Convictions (23 page)

“Time enough for you to case the place and sneak back later.” Davis glared at her.

“Why would I do that?” Jennie gritted her teeth.

“The obvious reasons,” Davis said coldly.

“But I didn’t!” she protested again. She felt Sarah and Alice’s presence next to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Red Bull edging closer.

“Isn’t it true you did go back later in the afternoon when the captain wasn’t in his cabin? I saw you myself,” Davis accused, his eyes glowering.

“Well, yes, to return the needle and suturing materials. But he told me to,” she retorted, her pulse racing. “He saw me go in.”

“Long enough to take something?” Davis continued his grilling.

“No! I didn’t. I swear! I was only in for a few seconds.” Her palms were sweating. “I left the door open.”

“Just time enough time to take the key?” Davis said with disdain.

“The key wasn’t in the box!” she snapped again.

“Ah-ha so you admit you saw the box and knew about the key,” he challenged.

“Of course, I saw the box,” she said indignantly. “It was right in front of my eyes above the surgical supplies. I couldn’t help but notice it. My father made my mother one just like it.”

Nate stepped forward. “I saw her too. She was in and out…no time for anything.”

“
That
time,” said Davis.

“When else could she have done it?” Nate asked.

“During the night.”

“But she was asleep beside us all night.” Sarah stepped up. “I’d have taken notice.”

“And were you awake
all
night to
know
if she was there the
whole
time?” asked Davis rudely, punctuating key words.

“Well, no.” Sarah drooped. She squeezed Jennie’s hand.

“Or are the pair of you maybe covering up for her?” Davis accused.

“Of course not.” Sarah and Alice shuffled back a step.

Meadows and Nate considered the circumstances without saying a word. Red Bull slipped in closer with an odd, expectant look on his face. Jennie went into shock. Her mind whirled with the unfairness of Davis’ accusations and his attacks on her integrity. Suddenly, she felt anger rising in her.

“I was caring for Kate all afternoon and evening, and then I went straight to sleep,” she said through gritted teeth. “I never went to the captain’s quarters without his permission.”

“Not quite,” Davis peered around at all those nearby, as if giving a grand denouement in Old Bailey. “At some point in the night you rose and returned to Captain MacGregor’s quarters and wilfully stole from him.”

“No, I didn’t!” Jennie countered. “How would I have known where the key was? It wasn’t there when I went back the second time.”

“Ahh, so how did you know that the gold coins were in the box?” He raised his eyebrows at her. “I never said where the coins were kept.” He smirked at the others.

“I
didn’t
know they were kept there,” she snapped. “I’m not a simpleton. You’re the one quizzing me about the box and key; it’s not hard to figure it out,” she said indignantly, jamming her hands onto her hips.

“Look, here,” said Meadows. “She does have a point.”

“She wouldn’t have done something like that, I’m sure.” The look on Nate’s face said he believed her, but Jennie knew Davis had planted a seed of doubt.

“Easy to believe, if she weren’t already a convicted thief,” Davis said. He stared down his nose at her.

“I’m not a common thief, but I do have eyes in my head like everyone else!” she retorted. How dare he accuse her of stealing the coins!

“Ah, but isn’t that why you’re here? For thievery?” Davis looked smug.

Jennie felt her face go hot.

“But that was different,” she said in a low voice.

“How? You stole something that didn’t belong to you!”

“It was a mouldy sack of oats, and in a rubbish bin! Not something anyone wanted!” she spat out.

“Still, it wasn’t yours!” Davis punched a fist into his other hand with a loud smack. He leaned forward, looking hard into her eyes.

Nate moved as if to come to her aid, but Meadows put a restraining arm on his elbow.

Gathering his composure, Davis straightened. “So, we’re back to you sneaking in during the night then, if we are to believe you didn’t take the coins when the captain knew you were there.”

Jennie mutely shook her head.

“The captain would have heard someone entering his quarters in the middle of the night,” Nate protested.

Davis gave him a withering look. “The captain was as drunk as a lord. Like usual. He wouldn’t have noticed if someone had robbed the clothes off his very person.”

Red Bull snickered. Jennie threw him a sharp look. He grinned openly at her, no longer pretending he was doing anything but paying attention to the exchange and pleased at her discomfort.

“Others would have heard someone creeping about the deck,” Nate pushed in.

“Did you?” Davis gave him another smirk. “I rather think you were all in your cups too.” He glanced swiftly at Nate and Meadows. “And we already know the madam and the child weren’t awake to see anything.”

Meadows shook his head at Nate, warning him to keep out of it. Nate ignored him and stepped between Jennie and Davis.

“You can’t just accuse her of doing this because she happens to have been in the captain’s quarters earlier and saw the box. You said yourself…” Meadows grabbed Nate’s arm, but he shook him off. “You said the captain was drunk, so
anyone
could have gone in.”

“But not just
anyone
did, did they? She’s the only one who knew about the box.” Davis shook his fingers into Nate’s face.

Jennie was grateful for Nate’s support, but the whole thing had gone on long enough. Many of the women, who had since been released on deck, and some of the crew had gathered into a crowd just beyond them.

“I didn’t steal anything.” She pushed in front of Nate. “I’d have nowhere to stow it, would I?” She whirled around in her tattered shift that showed the form of her body and obviously no place to hide anything.

“Oh, I’m sure you hid it. Maybe on one of your friends.” Davis seemed to be toying with her. He smiled. “How about we search all of you?”

“You already know you won’t find anything.” Jennie crossed her arms over her chest.

She glanced at Sarah and Alice. They both did a slow full turn with their arms lifted to their sides, then came to stand beside Jennie.

“I think you’d have hidden it better than that anyway,” said Davis, shoving past her.

