by Evie Grace
‘It’s true that they’re very close to home. Sir William and his men slept in the barn at Bossenden Farm on Monday night, and they visited Selling after that, just down the road from here. When I saw Len this evening, he told me that Sir William had stopped at Dargate Common, where he took off his shoes and proclaimed, “I stand on my own bottom,” another marker of his insanity. You mustn’t worry, Catherine.’
‘But some of those people are desperate. Who knows what they might do?’
‘They’re totally disorganised. If they so much as threaten to break the law, the squire will send to Canterbury for the army.’
She sat back and pulled at a loose thread on her sleeve. It began to unravel along with her joyful anticipation of her forthcoming wedding. Pa had said everything would be well, but she wasn’t convinced. She uttered a silent prayer: Matty, please come home.
When she had done the dishes, she went out, hoping to find him. She called on the Carters at Toad’s Bottom.
‘I’m sorry for intruding,’ she said when George opened the door to her.
‘You’re looking for Matty? Well, I believe he’s gone to find a ring to present to you at the church.’
‘Who is that?’ Ma Carter’s voice drifted on a cool draught of air from the kitchen beyond.
‘It’s Catherine,’ George called back.
‘Show her to me.’
‘Yes, ducks. Come this way.’ He showed her through. ‘I’m afraid you’ll find her much altered.’
‘Mrs Carter?’ Catherine said. She was lying on the mattress with blankets covering her up to her chin.
‘I wish to give you my blessing, my dear,’ she whispered. ‘I fear that I’m not long for this world.’
‘Please don’t say that.’
‘One day you’ll be well again,’ George cut in.
‘I give you my best wishes for the future and I trust that you and Matty will care for each other kindly, as George and I have done.’ She coughed.
‘Don’t tire yourself. I was telling Catherine how Matty’s gone to look for a ring. Ma offered to give him hers, but he turned it down. It was my mother’s, God rest her soul. I offered him a big brass curtain ring, but he wouldn’t take it.’ George changed the subject abruptly. ‘Here, Catherine, let me give you some eggs to take back to the farm.’
‘Oh no, there’s no need for that.’ She thought of the Carters’ hungry children and their flock of scraggy hens.
‘We have more than enough for now, and your new poults aren’t yet ready to lay. Wait here and I’ll fetch them.’
She said farewell to Ma Carter then stood on the doorstep until he returned with three brown eggs which she placed carefully in her pocket.
‘Ta,’ she said. ‘Did you mean what you said about Matty and the ring?’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I had to say something. I didn’t want to raise Ma’s hopes about Matty bringing Jervis home.’
‘They are both with Sir William,’ Catherine said. ‘I spoke with Matty this afternoon.’
‘At least they are together, and we have some idea where they are,’ George said, stroking his chin. ‘You are goin’ straight back to the farm now?’
She nodded. Straight after she’d found Matty, she thought.
Having wished George goodnight, she walked to the cottage to see if Matty had gone there and then on to the Woodsman’s Arms. There was no sign of him, so she decided to carry on towards Faversham, but it soon became clear that she was on a hiding to nothing. As the sky grew dimpsy, she gave up looking and turned back on herself, but it seemed an awful long way back to the farm by road when there was a short cut through the woods. She tried to forget Matty’s earlier warning about walking alone. What harm could there be in taking it?
She ducked onto the footpath and made her way past a thicket of elder and blackthorn where a bramble snagged at her skirts. When she stopped to disentangle the thorns from the cloth, she heard the crack of a twig underfoot and the rustle of an animal – a deer or a badger – passing through the underwood, making the glossy chestnut leaves tremble. There was another crack.
She picked up a heavy stick.
‘Who goes there?’ she said. There was no answer, but she was sure someone was there. She could smell them. ‘Show yourself!’
‘I shan’t,’ a voice came back.
‘You must make yourself known to me.’
‘I’m not that stupid,’ the voice answered, and she knew for certain then as a hooded figure stepped out from behind the nearest tree that it was Jervis. She caught the glint of a knife in his hand and shuddered.
