by Val Wood
He narrowed his eyes and viewed her quizically and she knew that first he would make his own discreet enquiries.
‘Take care on ’road, ma’am. I hear that a man’s escaped from a navy ship. He’ll be desperate. I’m not saying he’d harm thee, but he might want ’hoss. Dost tha carry a firearm?’
She stared dumbstruck. ‘A man? A seaman, do you mean?’ Wild delight ran through her and she felt her cheeks grow hot, then cold as she thought of the consequences. If he was caught, he’d be hanged.
‘Is tha not well, ma’am?’ The landlord pushed a stool towards her. ‘Better sit down for a minute.’
She sank down and Henry came and held her hand and watched her anxiously.
‘A seaman, did you say?’ she whispered. ‘One of the pressed men?’
‘No. I didn’t say that.’ He gazed at her as if to remember her face. ‘A soldier. Didn’t fancy a sail on one of His Majesty’s ships apparently, and I can’t say I blame him. It wouldn’t be anybody that you would know, ma’am, not an officer, just a common soldier.’
She closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘No. For a moment I thought – but no, I know no soldiers.’
‘Look at the ships, Mamma. Look at the ships.’
The Humber was thick with ships, schooners and brigantines, sloops and commercial boats, plying their way towards Hessle and the towns beyond the Trent.
The river was choppy, the tide full. The waves surged and swelled, and they watched from the high cliffs near Hessle as one of the ferry boats battled its way towards the Lincolnshire coast, tossing and plunging as the billowing body of water made sport of its shaking timbers.
We’ll go to the Trotts first, she decided as she urged the horse forward. They can meet Henry. Then we’ll go to see Robin and put forward the suggestion. I’ll not go to Toby’s cottage. She stifled a sob as she cantered past the track which led there. The door can stay locked on those memories. The memory of two loving brothers.
‘Yes?’ Mrs Trott answered the door and Annie felt as if she was reliving time. Except that Mrs Trott’s grim expression changed to disbelief when she saw who it was.
‘Who is it, Mrs Trott?’
Annie smiled as she heard Henry Trott call. ‘Not a beggar,’ she called back. ‘Just somebody down on her luck.’
He came to the door and Mrs Trott stood back, her eyes fixed on the child.
‘Bye. I’m glad to see thee, Mrs Hope. We’ve been that worried. Talked often of thee, haven’t we, Mrs Trott? Captain Linton’s searched high and low. Come in, come in. We’ll have to get a message to him.’
Mrs Trott said not a word, but stared at Henry as he clung to Annie’s cloak.
‘And who’s is bairn?’ he asked as he noticed Henry hiding behind her.
‘Can’t tha see whose bairn it is?’ Mrs Trott’s voice broke in. ‘Can’t tha see?’ She put her hands to her face and started to weep.
‘Mrs Trott? What is it?’ Annie put her hand on the old woman’s arm.
‘Daft beggar that he is, hasn’t got eyes in his head.’ Mrs Trott wiped her nose on her clean apron. ‘Anybody can see who he belongs to.’
Henry Trott looked bewildered. ‘I suppose he’s thine, Mrs Hope? I’m not much good at seeing likeness in babbies.’
Mrs Trott gave a great sigh and leaned forward to draw Henry towards her. He resisted for a moment and looked up at Annie, but she nodded reassuringly and he went towards the old lady.
‘He’s a Linton all right, he’s got his father’s eyes and his grandmother’s hair.’ She stroked the boy’s head. ‘She had beautiful hair, your grandmother.’ Her mouth trembled, ‘and a face like an angel.’
Annie smiled to herself. No matter that she too had fair hair and blue eyes. She would let it pass. If it pleased Mrs Trott to attribute all Henry’s beauty to the Lintons, she wasn’t going to complain.
She told them of finding Matt and of him being pressed into the navy. She didn’t mention Roxton for she thought that Mr Trott would still be unaware of the smuggling.
‘We were married before he sailed,’ she said. ‘I’m Mrs Linton now.’
‘Married!’ Mrs Trott’s mouth dropped open. ‘He married thee!’
Annie took no offence. She felt she knew Mrs Trott well enough now. The old woman had never liked her, but it didn’t matter any more.
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘He wanted to give Henry his name before he went away.’
