Moon Cutters (21 page)

‘Happen the dogs might attack it. They don’t take too kindly to cats. We took in a litter of cats once; the master brought them home and they kept on having litters. The dogs chased after them and caused all sorts of mayhem. Sir James took them down to the cellars to chase the rats away, and we haven’t seen them since. If you ask me, those dogs went down after them. A kitten would be little more than a snack to a dog.’

‘Would they eat a rabbit?’

‘Reckon so, if they could catch one, but rabbits are fast.’

‘What about adders? Would they eat rabbits and kittens?’ Lucy said, feeling sorry for them.

‘I expect they’d eat mice.’

‘Poor mice.’ Lucy smiled at the woman. ‘Are there many snakes in the countryside, do you suppose?’

‘Goodness, how would I know?’ Mrs Pridie said a trifle impatiently, and then she smiled as she remembered something. ‘I only saw a snake once; it came into the kitchen. There was Nancy, and there was me, and both of us standing on the table with our skirts hitched up and yelling fit to bust. Sir James came in and he looked at the creature, then he looked at us doing a jig, and he laughed and said he’d never seen anything so funny in his whole life. He said it was a grass snake and it wouldn’t have hurt us. He knows a lot about snakes and things, does Sir James. He likes studying them. He said snakes keep themselves hidden and are a bit private, on account of the fact that nobody likes them.’

She chuckled when Lucy began to giggle. ‘We must’ve looked like a couple of lunatics dancing on the table-top … and don’t you go putting that in that novel of yours, young lady, else I’ll never speak to you again. Well, I must be off. Don’t forget to drink your tea before it gets cold, and eat your pie.’

After Mrs Pridie left, Lucy went down to the library and gazed around the books. She didn’t know where to start, and turned to go back up again. She would ask the rector when he came to take afternoon tea with them tomorrow. He was a learned man and would know what a python was.

Before Reverend Swift arrived, Sir James had called Lucy and Miranda into his study.

‘I’ve got to go out for a while. I’ve told the rector to bring the designs for the new church window with him and tell me which one he wants. It’s been six months and it’s about time he made up his mind. There is a problem in that his wife keeps interfering. Persuade him to choose the Saint George one if you can. It’s the best and most suitable. I wish I hadn’t given him a choice in the first place.’

‘Why don’t you just tell him you want Saint George?’

‘Every time I do, his wife persuades him differently.’

Now, Lucy brought the conversation round to Saint George by asking the rector what a python was.

‘A python? Goodness, why would a young lady like you want to know about snakes?’

She shrugged. ‘I heard the word mentioned, and I didn’t know what it meant. I thought it might have been a sort of fire-breathing dragon that toasted people before it ate them.’

‘You’re not far off, my dear, except a python is real, whereas a dragon is a mythical beast.’

‘Thank goodness. I’d hate to meet one accidentally and be toasted to a crisp. Do tell me all about pythons.’

‘Allow me a minute or so to gather my thoughts together,’ he said and tucked into a slice of ginger cake. After eating it with every sign of enjoyment, he said, ‘Now let me think – what do I know about pythons? To start with, it’s a snake … pythons come in all sizes from small to large, and are not poisonous, and they lay eggs.’

‘Like chickens.’

‘I suppose you could say that.’

‘Even the male pythons?’

The rector went slightly pink. ‘No, not the males.’ He hurried on. ‘As soon as they hatch, the baby pythons have to fend for themselves.

‘What do they eat?’

‘Depending on their size, other animals. They coil themselves round their prey to crush them and then swallow them whole – I believe the larger pythons could swallow a whole deer – after which they sleep for a week or so to digest them.’

‘Ugh! How disgusting,’ Miranda said, though she was as fascinated as Lucy seemed to be and found the rector’s conversation more stimulating than his sermons. But Lucy was never this thorough in her questioning unless there was a purpose behind it, and she was beginning to get an inkling of what it was. ‘Do we need to dissect the habits of a snake?’

‘Sorry, Miranda. Can I just ask one more question? I thought snakes were cold-blooded and needed warmth to give them energy. Can they live underground?’

She adroitly avoided the sharp glance Miranda gave her.

‘If there was a sufficient amount of warmth each day, and access to live prey, then I would imagine they could. But I’m not an expert. I learned all this from a missionary who worked in the tropics and had seen one. Most pythons, especially the larger ones, live in warm climates. I’ve heard of a Burmese Python that grew to twenty feet in length.’