‘What is it that you want?’ she asked, trying to control the quaver in her throat.
‘I seek revenge.’
‘I have no quarrel with you.’
‘Except that you are a Rook—’
‘She i’n’t no Rook,’ another voice cut in. It was Drusilla. ‘She’s Hadington’s bastard and no better than us, even though she goes around pretendin’ that she is. What shall we do with her now that we’ve found her here? It’s a lonely place. No one would know until they found her body in the mornin’.’
‘Would you harm a young woman and her unborn child?’ Catherine said quickly. She held the stick out in front of her.
‘You’re with child? And not yet married,’ Drusilla mocked. ‘Well, well, well. Shall we take her hostage and deliver her to Sir William? It would mark the beginnin’.’
‘The beginnin’ of what?’ Jervis said.
Catherine took a silent step back, and another.
‘The fight, you dolt, the battle of all battles that will bring us riches and power.’
Catherine turned and ran.
‘Quickly,’ Drusilla exclaimed. ‘Get after her, Jervis.’
Catherine heard footsteps behind her. She threw down her stick. There was a shout as someone tripped over it.
‘Don’t speak of this if you want your lover back in one piece,’ Drusilla screamed after her.
‘We’ll never catch her. Who is the dolt now?’ Jervis shouted, his voice fading into the distance as Catherine sprinted towards the village. She dodged the trees and branches and took random turns until she reached the road where she happened upon one of the young Carters who had a bag slung over his shoulder, just like Matty used to when he was a boy.
‘Are you all right, miss?’ he asked as she stood with her hands on her hips, trying to catch her breath. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
‘Perhaps I have,’ she said.
His eyes widened like saucers.
‘Promise me you won’t go into the woods. There is danger lurking there.’
‘I promise, miss,’ he said warily.
‘Tell your friends.’ She put her hand in her pocket and felt for the eggs, finding a slimy well of yolk and white mixed with broken shell. ‘Now, run along home.’
She hastened back to the farm, touching her belly and thanking the Lord that she’d been spared, but what about Matty? He wanted to get away from Sir William, but would his followers let him go? It was on the tip of her tongue to warn Pa and the others, but she didn’t dare open her mouth for fear that Jervis and Drusilla would carry out their threat.
She went to bed, but she couldn’t sleep. She’d made the wrong decision in keeping the incident in the woods to herself. First thing in the morning, she got up and spoke to her father before he left the house.
‘I should have said last night, but I thought I was protecting Matty by keeping my own counsel. Now I’ve had time to think, I’ve realised that I was wrong. Sir William’s followers are out to do mischief. Jervis and Drusilla accosted me and they would have carried me off if I hadn’t run for my life.’
Pa frowned as she went on, ‘I’m afraid for Matty and everyone else.’
‘I’ll spread the word in the village,’ he said. ‘Don’t leave the farm today, and keep John with you. Have you seen Matty?’
‘Not since he was at the Woodsman’s Arms. George says he’
s gone to look for a ring – for the wedding tomorrow.’ Catherine felt uncomfortable, using George’s untruth to cover for the real reason for Matty’s absence: that he was with Sir William.
‘Well, that’s good news,’ Pa said more cheerfully.
But Matty didn’t turn up at the farm for the third morning running and Catherine was forced into confessing the truth about his errand to find a ring. Pa was more intent on finding Matty than scolding her, and it was decided that George should go to Faversham to enlist Stephen in the search. Ma released Catherine from her duties in the house so that she could take care of John and the sheep. Pa went off to make his own enquiries as to the whereabouts of his future son-in-law.
When he returned to the farm that evening, Catherine was waiting for him.
‘Did you find him?’ she asked.
‘No, but he will return,’ Pa said. ‘You have to believe it, Catherine. We all do. We’re all depending on this marriage going ahead.’
‘You don’t think something’s happened to him?’
‘You know what he’s like – he can look after himself. Stay strong – he has too much at stake not to turn up at the altar tomorrow morning.’
