The Heart is Torn (8 page)

‘Let me go,’ Beth pleaded.

‘You’ve made your choice,’ Cresse said, ‘so you can stick with it. Come on, and don’t give me any more trouble.’

He glanced at Spencer, who was leading the horse back to its stall.

‘If the coach shows up before I return you better hold it until I get back.’

‘If you’re on Peake’s business then it’ll be all right to do that,’ Spencer observed.

Cresse led Beth out of the stable and started back along the street towards Peake’s house while she grew more and more desperate, aware that Adam was somewhere in the town and she needed to talk to him. They passed an inn, now blazing with yellow light from numerous lamps, and a man emerged from the building, calling her name. Beth recognised Adam’s voice, and turned thankfully, shouting his name.

Cresse jerked her arm and kept walking, pulling her along, but the next instant Adam had caught up with them and Cresse swung around, a dagger in his right hand. He made a swift movement with the blade, and Beth gasped in horror. But Adam seized Cresse’s wrist with his left hand and dealt the man a heavy blow with his right fist. Cresse crumpled silently and lay motionless on the street.

‘I saw you passing the inn,’ Adam said curiously. ‘What is happening, Beth? Why are you with Cresse?’

‘Please hurry, Adam,’ she gasped, ‘before someone sees us. Peake’s warehouse is just along here, and Cresse has a key to it. We can take him there. I shall explain everything, and there are some things in the warehouse that I need to show you.’

Such was Beth’s tone, Adam did not question her further. He bent over Cresse, found a large key in the man’s pocket and handed it to her.

‘You’d better lead the way,’ he suggested as she took the key.

Adam lifted Cresse across his shoulder and they went on. Beth ran to the door of the warehouse, unlocked it, and held it open for Adam to enter. He dumped Cresse inside as Beth followed him in and relocked the door.

‘Now perhaps you’ll tell me what this is all about,’ Adam said in the darkness, his hand reaching out to grasp Beth’s arm. ‘I was never more surprised in my life when I looked out the inn window and saw you passing with Cresse.’

‘Can we have some light in here?’ Beth countered. ‘You’d better make sure that Cresse can’t get free.’

‘Just a moment.’

There was a scraping sound and then a tiny flame burst into life. Adam picked up some straw, twisted it into a brand, and lit it. Straightening, he saw a lantern standing on a small table near the door and lit it. Yellow light spilled through the shadows. Beth picked up some cord and advised Adam to bind Cresse, who was groaning and beginning to regain his senses.

‘Now tell me what this is all about,’ Adam said when Cresse was lying bound hand and foot.

‘Bring the lantern and come with me.’

Beth led the way to the office, where she produced the pile of log books. Adam muttered ferociously under his breath when he saw the
Sea
Rover’s
book. Then he examined the ship’s bell on the desk, and frowned as he looked into Beth’s resolute face.

‘How is it that I’ve been prowling around Polgarron since last night, discovering nothing, and you’ve come straight to the heart of the matter?’ he demanded.

Her gaze was filled with foreboding as she told him about the orders Peake had given Cresse about going to Falmouth.

‘And Cresse was to kill you as well,’ she said fearfully. ‘It seems that Peake heard about you going back to your ship.’

‘We’ll come to that in a moment. Why were you in Cresse’s company?’

Beth explained about Jeremy’s visit to her home and how he had thought it would be a good idea for her to pretend to fall in with Peake’s wishes to marry her.

‘I didn’t like the idea at all,’ she said worriedly, ‘but it seems to have worked.’

‘So Peake was blackmailing your father in order to get you.’

Adam’s pale eyes glinted as he considered.

‘I shall be pleased to confront Peake. He knows that we are betrothed.’

‘So what happens now? Is there enough evidence here to thwart Peake?’

‘I shall send you to Traherne Court before dealing with Peake.’

Adam sighed and kissed her.

‘You must promise to stay out of this, Beth. No more running around.’