‘Henry?’ Mrs Trott repeated.
‘That’s what Mrs Hope – Mrs Linton said, you silly old woman.’ Mr Trott displayed an impatience Annie hadn’t seen before. ‘Don’t keep repeating everything she says!’
‘Henry!’ Mrs Trott ignored the old man. ‘Called after the squire I expect?’ She gave a short laugh. ‘Well I doubt that old scoundrel will accept either of thee, in spite of it.’
‘No,’ Annie faced her. ‘That wasn’t why. I didn’t know that Squire Linton’s name was Henry. I named him after Mr Trott.’ She looked fondly at Henry Trott. ‘You taught me that there were some kind men in the world and I met several more after you. But you were the first, you took me into your home and fed me and gave me shelter, and so I gave my son your name.’
Henry Trott blew his nose and then thanked her. ‘I’m honoured, Mrs Linton, and very proud. Proud to have your son and grandson of Squire Linton named after me. I’ll live with that in my heart for ’rest of me days.’
She went then to see Robin, he was out, his sister said, but she was welcome to come in and wait, she was sure he would be back for supper. The house was neat and seemed to be more comfortable than it had been. She was offered tea.
‘Is Robin in work?’ she asked as she sipped the tea.
‘Aye, he is. He sells cloth in ’summer and goes in ’quarries in winter if he’s hard pressed for money. Then he’s been in Captain Linton’s pay, until recent. He’s been good to him ’as Captain Linton. I thought as how Robin might get ideas above his station, but he never. He’s allus been a good lad, our Robin.’
Annie didn’t quite follow but asked no further questions. Robin would no doubt tell her all when he put in an appearance.
‘And your other brother, Josh?’
‘Still in quarry. Works all hours God sends. He looks after his wife’s sister as best he can, as well as his own; her husband died in gaol; he had a nasty accident after he was imprisoned for being with them smugglers.’ She pulled her shawl closer around her and though the room was warm and stuffy, Annie too shivered.
‘Aye,’ the woman said softly. ‘It’s folks like us that allus gets caught. Never ’nobs.’
‘Sometimes they do,’ Annie whispered. ‘Sometimes.’
It was getting dark as Robin returned and after greeting her with enthusiasm and some amazement at being presented to Henry, he forgot himself enough to give her a smacking kiss on her cheek.
Then he suddenly said. ‘I’ll have to get a message to Captain Linton. I promised I would.’
‘Robin?’ Annie queried. ‘There’s something different about you.’
‘Aye,’ he said grinning all over his face. ‘Bye heck there is.’
‘Come with me to the Admiral Hawke,’ she said suddenly. ‘I’ll need to get a room for the night for Henry and me. It’s too late to go back into Hull, and we’ve a lot of talking to do.’
They uncoupled the reins of the hired mount from the hitching rail and while Henry rode on its back, Robin and Annie walked by the side and talked and talked.
‘So the Captain’s been pressed? Well, he’s better at sea than rotting in gaol. Roxton would have had him sooner or later, aye and Josh. That’s all over and done with now, I hope.’
‘Did you always know, Robin? About the smuggling?’
He nodded. ‘Aye. I wasn’t so dim that I didn’t know what was going on. But I just didn’t want to be involved; somebody has to make a stand about what they think is right.’
She gazed admiringly at the young man who had emerged from boyhood with his ideals still intact.
She’d been right. He was just the person they needed at Sampson’s Drapery.
She booked in at the inn and after giving Henry his supper, put him to bed and joined Robin downstairs in the small dark snug where she had once persuaded Mr Moses to let her have cloth to sell.
‘I met up with Moses again,’ Robin said as if reading her thoughts. ‘I came across him when I was searching for thee. You, I mean! Sometimes I forget,’ he laughed. ‘Though I always use my own voice when I’m up on ’Wolds.’
‘When I’m alone I often think in my own voice, though not always, as I once did.’ She studied him questioningly. ‘When you’re on the Wolds, do you see Rose?’ she asked.
He blushed. ‘Sometimes. Sometimes I stay there when I’m travelling, but her sisters watch her all the time. They know, I think, how I feel about her.’
‘How do you feel, Robin? Dare I ask?’
