Rumors Among the Heather (16 page)

“I want to see him
swing as much as you men do, but we must wait until I can deliver
him to the king in person. I’ll send a message right away.
Meanwhile, we’ll keep him locked up with around the clock guards.
The only way he can escape is down the cliff side, and it would
mean his certain death. This slippery eel won’t escape.” Geoffrey
smiled.

A cheer rose up from
the mob. Caps were tossed in the air, and men danced around Matthew
and Julie like pagan savages.

Julie caught her
breath when she saw the hatred and the state of drunkenness evident
in each man’s face. She saw the hungry, consuming look of power in
Geoffrey’s eyes and knew Matthew did not have a chance. It had been
a trap all along. How else could Geoffrey have known where to wait
for him?

Before Julie could
pull her thoughts together, a big, greasy man with dirty hair and a
scraggly beard grabbed her. She struggled to get free, but he held
her close. She could smell his unwashed body, and the odor of stale
whiskey permeated his being. She fought to control the nausea
rising in her throat.

The crowd’s roar
calmed to a murmur as all eyes turned on them.

“What’ll we do with
’er, Hamilton? The boys could use a wee bit o’ fun. We’ve been
waiting in yon bushes a long time,” he said with a lascivious
look.

Julie tried to shrink
back against the boat as his grip lessened, but the man pushed her
out into the crowd. They passed her roughly from man to man before
tossing her at Geoffrey’s feet. A smile crossed his face briefly,
and Julie feared what he would do.

“Now, lads, there’s
plenty of rum back at the gaol to make up for any inconvenience you
might have suffered this night. As for this little lady, why, she’s
my ace in the hole. How do you think I knew this big fish would
fall into our net tonight? I couldn’t have done it without
her.”

Julie continued to
stare at him in horror until she could regain her voice. “Geoffrey,
what…” Julie could not finish.

Geoffrey picked her up
and lowered his head until she felt his hot breath in her ear. He
whispered, “Keep your mouth shut, or you’ll find yourself the sport
of these men.” He sat her down on his knee and held her tightly
around the waist.

He motioned for them
to take Matthew away, but not before Matthew looked back with the
hurt of a thousand wrongs on his face and emptiness in his eyes.
Julie stared at him and watched his growing belief that she had
betrayed him. This hurt more than anything thrown at her so far.
How could he believe she would betray him? She saw her last hope
for happiness being dragged away. She worked free of Geoffrey and
turned around to face him.

“Geoffrey, why did you
say that? I’ve never helped you and would certainly not betray Lord
Bonnleigh,” Julie said with despair coating her voice.

“I had to say
something, or they would have taken you too.” He looked at her and
winked. “Let’s just say it was for the old times, my dear,” he
purred. “Besides, if anyone enjoys your favors, by the English
king, it ought to be me. You’ve kept me dangling on your string
long enough. Do you know how hard it has been to keep my hands off
you? Don’t play the innocent with me. You knew I wanted between
your legs, and you enjoyed making me dangle after you.”

She watched his face
turn hard. His gaze raked over her, burning holes into her flesh.
She scarcely recognized the man standing before her. Involuntarily,
she shivered and brought her arms tighter around her chest.

How could she ever
have thought herself in love with him?

“You better get back
in your boat and over to the island before it’s too late. My fine
comrades in arms might decide they need more sport. I might just
have to pull rank on them. Why can’t you show me a little
gratitude? Give me a kiss for old times? Perhaps I spoke too boldly
or out of turn, but after all we’re alone and the time for coyness
is past. I’ll give you some time to think it over, but you’ll come
to me.” Geoffrey raised one brow. “By the way, why does it matter
to you what becomes of Lord High and Mighty Bonnleigh, or what he
thinks? Unless… Yes, yes, I’m beginning to see. The way you looked
at him. That’s it, isn’t it? You’re in love with him,” Geoffrey
pressed.

Julie refused to
speak, and Geoffrey scowled before speaking again.

“Go back to the island
and think about what I’ve said. I’ll give you time to think it over
but don’t take too long. I’d hate to send someone to fetch
you.”

Julie still said
nothing. And she did not look back as she pushed her boat into the
tide and hoisted the small sail.

