Smuggler's Glory (30 page)

They
arrived at the back of the long row of houses, securing the
Frenchman out of sight, closely guarded by Pie, while Simon and
Archie returned to the terraced house to await the return of the
escapees. At first appearances the house was as cold and empty as
it had been earlier, but this time there was something different.
Simon could feel the small hairs on the back of his neck rise and
he knew that danger was close by.

Motioning to Archie, Simon ducked into the yard and was met
with a heavy fist. At first he saw stars and struggled to focus,
giving his opponent the time to make many more hits. One to his
stomach, two more to his face, three to his chest until Simon felt
his stomach churn. He could taste blood in the back of his mouth
and was fairly certain that the attacker had cut him
somewhere.

Within
seconds Simon began to throw punches back. As a well-trained
fighter, his blows landed with more unerring accuracy than
enthusiasm. He was aware of the sounds of flesh meeting flesh
accompanied by low grunts as Archie fought two attackers. They were
hopelessly outnumbered. Simon could see at least three more men
piling out of the house. Simon wondered how many had headed over to
Thistledown, and prayed that Francesca hadn’t had second thoughts
and returned without him knowing.

The next
hour passed in a blur of exhaustive pain for both Simon and Archie.
Somewhere off in the distance he hear the single retort of a gun
and knew that Pie was under attack as well. While being on the
receiving end of several painful blows, Simon’s thoughts wandered
to the woman who held his heart. If he was to die here, now,
tonight, he could only be grateful he had had the opportunity to
know her. She was beautiful. Everything that was good and right
with the world, and he loved her more than life itself. He had
never known what it was to love someone so selflessly, and now
understood what the term ‘devotion’ meant.

The
thought of Lindsay escaping, and being free to pay her another
visit when she returned to Thistledown, made him go cold and gave
him renewed determination to survive the night. With renewed
vigour, he kicked out at one man who was pounding Archie, who was
being held still by two of the larger men. The man grabbed his
crotch and fell to the ground at just the right angle to receive a
well-placed kick to the head. He didn’t get up again.

With a
snarl at the man behind him, he swung around dragging his arm in a
wide arch, throwing the man behind him off balance. He took the
opportunity the man gave him to use his hands, his feet and the
knife in his boot to bring him down. Helping Archie to his feet,
together they continued to fight, their backs to the wall, until
the very last attacker was brought down.

The
small yard was littered with bodies and the stench of blood. Chest
heaving with exertion, Simon struggled to stand upright and shook
his head to clear his double vision. He had no idea if Pie and the
Frenchman had made it through, but it looked as if Archie felt the
same way he did. There wasn’t a part of his colleague’s face that
wasn’t covered in brushes and welts and, if the hunched-over pose
of the usually agile Archie was anything to go by, he was in just
as much pain as Simon himself.

“
Let’s get out of here,” Simon growled when several minutes
passed and nobody else entered the yard.

“
Let’s do one last search of the house, just to make sure
nobody else picks us off. Are you able to climb the stairs?” Archie
asked, hobbling toward the back door. There was a particularly
painful knife wound to his upper thigh that was bleeding profusely.
It left him in no doubt that he couldn’t get up even the first
step.

“
I’ll do upstairs, you do down here. Shout if you meet anyone,”
Simon ordered, sliding the bolt home on the front door in case they
were due any more visitors. Within minutes both men stumbled into
the yard of bodies just as dawn was breaking over the horizon. On
alert, Simon was immediately aware of several people peering
cautiously out of their back gates further down the
line.

“
It’s alright, the threat is now over,” Simon growled. “Is
there anyone here who owns a gun and is prepared to keep watch over
this lot until they can be taken to jail?”

Silence
met his answer. A couple of people disappeared back into their
yards, clearly not willing to get involved. But, after some initial
reluctance, several men did come forward and offer their
help.

“
I need you to tie this lot together, and make sure they remain
confined in the yard. Don’t allow anyone in or out until a jailer’s
cart arrives to collect them. You will need to remove their
weapons. Some of them have knives. Keep the weapons in a bucket, or
keep them, I don’t care which,” Simon ordered. He knew he looked a
fright, well aware of the horrified gasps from a few of the women
who caught sight of him and Archie.

“
Who are you?” one woman whispered hesitantly, sidling up to
him.

“
We are from the government,” Archie replied cautiously. “We
have been sent to rid the village of the problems you have been
having.”

Simon
sensed their surprised and sought to ease their fears. “The black
carriage won’t be visiting here again.”

“
Is someone available to take a message to the Justice of the
Peace in Launceston?”

“
Aye, I’ll go,” a large man offered, stepping
forward.

Drawing
him to one side, Simon gave the man a careful message to pass on to
the Justice. “Don’t, under any circumstances, stop until you get
there and don’t leave the message with anyone else. Tell the
Justice one of Hugo’s men sent you.”

“
You think the Justice will speak to
me?
”

Simon’s
gaze met and held the large man’s in silent command. “I assure you,
mention Hugo’s name and you will meet no resistance. Make sure you
come back with the jailer’s cart.”

Everything within him ached and he wanted nothing more than
to lie down in Francesca’s luxuriously soft bed. But he knew that
was a long way off yet, if it was ever possible.

The last
few hours had taught him that he was getting too old for this kind
of life. He didn’t want to meet his final moments in some sordid
back alley, or abandoned mine. The more he stayed in the Star
Elite, the more that was looking probable. He felt lucky to have
escaped alive. Battered and bruised, undoubtedly, but at least he
was alive.

Assured
that the villagers were carrying out their allotted tasks, Simon
and Archie went in search of Pie and the Frenchman. He wasn’t
surprised to find that they weren’t where he had left them, and had
no idea where he should be looking.