‘I don’t mind telling thee, Annie.’ He fidgeted in his seat and looked down at his feet. He was wearing, she noticed, a finer pair of stockings than the knitted ones he used to wear and his short leather boots were new. And though he was wearing the same coat as he previously wore, which was now shiny and rather short in the sleeve, his flannel shirt was good and hard-wearing, as were his brown breeches.
‘I’d like to wed her one day. But I’ve nowt to offer her yet. I can make money in ’summer when I can get out to sell cloth, but I know her fayther wouldn’t let her go unless I was in regular work. He’s not short of brass himself so he won’t let her go to a pauper.’
Annie’s smile went from ear to ear. Now she had an extra cherry to offer Robin.
‘Well, Mr Deane,’ she said solemnly. ‘How would you like to become a draper in York, and take your wife, Rose, with you?’
34
‘How shall we travel, Annie?’ Robin could scarcely contain himself for joy. ‘We still have Sorrel, Josh keeps him well shod. And I hire a cart when I’m travelling.’ He added anxiously. ‘Though perhaps it’s more fitting for you to travel post-chaise now that you’re married to the captain?’
‘Being married to Captain Linton hasn’t put more money in my pocket,’ she said. ‘I have money belonging to Mr Sampson which he gave me to bring you back, but we won’t spend it unwisely. Besides, no chaise could get up those roads. No, if I’m to go and see Mr Sutcliff and persuade him that you’re a suitable person for his youngest daughter to marry, I’ll travel with Henry on Sorrel, and you can follow in the cart with your belongings, when you’ve made your arrangements with Moses and said goodbye to your family. Oh, and you’ll bring Charlie?’
She knew it would be hard for Robin to take his leave of his sister and Josh who had cared for him, and guessed too that he might want to make arrangements with Moses to visit him when he was settled in York. He had an eye for business had Robin, now that he was older, she was convinced of it. And as for Charlie, the dog had greeted her deliriously, giving her great licks with his pink tongue and his long tail swishing.
‘Aye, I’ll not come without Charlie, he’d pine without me, besides, he can guard young Henry when we’re busy in ’shop.’
Already he was assuming an essence of propriety, ever since Annie had told him of the draper’s shop in Fossgate, York; of its large window and open floor and oak counters, and the walls of shelves which were stacked with rolls of linen and muslins and silks and satins, and of the hangings which she draped for display.
As she urged Sorrel on towards the rolling hills and dales of the Wolds, she felt a surging emotion. It was almost a feeling of going home, yet she hadn’t felt this before. When she had come the first time she had been overwhelmed by the openness, by the vast green pasture-land. Then she had been loath to leave behind the safety of the river, feeling unsure of herself as she left the long ribbon of water behind.
But now, as she trotted along the narrow tracks, scattering pheasants and rabbits and pointing out to Henry the disappearing tail of a fox as it slid beneath a hedge, and showed him the foxgloves and leafy ferns that were growing along the stone walls, she felt a sense of belonging. There was a sweet smell of wild thyme and the heavy scent of elderflower and a great joyful sound of birdsong as if she was being welcomed back.
‘This is where your father lived when he was just your age, Henry. This was his home.’
‘But where is his room?’ Henry looked about him. ‘Where is his shop?’
‘Your father didn’t have a room above a shop; he lived in a great house with a lot of rooms and large gardens, gardens as big as the park where Polly and I take you to play, and he had a horse of his own, and dogs.’
‘I’m going to have a dog,’ said Henry decisively, looking about him. ‘I’m going to have Charlie. Robin said I could share him. Then I’ll bring him out here to play in this park.’
Annie smiled down at him and then reined in to point down a valley. ‘Over there, Henry. Hidden in that hollow, is the house where your grandfather lives.’
‘Can we go and see him? I’ll tell him about James’s grandfayther; he might know him.’
She shook her head. ‘Perhaps one day, but not now.’ I don’t know if we’ll be welcome, she thought, in spite of what Matt said. ‘We must get on if we’re to see the Sutcliff’s. There’ll be a welcome there for us, I’ve no doubt about that.’
But, though the Sutcliff girls greeted her with open arms, and made a great fuss over Henry, she felt a slight restraint from Lily. She was welcoming enough, but seemed nervous and jumpy. Mr Sutcliff had hurt his back lifting a barrel of ale and was hardly able to get out of his chair and all of his daughters were scurrying around trying to do the jobs which he normally did.