His voice reached her
over the crashing waves. “You loved me once and you will again! I
won’t be deprived of your favors much longer. Remember you’re mine,
Julie Hastings!”

Julie did not even
take in her sail as she hit the shore of the island. She jumped out
while the boat still moved across the sand and hurried to the
castle. With daylight racing after her, she did not have much time.
She did not care how much noise she made. Her only thoughts were of
getting help. She pounded on Ribble’s door that much harder until a
bleary-eyed Ribble threw it open.

“What the h—”

“They have him. They
took him right on the beach. They’re going to hang him, and he
thinks everything is my fault. What am I going to do?”

Ribble shook his head,
perhaps to clear away the cobwebs of sleep. “Who’s got him? What
happened? Calm down, lass, and speak slowly.”

Julie took a deep
breath and began again. “They were waiting for him when he met me
on the beach. My guess is someone on the island signaled them.
Geoffrey Hamilton is their leader. They’ve taken him to the old
gaol. They said something about a cliff and around the clock guards
until they could transport him to London where they’ll hang him.
Ribble, we can’t let them hang him. We have to do something!”

Julie wrung her hands
and paced the hallway. Her breath, which had been coming in short
gulps, began to calm down. When the panic subsided, weariness took
over her body.

“Calm down, lass.
Remember the bairn. We’ll think of something, don’t you worry. We
can’t talk here. Go on up to the schoolroom and I’ll be along as
soon as I’m dressed proper, and after I see what is going on in
town,” Ribble said.

Hours went by as Julie
waited for Ribble to come to her, but it was close to dark before
she heard a knock on her door. She threw the door open, grabbed him
by the arm, and drew him into the room.

“What have you found
out?”

“I don’t hold out much
hope of a rescue while he’s in the gaol. It’s extremely well
guarded. Maybe on the way to London,” he said with a lack of hope
in his tone.

“Matthew said the
redcoats are everywhere. They’d hunt us down like animals. We’ll
have to do it while he’s still here. Surely there’s some way. We
can’t let him hang,” Julie cried in desperation.

“It could be done, but
the odds are not in our favor. If’n I was a betting man, I wouldnae
give a tinker’s curse for our chances. They plan on leaving for
London in three days.”

“We don’t have much
time, so what’s our plan?” Julie asked anxiously.

“Hamilton’s very
cautious. He keeps the key to the cell around his neck, and he
never takes it off. There are two guards at all times in front of
the gaol stairs leading up to his lordship’s cell. Their one
weakness is not checking on him regularly because they think the
cliff side is impenetrable.

“Some way we will have
to get the key, distract the guards, and get the cell open before
the alarm can be sounded. The relief guards are all there at the
gaol just below his cell. If we could get him out and away for
several hours before he’s missed, we might have a chance.”

Undaunted, Julie
asked, “What about the cliff side? Can it be scaled or is it as
impenetrable as Geoffrey said?”

“It can be scaled, but
you have to know exactly where to get a toe hold. I climbed it
several times as a lad, but it’s been quite a while ago,” Ribble
added with a slight grin.

“Then we’ll scale the
cliff and get him out that way. It would be some time before the
guards even realized he had escaped if we did it in the middle of
the night,” Julie said, hanging on to the thin thread of hope.

“There’s only one
window and it leads into the hallway in front of his cell, but the
opening is so small. We would need a wee person. A full-grown
person could not possibly get through. Even then the person would
have to have the key, and he couldnae leave by the same way. The
guards would still have to be distracted for his lordship to get
down the steps and over the side,” Ribble said, unraveling the
thread Julie gripped tightly.

“I’ll get the key if
you can find someone to squeeze through the opening. If it’s the
only way, then we’ll have to do it,” Julie said. She stood up with
a sense of purpose in her heart.

“It’ll be extremely
dangerous. It could mean our own tailored hangman’s noose, but if
you want to try, I’m game. I don’t know where I can find someone to
go through the opening. I can’t trust many people these days. Since
the redcoats are everywhere, the ones I can trust are too
frightened to help anyway. There are traitors all around us. Even
here on our own island,” Ribble spat out in disgust.

