Pistoleer: Edgehill

by Smith, Skye

  "I suppose that would be best,” the prince replied more softly after casting a long glance at the newly revealed women, the very comely woman. Then he turned and barked some orders at the ship's captain who was busy speaking with the custom's man.

  "Was your uncle expecting you?" Sarah asked sweetly with a smile. Since Daniel was forcing himself to butter this young pig up, she may as well lend a hand with the basting.

  "No, probably not. I have the prisoner of the Emperor for the past three years. A few months ago my uncle sent his man Lord Roe to negotiate my release. As soon as I was released I went to visit my mother in The Hague, and she has sent me to England to thank my uncle personally."

  "Oh you poor dear,” Sarah basted. "how brave of you to survive three whole years in prison. I once visited a man in debtors prison in Cambridge, and the conditions were most frightful."

  The prince had the decency to bow his head a bit when he explained that it had not been that kind of imprisonment. "I was under house arrest in the governor's palace,” he told her. Two crewmen pushed by them to get off the gangplank and then they struck out along the quay. "Those men will be on their way to the castle. How long will it take them to return with a carriage."

  "An hour if the king were not in residence,” Daniel replied and then added snidely, "but with all the king's chamberlains involved it will likely take two or three hours."

  "Prince, your highness, your majesty, oh dear I've never met a prince before so I don't know how to address you,” Sarah said sweetly. "The Inn we stay at is very near and it has a roaring fire in the great hall. You will perish waiting here in that light cape. Come with us to the Inn and wait there." Her words reminded Rupert how cold he was and he pulled his courtier's cape closer around him, and nodded, then called out to the captain of the Lion that he was bound for the local Inn. She gave Daniel a look of accomplishment. There was some convincing that was best left to women.

  She didn't know the protocol but she knew men, so she stood between the two men and hooked one of her arms to each and walked along the Custom's quay to the Fisherman's quay. "I also arrived today, just a few hours before you, in one of those six small ships." She pointed to what the clan now referred to as the Freisburn class of ships. They were all named Freisburn but numbered one through six. There had been a seventh but Daniel had given it to his friend and business contact, Robert Blake of Bridgwater.

  "They have triangle sails, yes,” Rupert replied. "I remember them. They passed the Lion as if it were standing still. Who owns them."

  "The company I work for,” Daniel replied, a white lie. "We are northerners and we have come to take the Dover crossing business away from fluyts such as your Lion. We can make the crossing with half the cargo, in half the time, with half the men, so we are bound to do well. This spring, soon, once the traveling season begins, we will launch our new service."

  "Interesting," the prince replied cannily. "Do you mind if I step aboard one of them and take a look."

  Daniel was about to refuse but Sarah squeezed his arm in hers to shut him up. This prince was best left as woman's work. "Not at all,” she said while rubbing her breast against the prince's arm. "The rig is revolutionary for it can sail in almost any direction, and quickly. This means that we don't need so many oarsmen, so that space has been turned into a covered cargo hold. Step aboard and take a look inside. Any passengers would be safe and dry and comfortable for the entire journey."

  Rupert hopped aboard and stooped low to look into the long fore cabin. One of the watch handed him a candle lantern and using it he explored further. "How long would a crossing be in a ship like this. Tell me for good weather and for bad."

  "In good weather, less than three hours,” Sarah told him, while making sure he had to squeeze around her to move back and forth in the ship. "In bad, perhaps six. In extreme weather, perhaps the rest of your life, as on any ship."

  "Interesting,” Rupert told her. "And these are the ships I saw from the Lion with the triangle sails, one before the mast and the other behind."

  "The same."

  "Are you looking for a business partner?" was Rupert's reaction. "I could be very useful in finding you loans while you grow your service, and passengers who would pay top shilling."

  "At the moment, no,” Daniel replied, although he wouldn't have minded tricking this arrogant prig out of some of his coin. "But we will keep you in mind. Come, let's to the Inn. Sarah is shivering."