“
I don’t feel up to a long search,” Archie sighed, running a
bloodied hand through his hair wearily. “I need to rest up for a
minute.”

A long
low whistle drew their attention, and they both imperceptibly
relaxed at the sight of Pie dragging the Frenchman behind him as he
crested the brow of a small incline at the far end of the village.
Clearly Pie had decided to get out of the area while Archie and
Simon were busy in the yard. Simon spied the satchel Pie held in
one beefy hand and felt a surge of satisfaction sweep through him.
Finally, they had answers.

Before
they decided what they had to do next, Simon needed to study the
papers the satchel contained. If they didn’t provide information on
Lindsay, they could contain information on Lindsay’s contacts and
that was invaluable in helping them in their quest to quash the spy
smugglers altogether.

“
I want a look at that tunnel,” Archie growled, nodding toward
Thistledown.

“
I am not sure there is one,” Simon replied with a sigh. “I
searched those cellars several times over and found nothing. Bertie
has been there for years and knew nothing about them. It seems a
bit unusual that something like that would go
unnoticed.”

“
Well, let us go and check then,” Pie announced, eyeing both
Simon and Archie warily. “Assuming you two manage to get that
far.”

“
What are we going to do with him?” Archie asked, nodding
toward the miserable looking Frenchman Pie was dragging behind
him.

“
He’s coming with us. We will blindfold him when we get to
Thistledown and keep him with us when we go to Launceston. We can
hand him over to the Justice’s men.”

Now that
the worst of the mission was over, they would all head to
Launceston before heading off to base camp to debrief. Once there,
they would update Hugo, study the papers they had found and decide
what they were going to do next. It was then that Simon would go
after Lindsay and put an end to his reign of terror once and for
all.

Simon
winced at the sharp stabbing pains in his stomach and wondered if
he would be able to manage to mount Billie. He was still struggling
to clear his blurred vision, and was aware that with each step he
took the pounding in his head grew louder and the vision in one eye
grew weaker. He could feel the large swelling appearing just above
his eyebrow, and the steady trickle of blood that dripped from the
large cut there.

He felt
the ground beneath him shift and had to stop to give it time to
settle down. The world spun and swirled around him and he fought
the urge to throw up.

“
You alright?” Archie asked him with a frown.

Simon
simply stared at him, unable to absorb the words. He may not be
able to think clearly enough to put words in the right order to
answer him, but he knew what home looked like. Keeping his gaze
firmly locked on Thistledown, Simon began to head home. The place
reminded him so much of Francesca that he couldn’t wait to get
there. His fingers tingled with the need to stroke her glorious
hair, and his body yearned to savour hers once more. But she wasn’t
there, so he would have to make do with taking comfort from resting
in her home. At least he could rest knowing that she was safely
ensconced in Harriett and Hugo’s home, miles away from
danger.

Trying
to ignore the growing pains in his side, he stumbled onward, aware
of Pie’s growing concern but unable to answer him either. Memories
of that last night in Francesca’s bed swam before him and he
wondered if they had made a child. He hoped to God they had. The
idea of watching their children run around the large halls of a
gleaming, properly maintained and resplendent Thistledown made his
heart sing. That shining beacon of hope for the future gave him the
strength to continue to put one foot in front of the other until he
reached the kitchen door of the huge mansion.

He had
no sooner crossed the threshold than he had to head back outside
again to lose the contents of his stomach in the bushes.

With his
stomach burning in protest, it was a struggle for Simon to even
stand upright but he managed it, and was about to turn toward the
kitchen door when the sight of something hanging in the burned out
library drew his attention.

He grew
cold and edged forward.

“
Pie!” he bellowed, his eyes glued to the small black rook
hanging from the rope that was swinging from a charred beam.
Stalking forward, he paused at the barren frame and stared at the
dead animal, his eyes glued to the small note nailed into the
bird’s feathered chest.

“
I’ll get it,” Pie murmured, vaulting through the window and
snatching the note off the bird.

“
If you want to see her alive again, bring the papers to
Blackstone Escarpment now. You have until four o’clock.”

“
Oh, Jesus,” Archie sighed, staring at the paper Pie was
holding.

“
The bastard has her,” Simon snarled, wondering where Bertie
was.

“
How, though? They left hours ago. It doesn’t take that long to
get to Padstow,” Pie growled.

Simon
realised he had walked right into Lindsay’s trap. “He was watching
and waiting for us to send her away.”

“
What?” Pie asked incredulously, wondering why they would go to
so much trouble for a seemingly innocent woman. “Why would they
want Francesca so badly?”

“
I have no idea, but I do know that Madeline must be involved
somehow,” Simon sighed.

“
But she’s dead!” Archie argued. “How in the hell can she be
involved in this?” He waved a hand toward the dead bird.

“
She could have told Lindsay something that led him to believe
that Francesca was valuable.”

“
Or the knowledge that Francesca has of the house,” Pie
replied, his thoughts racing with possibilities.

“
The tunnel,” Archie sighed, shaking his head and wincing as a
shard of pain immediately shot up the back of his head.

“
Madeline may have looked for it while she was here but was
unable to find it. She may have hinted to Lindsay that Francesca
may know where it is.”

“
Lindsay also wants the papers back,” Pie added, scrunching the
note up and tossing it into the bushes.

Archie’s
epithet told everyone where he thought Lindsay could stick
them.

“
But that doesn’t make sense,” Simon whispered, staring at the
ground beneath his feet. If he was honest, it was all that he could
see with any clarity. “If he wants the papers, and Francesca, why
not keep her here?”