Strife Beyond Tamar

by Oliver, Marina

  Kate recovered swiftly from her injuries. The bullet had luckily only gashed the edge of her arm, and though she had lost a lot of blood, it healed without there being any permanent damage. Her bump on the head was also not serious, though she was made to take life very easily for the next few days. But the prospect for peace did not seem so rosy. News came that the Cornish deputies had been prevented, on the order of Parliament, from entering Exeter, and this order had been carried out by commissioners who had escorted the Cornish to a small village near Exeter, from whence three days later they departed with no more gained than a further extension of the truce.

  Both Parliament and Royalist commanders knew the battle would soon again be joined. Both began recruiting in greater earnest than before, and Sir Ralph Hopton and his fellow commanders were busy with plans for providing for their army. At the end of March a message came from Jon that he would be able to come to Fowey in ten days time and stay for a week, so the wedding could take place as soon as he arrived.

  'I must earn my joy by helping with the recruitment in the area in the villages round about,' he wrote. 'So though I will have to be working for part of the time, I shall be free with you, my Kate, for the rest. Unless the army moves sooner than I expect, it may be for even longer.'

  The first weekend in April was Easter, and the wedding was planned for Monday the tenth, a day or so after Jon's expected arrival. Kate was busy with many preparations, for there had been little done before they had left Saltash, so uncertain had everything been. Now, with help from her mother and aunt and Morwenna, she made her gown, and the other aunts, whose young daughters were to be the bride's maids, helped in making the gowns for them. Kate, in a whirl of activity, had little time to think of Petroc who had not been seen in Fowey since the night of the shooting. Occasionally the image of his face came into her mind, but she hastily dismissed it, refusing even to speculate on the events of that night and Petroc's part in them. Nick was also away, on one of his forays against Parliament shipping, Morwenna said softly when Kate enquired.

  'Though we are never to breathe a word of that, even amongst ourselves,' she cautioned. 'He goes to visit friends, if any ask.'

  By Sunday, the ninth, the day Jon was expected, Kate was ready and in a restless mood. After church she lingered on the quay with Morwenna, constantly looking back up the steep hill that led out of the town, in hopes of seeing Jon come riding in.

  'He will come after dinner, for he may be as far away as Bodmin or Launceston,' Morwenna said at last. 'Come home now to dinner.'

  Reluctantly Kate went, but afterwards she again persuaded Morwenna to walk in the town. After more than two hours Morwenna induced her to go home to make certain Jon had not arrived from some other direction.

  'But if he had, he would have come to find us!' Kate exclaimed, nevertheless turning towards home.

  Jon was not there, and by now the rest of the family were becoming almost as concerned as Kate, though they tried to find convincing reasons for any delay.

  'We do not know what may have happened,' Mr Anscombe said bracingly. 'Parliament may have attacked, or Sir Ralph decided to march into Devon again. Or Jon may have been asked to deliver an important message some distance out of his way. It could have delayed him. No doubt he will come soon.'

  But Jon did not arrive, and it was late before Kate, tense with worry as to what had happened to him, could be persuaded to retire to bed.

  *

  She lay sleepless all night, dry-eyed but fearful of what might have befallen him, certain he would have come to her if it had been at all possible. Was he dead, lying injured as the result of some skirmish too unimportant to be mentioned by the few travellers who brought them news? Had there been a sudden move in the war that had prevented him from leaving the army? If that were so they would soon hear of it, but in the meanwhile it did nothing to relieve her anxiety.

  Rising early with the dawn, unable to bear her bed any longer, she found her mother and aunt anxiously conferring whether to halt the arrangements for the wedding at once, or wait a while longer.

  'You cannot cancel them until the last minute,' she protested, but her mother exclaimed at her looks.

  'Kate, my love! You are not fit for a wedding even should Jon arrive! Did you sleep?'

  Miserably Kate shook her head. 'I lay waiting for horses' hooves on the cobblestones,' she said dully. 'I could not sleep.'

  'And you look dreadful for it!' her mother chided gently. 'There is no doubt some innocent explanation, and Jon will be horrified when he sees how you have ruined your looks by such worrying.'