They both gasped at the thought of a snake being so long.

‘They’re very strong, apparently. On the other end of the scale, we have the grass snake in England, which is harmless.’

‘So not likely to eat a human.’

‘Dear me, no … at least, not in England.’

‘Thank goodness, for I’d hate one to swallow me. I’d rather do the opposite and have it wriggling around inside me.’

‘Don’t be so gruesome, Lucy. You’ll have me dancing on the table before too long.’

Remembering Mrs Pridie’s tale, which Lucy had related to Miranda with much amusement, they exchanged a glance and laughed.

The door opened and Sir James entered. He gazed from one to the other, smiling. ‘You all sound rather lively, so I thought I’d join you for a while. I’m pleased to hear that my young ladies are entertaining you so well, reverend.’

Miranda gazed at him, wondering what his reaction would be if he knew how intimate she’d become with his nephew. ‘We were talking about snakes, Sir James.’

An eyebrow rose and his eyelids flickered. ‘That’s a strange subject. Why snakes?’

Quickly, Lucy answered, astonishing Miranda. ‘Why not snakes? Mrs Pridie told us an amusing tale about a grass snake coming into the kitchen, which I was just about to relate to the reverend. She and Nancy thought it was dangerous and they climbed on the table and you had to rescue them. Is it true? We must hear your side of it.’

‘It’s quite true. It must be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.’ Sir James laughed as he launched into his own version of the event.

When he finished, Miranda turned to the rector. ‘You must eat another piece of cake, reverend, since Nancy made it especially for you.’

‘I must admit I’m fond of ginger cake.’ He patted his stomach with regret. ‘I’ve already eaten one slice.’

‘We won’t tell anyone if you eat another. Would you like a second cup of tea to go with it? What about you, Sir James? Shall I fetch you a cup and saucer? After we’ve eaten, we’re going to help the reverend choose a design for the new church window, since he can’t make up his mind. Why don’t you join us?’

Sir James had a pained look on his face. ‘No, thank you, Miranda. I wouldn’t want to influence the reverend in any way. I only dropped in for a few moments to make sure your guest was being looked after.’

He lied wonderfully well, she thought. He’d probably been listening at the keyhole.

‘The young ladies are delightful hosts,’ the rector said. ‘They make me feel quite young. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself so well.’

‘And he hasn’t tried to save our souls once. You must invite the reverend and Mrs Swift to Miranda’s birthday supper, Sir James.’

‘I already have.’ Inclining his head, Sir James left the room.

They spent half an hour gazing at the designs. ‘I’ve chosen that one because my wife likes it,’ the cleric said, unrolling one dotted with woolly sheep. ‘She said it reminds her of lambs waiting to go to heaven.’

Cocking her head to one side, Miranda said, ‘It’s a lovely design, but it hasn’t got much colour, since there is a lot of white and pale green. Also, I’ve never seen a lamb with cherubic wings flying about the sky.’

Lucy giggled. ‘Poor little lambs. They’re so innocent and docile, and we’re cruel to eat them. Do you think they go to a different heaven to us?’

‘I hadn’t really considered it.’

‘You should pick that design of Saint George killing the dragon. It’s so colourful and dramatic. You can just imagine it with the sun streaming though all those colours. Besides, Saint George looks a bit like you, reverend – a knight in shining armour bravely slaying the dragon. Don’t you think so, Miranda?’

Miranda nearly choked on her tea. There couldn’t be anyone who looked less like Saint George than Reverend Swift. ‘Yes … I suppose he does.’

The rector looked slightly bemused. ‘My wife considered that design to be too expensive.’

‘Good gracious, it’s not as though Mrs Swift has to pay for it. Sir James offered you the designs to choose from, and that was one of them, so the cost won’t bother him.’

‘Do you really think so?’

‘I really do. Before you go, you must be honest and tell Sir James you like Saint George best. In the strictest confidence, he was admiring it just the other day and said he hoped you picked that one, so I’m sure he’ll be delighted.’

‘I don’t know what my wife will say.’

Miranda gently administrated the
coup de grâce
. ‘I doubt if Mrs Swift will object to the symbolism of the fight of good over evil. After all, Saint George is the patron saint of England, a martyr who died defending Christianity.’

