Annie

by Val Wood

  ‘Aye, well, all right. But another thing – thy brother, he’s a—’

  He put up his hand. ‘I’m not answerable for Matt. He’s my brother and I love him dearly, but we do things differently and I don’t always agree with what he does, but for all that I won’t hear anything detrimental about him. I wanted you both to meet, but if the two of you want to spar then do so, but don’t expect me to take sides.’

  ‘But – he said I was a rag-bag! I heard him.’

  ‘Eavesdroppers never hear good of themselves.’ He shook a finger at her. ‘Anyway, it’s true. You are. You look as if you’ve just climbed out of the hedge bottom.’ He gave a sudden grin. ‘Come on, Annie, don’t look so glum. I like you just the way you are.’

  They were trotting along a path overhung by leafless branches of ash, the sacks slung across the horse’s saddle with Annie’s cloak covering them, when they heard the jingle of harness. Toby wheeled about and cantered towards a copse where they waited, hidden deep in the undergrowth.

  A small troop of soldiers came riding along the same path they had been using, travelling in the opposite direction and accompanied by two men dressed in dark clothing.

  ‘Those are the men I was telling you about,’ Toby whispered.

  ‘And those are ’same soldiers Robin and I saw up on ’Wolds. I recognize ’sergeant. He owes me a favour,’ she whispered back.

  ‘Well don’t be too surprised if you don’t receive it,’ he said hoarsely. ‘They’re not in the habit of giving. Unless it’s a ride to the gaol house.’

  They waited until the soldiers had ridden out of view and then cautiously rode back onto the path. ‘It’s too late to take this stuff to the henhouse,’ Toby said, glancing up at the sky. ‘Old Henry will be about now and will hear us. We’d better go to my place and hide it there.’

  Annie nodded behind him. She was very tired and the movement of the horse was lulling her to sleep. She put her head against Toby’s back and her arms around his waist and closed her eyes. When she opened them again they were in the meadow below Toby’s cottage and he was urging her to wake up.

  ‘I don’t know how you stayed on,’ he said as she slid off the horse’s back and he swung down. ‘Come on, help me with this and then you can have a sleep.’

  They unfastened the sacks and as they finished, Josh appeared, appearing as if from nowhere.

  ‘How did tha get here so quickly when tha was walking? Did tha see soldiers?’

  ‘I know all ’shortcuts,’ he winked at her, ‘and I did see ’sodgers.’ He turned to Toby. ‘I heard ’em an’ all. They’re expecting ship tomorrow. They’ve been given ’wrong information. They’ll be waiting down by ’river all tomorrow night and they’ll catch her coming back from Goole.’

  ‘And if they try to board her they’ll find a ship going back to Flushing with legitimate cargo, and my brother with wounded pride that they should accuse him of illegal running!’

  ‘By heck,’ said Josh gleefully. ‘I hope it rains.’

  Toby turned Sorrel over to Josh. ‘Feed him well and water him,’ he said. ‘He’s had a long night, just as we have.’

  Josh swung into the saddle. He pulled the stirrups up high and sat forward with his knees almost up to his chest. ‘Will do, Master Toby, I’ll look after him.’

  ‘Are all the goods away.’

  ‘Aye, sir. ’Men have done a good night’s work. Arrangements are as usual.’

  He rode off and they made their way up the hill and through the bushes and hidden paths which led to Toby’s cottage.

  ‘Does Josh know where tha lives? He seems to know his way around.’

  ‘I suspect he does, though he’s never been. His brother, Robin, is the only one who’s been here, apart from you.’

  Annie felt privileged as she walked in the door, as if she had been given a special secret. ‘I’ll never tell, Toby. Never.’

  He put down the sacks and smiled at her. Then he pulled her towards him and placing both his hands on her cheeks kissed the tip of her nose. ‘I know that, Annie. I know that very well.’

  She was confused. It was an ordinary kiss, yet tender, and she had seen some hidden depths in his brown eyes which she hadn’t seen before when he had teased and joked with her. Playfully she punched him on the cheek. ‘Never mind all this monkey business, let’s get unpacked and then we can get some sleep.’