‘There are extra slops for you this morning.’ Catherine emptied the bucket into the trough. ‘I’m getting married’ – she glanced down at the slight swell of her stomach – ‘and not a moment too soon.’
An elderly Margaret snuffled and slurped at her breakfast, seemingly unimpressed.
Having let the hens out into the sunshine, Catherine ran inside to wash and dress. She braided her hair, put on the dress that Ivy had altered, and picked up the small posy of blue cornflowers that she’d made up the night before and kept in a vase on the dressing table. Before she left her room, she glanced out across the orchards where the last of the pale pink and white blossom was drifting from the trees. The bines were spiralling up the chestnut poles in the hop garden and the woods beyond were swathed with green. She touched the third finger of her left hand, and prayed that Matty would come.
Downstairs, she bumped into John who was fumbling one-handed with the button on his collar.
‘Let me help you.’ She reached up to fasten the button before planting a kiss on his cheek. ‘Dear John, how I wish I could have seen you married.’ She wondered if he ever thought of Mary – she doubted it. ‘Are you ready to go out?’
‘I’m hungry,’ he said.
‘I know. Let’s go and see what Ma says.’ She hesitated. ‘Have you seen Matty?’
John nodded.
‘He’s with the sheep?’
‘I’ve seen him.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘I’ve seen him,’ he repeated and a wave of relief washed through her. She shouldn’t have worried. Matty had promised her that he’d be here and he’d kept his word. He would get on with his chores until it was time for him to prepare for the wedding and then they would have the rest of the day together.
Their cottage was ready. She had fresh bread and a sheep’s head in the pot in the kitchen at the farm that would be cooked to take with them. The bedsheets were clean and scattered with handfuls of dried rose petals.
There was a knock at the door. John went to answer it.
‘Good morning, John. Is your pa around? I need to speak with him.’
Catherine took over. It was Mr Nobbs, looking grim-faced.
‘He’s somewhere outside,’ she said.
‘I’ll make my own way.’ He touched his cap.
She closed the door.
‘What did that man want?’ Ma said, rushing down the stairs. ‘How dare he come here, trying to snatch the tenancy out from under our feet!’
‘I don’t know. He asked to speak to Pa.’
‘You are an insufferable child. Why didn’t you question him?’ Ma hurried outside without giving her time to respond.
‘Ma has a nose for gossip,’ Catherine said wryly as she sat John down at the kitchen table and served him a slice of bread and butter, but when she heard her mother’s voice shouting from the farmyard, she pulled a shawl over her shoulders and took John out with her. She trod carefully, avoiding the patch of mud around the water pump.
‘Murder, you say,’ Ma said. ‘That’s too close to home.’
‘It’s all right, Margaret,’ Pa said, but it wasn’t all right, Catherine thought as he went on, ‘there’s no reason to worry unnecessarily. The magistrate has sent to Canterbury for the army to come and restore order.’
‘The squire and some of his men have taken shots at the rioters,’ Mr Nobbs said. ‘It’s a most terrible thing that’s happened.’
‘Who’s involved?’ Pa asked. ‘I assume that Sir William has had a hand in it.’
‘I’m afraid so. He seduced four of Mr Curling’s labourers into joining his march—’
‘Is that Mr Curling from Hernhill?’ Pa cut in.
‘That’s right. Then Mr Curling spoke to Doctor Poore, who made out a warrant for the arrest of Sir William. He sent John Mears, the constable at Boughton, to execute the warrant, so he, his assistant and his brother set out for Bossenden Farm in the early hours.’
‘Oh my,’ Ma gasped.
‘That’s where it’s said that Sir William shot the brother, Nicholas, dead.’
Catherine shuddered. She could hear the sharp crack of the gun and smell the acrid scent of gunpowder. She knew of Mears, but not his brother, and she could barely imagine how the family must be feeling, their lives torn apart by some madman’s impulse.
‘Catherine, close your ears. You shouldn’t have to bear this kind of news on the morning of your wedding,’ Ma said.