  'I cannot do aught else,' Kate said.

  'You will have to learn not to give way to your worries if you are to be a soldier's wife,' Aunt Phyllis said calmly, and Kate turned lacklustre eyes to her.

  'Am I to be a soldier's wife?' she queried. ' 'Twould seem to be dubious at the moment!'

  Gradually the day wore on until it was obvious even to Kate the wedding could not be held that day, even should Jon arrive at this late hour. Many guests had arrived, and many sympathetic glances were shown to Kate and kindly meant reassurances said, to which she replied bravely, holding her head high as she waited, uselessly.

  When the guests, mostly relatives from Polruan and Bodinnick, had departed Kate was ordered to bed by her mother, and she was not unwilling. The strain of the day had been immense following her sleepless night, and when Morwenna on her mother's instructions brought Kate a dose of the medicine that had previously made her sleep, it was to find it was unnecessary, an exhausted Kate having slept as soon as she had lain down.

  There was a nightmare quality about the next few days. When Jon still did not appear on the Tuesday, Mr Anscombe rode himself to the Royalist commander's headquarters to obtain news, while men were sent out in other directions to make enquiries. Kate was awaiting him in the stable yard when he rode back late on the Thursday.

  She waited while he dismounted and handed his horse over to the groom, then turned with him as he put his arm about her and led her into the house.

  'Jon left Sir Ralph on the Saturday, and should have been with us that night. No news had been brought to the camp of him. I fear, my love, that something has happened to him.'

  He did what he could to console her. She did not give way to her grief, but sat stony eyed in the parlour while they speculated on what might have happened. There had been no news from anywhere else, but Mr Trevose was quick to point out that if there had been bad news it would have been likely to have reached them before now. Kate was privately unconvinced, and had wild ideas of setting out herself to search for Jon, though she realised she would be as little likely to discover him as anyone else, and all she could do was to sit at home and wait.

  Friday passed, and Saturday, agonisingly slowly to Kate. This week that should have been the first of her married life had, instead of being the joyous time she had looked forward to, been the most distressing time of her life. On the Sunday she listlessly went to church with the rest of the family and prayed fervently for Jon's safe return.

  Afterwards on the quay a neighbour approached.

  'Have you heard? Grenvile moved into Launceston yesterday, they expect an attack soon from Chudleigh, he is marching that way.'

  'Let us hope Grenvile can hold him,' Mr Trevose commented.

  'Launceston should not be so difficult to defend,' the neighbour said confidently. 'I doubt if the Parliamentarians will be able to storm it.'

  'They might be able to pass round,' Mr Anscombe suggested.

  'Not if Sir Ralph moves the rest of his men up to Launceston, and no doubt he will be organising that now.'

  Kate listened, uncaring for once about the doings of the armies, conscious only that if Jon had been there, he would now have been preparing to leave her.

  *

  They went home and after dinner Kate retreated to the summer house with some sewing, but she soon laid it down and sat staring across the river at the woods clinging to the banks of the c
reek, and the houses of the little village of Polruan, clinging equally precariously to the sides of the cliffs.

  Then she heard the sound of footsteps approaching and looked up to see who was disturbing her solitude. For a moment she stared, incredulous, and then sprang to her feet, her sewing falling unheeded to the floor, and held out her hands to Jon who stood looking at her with a rueful smile on his face.

  'Jon!'

  'Kate, my dear. Did I frighten you?'

  'No, indeed not! Startled, perhaps. Though I have been longing for you, 'tis still strange to see you unexpectedly. What has happened? Where have you been?'

  He stepped across and took her in his arms, and she responded to his kiss eagerly.

  'I was taken by the enemy,' he said slowly. 'But your father is waiting for us. I met him as I rode into Fowey, and he sent me to fetch you. No doubt the others wish to hear what happened. Shall we go in?'

  Kate eagerly agreed, and they went to where the rest of the family had gathered in the parlour, as anxious as Kate to hear what had delayed Jon.

