation to fully
and completely respect, that Pigsly must be a far different person in other
places and other circumstances, but here he was definitely a man-child. He
seemed to have an almost naive interest in such things as Emma’s telescope and
well-nigh everything else.

He was actually
fun to have along in a mildly amusing way. Amy wondered if he had ever been to
the country before. He must have, and yet he acted as if everything was new and
a wonder to behold. When he wandered off, although not too far, this gave Amy
and Emma time to talk. Amy used the time to turn over many of her thoughts and
vent her worries. As far as any concerns about Ben, she touched on them only
very obliquely. Although Emma was very perceptive she did not indicate that she
got the point, although that might just be discretion.

Getting out of
bed on Monday morning was a difficult experience. Amy had slept poorly, at
best, since they had returned from London, but she didn’t want anyone to know,
so she put on a bright and cheerful front, although inside she craved a good
long sleep.

About lunchtime
Monday , the Ramseys turned up. Since Saturday they had been staying at
Brewminster Hall. They were now preparing to return home. Once again, Lady
Ramsey was upset and worried, because just as they were leaving to come to
Stockly-on-Arne on Saturday, they were told that a Frenchman escaping the
Reign-of-Terror was murdered on the road from Dover to London by highwaymen.
One of the bandits was shot and believed to be severely wounded, but he got
away with his fellow cutthroats.

“First
robberies and now killings,” she fretted, “when will it end?”

Sir Frank
comforted her, and gave her a little hug.

“Don’t be
upset, dear. You’ll be quite safe.”

“Did you find
out if the pendant belonged to Esther Belmont? “asked Amy.

“Yes it did,
and she was deeply grateful to see it again. I reported the matter to the local
authorities, and they carefully scoured the old mill and its vicinity but could
find nothing else. However, they hope it might eventually lead to the men who
are guilty of these horrible and bloody crimes. They are puzzled as to why
their search yielded nothing. It has been speculated that the thieves might
have hidden in the old mill, perhaps seeking shelter from foul weather.”

“So you think
they were on their way to the real hiding place?” asked Amy.

“That would
seem like a logical assumption,” said Sir Frank.

“But there are
only two groups of buildings this side of the river, our property and that of
Sir Benjamin, and I know they are not using our house or buildings. If anyone
came on our property, our hounds would make a great fuss. That would leave Sir
Anthony’s property...”

“Not at all,”
interrupted Sir Frank, “thieves often secrete stolen property in wild places
where no one would think of looking. It could be in a hollow tree or a small
cave, or almost anywhere.”

The Ramseys
remained for lunch. Amy had made up her mind, and she took advantage of their
presence to lobby hard and strong to go to London. She wanted to be near to
Ben, so she could try and resolve the questions and worries she had about him.
Her mental and emotional turbulence would be impossible to explain to her
mother or anyone else for that matter. In fact, she couldn’t even explain it to
herself. If her mother would not consent to her going there, she felt like
running away from home, and that would be sheer madness.

Amy did not
know what she would do once she was in London, all she knew was that she had to
go there. And there were two things, short of the madness of running away from
home, that she must do. The first was to induce the Ramseys to invite her, and
the other was to come up with a reason to persuade her mother. That seemed
impossible, but she knew she must try—and despite all odds—succeed.

“Emma should
consult the doctor again, she can’t just abandon her cure.”

Amy stressed
this as if poor Emma wouldn’t make it without another visit.

“But the doctor
said he was finished treating her,” said her puzzled mother.

“I don’t think
so,” said Amy. “I was certain he said he wanted to see her in another week or
two.”

“Funny, I don’t
remember that,” said her mother, straining to remember something the doctor had
never said.

Emma started to
speak, but Amy gave her a look that told the poor patient that she better
remain silent, or else. After a monumental and strident performance that would
put to shame the greatest performers that walked the boards, Amy to her
profound relief and great surprise, achieved her goal. The Ramseys invited the
girls, and her mother, still puzzling over what the doctor hadn’t said, agreed.

At some point,
Mattie got included, and undoubtedly allowed herself to be included because Leo
was going back to London, which made the Ramsey’ house of great interest to
her. Afterward, Amy could not remember how Mattie got included and
wondered if it wasn’t just a spontaneous act of nature.

Emma, the
original subject of the discussion, did not appear to be sold on the idea of
returning to the big city so soon, until Sir Frank mentioned that he was going
to visit the Royal Naval Observatory at Greenwich during the week and Emma
might want to come along. This caused Emma to join the effort, changing any
reluctance to wholehearted support. Eventually, Lady Sibbridge was buried under
an avalanche of pleading.

Because of the
need for the three young ladies to prepare for the trip, the Ramseys were
willing to remain that night with the Sibbridges. It gave Sir Frank an
opportunity for an extended visit with Amy’s father. They even played a game of
chess for the first time in over two years. It was an unusual game it must be
admitted, with different rules from any ever used before, but it was chess.