‘He said two fugitives!’ growled Sly Pete. He turned to face Will and raised a finger, pointing at him. ‘It’s you, isn’t it? Another one we should never have taken aboard. Bill was telling the truth about you!’
‘Make up your mind!’ said Will, looking pale, but still speaking with his usual nonchalance. ‘Am I the traitor or am I the fugitive? I can’t be both, you know.’
‘Who cares, just give him up!’ snarled Hard-Head Bill.
‘Wait!’ commanded the skipper. ‘I’m not handing anyone over willingly. We try and negotiate.’
He strode to the rail and called across the still water. ‘We have no fugitives aboard. We’re fishermen.’
In reply, the Navy ship fired two of their guns. I saw their mouths spit fire before I heard the boom of the shot. The balls tore into the side of The Invisible, and the force knocked most of us off our feet. I crashed onto the deck, landing on Slippery Sam, who broke my fall. Someone was screaming. The ship was rocking in the water, in the aftermath of the shock.
Stunned and disorientated, we were still scrambling back to our feet when the captain of the sloop called again. ‘That was a warning. We want the cargo and the fugitives. Surrender now!’
I clutched Jacob’s arm. He took my hand from his sleeve and put a protective arm around my shoulders. ‘Never fear, lass, they won’t get you.’
But the ships were closing in fast now. The shots had injured at least one man and damaged the ship. The possibilities were vanishing fast. ‘Hand her over!’ shouted Hard-Head Bill.
‘NO!’ snarled Slippery Sam. ‘We’ll all be had up for harbouring her! We must get rid of her before they board us.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Just as I thought everything was over, as I thought I was sure to die or be arrested, Will grabbed my arm. ‘Come on, Isabelle,’ he said. ‘We’ll take the tub-boat through the Door and into the next cove. Neither the sloop nor the cutter can follow us that way. You’ll be safe and so will everyone on board. You can’t stay.’ He said nothing about his own safety or needing to escape. Was he the second person they hunted?
‘I’ll go with you,’ said Jacob. ‘I can’t let no harm come to our mermaid.’
‘Wait! Take our hope with you!’ said the skipper, hurrying to the cabin and returning with an oilskin package that he thrust into Jacob’s hands. It resembled the one already concealed within my clothing, only it was far larger. ‘Buy us legal help, aid us any way you can, but above all, this is our next season.’
Jacob stowed the bulky package inside his jacket. Slippery Sam gave a cry at the sight of it. ‘You’d trust him with that?’ he demanded. ‘Him and them? We’ll never see it again!’
‘I’d trust Jacob with my life,’ retorted the skipper. ‘With all our lives.’
‘More fool you!’ muttered Bill angrily.
‘They’ll find an excuse to take it from us if it stays aboard,’ replied the skipper. ‘You know they will! How would fishermen come by such a sum?’
‘And if they’re drowned or taken?’
‘Like I said, it’s surely lost if we keep it on board,’ snapped the skipper. ‘Go, Jacob. God keep you safe.’
He embraced him then pushed him away. Briefly he clasped Will’s hand and kissed my cheek. ‘God speed and safe passage to you. Go quiet as you can.’
The ladder was swiftly thrown down to the rowing boat at the stern. Where it lay in the water, it was shielded from the Navy ship by the bulk of The Invisible. We would have a good start before we could be spotted. I looked up to see the moon, which had been bright before, now obscured by clouds. Lady luck, though not our friend tonight, had given us one small gift at least.
Firm hands helped me onto the ladder. Jacob was already in the boat; Will ready to follow me.
‘Mind the currents at the far side of the Door,’ Fred warned him, clasping his hand. ‘There is a fair swirl there. If you can get beyond it, you are safer than in this bay.’
And then I was climbing down the swaying ladder, Will’s feet above my hands. ‘Come on, Isabelle,’ Jacob encouraged me when I reached the boat. ‘We’ll make it away safe enough.’
I crouched low and Will dropped down after me. Both men seized oars and the painter was thrown down to me from someone on board. I coiled it neatly in the prow. My heart was thudding in my chest with fear. The last run of the winter; how could we have been so unlucky? But it wasn’t luck, was it? Someone had betrayed us. Clearly it wasn’t Will. Just as clearly, Hard-Head Bill wasn’t the only one to suspect him of foul crimes. He was wanted by the law. No wonder he disguised himself. I shivered in fear and doubt as the boat crept out from the friendly shadow of The Invisible into the dark bay. I could hear the waves breaking onto the shingle not far from us.
The two pairs of oars dipped into the water with barely a splash. We were surrounded by deep darkness, cocooning us from sight. Behind us we could already hear the sound of The Invisible being boarded, but we were away.
I was just breathing a sigh of relief when two things happened almost simultaneously: the moon emerged from behind a thick cloud, bathing the bay in glittering, silvery light; then shouts from the shore told us our escape was no longer secret.
The stern of The Invisible had swung away from us, leaving the Navy sloop with a clear view of our flight. There was no warning at all, unless you could count the distant shouts and activity aboard the Navy ship. I was trying to gauge the distance we still had to cover before we were past the great stone arch and away, when the Navy ship spat fire and a great boom assaulted my eardrums. The boat was thrown sideways and we were all flung into the sea.
I couldn’t believe the cold. I gasped as I plunged down into it. For a moment, I was helpless against the force of the explosion and the shock of the icy sea. When my senses returned, I began to struggle frantically, fighting to get my head above the surface to breathe. My limbs thrashed uselessly in the murky, freezing soup. I had no sense of up or down and no notion how to propel myself anywhere if I had. I was drowning all over again. Terror gripped me.