  'I set out on Saturday morning as planned,' he began. 'I had reached within a few miles of Fowey when I was set on by half a dozen ruffians and overpowered. I contrived to wound a couple of them in the process, but they were too many for me. They took me westwards, and hid me in some hut until darkness, when I was taken aboard a boat lying, as near as I could judge, in St Austell Bay.'

  'Oh, Jon, were you hurt?' Kate asked anxiously, but he shook his head.

  'A few bruises only, and a slight cut on my leg. Nought to matter.'

  'Who were they?' asked Mr Trevose.

  'At first I did not know, for I thought this part of the Duchy was well protected from Parliament, but that is what they were. I discovered it when I was aboard their boat.'

  'Impossible, no Parliamentarian troop could penetrate the coast here!' Nick declared, and Jon shrugged.

  'So I thought, but now I know differently. I was tied and blindfolded from the time they overpowered me, so I could not see what way they used, or whether any folk helped them, or how they managed. I do not think much of the protection of the coast.'

  Nick pursed his lips, knowing Jon criticised him and his friends, and Morwenna looked angrily at Jon, but took her lead from Nick and remained silent.

  'What happened then?' Mr Anscombe asked quietly.

  'I was questioned about the movements of the forces. They knew who I was and with whom I had been, and tried to persuade me to give information.'

  'How long did this go on? The full week?'

  'Until last night. I think they were patrolling up and down the coast. I was locked in a small cabin without a porthole, and saw only two men the whole time I was aboard. A ruffianly pair, who came armed with pistols and knives whenever they brought me food, or tried to obtain information from me.'

  'Poor Jon!' Kate exclaimed. 'Did they harm you?'

  'No. Oh, they would have done, I am convinced, had it suited them, but they left me alone for a great deal of time. I think they could see I would not easily give way. When they brought me ashore last night I suspected, from something I overheard, that they had plans to try and make me talk.'

  'What happened then?' Mistress Trevose asked.

  'I was imprisoned in a small hut that, from the smell of it, was normally used to smoke fish! It was not the hut they had used earlier, and I did not know then that it was in the same area.'

  'Near St Austell?' Mr Trevose asked.

  'Yes, about half way between it and St Blazey. When they had locked me in I understood they intended to return this morning, for one of them said they would then make me talk. I suspect they hoped to use sterner measures there than they had been able to on, the boat.'

  Kate shivered. 'But you got away? How?'

  'They had not tied me so securely this time, and I managed to rid myself of my bonds during the night. Then, when one of them came this morning to bring food I surprised him and escaped.'

  'He was alone?' Nick asked, and Kate looked at him quickly, wondering at the odd tone in his voice.

  Jon stared at Nick, and there seemed a current of antagonism between them.

  'Yes,' was all Jon replied.

  Nick raised his eyebrows. 'Trusting of them,' he commented.

  Kate broke into the exchange angrily. 'They knew Jon was tied up,' she protested. 'What are you suggesting?'

  Jon laughed. 'Do not heed him, Kate. The man was armed, and if I had been tied up all night could easily have dealt with me, despite having to untie my hands for me to eat. Nick sees mysteries where they do not exist!'

  'You were able to overpower him?' Morwenna asked, glancing from Jon and Kate, who sat beside him, to her brother who lounged against the window frame.

  'There were some sticks lying in the hut, and I was able to use one to good effect before he was aware I had freed myself. After that it was simple,' Jon replied. 'I locked him in the hut and set off inland, not knowing quite where I was. I could see the bay, and guessed where it was after I met some of our troopers riding towards St Blazey.'

  'How fortunate you met them. They provided you with the horse, no doubt?' Mr Trevose said.

  'Luckily one of them had been with Hopton when we first attempted to take Exeter, and he remembered me. He lent me the horse until I could return to join Sir Ralph.'

  'Return? Yes, I suppose you must,' Kate said bleakly. She had not yet thought of her wedding, having been absorbed with the fact of Jon's sudden reappearance and his story. Now she realised that, with the army on the move, he would not be able to remain here in Fowey, and once more her wedding must be postponed.

  'I hear we are moving into Launceston,' Jon said gently. 'I must return. This would have been the end of my leave, and though I regret it as much as you, Kate, I cannot linger.'