She sighed and buried her face in his shoulder, relishing the sense of security that enveloped her. He kissed her tenderly, and she wished they were safe at Traherne Court. Tilting her face, she looked up at him, wanting the tenderness to last, but a distant hammering sounded, coming from the big front door, and Beth’s heart lurched in fear as she heard Peake outside yelling angrily for Cresse.

8

‘That’s Peake trying to get in,’ Adam remarked, and Beth wondered how he could sound so casual while her heart was thudding in fear. ‘Did you leave the key in the lock?’

‘Yes. He cannot unlock the door. But there is not another way out.’

As she spoke she recalled the panel she had discovered and grasped Adam’s hand.

‘Come. There may be another way. Bring the lantern.’

Adam paused to put the log book of his ship,
Sea
Rover
, into his pocket. He picked up the lantern and followed Beth, who led him to the panel. At first, she could not find the piece of wood that operated it, and the sound of insistent knocking at the warehouse door filled her with apprehension. Then her fumbling fingers pressed the right spot and the panel slid aside, revealing an aperture the size of a normal doorway.

‘Peake has certainly organised his business, and taken great pains to prevent it from being discovered.’

The knocking at the door had changed to a heavy battering that was accompanied by the sound of wood splintering.

‘I think we’d better explore this passage and hope for a way to escape,’ he said. ‘Follow me closely, Beth.’

Lifting the lantern high, he stepped through the opening into a gently-sloping tunnel that had been cut out of the solid rock of the cliff behind the warehouse. Beth paused to close the panel at her back and then followed Adam closely, fearful despite her confidence in the man she loved.

‘Careful here,’ he said at length, his voice strangely muted by the close confines of the rock. ‘There are steps going down now.’

They descended slowly. The atmosphere was dank, freezing, and the smell of the sea was overpowering. But eventually they emerged into a huge cavern which was partially filled with sea water at its lower end. There was a low cave which, Beth supposed, gave access to the open sea. A small rowing boat was moored there, and the higher part of the cavern was filled with stacks of barrels and crates of all sizes. There were a number of lanterns dotted around the chamber, all alight.

‘So this is where Peake stores his ill-gotten gains,’ Adam mused. ‘And he couldn’t have picked a better spot. That half-submerged cave must lead to the open sea. We’ve laid bare the heart of Peake’s business, Beth.’

‘How can you sound so cheerful?’ she asked wonderingly. ‘We have to get out of here, and with the storm outside, I doubt if we can use that cave, even with the rowing boat. What are we going to do, Adam? Peake will be in the warehouse now, so we can’t leave by that way, and he’ll soon discover that we came this way.’

‘We’d use the boat if there wasn’t such a gale blowing, but as it is we wouldn’t last two minutes. I wish you were anywhere but here. I would have had a chance on my own, but you’ll only hold me back. Let me see if there’s somewhere you can hide while I take the fight to them.’

‘Cresse knows I’m with you. We’ll have to do better than that, Adam.’

‘They don’t know that we came down here. I’ll go back up and challenge them. Peake was probably on his own. Follow me but keep your distance, and be ready to run and hide if they get the better of me.’

He reached into his pocket and produced a pistol.

‘Take this, and don’t hesitate to use it if necessary. Bear in mind that they will kill you if they get the chance.’

Beth shook her head.

‘You’d better keep that on you in case you need it,’ she said.

He dropped the pistol back into his pocket, took up the lantern and began to ascend the steps. High above them, near the top of the steps, a pistol flashed and the sound of the shot echoed frighteningly. Adam ducked, hunching himself in front of Beth, and she cried out in fear when something struck the rock wall just above her head and whined away into the darkness below. A second shot was fired and again the speeding ball rebounded off the rock wall, narrowly missing them, to screech off another rock.

‘Go back,’ Adam said sharply. ‘Hurry, Beth.’

She turned and stumbled down the steps, head low, her heart beating fast and thumping painfully against her ribs. She stumbled down the remaining steps and Adam followed her, hurried on by yet another shot which mercifully missed them both. Beth noticed for the first time that there was a heavy, wooden door at the end of the tunnel. She caught Adam’s gaze and pointed to it. Adam nodded and slammed the door, thrusting home a heavy bolt that was attached to it.