  They packed the tea and tobacco in separate pine chests and draped rugs over them, then Toby took embroidered cushions from his bed and piled them on top.

  ‘It looks grand, Toby.’ Annie looked round admiringly. ‘I wish I lived here. It’s so comfortable.’

  ‘I like it,’ he said. ‘It reminds me of home. These are my mother’s things. I stole them from my father’s house.’

  Annie breathed open-mouthed. ‘Oh. Is tha sure nobody got ’blame? A servant or anybody?’

  He shook his head. ‘He’s never even noticed that they’re gone. Oh, my mother’s silver brush and mirror I asked him for, and he said I could take them in remembrance of her, but the rugs and hangings and cushions I took bit by bit; the servants know, but they won’t tell.’ He smiled. ‘Their supply of tea and ’baccy would dry up if they did.’

  ‘Tha’s a rascal,’ she said. ‘Tha looks so innocent, but tha’s a real villain!’

  He brought out a truckle bed for her to sleep on and some soft warm blankets, and he lay fully clothed on his own bed, his arms behind his head, staring open-eyed at the boarded and beamed ceiling.

  She dozed for a while, but she could hear the call of wood pigeons from the copse behind the cottage and the cry of wild ducks as they flew over towards the river, and the sun was shining, creeping bright pencils of light under the door.

  Presently Toby got up and kindled the fire, putting on curls of straw to coax it to burn. He took a pan and went outside, leaving the door ajar and letting the light flood into the room.

  He came back a few minutes later with the pan and a jug full of water and placed the pan on a trivet on the low fire. He glanced towards Annie, but she was hidden beneath the blankets and didn’t speak, but watched him from half-open eyes as he went back outside the door and standing on the grass, stripped off his shirt and started to wash.

  His shoulders were broad, broader than they appeared in his shirt and coat, the muscles in his upper arms, powerful and sinewed. She saw him dip his head in a bucket of water, then gasping, throw back his head, shaking his dark hair like a dog, scattering a shower of water droplets which sparkled in the sun.

  For some reason as she watched him, she thought of his brother, Matt, who would now be well up river if the wind held – and she could hear it blowing gently in the trees – and she wondered if he was like Toby in build. They were unlike in temperament, but, she thought, he would have the same strength. She’d felt it when he’d grasped her when she’d almost fallen on the deck, and seen the width of his shoulders as he’d bowed so mockingly.

  She felt a hot flush running through her and she screwed up her eyes and clasped her hands up tight, and nipped her knees together beneath the blankets as she tried to shake away the image of the arrogant, disdainful sea captain.

  How dare he say I’m a rag-bag, she fumed. Who does he think he is? He’s nowt but a criminal. He could hang if he was caught. She shivered as a small still voice of conscience said, and so could you.

  ‘Annie? Annie? Are you awake?’

  Toby stood over her, buttoning up his shirt, his hair looking black in its dampness. ‘I’ve put a pan of water on the fire, it should be warm now if you want to wash.’

  ‘Warm water? What a treat. Tha’s spoiling me, Toby.’ She smiled up at him.

  ‘Well!’ He sat on the end of the bed. ‘I think you deserve some spoiling after last night. I shouldn’t have been so hard on you, making you climb up the ladder; not many women would have done it, especially in the dark.’

  She sat up and stretched. ‘Tha did right to make me. I’d never have done it otherwise. I’d
have sat there shivering in ’boat if tha hadn’t insisted.’

  He fiddled with his shirt buttons. ‘And – and I’m sorry about my brother, he was extremely rude. I should have stopped him – said something. I don’t know why he took against you so.’

  ‘But tha agreed with him,’ she said slowly. ‘When he said I was a rag-bag, tha said that I was.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  She hadn’t seen him like this before. He was usually so cheerful.

  ‘But, Annie, look at you. You don’t care about yourself. You go to bed in all your clothes!’

  It was true, she had, but that was modesty, she thought. I didn’t want to embarrass him, with him being celibate an’ all.

  ‘You wear torn clothes and you never brush your hair, even though I lent you a brush.’ He shook his head in admonishment. ‘What are we to do with you?’

  ‘Tha said tha liked me as I was!’