Ribble no sooner spoke
than Ian ran through the doorway. “I’ll do it,” he said with
childish enthusiasm. His face glowed, and his eyes sparkled with
excitement.

“Ian, this isn’t a
game. If we’re caught, we would all be hanged. They wouldn’t balk
at hanging you. Your uncle would never approve. It’s much too
dangerous,” Julie said firmly.

“But I want to do it
for my uncle, no matter the consequences. I’m not a child, you
know. I’m small enough, and you said you needed someone you could
trust. You have to use me or else let Uncle Matthew hang. I know I
can do it,” Ian insisted stubbornly.

“Ian, it’s out of the
question. I know you want to help, but no, no, we cannot risk it,”
Julie said.

“Master Ian, Miss
Hastings is right. We cannae use you. There’s a good chance we’ll
be caught. Climbing the cliff is dangerous in its own right. We’ll
have to think of something else.”

“Ribble, there must be
someone we could trust. Someone small who knows the cliff.”

“I don’t know who to
trust. You guessed right that someone signaled from the island when
you left to meet with Lord Bonnleigh. Even if I could trust
someone, where would I find someone small enough?” Ribble asked. He
ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

“You can’t find anyone
else. You have to use me. Please, for my uncle,” Ian pleaded.

Julie looked at
Ribble, and she could see the same thoughts were running through
his mind. Here stood their best hope. They would have to use him.
He was the right size, and they could trust him. They had no other
choice. The determined look on his face said nothing would stop him
from coming along—with or without their permission.

“The sooner we get him
out the better. Our best bet would be to try tomorrow. What do you
think, Ribble?” Julie asked.

“Aye, the sooner the
better. There is much to be done.”

“How will Ian get up
to the window? He’s never climbed anything so steep, and he
wouldn’t know how to scale the cliff. We don’t have time for a
climbing lesson,” Julie pointed out.

“When you get the key
and give it to me, I’ll put Ian on me back and take him up the
cliff myself. He can unlock the door, return the key to me, I’ll
climb back down, and hand the key to you to give back to Hamilton.
What I dinnae understand is just how you plan on getting the key?
Everything hinges on that accursed key.”

“I’ll pay a visit to
Geoffrey and charm my way in. I don’t think he’ll refuse me, but
just in case, I’ll need a fancy red dress and some laudanum.”

“I can get you the red
dress,” Ian spoke up suddenly. “My mother had a beautiful one. It’s
packed away in the attic. She used to wear it to dinner when
important people came to visit us.”

“Sounds perfect. Then
it’s settled. Thanks, Ian. I promise to take good care of it. Did
you find out where Geoffrey’s staying?” she asked Ribble.

“Given his new
position of importance, he’s moved into the warden’s old quarters
at the gaol. He’s not about to let such an important prisoner out
of his sight.”

“We’ll meet tomorrow
at Leddie’s Crag after lunch, and then we’ll plan out the details,”
Julie said in a whisper. Her co-conspirators nodded their heads,
and each went back to his room.

* * *

Matthew slowly
stretched his aching limbs. His jailers had thought it prudent to
beat him again before leaving him to his fate. His head pounded
when he sat up and tried to stand. He laid back down on his bed of
hay and tried to relax and get his bearings. Gingerly, he tried to
stand up again and steady himself.

Steadily increasing
waves of nausea and pain racked his body. He managed to get to his
feet, and pins and needles ran up and down his legs, but he would
not sit back down. He continued to put one foot in front of the
other. With each step, the pain eased a minute amount until he
could walk around his cell without too much effort.

He explored his face.
It felt puffy and everywhere he touched hurt. He tried to open his
eyes. His right eye refused to open, and the other eyelid barely
moved. The memory of last night and what happened on the beach
crept back into his mind. He again saw Julie as Hamilton pointed to
her and named her his agent. He heard her half-hearted attempt to
deny the accusation. His last memory of her had been of Hamilton
with his arm around her waist.

That hit Matthew like
another blow to his stomach. He winced in physical pain at the
thought. He kept wondering how he could have been so wrong about
her, and why she did it. His frustration made him angry, and he
began to pace faster and faster until he heard the creaking of the
rusty hinges. This signaled the opening of the door leading into
the cell area.