  'No, but one night will make little difference,' Aunt Phyllis said briskly. 'After a week of imprisonment, and no doubt poor fare, you can spare one night to remain here and recover from your ordeal.'

  Smiling at her, Jon agreed, and then the family tactfully melted away to leave him alone with Kate. Jon expressed his deep remorse at this further delay.

  'I feel I was careless to allow myself to be taken, but I never expected any Parliamentarians here,' he said, and she tried to suppress her own disappointment and reassure him it was ill fortune that had separated them.

  'Soon, my dearest, there will be another time when you can come, and then we will succeed,' she consoled him. 'I am happy to know you are safe, for I have been so worried about what was happening, thinking you lying dead on some battlefield!'

  He kissed her, and promised to attempt once more to obtain leave.

  'I cannot bear many more such partings from you, my lovely Kate,' he whispered.

  'Then go and defeat these rebels as quickly as possible,' she said, trying to laugh.

  He was silent, and she looked up at him.

  'What is it?' she asked after a while.

  He smiled down at her, but there remained a frown in his eyes.

  'Are they so much to blame?' he asked gently. 'I was not wholeheartedly in favour of the King at the beginning, although I chose to fight for him. But in the enforced seclusion, away from the comradeship of the army, I began to wonder whether we are right, whether some better way might not be found if the King were to be agreeable to some compromise?'

  'You do not plan to desert him?' Kate asked, horrified, and Jon quickly shook his head.

  'Of course not. But I wish that he were not so certain he and he only was in the right of it! Talk might provide a better solution than fighting.'

  'But Parliament would not compromise,' she pointed out. 'They want all their own way just as much as the King.'

  'A move to accommodate them from the King might persuade them, judging from some of the arguments they used towards me on the boat,' he told her, but she shook her head firmly.

  'I cannot believe that. Jon, do not say you have been swayed by them?'

  'No, just made t
o think more than usual!' he said, laughing at her expression of dismay. 'Do not fear, Kate. I am going to rejoin Hopton!'

  She smiled, a little uncertainly. 'Of course, I was thinking you had been unconvinced before.'

  'A little unwilling, mayhap, to take sides. But against rebellion, Kate, always.'

  She nodded and smiled again. 'I wish it were all over! I can understand folk not caring who wins so long as they are left to get on with their own lives in peace!'

  Laughing, he kissed her, and they forgot serious matters as they made, very tentatively and cautiously, plans for the future.

  Chapter 8

  Jon left early the next morning, and then Morwenna reminded her they planned to visit their Aunt Elizabeth of Polruan that day.

  'Had you forgot in all the excitement of Jon's return? No wonder if you had. But seeing them at Polruan will help turn your mind from worrying now he has gone away again.'

  Kate smiled and tried to reply with enthusiasm, but she was a little abstracted, thinking of what Jon had said, and wondering whether the differences of the King and Parliament could be resolved by talk instead of war.

  Unable to solve this puzzle, Kate went with Morwenna to help get the boat ready, and soon their parents arrived to sail the short distance across the river to the little quay opposite that served the village of Polruan. Nick was not with them and Morwenna said he had gone across earlier by himself.

  'Some of his crew live over there, and he plans to leave again in a day or so,' she added.

  There was a strong wind blowing that made the water in the river choppy, and Kate helped her father and uncle as they manoeuvred the boat in alongside the quay. When they were safely tied, Mr Trevose jumped out and bent down to assist the ladies to clamber out. Kate sprang out lightly, and turned to speak to her mother, then stopped in confusion. Petroc, wearing an amused smile, was within a yard of her.

  'Well met, Kate,' he said softly, and she answered briefly.

  Looking around she saw Nick seated nearby on a pile of ropes, and he nodded affably towards her then turned his attention back towards a group of men seated around him, on ropes and lobster baskets and an upturned boat. He appeared to be giving them instructions for they were listening intently and nodding occasionally. Kate turned away and was relieved her parents had started to walk up the steep hill that climbed from the quay. She followed with Morwenna, resisting the urge to look back as they moved away from the boats.