He strode over to Kate and Mary, and made a show of flinging the blankets about.

Jennie and the others rushed after him.

Almost instantly he pounced on the leather pouch that contained the medicines.

“Don’t,” Jennie shouted as he dumped it upside down. “You’ll spill all the medicines.” But it was too late. Everything clattered onto the deck in a heap: dried flowers, tins, lids, lard – and a number of gold coins.

Jennie heard a collective gasp. The women closest to her had gone pale.

“What? I don’t understand!” She gaped at the coins on the floor of the deck. Where had they come from? “I didn’t put them in there. Honestly, I didn’t.”

But the look in everyone’s eyes told her they no longer believed she was innocent. Even Nate gave her a peculiar look. Alice and Sarah stood stock still, eyes frozen.

Then all at once chattering and arguing erupted. Sarah and Alice were the first to defend her innocence, and soon the other women protested at her unfair accusers. The sailors hooted and hollered for her blood.

In the ensuing mêlée, Jennie watched one gold piece roll across the deck as if in slow motion, unnoticed by the others. Red Bull stopped it with his foot. Snatching it into his burly hands with glee, he glanced around and slid it into his shirt.

Before she knew what was happening, Meadows seized her arm.

“No wait! I don’t know how those coins got there!” Jennie protested, but no one tried to save her. “Someone must have put them there.”

She looked frantically at Nate. He gave her a negligible shrug of helplessness. His eyes told her nothing.

Davis put a hand on Meadows’ forearm. “She’s on board my ship, and I give the orders, so
we’ll
deal with her.”

“She’s one of my charges,” argued Meadows. “I’ll mete out justice to her.”

“Hand her over to me,” Davis ordered, his voice hardening.

“I’ll take her for you, sir,” said Red Bull. It wasn’t clear which man he was calling sir. He rushed over and grabbed Jennie’s arm.

Jennie jerked to get away, but Red Bull held on tight. She kicked hard, connecting with his upper thigh, missing her central target. He let go with a snarl.

Davis turned on Red Bull and hissed, “I told you I’d take care of her!”

Jennie raised her eyes. What was this power struggle about?

With attention diverted, Meadows grabbed Jennie’s other arm and dragged her a short distance away.

“Please, sir,” she begged. “I didn’t steal the coins. I don’t know how they got there.”

“Stop thrashing about,” he ordered. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

She halted. “You mean you believe me?”

Meadows shook his head, still with a firm grip on her arm. “Not exactly, but I do believe in investigating more fully before we make a decision.” He tilted his head toward the coins. “So far it looks damning.”

Jennie searched his face, but his eyes were cold, his manner aloof.

“Someone else must have put them there,” she said, quieter now.

“We’ll see.” He didn’t seem thoroughly convinced. “I have no jurisdiction on board this ship and the Lieutenant will bring the captain in a minute, so you’d best go with him.”

“Please don’t let Red Bull take me,” begged Jennie.

He shook his head and grimaced. “At least
he
will have to follow my orders.” His manner softened somewhat. “Now come along.” He pushed Jennie firmly forward between her shoulder blades.

Although Jennie went back meekly to Davis, fear seized her. What did they do to thieves on this ship?

Red Bull openly snickered at her as she passed him. She leaned and spat on him. He raised a fist as if to strike her, but Nate caught his hand.

“Please, you have to believe me. I didn’t steal the coins!” She looked with beseeching eyes at Nate. “It had to be someone else!”

His gaze seemed distant. She glanced over her shoulder at Sarah and Alice. The young girl stood still watching everything, her face contorted as if she was about to howl. Sarah looked at her steadily with a troubled expression.

Davis took her below deck himself, motioning for Old Ruddick to light a lantern quickly and come along. Jennie’s heart thumped. What was going to become of her now? Any hopes of getting a reduced sentence or a reprieve through some miracle were definitely gone.

Davis roughly pushed her through the hatchway and down the uneven steps of the ladder. Old Ruddick had gone first with the lantern, but no light was cast her way, and she stumbled, her wrist twisting in Davis’ tight grip. She cried out from the pain, which only seemed to make Davis wrench her along harder.

“Bring some chains from the stern,” he ordered when they reached the hold. Old Ruddick lit another lantern, leaving the first perched on the lip of a low crate closest to the ladder. He limped off toward the holding pens of the animals. The foul smells of cow dung, bilge waters and dankness swirled around her. She took small breaths and tried to imagine the fresh sea air on deck.

As Davis clamped manacles on her, Jennie suddenly realized how similar he was to Red Bull. She looked at him with disdain, her teeth grinding.

“We may not have chains for all of you heathen convicts, but we certainly have enough for the likes of you.” His breath was sour as he breathed into her face.

She jerked her head away.

“Turn away from me now all you like,” he goaded, breathing heavily. “You’ll soon be begging me for favours.” He smirked and slowly swiped his hand across her chest.

Not again!
Jennie squirmed from his touch and he smiled more, his eyes lighting
with pleasure. She suddenly let herself go slack like she’d done once with Red Bull. The gleam in his eyes turned to anger. He slapped her face.

Her right cheek stung. Her head rattled. She concentrated on the scraping and clanging of chains and Old Ruddick’s uneven footsteps heading in their direction.

Within a few moments Old Ruddick reappeared, dragging thick chains in one hand and carrying the lantern in the other. Davis looped the chains around a stack of crates,
roughly binding Jennie upright to them. The heavy metal links bit painfully against her waist and cut into her hips. When he’d finished and stepped back to assess his handiwork, Jennie looked at him with loathing.

He stared at her with an air of superiority and snorted. “No food or water for forty-eight hours,” he ordered Old Ruddick. “Leave no lantern lit.”