‘It will take them some time to break through this door,’ he observed. ‘But what are we to do in the meantime? There’s no other way out, Beth. I must stand and fight here.’

‘I think Peake will send for some men before he attempts to get through that door,’ she responded. ‘Your reputation will make him take caution.’

‘Time is the important factor. I wonder if I can get through that cave to the open sea and swim to the shore? There’s a sand spit somewhere nearby which is never covered by the tides. If I managed to get there I could scale the cliff and make a run for it to Traherne Court. Then I could return with a dozen tough men and take Peake by surprise.’

‘Adam, the sea is too rough,’ Beth protested, clutching at him.

‘I don’t see any other way. Peake won’t kill you, but I’m a different matter, so I need to get clear and fetch help. I’m willing to risk my life in the water because I think I can make it. I’m more worried about you, Beth.’

‘I’ll be safe enough, I’m sure. But you wouldn’t last two minutes in that sea. Please don’t try it.’

He took her into his arms and held her close, murmuring encouragement and trying to allay her fears. There was a heavy thud against the door at the bottom of the steps and they both turned to face it, fearing the worst. The door was struck again from the other side but was barely shaken by the onslaught. Adam went forward and examined the door carefully.

‘I don’t think they’ll break it down in a hurry,’ he judged. ‘I must be on my way, Beth. I hate leaving you like this but there’s no alternative.’

‘You’ll drown,’ she cried. ‘You can’t do it. There must be another way.’

‘If there was I’d take it. Come and see me off. If Peake gets through that door before I return you’ll have to tell him that we parted up in the warehouse. They’ll never guess what I am going to do.’

He led her towards the lower end of the cavern, where the water level had risen to completely submerge the cave that led out to sea. Beth could hear the pounding of heavy waves at the seaward end of the cave and saw the rowing boat rocking uneasily in the swell coming through the cave.

Adam stripped off his heavy coat and sat down on a bale of contraband to pull off his sea boots. He looked into Beth’s eyes and spoke reassuringly, but she was beyond hearing his words. Her mind seemed to have slipped into a labyrinth of doubt and fear, and she trembled uncontrollably.

‘It’s time for me to go, Beth,’ he said and kissed her tenderly.

Beth clung to him but he prised her clutching fingers off his arm and stepped away.

‘I’ll see you when I return,’ he said.

Before Beth could say more he slipped into the water. She cried out in protest as he began to wade towards the cave but he showed no sign of having heard. When the water reached his shoulders he paused, drew a deep breath, and then dived under the surface. His figure shimmered as he began swimming, and then he dived deeply and was lost to her sight.

She sat down on a bale and watched the surface of the water intently, hoping against hope that he would reappear and clamber out beside her. But timeless moments passed, until she realised that by now he had drowned or was out in the clear and battling those horrific waves.

She rose and began to pace around the stacks of merchandise. She reached the door barring the tunnel and listened to the hammering that was going on with no apparent effect. She fancied she could hear Peake’s hated voice urging on his men, and hopelessness filled her as she waited.

She collected Adam’s coat and boots and hid them under a bale. Then she went back to the door and jerked the bolt out of its niche just as Cresse lunged at it, a heavy log in his hands. Cresse overbalanced when he met no resistance and he dropped the log and came blundering off the steps to fall in a heap at Beth’s feet. She stepped back from him and lifted her gaze to Peake’s haggard face as he came striding towards her. Peake had a large pistol in his right hand and he thrust the weapon in her face.

‘What have you done?’ he snarled. ‘Where is Traherne?’

‘Adam? He is not with me,’ she responded in such a matter-of-fact tone that Peake was silenced by surprise. ‘But I am quite sure he is safe by now.’

‘They both came down here,’ Cresse said. ‘I heard them talking. You’ve got to end it for Traherne now, Peake, before he puts a rope around our necks. And if you have any sense at all you’ll drown this female.’

