The Workhouse Girl (44 page)

‘Don't, Davey.' She drew away from him. ‘It's not that I don't like being kissed by you, but when you touch me I just can't think straight.'

A pleased smile curved his lips. ‘That's the general idea.'

She wanted to laugh but it did not seem right in the circumstances. ‘This isn't about us.'

‘Of course it is, sweetheart.'

‘No, it isn't, Davey. Can't you see that the future of Blackwood House and maybe the whole village is at stake here? George Fitch would see us all in the workhouse rather than let us stay here, and we've nowhere else to go.'

‘We'd manage, Sarah. You could marry me. I'd look after you.'

‘You'll be hard pressed to support Mary and the boys, let alone a wife. We'll have to wait a long time before either of us can think of getting married.'

He took her hand and held it to his heart. ‘Will you, though? Will you wait for me to make good?'

She was about to answer when the door opened and Lemuel burst into the room. ‘Come quick. There's a carriage pulling up outside and it might be that bad woman looking for the dead man. Parker told me all about him being swallowed up by the yew tree tunnel. I always knew it was a bad place.'

‘Don't say things like that,' Sarah said, taking him by the shoulders and shaking him. ‘It's our secret. No one must know or we'll all be in terrible trouble.'

Lemuel's bottom lip trembled. ‘I never meant to say the wrong thing.'

She hugged him to her. ‘Of course you didn't, but remember what I've just told you.' She sent an agonised glance to Davey. ‘This could be the start of it.'

He made for the door. ‘I'm going to find Moses. I'll use the secret passage so that our visitor doesn't see me leave.'

‘Be careful,' she called after him. ‘Don't take risks, Davey. I don't want to lose you too.' She took Lemuel by the hand. ‘Let's go and see who's calling on us so late in the day.'

They reached the front door just as Mary opened it and a stream of damp air flooded into the entrance hall, rattling doors and lifting the holland covers that remained draped over the furniture.

‘Crikey, what a place.' Nettie stood in the doorway, staring round in wide-eyed astonishment. ‘You never told me you'd been living in a bloody castle.'

Sarah flung her arms around her. ‘Oh, Nettie. I'm so glad to see you, but why are you here? I thought you'd landed a big part in a play.'

‘It's just a walk-on,' Nettie said casually. ‘I'm not needed for a day or two and my digs were disgusting, so I went to Elbow Lane to see if I could stay there until I'd found something better.' She paused for breath and her eyes filled with tears. ‘Dorcas told me what had happened. I'm so sorry about Tobias. He was a good bloke and I wanted to pay my respects.'

‘I still can't believe that he's gone.' Sarah dashed a tear from her cheek and turned her attention to Mary and Lemuel, who were gaping at Nettie's colourful attire. ‘This is my very good friend Nettie Bean. We've known each other since we were children.'

‘How do?' Nettie said, extending a mittened hand to Mary. ‘And what's your name, poppet?'

Mary bobbed a curtsey. ‘It's Mary, miss. And this is me brother, Lemuel.'

‘I ain't no one's poppet, lady.' Lemuel backed away, eyeing Nettie doubtfully. ‘I got things to do.' He ran off in the direction of the kitchen.

‘Don't take any notice of him,' Sarah said, chuckling. ‘He probably thinks you've come to evict them from the house. We don't get many visitors here.'

Nettie wrinkled her nose. ‘I'm not surprised. It's a bit gloomy, not to say spooky.'

‘It's nothing of the kind.' Sarah linked her hand through Nettie's arm. ‘Come into the drawing room and get warm. You're just in time for supper.'

They were seated round the kitchen table enjoying the ham and pickles provided by Mrs Arbuthnot when Davey burst into the room. ‘I thought you'd gone to the inn to find Moses,' Sarah said anxiously. ‘What happened?'

‘There wasn't any need. When I reached the crypt I found it stacked with contraband. Parker and I have just finished moving it to the cellar, and I sent him to the village to warn everyone that the excise men will be raiding Blackwood House in the very near future.' He took his seat at the table opposite Moorcroft. ‘That's right, wasn't it, guv? You tipped them off when you reported Fitch to the police.'

‘I most certainly did, and they're probably on their way here as we speak. You've done well, Davey. Now all we have to do is to wait and see.'

‘Will there be fighting?' Jonah's eyes shone with anticipation. ‘Can I have a cutlass like a pirate?'

‘And me,' Lemuel added excitedly. ‘We can bury the dead bodies with the old man.'

