Smuggler's Kiss (24 page)

I sought out Will in the dim light. ‘They won’t hurt them, will they?’ I asked him anxiously.

‘They might, but they know not to go too far,’ Will said. I wasn’t comforted.

The two men were dragged back out of the cove, and up the road they had ridden down. All around me the men that were left carried on with the job of unloading the kegs from the ship. There were several crates of fine wine too, that were loaded into a small cart that had been brought down the slipway to the edge of the beach. I sat on the shingle, feeling sick at the thought of what might be happening to the two officers who had only been performing their duty.

I didn’t have long to wait to see what was in store for them. There were shouts from the top of the low cliff to the right, and two dark shapes descended over the edge. It wasn’t easy to see in this light what was happening, but after a few moments I made out the two officers, tightly bound, hanging from their ankles from the cliff top.

My heart almost stopped at the sight. ‘Oh no,’ I breathed. But everyone else was amused; there was laughter around me. The officers hung there, watching the last of the kegs being unloaded and tied to the pack horses. When everything was ashore and ready to go, there was a discussion about what to do with them.

‘Don’t have to stand by and watch us now, do he?’ remarked one man cheerfully. ‘He can dangle and watch instead!’ There was a shout of laughter.

‘Leave ’em there till morning, I say,’ one man suggested.

I tugged at Will’s sleeve: ‘Please do not,’ I whispered. ‘They could die.’

‘Interferin’ busybodies!’ said someone else. ‘They deserve what they get.’

‘A good beating would be more to the point,’ suggested another. ‘That’d teach them to keep their noses out of our business next time.’

‘That might get the law after us,’ said another man, to my relief. I’d been thinking the same thing.

‘How about you hand them over to the skipper for a holiday in France?’ suggested Will.

This caused a great deal of hilarity. The bound officers were hauled back up the cliff and carried back down to the beach, strapped onto their own horses. There was some rough horseplay as the men were first dropped into the water and then loaded onto one of the boats and rowed out to the ship. Their horses were turned loose; the landers vanished quietly into the darkness with their train of ponies.

‘Come, Isabelle,’ said Will. The last boat was waiting for us in the shallows. I crossed the shingle to join him.

‘What will happen to them now?’ I asked.

‘The Preventives? Nothing too terrible,’ he said, jumping into the boat.

‘But what is a holiday in France?’ I asked as I climbed in after him. ‘What does that signify?’

‘We’ll drop them off with nothing but the clothes they stand up in,’ said Will. He grinned at the thought. ‘It’s unkind. Most speak no French and will have to find a way to get back to England. But it does no real harm. I thought it the least of the evils. Don’t forget they’d have flung every last man of us into gaol four nights ago if they’d had their way.’

‘I suppose so,’ I said reluctantly as I helped to push the boat out into deeper water. As the boat floated free of the shingle the last men jumped in and others bent to the oars, taking us swiftly out to
The Invisible
. Despite my concerns for the riding officers, I was delighted to be at sea once more.

The officers were duly dropped off in France. They’d been blindfolded and tied to the mast during the crossing and though I’d felt sorry for them, I’d been forbidden to approach them or speak to them, even though I was back in breeches.

‘Them boy’s clothes you wears might fool people as don’t look at you too close,’ Jacob said. ‘But if they hear and don’t see you, they’ll know we have a woman aboard.’

I agreed reluctantly to keep my distance. I was troubled by the treatment meted out to the men. No one hurt them once they were on board, but they were offered neither food nor drink. And to be abandoned in a strange country, a country with which we were at war as often as not, seemed a harsh fate. Especially as one of the men tearfully pleaded, as we left him alone on some deserted beach, that he’d ‘never learned to speak frog’.

‘It’s often done,’ Will assured me with a carefree laugh, as he swung up into the rigging. ‘If you think about it, they shouldn’t recruit customs men who speak no French. See it as an educational trip for them. They will know a few words for next time!’

The skipper approached me once the ship was moored in its usual berth in Cherbourg. ‘Isabelle,’ he asked, catching me while I was energetically scrubbing the tables in the galley. ‘A word.’