‘No one should have to bear this on any day,’ Pa commented. ‘It’s a tragedy.’
‘I’ve come to warn you that there may be trouble later,’ Mr Nobbs added. ‘We must protect ourselves and our property from these marauders.’
‘Thank you,’ Pa said.
‘I must go. Let’s hope that everything is back to normal by the end of the day. I have every confidence that Sir William will be arrested very soon.’
‘Where is he?’ Pa asked.
‘He’s on the move with his men. He could be anywhere. Keep your men on guard and your family close. That’s my advice. Oh, and send a boy with word of any intelligence that you might hear, and I will do the same. Let us pray for peace.’
‘Indeed,’ Pa said, then wished him good day.
‘What are we to do?’ Ma said once Mr Nobbs had gone.
‘George and the men will keep watch on the house and yard for today. I don’t think I should leave the farm.’
‘You must. You’re giving Catherine away.’
‘The wedding can still go ahead – John can do the honours. My place is here. It wouldn’t be right to delay the marriage, considering the circumstances. I’m sorry,’ he added, turning to Catherine. ‘I’ll be with you in spirit.’
‘I understand,’ she said with a heavy heart. ‘I must go and give Matty the news.’
‘Don’t,’ said Ma. ‘You’ll see him soon enough at the altar.’
Catherine ignored her.
‘I don’t know where you’ll find him,’ Pa said.
‘John says he’s with the sheep.’ She hitched up her skirts and ran down through the gateway into the fields. ‘Matty,’ she called. ‘Matty!’ She stopped halfway down the meadow. The sheep were grazing in the far corner, but there was no sign of him. Her heart plummeted like a bird of prey falling onto a rabbit. She should have thought. For John, one day rolled into the next, and one meal into another. He had remembered seeing Matty, but when?
She raced back to the farmyard where Ma and Pa were in conversation with George.
‘Where is he? Tell me you’ve seen him,’ she begged.
‘Don’t worry,’ George said awkwardly. ‘He’ll be at home puttin’ on his Sunday best.’
‘But have you seen him with your own eyes?’ Her mouth ran dry. She felt choked with fear. They knew now that Sir William was capable of murder
. There was no saying what he might do next.
‘To be truthful, no, I haven’t, but it isn’t right to assume the worst. There’s nothing he wants more than to be married to you. It’s all he’s talked about for ages.’
‘I know Matty. He’ll be at the church,’ Pa said.
‘He’d better be, or there’ll be a murder here at Wanstall Farm,’ Ma said.
‘Margaret, hush. It isn’t right to make light of the fact an innocent man has been killed.’
‘Don’t tell me to be quiet. I’ve struggled to accept Matty into the family, but now that I have, it’s all going wrong. He’s with Sir William and his men when he should be here with us.’
‘He’d be here if he could,’ Catherine interrupted. ‘I’m scared that he fears for his life – and mine – if he walks away.’
‘He wouldn’t put up with that,’ Ma said.
‘He’d do anything to find his brother.’
‘Hold your tongues.’ Pa pressed his fingers to his temples. ‘I need to think.’
‘I’ll check at the cottage. If he isn’t there, I’ll send Stephen out again to look for him,’ George ventured.
‘Stephen is here?’ Catherine exclaimed.
‘I fetched him from Faversham to help us find Matty. He’s stayin’ on at the cottage to spend time with his mother and see his brother married.’
Of course, she thought.
‘George,’ Pa cut in, ‘go quickly and get Matty to the church by hook or by crook. Ma, you take John and Catherine there while I call the men in from the fields to arm themselves with whatever comes to hand. That way, we’ll be prepared to defend the farm should Sir William and his gang head this way.’
‘You will be careful,’ Ma said.
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘Hurry along now.’
Catherine walked to the church with John and Ma. There were more people on the street than usual, as if they had been driven to find safety in numbers. The dame school was closed – Old Faggy had stopped outside one of the cottages near the forge to talk to one of her many acquaintances.