  ‘So I do, because I’ve got used to you as you are. But I’m looking at you afresh since my brother said what he did. Now he’s pointed it out,’ he grinned ruefully, ‘I have to admit, you are a bit of a scarecrow!’

  ‘All right.’ She pushed the blankets to one side and put her feet on the floor, her toes were black with mud. ‘All right. Go outside while I wash, and I’ll mend me skirt if tha’ll lend me needle and thread. But I’ll onny change me ways on one condition.’

  ‘And what’s that?’ His humour had changed. She saw the old Toby appearing.

  ‘That tha’ll let me stop here.’

  He stared at her. ‘Is that a good idea, Annie? What about the Trotts? Aren’t you bothered about what they think?’

  She shook her head. ‘No. It doesn’t matter to me what they think. Anyway, they share ’same roof, but not ’same bed, so it’s just ’same. And Mrs Trott will be pleased to have me out of ’house.’ She smiled. ‘Mr Trott will miss me though. He likes me to warm his bed.’

  ‘What?’

  She laughed at his horrorstruck expression. ‘I sleep in his bed when he’s on nightshift, so that it’s warm for him to get in to next morning.’

  He flushed. ‘I thought you meant—!’

  ‘Aye, well, he’s not too old, so don’t think he is. So if I can stay here, I’d rather. Tha can say I’m housekeeper if tha wants.’

  She stripped naked after he’d gone outside and washed her body. The water was soft as silk. Toby hadn’t a well and had gathered the water from a stream which ran above the cottage. When she’d finished she poured the remaining water from the jug over her hair, catching it in a bowl.

  She rubbed her hair dry with her shift and picked up the other clothes she had taken off. Toby was right. They were just a heap of rags. She sat on the bed. Her skin felt cool and clean. She sniffed at her armpits, she smelt nice, it was a pity to put the dirty clothes back on again. She picked up her money bag and looked inside. She had sufficient money to buy something else to wear. Toby had paid her for selling his goods; she’d never been so rich.

  Toby’s shirt that he’d worn yesterday was lying across his bed. She picked it up and held it against herself. It would do until she had washed her own petticoats and shirt. She put it on and it just covered her buttocks.

  ‘Mm. That’s hardly decent. What else?’

  She glanced around the room. There were no curtains that she could borrow and drape around herself, only rugs and they were hiding the chests, and besides would be too heavy to pin around her waist.

  A pair of breeches were folded neatly across the back of a chair and she eyed them thoughtfully.

  ‘Annie. Haven’t you finished yet? We’ve things to do.’

  ‘I won’t be long,’ she called back. ‘I’m just dressing.’

  When she opened the door wide to admit him, she laughed aloud at his astonished exclamation and gave him a bow.

  The breeches were long on her and came almost down to her ankles, but for all that they were not a bad fit and she had tightened the waist with a leather belt. Her hair she had tidied with Toby’s brush and comb, and tied it back with a scrap of linen.

  ‘Why, Annie, I wouldn’t know you. How lovely your face is.’ He ran his fingers over her cheekbones and eyebrows, shaping them. ‘You’ve never shown your face before, you’ve always had it covered by your hair.’

  I do look different, she thought. When I looked in Toby’s mirror last time, I was haggard, my eyes were heavy with great bags under them, but I was tired and frightened then. Now she saw that her skin was clearer and with her hair tied back, her eyes looked bigger and brighter.

  ‘Mrs Trott’s food has done you good,’ he said admiringly. ‘You’ve put on weight. Are you sure you want to come and live here? The diet’s much simpler.’

  ‘Yes please.’ She saw a look of pleasure in his eyes and for a fleeting moment, remembering her vow that she’d never again become entangled with a man, wondered if she was making a big mistake.

  11

  The next run wasn’t for another six weeks, and in the meantime Annie bought woollen cloth from Toby and asked Mrs Trott if she would have it made up into a skirt for her by the seamstress in Hessle. Mrs Trott had tutted when she’d seen her in Toby’s breeches and said it wasn’t seemly to be wearing men’s clothes. She’d fished about in her box and brought out an old skirt of her own. The colour was faded but it was clean, though patched, and Annie agreed to wear it until the new one was ready. Her old clothes she put onto a bonfire and watched them burn.