  Sarah shot him 'the' look. She wasn't cold at all, but then she noticed that Rupert was shivering. "Yes, let's to the inn. I am so cold I could weep."

  By the time they reached the inn, the great hall was almost empty. Most of the clanfolk had gone upstairs to get ready for bed. A few of the women had remained downstairs to help Peter's sisters side things to the kitchen shed. While Rupert hurried to stand before the still hot fire, Sarah pulled one of the women to one side and spoke to her.

  "Valerie, d'ya see the poser in the fine clothes. That is Prince Rupert, the King's nephew freshly out of prison. He is cold and hungry. Daniel needs to know what brings him to England, what really brings him to England. Be careful. I wasn't jesting when I called him a poser. He fancies himself. He fancies himself a lady's man, and he probably fancies himself a seducer of virgins."

  "So do you think it would be faster to hump it out of him straight away?" Val asked, "him being right out of prison, or should I play it all coy, like."

  Valerie had lost her one true love to the clan's ship disaster, and had been playing the grieving widow for far too long. Sarah had not chosen her for this task by accident. Hopefully, having to seduce or be seduced by a prince would shake her out of her widow's thinking. "Hump him or play it coy? Hmm." Sarah said while she began to think about Rupert and his type of male asshole. "Coy. Play the grieving widow who has become a virgin again, for he fancies himself a seducer." Val turned and walked away from her, and for a few moments she feared Val was insulted by such an apt description.

  She needn't have feared. Val had gone to the kitchen shed and now returned with a plate full of the best of what was left of the food., even some goats liver that Peter's mom had been keeping back for her precious and only son. She asked Peter's sisters if they would please drag a small table and a small bench close to the fire and then she sat on it, place the platter of food on the table and motioned to the prince that it was all for him. Most importantly, she had removed the laces that kept her widows smock tight around her neck. Her cleavage was showing plump and rosy and inviting.

  An hour later there was a knock at the Inn door, and within minutes Rupert was ushered into an ornately painted carriage to be swept away to a castle hall filled with other royals. Valerie joined Daniel and Sarah at a well lit table where Daniel seemed to be studying a Bible and making notes. She envied Daniel and Sarah their ability to read and write, but at twenty-two she was too old to learn. Some of the children of the clan had been recently taught to read and write by the daughter of Ely Abbey's tithe collector, but she had felt a fool in front of the children so she had only attended one of the lessons. "What are you writing?" she asked.

  "A dispatch to our employers, the Providence Company,” Sarah told her so that Daniel could keep his mind on his task. "Not just write it, but then translate it into code using the Bible as a key. Otherwise it can't be sent to them on the London post coach. Did you find out anything about the Prince?"

  "You mean other than he has at least three roving hands and his knob is always hard?" she said with a smirk. It had been fun seducing a man without actually seducing him, while all the while making him believe that he was seducing her. It was a pastime that most lasses enjoyed, but she had been out of practice of late. "His full title is Elector Prince Rupert of Bohemia, Count Palatine of the Rhine and Duke of Bavaria. He was the third, but now second son of King Charlie's sister Elizabeth and the Elector King Frederick of Bohemia. Don't ask me where any of those places are."

  "Bohemia is one of the Germanies over towards Hu
ngary,” Daniel told her. He had spent five years living in the Netherlands, and you couldn't live and trade in the Netherlands without learning the map of the world. "I remember once being told by some nobs I met in Holland that they had been part of a small English army that had ridden from Holland to Bohemia to rescue King Charlie's older sister from the Emperor."

  "So then his mother is Elizabeth Stuart," Sarah pointed out, "and therefore her children are in line for the crowns of all four kingdoms of Britain."

  "That would be his older brother, Charles,” Val continued. "Rupert hates him, both he and his younger brother Maurice hate him. Rupert also hates his mother. Anyway, he and his family have lived in exile in Holland since his father died. He spent most of that time in the household of Fredrick of Orange, whoever that is, learning to be a soldier."