‘That's enough of that.' Sarah sent him a warning glance. ‘It's his vivid imagination,' she added, noting Mrs Arbuthnot's anxious look. ‘He gets carried away by it at times.'

‘Yes,' Mary said emphatically. ‘We never buried no one in the woods. It's just a story I told the boys.'

‘That's some tale at bedtime,' Mrs Arbuthnot said, laughing. ‘It would be enough to give the little fellows nightmares.'

Nettie speared a pickled onion with her fork. ‘I'm glad I came. This is all very exciting. But I doubt if I'll get a wink of sleep tonight.' She glanced around with a theatrical shiver. ‘Is this place haunted?'

‘Certainly not.' Sarah frowned at Jonah who was obviously bursting to tell Nettie about the yew tree tunnel. ‘That's the sort of tale that the older children used to frighten us with in the workhouse.'

Mrs Arbuthnot held her table napkin to her lips. ‘Oh dear, you poor girls.'

Nettie gulped down a mouthful of food. ‘Don't upset yourself, ma'am. We had a good laugh sometimes, didn't we, Sarah? Like the time when Mrs Trigg fell over dead drunk and we saw her drawers.'

Lemuel and Jonah almost fell off their seats giggling and Mary stared open-mouthed at Nettie. ‘I'd get smacked for saying that,' she whispered.

‘Ah, but I'm a grown-up and I'm too big to be slapped,' Nettie said, grinning mischievously. ‘But I had me backside tanned no end of times by the Tickler when I was in the workhouse, and that weren't funny. If I had old Trigg here now I'd snap me fingers in his face and tell the old devil to go to hell.'

Moorcroft smiled benevolently. ‘My dear, you're a tonic.'

‘I think you ought to moderate your language in front of the little ones,' Mrs Arbuthnot said firmly, but Sarah noticed that her lips twitched and she exchanged amused glances with Moorcroft. There was definitely something going on between them, Sarah decided, and that could only be a good thing. Two such nice people ought to get together and give each other mutual comfort, even if they were old.

‘I never know when to keep me mouth shut,' Nettie said ruefully. ‘It's what comes of not having a proper upbringing. I was dumped in the workhouse when I was just a few days old, or so Trigg liked to tell me. He used to say that even me own mother couldn't stand the sight of me because I had hair the colour of boiled carrots. Who would credit someone saying that to a nipper?'

‘Do you know anything about your parents, my dear?' Mrs Arbuthnot was suddenly serious.

Nettie shrugged her shoulders. ‘Not a thing, ma'am.'

‘There's nothing wrong with copper-coloured hair,' Moorcroft said stoutly. ‘I knew a young lady who had hair the very same colour as yours, Nettie, and she . . .' He broke off, staring at Nettie as if seeing her for the first time. ‘How old are you, my dear?'

‘I'm nearly nineteen, sir.'

Sarah's hand flew to cover her mouth as she uttered a gasp of surprise. Why had she not seen it before? The likeness was startling. She glanced at Moorcroft but he was concentrating all his attention on Nettie. ‘Was your name given to the workhouse master when you were brought there as a baby?'

‘I dunno, sir.' Nettie bit into a slice of bread, chewed and swallowed. ‘What's up?' she demanded. ‘Why are you all staring at me?'

‘Because any information you have is vital,' Moorcroft said gently. ‘Think hard, Nettie.'

She shrugged her shoulders and reached for another slice of meat. ‘I've been living off cold pies and watercress for the last two days. I don't get me wages until the end of the month and I'm broke.' She glanced at Moorcroft and smiled. ‘Sorry, you was asking about me real name. They told me it was Nanette, but they changed it to Nettie and they gave me the name Bean. I never knew why they chose that but I suppose it's as good as any.'

Moorcroft rose to his feet. ‘If you'll excuse me, I would like to go outside and get some air.'

‘Are you unwell, Martin?' Mrs Arbuthnot clutched her hand to her throat, eyeing him in alarm. ‘Would you like me to accompany you?'

He laid his hand on her shoulder. ‘Thank you, Sophia, but I have a lot to think about. I'll say goodnight, my dear.' He hurried from the room.

‘What was all that about?' Nettie turned to Sarah with a puzzled look. ‘Did I say something wrong?'

‘No, of course not,' Sarah said hastily. ‘It's been a long and tiring day and it's time that Jonah and Lemuel were in bed. You too, Mary.' She stood up to marshal the children out of the kitchen, giving Mary a chamber candlestick to light their way to bed. ‘Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day,' she said when they protested. ‘All sorts of exciting things will happen and I need you to be very brave.'