‘I don’t think Mrs Swift considered that. Yes … I will choose that one.’

It was a little while before the rector finally took his leave, and he was smiling happily because they had all endorsed his choice of window.

‘I shall send a messenger to inform the window-maker at once, and before you change your mind again,’ Sir James said drily.

They said goodbye to the rector in the hall. ‘You must visit us again,’ Miranda told him. ‘We enjoyed your company.’

‘Watch out for serpents,’ Lucy said softly as he strode off, and shivered as she turned to her sister. ‘I feel guilty about fooling him, don’t you?’

‘I don’t, because it’s a better window, and it’s one he liked. So did Sir James. The reverend is a sweet, gentle man, and his wife is beastly to him.’

‘For a moment, I thought you were going to say the dragon looked like her.’

They began to laugh.

When they were upstairs, Lucy asked Miranda, ‘Why did you lie to Sir James?’

‘I didn’t exactly lie. I was afraid you’d tell him you’d been down to the cellars … You have, haven’t you?’

Miranda could always tell when Lucy had done something she shouldn’t have. ‘I only went a little way in. It was quite boring, with bottles in racks. There was only one interior door that I could see, and that was locked from the other side. Why shouldn’t I tell him? He likes me and he wouldn’t be cross for long.’

‘Because he doesn’t want us down there; he’s already said so. It’s dangerous.’

Lucy began to laugh. ‘You don’t really think there’s a giant python down there, do you? It’s just a rumour to keep people out. I overheard two men talking about it before I had to make my escape.’

‘Then you must ask yourself this, Lucy: if Sir James has got nothing to hide, why does he want to keep us out? And where does that cellar go if it locks from the other side? There must be another entrance. Use caution, Lucy.’

‘Goodness, haven’t you realized yet? It’s because Sir James is a smuggler and he keeps all his contraband down there. Isn’t that exciting!’

Exciting, it wasn’t. If it was true, highly dangerous was what it was. Smugglers wouldn’t hesitate to kill to protect their trade. It involved men from all walks of life, Miranda’s father had once told her. They’d kill anyone who stood in the way of their illegal profit – men, women or children.

Miranda didn’t know whether to believe her sister or not. Lucy was highly imaginative. Sir James seemed such an honest and upright man, with a position to uphold, as well as being a magistrate. But he was possessive. He’d referred to them as
his
young ladies when talking to the rector, something she hadn’t overlooked.

And then there was the explosion.

Fletcher’s theories as to that had been quite plausible.

But Simon Bailey? Surely he wouldn’t mix socially with known criminals – or blow their property up. He had a brash sort of courage, which she’d come to admire, despite not being sure whether she liked him or not.

The trouble was, Miranda didn’t
want
to believe it. If Sir James was a smuggler, she couldn’t help but wonder if Fletcher was involved, too. She hoped not. She knew she loved Fletcher, but she didn’t want to be tied to a criminal who lived on his wits, and who attracted the attention of men like Simon Bailey, with the might of the law behind them.

Fletcher had told her that his heart was in shipping rather than farming. He wanted his uncle to run the farming side while he concentrated on the shipping. Had he been lying? He’d grown up here; surely he’d know if his uncle was involved in illicit trading. To be fair, he had warned her not to trust Sir James.

And what if he used the shipping company as a front? She had heard that slaves were shipped from place to place, the unfortunate creatures treated like cattle.

‘Besides the
Midnight Star
, I have another ship,’ he’d told her. ‘She’s in a bit of a state, but is being refitted. I’ve named her after you, but I’d rather it was kept secret between us for the time being.’

‘Then why are you telling me … and why must it be kept a secret when you’re in a partnership with your uncle?’

‘There are reasons I’d rather not disclose … not even to you, though I know I can trust you. My intention is to distance myself from my uncle. I’ve named the new addition
Lady Miranda
, after you.’

‘Oh, Fletcher.’

‘Oh, Fletcher.’
He’d mimicked her in the same way that last time, when she’d laid abandoned in the grass with him that day. And when she’d kissed the amused little quirk at the side of his mouth, he’d added, his voice almost a caress, ‘I really didn’t want the complication of love in my life; now I’ll never be able to live without you. As for the new ship, she needs a great deal of money spent on her before she’s able to start earning her keep.’