  "Frederick of Orange is a prince of Holland, even though Holland is run as a republic. When Holland is at war Frederick becomes the Stadtholder, the commander of their army and navy. He rules like a king because Holland is always at war."

  "Ah, well that makes sense then," Val replied. "Last year Fredrick of Orange's son William was married to King Charlie's daughter Mary. He is sixteen but she is only ten, so they haven't done the dirty yet and Mary still lives with her family here in England. Rupert has come to fetch Mary, because the Orange family is now quite worried about her safety here in England. Personally, I wouldn't trust any ten year old girl anywhere near Rupert."

  "This is all good stuff that I will have to add to my message,” Daniel told her. "Is there more?"

  "Of course," Val said with a snicker, "but it cost me a squeeze of my breasts and a stroke of the inside of my thigh. His mother has sent him to tell King Charlie not to flee England into exile, because life in exile is a bore."

  "If you think about it,” Sarah interrupted, "that is important news. Our king must seriously be thinking of fleeing the kingdom."

  "But he's a Stuart, a Scot,” Val argued. "If he wanted to flee England, why wouldn't he simply flee to Scotland and then come back when things calm down."

  "Because the Scots would lock him up,” Daniel told her "He pissed in Scottish beer long before he pissed in English beer. Now he is even pissing in Irish beer. The fool is the king of four kingdoms and none of the kingdoms want him. That pretty well says it all. Thanks Val, for putting up with the prince. Sarah tells me he is god's gift to women."

  "The devil's gift, perhaps,” Valerie replied, and then left them to the encoding.

  It took Daniel an hour to write and then encoded his dispatch and by then everyone else was in bed. Sarah had cajoled a bed in a private room for them and she was waiting up for him. She refused to let him do the one thing he wanted more than anything ... sleep, for at least another hour.

  * * * * *

  * * * * *

  The Pistoleer - Edgehill by Skye Smith Copyright 2013-14

  Chapter 4 - Queen Henrietta flees from Dover, February 1642

  Daniel paid for the Dover post coach to carry his letter to London. It was addressed to John Hampden's personal scribe by name, at Hampden's address, for the officers of the Providence Company were all too well known for their own good. Any letter addressed to the Earl of Warwick at Warwick House was bound to be stolen along the way by a thief, a blackmailer, a stock market speculator, a king's spy, or any other low life who read the address.

  Daniel came out of the coach office and was handing the letter up to the driver of the coach when someone grabbed him by the arm. His blood froze for a split second. Had he just been found out by the King's spies? Was he now to be locked up in the castle? The words, "Shush and keep calm. I am a friend. Walk back into the office as if you had forgotten something and then walk out the back door to the privies. I will meet you there." The only view Daniel had of the man was a black cloak and a round black hat. He shoved his letter down the small of his back under his belt and followed the stranger's instructions.

  As soon as he was in the back doorway with his body blocking the view of anyone in the coach office, he pulled his small wheellock pistol out of his pocket and then tilted it to the left and shook it. It was the easiest way to make sure that there was powder in the flash vent and not just in the flash pan. He flicked the safety was off, and kept the pistol partially hidden by his cloak as walked towards the privies.

  A soft voice came from behind the closest one, "It is provident we have met. Aim that pistol somewhere else. I can prove that you can trust me."

  "How?" Daniel replied, also in a soft voice.

  "I have something of Teesa's that you will recognize,” and with that a small wooden tube on a cord was lobbed towards him. Daniel caught it with his left hand, and lifted it towards his face. It was Teesa's panic whistle. His clan worked the Fens and the sea, so each of them carried a whistle around their neck, just in case they slipped into some quick sand, or into some frigid water. Teesa had carved the rune for the moon goddess in hers.

  "Where shall we go to talk?" Daniel asked.

  "Here behind the privy is safe enough. A bit whiffy, but out of sight, and away from ears." Once Daniel had joined him, he continued by telling Daniel that it was no longer safe to use the post coach to send dispatches to the reformers. However, with the king in residence there were many lords coming and going to the castle. He would see to it that any dispatches were carried by trusted lords to Warwick House.