‘Will you read us a story before we go to sleep?' Lemuel glanced nervously at the place where the stairs disappeared into the darkness. ‘Are there really ghosts, Sarah?'

She bent down to drop a kiss on his curly head. ‘Of course not. It's just a story put about by wicked Mr Fitch to keep people from discovering the secrets of Blackwood House. But tomorrow when the revenue men raid the cellars he'll find that his plan didn't work.'

‘But we'll have to leave here, won't we?' Mary whispered. ‘It's his house now and he'll throw us out.'

‘I don't know what will happen, but we'll stick together even if we have to live in what's left of Davey's boat.' She kissed Mary on the cheek but Jonah backed away.

‘I'm a big boy,' he muttered. ‘Big boys don't get kissed.'

‘That's where you're wrong, Joe.' Davey had come up behind them unnoticed. ‘I think Sarah told you to go to bed. I'm going to count to ten and if you haven't got to the top of the stairs by then . . .' The boys raced on ahead with Mary following at a more dignified pace. Davey turned to Sarah with a wide smile. ‘It works every time, but he was wrong about big boys not wanting to be kissed.'

She pushed him away, laughing. ‘Not now, Davey. I've been thinking about your boat.'

He pulled a face. ‘That's not very flattering, sweetheart.'

‘Be serious for a moment. I was trying to cheer the children up and I said we could live in your boat. I don't mean we should do that, but what state is the hull in? Could it be repaired for you to take to sea?'

‘Of course it could, but that would cost money which I haven't got. I was planning to sell what's left of the hulk. We'll need the money for rent if Fitch throws us out, which I'm sure will happen very soon.'

‘But if you could get the money to fix your boat, that would be even better. You could go back to sea when your arm heals. You'd be able to earn a living.'

‘Would you give up all this to marry a fisherman?'

‘Blackwood House doesn't belong to me, Davey.'

‘Would you settle for village life and the smell of fish?'

‘I love you, Davey, but I want to continue Elsie's work. I've spent years learning about herbal cures and one day, when I'm older and more experienced, I'd like to set up a pharmacy.'

He stared at her, frowning. ‘I didn't know you felt like that.'

‘Would you stand in my way, or would you help me?' She reached out to hold his hand. ‘I couldn't do it unless I had your support.'

‘I wouldn't stop you doing anything you really wanted to do, my love.'

‘Davey.' The sound of Parker's voice echoed off the wainscoting in the entrance hall as he came running towards them, his footsteps clattering loudly on the polished floorboards. ‘They're here. Trigg's men have come to collect the goods.'

‘
I'VE LOCKED THEM
in,' Parker said breathlessly. ‘I didn't know what else to do.'

‘Are they here alone?' Sarah clutched Davey's arm. ‘What do we do if Mrs Trigg and Fitch have come with them? They'll clear the place out and be gone before the revenue men arrive.'

‘It's no good locking them in our cellar, Parker. They can get away down the secret tunnel.'

Parker bowed his head. ‘I didn't think of that, son.'

‘One of you must warn the vicar,' Sarah said urgently. ‘Get him to lock the crypt door so that they can't get out that way.'

‘I'll go.' Davey headed for the front door. ‘I can run faster than you, Parker.'

‘But I know a shortcut through the woods. I can get there in half the time and you're in no condition to go racing across country.' Parker strode across the hall and let himself out through the front door.

‘You're still recovering from your injuries,' Sarah said severely. ‘You have to be careful you don't hurt your arm again, Davey.'

‘Don't fuss, girl.' He tempered his words with a smile. ‘We'd better warn the others and keep a watch in case Fitch decides to turn up before morning.'

Sarah slept little that night. She had had to share her bed with Nettie as all the habitable bedchambers were now occupied, and the rest were in such a state of dilapidation that it would take an army of cleaning women to make them fit for use. She had forgotten that Nettie talked in her sleep and when she pulled the coverlet off her for the umpteenth time Sarah had had enough. She got up, wrapped her shawl around her shoulders and went to sit in the chair by the window. The carriage sweep glittered with frost in the pale moonlight and the yew trees took on an even more sinister shape silhouetted as they were against the rime-encrusted lawn. A barn owl swooped past the window, graceful and deadly in its hunt for food, and the distant bark of a dog fox shattered the silence. She huddled in the chair, shivering in a chilly draught from the casement window, curling her bare feet under her in an attempt to keep them warm.