‘There’s a lot of heavy work running an inn,’ he complained. ‘The lasses are strong enough but they can’t shift ale barrels around.’
‘They can if they do it properly,’ Annie said. ‘I know how, I’ll show them.’ She had shifted many barrels of fish in her time, she was sure she hadn’t lost the knack.
‘Find the pivot,’ she told them. ‘Then it’s easy.’ She rolled the barrel on its axis as easily as she ever did. ‘I can’t think why your father hasn’t shown you before.’
‘He allus took care of the ale,’ Lily told her, wiping her pale face with her shawl. ‘We allus looked after ’house. Annie,’ she whispered anxiously. ‘I have to talk to thee. I’m that worried.’
She took Annie up to her room, and left Henry in the charge of Rose. ‘It’s Sergeant Collins,’ she blurted out. ‘He’s here, hiding in ’barn.’
Annie stared. The escaped soldier! Not Sergeant Collins?
‘He said he’d had enough. Something happened to make him run off, but he wouldn’t say what. I’m that scared of what me fayther will say if he finds out. It’s onny by chance that he didn’t find him, he can’t get outside because of his back. Oh, Annie, I want him to stay. And if he can’t stay, then I’ll go with him.’
‘His wife?’ She put her hand to her mouth as the words came out. She’d forgotten that Lily didn’t know that Sergeant Collins was married.
‘He told me,’ Lily nodded, ‘but he says he has no wife, onny in name. He hasn’t seen her for years. And now, well, he can’t go back, not now; there’ll be a warrant out on him.’
‘No,’ said Annie softly. ‘He can’t go back.’ Only to the gallows or a flogging to the death.
‘Take me to him,’ she said urgently. ‘We’ll have to decide what to do before your father finds out.’
They slipped out of the kitchen door and across the yard and into a foldyard. Annie remembered the way, this was where Mr Sutcliff had brought her when she’d brought the run liquor and they’d stored it in the pit.
Sergeant Collins was lying in a corner of the barn with a blanket wrapped around him. He’d discarded his red tunic and wore a shabby coat which Annie suspected had once been Mr Sutcliff’s. His once shiny boots had a film of dust and his breeches were muddy.
He sat up instantly as they opened the door and Annie saw him reach for a heavy
stick which was lying by his side. He relaxed when he saw who it was and stood up. His face was pale and he looked younger than he did when he was in uniform.
‘I’ve brought Mrs Hope to talk to you, she has a clear head.’ Lily stood by his side. ‘She might know what we can do.’
Sergeant Collins glanced at Annie. He’d been there when she’d changed her name to Linton, but she hadn’t yet told the Sutcliffs.
‘Why?’ Annie asked. ‘Why now? I thought you were a soldier through and through.’
‘I was,’ he muttered grimly. ‘Even though the army wasn’t what I would have chosen – if I’d had the choice. But who of us does have the choice? And they made it sound tempting. There was regular pay, though it was a pittance, and I did have some satisfaction out of an orderly life, even though it was hard.’
He put his hand to his head. ‘But there are so many injustices. You can feel the dislike of the ordinary folks, the hatred of the mob. I got to be able to smell the fear of the young soldiers when they had to face them.’ He nodded his head towards Annie. ‘Like the soldier who fired at you and Master Linton.’
‘But you’d put up with it for so long, and you had responsibility!’
He gave a grim smile. ‘Aye, but not for much longer. Roxton was out to get somebody for losing Captain Linton, and he told me that day on the dockside, that I’d obstructed him. He was set to stop the marriage.’
Lily had a puzzled frown on her forehead but she didn’t interrupt.
‘But neither did I fancy a sea voyage. Half those men won’t come back and though I’m no coward I’d already decided that there must be some other life, a better one than dying on foreign earth.’
‘But,’ he said in merely a whisper. ‘It was when I saw ye and Captain Linton that I made my mind up. Ah. Ye might not have the chance of a life together, who knows what might happen out there on the ocean? But I watched you make a pledge in spite of that, and I knew then what I wanted. I wanted to be with Lily. It might not be for long if I’m caught. But even so, it’s what I want more than anything else. I’m sick of battling with my Calvinistic conscience. I want a taste of happiness too.’