  "And how do I get them to you?" Daniel asked. "You obviously don't want to be seen in my company."

  "That is for your safety, not mine. If you are found out, you will become useless to us. The first privy has a false ceiling. If you close the door and reach up with your hands you will find a ledge just large enough to hold a letter. Leave it there. Bring two to this coach station. The real one in code and with no address, and a false one which says nothing suspicious and is addressed to a pretend business partner in London. Send the false one by the post coach."

  "And who will pick up the real one?"

  "It is better you do not know."

  "And return messages?" Daniel asked.

  "The same ledge. Before you hide one, check for a reply. There will be one tomorrow from Warwick to prove to you that this all works. Now hand me today's message, and the whistle and then go into the privy and check the ledge. If you have any questions, then ask them now, for I will not be here when you come out."

  "No questions. God's speed. Stay healthy." Daniel told him, and then held his nose and entered the privy. The whole time they had been speaking he had not seen a face or anything to distinguish the speaker. Even the voice had been false, like a player on one of London's stages. He shoved his hand up and over the false ceiling and shuddered despite himself at the thought of what horrible little creatures may live up there. There was a letter. He put it into his pocket, hid his pistol, and left the privy. Suddenly he felt very much like a spy, and for good reason, for that was exactly what he was.

  * * * * *

  Rupert and three other men from the king's court were visiting the Drake Inn when Daniel returned from his post drop. This meant that he could not sit and decipher the coded message he had taken from the privy, and he hoped that the message was not urgent for he was very slow at using the Bible based code. Rupert was sitting between Sarah and Valerie so he assumed the man was here after skirt. He was wrong.

  Rupert stood as soon as Daniel entered the great hall, and then walked towards him saying, "I wish to charter some of your ships."

  "What for and to where?"

  "The one today will be for The Hague and back. Three passengers each way. How long would that take?"

  The Wyred Sisters were busy weaving surreal irony into the fates of men again. Daniel's ships had been chartered by the Providence Company to follow any ships carrying the king's messengers in order that their destinations would be known. Now it seemed that his ships were to follow themselves. Not that he was complaining. This made the spying all the easier and doubled the profit. "In these seas and these winds, sixteen hours
each way."

  "And the price?"

  Luckily Cleff and Daniel had already worked out a price schedule just in case anyone actually believed the lie that they were here to start a new crossing service. They had purposefully set the rates very high so that they would attract no business. Cleff had been listening into the conversation and now brought Rupert the schedule.

  "The Hague is not listed,” Rupert said as he ran his eye down the list for a second time.

  "It would be the same as for Rotterdam. One column is the price per person based on having a dozen passengers. The other is the price for the entire ship with a maximum of twenty passengers."

  "The ship may be required to wait in The Hague for two days before coming back."

  "That would be half of the crossing price for each day the ship is idle."

  "Fair enough,” Rupert told him. "Your passengers are sitting there. The elder statesman is Sir Thomas Roe, the diplomat who negotiated my release a few months ago. The other two are his valets."

  "Cleff, how long before you can sail?" Daniel asked.

  "An hour,” Cleff shrugged. Non of this outcome was a surprise to him, not once the old man with Rupert sat down and ordered food. He knew that Rupert would not argue the high rates and that Daniel would choose him to carry such an important passenger. "Perhaps less. That means we will be entering the harbour at The Hague at about first light."

  "Perfect," Sir Thomas said as he walked towards Cleff to shake his hand. "I will pay you in advance for the crossing over. I will pay for the wait time when I rejoin the ship in The Hague, and I will pay for the crossing back when my toes touch these shores again."

  Rupert looked well pleased with himself as he sat down again between Sarah and Valerie. Daniel felt a sudden urgency to go up to his room and decode his message. As he stood he wondered if Sarah would like to help for she was stronger at reading and writing than he was. While staring at Sarah he saw the beginning of trouble, bad trouble. Rupert was offering Valerie some money as if she were an alehouse whore.