I sat down opposite him, pushing the cloth to one side, wiping my hands on my breeches and tucking some wisps of hair back out of my eyes. ‘What can I do for you?’ I asked him rather breathlessly.

‘It’s how much you dare,’ he said. ‘I’ve a large order for French lace if I can get it into the country.’

‘Oh,’ I said reluctantly. ‘I have to say, I didn’t enjoy it much last time.’

‘How about if we ensure that Lieutenant Oswald is not in the vicinity?’ asked the skipper. ‘It just doesn’t do to send lace through the usual channels, you see. It must be kept dry and clean and must reach quite a different market.’

I wasn’t unwilling to do my part. Especially as Will had promised me that there was money waiting as my share of the ventures we’d undertaken. It gave me some hope of being able to survive once the season was over. I hesitated, however, still remembering the terrors at Poole. ‘If you are quite sure he won’t be there,’ I said at last. ‘For I’m certain he would recognize me and find my presence most suspicious.’

‘Thank you, Isabelle,’ said the skipper, waving aside my objections as though they were irrelevancies. ‘I’ll send you and Will to the warehouse today.’ He half got up, and then paused and smiled slightly down at me. ‘You’ve been an asset to us,’ he said awkwardly. ‘I never thought I’d admit it. But you have. It’s good to have you back.’

He hurried out onto the deck before I could reply, obviously feeling he’d embarrassed himself in some way. I was glad of his words. It was good to feel useful and wanted.

‘Don’t let it go to your head, Isabelle!’ called Harry, breaking in on my thoughts. ‘He’ll soon be shouting at you again!’

I laughed, got to my feet and resumed cleaning the tables.

The quantity of lace Will bought in the warehouse made me thoughtful. It was more than twice what I’d smuggled last time, and I didn’t think I could possibly carry so much in one go. Will was in a more than usually teasing mood. ‘You need to earn your keep, you know,’ he commented. ‘We can’t have you eating up the whole ship’s rations and doing nothing useful any longer.’

‘What about my work in the galley? And that day on Kimmeridge beach?’ I asked indignantly. ‘I saved your skins for you!’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Will with a shrug and a laugh. ‘Who’s to say we wouldn’t have had a good turn-up and seen them off? Instead of which we were obliged to dodge the Navy for several days and run the cargo all over again another night.’

His voice and face were quite serious, with no sign that he was joking. But I could see by the slight creases around his eyes that he was enjoying himself.

A wonderful revenge came to mind, so instead of continuing to argue with him, I tucked a hand into his arm and spoke coaxingly to him: ‘Will, you know this money you’re saving for me?’

‘Ye-es,’ Will replied, clearly suspicious of this change in tactics.

‘Could I have some of it for a new gown?’ I asked.

‘Certainly not!’ exclaimed Will. ‘What? Should I allow you to waste it all on fripperies and leave you nothing for the summer?’

I frowned a little, wondering how to persuade him to change his mind. And then I remembered that I
had
another gown on board: the gown Ann had lent me would be ideal for the purpose I had in mind.

‘Very well,’ I agreed, suddenly docile. ‘You are very good to me, Will. Thank you.’

Will cast a suspicious glance down at me and I smiled sweetly in return. He was going to hate me presently.

Back on board, I took the skipper aside. ‘There is a great deal of lace there,’ I told him bluntly. ‘We’ll need a second woman if you wish to take it ashore in one go.’

‘We don’t have a second woman,’ said the skipper, frowning. ‘And it can’t be kept on board. The customs men will rummage the ship as soon as we make port.’

‘You may not have two women on board,’ I pointed out. ‘But we do have two gowns.’

The skipper’s quick mind grasped my idea at once. ‘Who do you have in mind?’ he asked.

‘Well,’ I replied, pretending to ponder the matter. ‘We need a young man, with no beard, someone slight and small enough to pass for a tall woman. I would suggest … Will perhaps?’

The skipper chuckled. ‘Send him to me,’ he said.