  ‘There’s ’old life going up in smoke,’ she’d said, as the sparks rose.

  ‘But what of your children, Annie?’ Toby had been silently watching her and the question was sudden and direct.

  ‘I said I don’t want to talk about them.’ She’d turned away and went indoors, slamming the door behind her as if shutting out a memory.

  She and Robin made another trip into the Wolds, she’d persuaded Toby to let her carry some tea and tobacco for Mrs Corner and Lily Sutcliff as well as the new stock of linens and muslins.

  ‘’Weather will be bad soon, and we don’t know how many more trips we’ll be able to make. We don’t want to disappoint them.’

  ‘I’m bothered about the military,’ he’d said. The revenue men have gone back up the coast, but the soldiers will still be on the lookout.’

  But they hadn’t seen any soldiers and the trip had been profitable. They made visits to the customers that they had missed the last time and were met with open arms by the Sutcliff sisters who were full of excitement about the soldiers’ visit to the inn.

  ‘They were very polite and well behaved,’ Joan said, ‘and even father was impressed and said they could call again.’ She’d cast a coy glance at her sister. ‘Sergeant Collins was very taken with Lily.’

  Lily had blushed but didn’t deny it and Annie was pleased that her ruse had worked so well.

  Toby explained the system they employed on the run. Matt brought in a consignment of French brandy, Dutch geneva, tea and tobacco from the shores of Holland. Not all of it came down the Humber, some of it was despatched to the waiting fishermen off the coasts of Whitby, Scarborough and Bridlington. The revenue men and militia were thwarted once the goods had safely reached the shore for they fast disappeared into the warren of streets and narrow alleyways, by donkey-cart or horse panniers, and no amount of persuasion or offer of reward could persuade the taciturn residents of these towns to give information on their brothers, cousins, neighbours and friends, to the despised King’s men.

  ‘It’s much more dangerous when the ships are out at sea,’ Toby explained. ‘The revenue cutters are fast and armed and the customs men are determined to rake in their prize money for seizure of contraband.’ He gave a grim exclamation, ‘but not as determined as the smugglers are to stop them.’

  ‘But what about Matt—?’ she began.

  ‘Oh, he can look after himself. Besides his ship is faster than anything the revenue men sail and he knows the coastal waters and the estuary better than they do. Money from vario
us sources is pooled to buy goods abroad,’ he continued. ‘Matt furnishes a list of goods supplied which he gives to me, and then I arrange distribution amongst the men, who in turn supply others; people like Sutcliff – innkeepers, farmers and so on; then I collect the money from them at a later date. Most of the trade is done on trust, but no-one has let us down yet.’

  On the next run Annie was employed as lookout. She roamed the river-bank keeping a sharp eye open for soldiers and those people who were not about their everyday tasks, and watching for the Breeze to put in an appearance, while Toby went once more into Hull to listen for reliable information of the whereabouts of the customs men.

  ‘Bernard Roxton is the revenue officer to watch out for,’ he reported on his return. ‘And he’s snooping around in Hessle already. He’s staying at the Admiral Hawke Inn. He’s tall and thin and wears a black hat to cover his lack of hair. It’s rumoured that he’s out to make a catch of every smuggling craft that comes up river. He’s in trouble from his superiors for missing the contraband on the coast and he’s working closely with your Scottish sergeant and his men.’

  ‘Sergeant Collins is his name,’ Annie said. ‘He’s the one I sent up to ’Sutcliff’s for a good feed. I hope he remembers if we should chance to meet.’

  ‘I’ve told you Annie. Don’t depend on it.’

  The next evening a rider came in from Hull and left a message with Josh. The Breeze had been seen at the tip of Spurn. ‘It’ll take a few hours even with a favourable wind to come round ’headland, avoiding ’sandbanks,’ he reported to Toby. ‘She’ll come up on flood tide. Tha’d best be having a bit of rest. It’ll be a long night.’

  Toby took his advice and lay on his bed, but Annie said she wasn’t tired and sat in a chair by the fire, sewing a length of goldd woollen cloth. She felt strangely jumpy and tense and she kept pricking her finger with the needle. She sighed, she was no seamstress and was beginning to wish she hadn’t started this project.