‘Keep your mouth shut,’ Peake snapped. ‘I don’t want your opinion on anything. Because of you, everything has gone wrong today. I never had much faith in you, Cresse, but this time you’ve excelled yourself. Search every nook and cranny, and kill Traherne the instant you set eyes on him.’

‘What about her?’ Cresse demanded.

‘I’ll deal with her. Come along, Beth. I’m taking you back to my house, and this time you’ll stay there, for if you don’t then something very bad will happen to your father. I have taken the precaution of sending two men to stay at the manor, and if you disobey me again they’ll get word that your father is to be killed. So do as you’re told or the worst will happen.’

Peake grasped Beth’s arm and bundled her into the tunnel, forcing her to ascend the steps. She did not resist. Her mind was overburdened with fear for Adam. She could only assume that the man she loved was dead. No-one could have survived the perils of that stormy sea. He was gone and she had the grim prospect of facing the future without him.

Peake was silent as they walked back along the dark street to his house. Beth was not aware of her surroundings, and when they entered the house she stood submissively at Peake’s side while he remonstrated with Matilda and Mrs Fetters for their failure to supervise Beth’s movements.

‘As for you,’ he continued, grasping Beth’s arm, ‘I shall lock you in your room until I have the time to deal with you. Come along.’

They ascended the stairs and Beth entered her room. Peake stood in the doorway gazing at her as she crossed to the bed and sank down upon it.

‘Just remember that your father’s life is at stake now,’ he warned.

Beth did not reply. She sat with eyes downcast, her manner submissive. Peake departed, locking the door. But when silence ensued, Beth arose and became animated. She had to get to Traherne Court and raise the alarm.

Her trunk was at the foot of the bed and she opened it. Unpacking the contents hurriedly and throwing them on the bed, she searched for suitable clothing. She changed her footwear and put on outdoor shoes. Then she crossed to the door and tried it, finding it well and truly locked. But her determination was such that she went to the fireplace without a second thought and picked up the poker lying there.

She thought that Peake would have returned immediately to his warehouse, and hammered on the door with the poker until Mrs Fetters called to her from outside the room.

‘I’m feeling ill with hunger,’ Beth replied in answer to the housekeeper’s enquiry. ‘Please bring me some food. Jonah didn’t tell you to starve me.’

‘He locked the door and took the key with him,’ Mrs Fetters replied.

‘You must have a key to every door in the house, as housekeeper.’

‘I do, but I cannot go against the master’s orders.’

‘I’m sure he didn’t tell you to starve me. I need food.’

‘I’ll talk to Matilda, so stop banging on the door.’

Mrs Fetters hurried away, leaving Beth motionless. Her determination was at its highest pitch. She dared not think of Adam. Her instincts warned that he must be dead but she dared not think about the possibility. Many minutes later, Mrs Fetters returned.

‘You must sit on the bed and remain quite still while Matilda and I bring in a tray,’ the housekeeper said from outside the door.

‘I’ll do as you say,’ Beth replied, and went to sit on the foot of the bed, concealing the poker at her back.

A key grated in the lock and then the door was opened a fraction. Mrs Fetters peered into the room cautiously, saw Beth sitting dejectedly on the bed, apparently resigned to the situation, and pushed the door wide. Matilda entered the room carrying a tray and Mrs Fetters advanced with her.

Beth arose and produced the poker. She brandished it and darted to the door while both women stood transfixed in shock. In a trice she was out of the room, and paused only to slam the door and turn the key protruding from the lock. She descended the stairs and crossed the hall. Unlocking the front door, she left it open and fled into the night.

Reaching the deserted, rain-swept street, Beth paused to consider. She needed to pass on her information to Jeremy Traherne but found herself reluctant to leave the town in case Adam had succeeded in escaping from the cave and had swum ashore. If he had managed it then he would even now be raising an alarm and men would be gathering nearby to assail Peake. But the town was deathly still and quiet.