I stepped across the gangplank onto the quay at Poole, feeling even bulkier and heavier than the last time I’d gone ashore here. My maid followed: a great strapping girl, too stout for beauty, her head wrapped in a shawl.

‘Morning, ma’am,’ said the junior customs officer walking towards me and executing a small bow. ‘Welcome to Poole.’

I could see him looking at us both closely, a small crease between his brow at our bulk and at my maid being so hidden in her shawl. But I was confident in the knowledge it was not in his power to search us. ‘Lieutenant Oswald is not here today?’ I asked.

‘No, ma’am,’ replied the young man. ‘He’s at Studland today.’

I already knew this, but pretended to look disappointed. ‘Oh,’ I said. ‘He was so kind to me last time I was here. I wished to ask him where I might find a tooth-drawer. My poor maid here has a tooth that needs pulling. She’s in so much pain.’

At once sympathetic and eager to be helpful, the young officer explained to me where I could find the local tooth-drawer. Thanking him prettily, I left my compliments to Lieutenant Oswald and moved on, leaving the young officer to go aboard
The Invisible
. He would find nothing, of course. We’d already run our tubs into Swanage the night before.

Walking towards the town, I attracted one or two curious looks. My maid attracted even more. ‘Keep up, Betty,’ I chided her, as she stumbled along, appearing to have difficulty with her petticoats and shoes.

I got a baleful glare from under the shawl that made me grin. As we rounded the corner into the High Street, a middle-aged man apparently the worse for drink stopped and stared at my maid. ‘Now there’s a strapping wench!’ he exclaimed. As we passed, he reached out and clapped her on her well-padded bottom.

My maid whipped round and growled: ‘Try that again at your peril!’

Startled, the man backed off. He stared at the face half-concealed by the shawl. ‘That’s the deepest voice I ever heard on a lass,’ he said suspiciously.

‘Poor Betty has
such
a sore throat,’ I explained hurriedly, catching hold of Betty’s arm and dragging her away with some difficulty. ‘You cannot start a brawl in the street,’ I hissed fiercely. ‘Behave yourself, Betty!’

‘Call me Betty one more time and I’ll start a brawl with you,’ muttered Will at me from under the shawl.

‘You have no idea how to walk as a woman.’ I continued telling him off. ‘I thought I’d taught you better than this! Take smaller steps! Don’t look so bold! Everyone’s staring now.’

‘I will never, ever forgive you for this,’ said Will as we turned into a narrow alley where the lace merchant had his small store. ‘Not if I live to be a hundred.’

I chuckled. ‘Yes, you will,’ I assured him. ‘Just think of all the things I’ve forgiven you for.’

When we returned to the ship, the lace safely delivered to the purchaser, Will was greeted with wolf whistles and laughter.

‘Well, here’s a pair of pretty maids!’ cried Harry.

‘The maid is the most comely for my money,’ shouted another. ‘Come and sit on my knee, my pretty.’

Will shook his fist at him. ‘You’d soon regret it, my friend,’ he said. ‘I’m no dainty piece.’

‘A bit flat around here, aren’t you, my beauty?’ suggested another, cupping imaginary breasts in his hands. Some of the men were wiping tears from their eyes they were laughing so much. I blushed a little at their crudeness, but couldn’t help but be amused. Will was trying to take it well, but there was no hiding his humiliation. He soon hurried below to throw off the offending garments.

‘So how did he manage?’ asked the skipper once he was gone. ‘You had no trouble. Did he make a convincing girl?’

‘Convincing enough,’ I replied. Then my sense of mischief got the better of me and I added: ‘He might have been born to the role, in fact.’

‘I’ll be bound,’ sniggered Hard-Head Bill.

The wit was still flying back and forth when Will re-emerged some ten minutes later. My heart lurched at the sight of his slim figure, his strong legs encased in breeches, his broad shoulders filling out his coat, his fair hair caught back in the nape of his neck in his black ribband. He might not be especially tall, but there was nothing girly about him. The men couldn’t leave their teasing, though.

‘So our two girls are going into the lace trade then, eh, Betty?’ they asked.