Hands grasped me under my arms and pulled me backwards. My head broke the surface and I gasped the air. ‘Stay calm, mermaid,’ Jacob whispered in my ear. ‘Stay silent! Our lives depend on it.’
Jacob had saved me again. Slowly he began to swim, towing me backwards through the water. I could hear the hush of the waves through the stone arch behind us. I knew where Jacob was heading. I moved convulsively. ‘W-Will!’ I stammered frantically. ‘Where is he?’
‘Here,’ I heard Will murmur just behind me.
‘Hush now!’ ordered Jacob. ‘Kick your legs, Isabelle, if you can do it without splashing; help me swim.’
I tried to do as he said, but quite apart from the numbing, icy cold that was stealing into my very bones, one leg wouldn’t respond properly.
Jacob had taken a firm hold of me, floating me on my back, swimming strongly away from the wreckage of the boat. I was shuddering convulsively as the glacial water penetrated my clothing and gripped my head in a vice. The long winter of dark, freezing weather had lowered the temperature far below what it had been when I stepped into the waves last October. This was bitterly, icily cold.
Will was following, swimming swiftly, only his head showing, leaving a small wake behind him that merged with our larger one. Surely no one could see us?
I was consumed by cold. I wanted to scream with it. My teeth chattered so loudly, I felt someone might hear it all the way from the ships or the beach.
Will was speaking to me. I could see his lips move but no sound reached me. My hearing had shut down. He swam closer. ‘Kick your legs, Isabelle,’ Will ordered me urgently. His words reached me faintly this time, and gradually their sense penetrated my numb brain. I kicked my good leg and kept kicking. I have no idea whether it did any good, but it helped me fight the bitter, aching cold.
We passed under the archway of the great stone door. The waves swirled around it, drifting seaweed reached out for us in the black wate
r and tried to snag us, but we kicked free, swimming onwards into the churning sea beyond.
A wave swamped us and Jacob’s grip on me slipped. I went under. As I came up, choking and shocked, Will grasped me. Panic-stricken, I flung my arms around him and we both went under, flailing in the black expanse. Jacob pulled me up by my hair. It reminded me so strongly of his rescue in the autumn that I cried out as soon as I was above the surface.
‘Listen to me,’ said Jacob in a slurred but urgent voice. ‘If you fight us or grab us, we’ll drown. Let Will take you now. Don’t fight!’
I didn’t want to drown. I didn’t want Will or Jacob to drown. I lay still and allowed them to tow me once more. Jacob swam beside me, casting anxious glances behind us and up at the cliff.
‘If we survive this,’ Will muttered through clenched teeth, ‘I’m going to teach you to swim, Belle.’
At last, I heard waves again, and then Will and Jacob were dragging me out of the sea between them, water streaming from us, onto another shingle beach. I staggered as I struggled ashore, coughing and shuddering.
‘Quiet!’ Will muttered, shaking my arm. ‘We mustn’t be overheard.’
‘My leg,’ I gasped. I looked down and saw my breeches were torn. I thought my leg was bleeding, but couldn’t see in the dark, and fought to follow them along the beach, limping and dragging my hurt leg, my limbs numb from the cold water.
As we crunched along the beach, a shout far above us alerted us to the fact that a sentry had been posted. I looked at my companions, aghast.
‘If we can make it round into the next cove, there’s another way off the beach,’ said Jacob, his voice low. ‘Bit of a climb, but we can make it if the tide is right.’
We broke into a stumbling run. I could hear the soldiers’ boots on the steep stone pathway down to the beach. I couldn’t believe that after we’d risked that dangerous swim, we were going to be captured anyway.
We reached the end of the beach to find only the narrowest passage around the point. There were no soldiers here yet, but neither was there much space. The waves washed right up to the bottom of the cliff. The rocks we had to climb over were slippery with wet and weed.
‘Go ahead, Jacob!’ called Will. ‘Get yourself and that money away! It’s vital for all of us. We’ll follow as best we can!’
Jacob hesitated briefly. Conflicting emotions flitted across his face. I remembered I’d once thought him an oaf, incapable of complex or intelligent emotions. Shame surged over me at the memory. ‘Go, Jacob,’ I said. ‘Save yourself! I’ll be all right. Give my love to Ann!’
Jacob turned and climbed swiftly away from us. When he reached the point where the water met the cliff, he waded out into the water once more and swam strongly onwards towards the next stretch of beach.
I kept climbing slowly across the rocks, battered by spray, my hands numb, my hurt leg dragging. Will helped me when he could, but I was painfully slow. The tide kept surging higher up the narrow gap that remained, until it was gone and we were fighting our way through rising, surging water. All too soon, we heard shouts behind us.
I risked a glance back. Four soldiers with guns were clambering over the rocks far faster than we had done. We were trapped. I turned back to Will. ‘You should go,’ I told him. ‘Follow Jacob. You can make it, but I can’t.’
‘No!’ exclaimed Will vehemently. ‘I won’t leave you to be captured!’
‘You don’t have any choice,’ I told him. ‘You can’t save me. I can’t swim and I won’t be able to run or climb if we do get round. My leg is damaged in some way.’ I winced with pain as I spoke. ‘They’ll catch us both. Please, Will!’
‘I can’t leave you and save myself!’ cried Will. ‘We can make it. I know we can. I’ll carry you if I have to!’
I paused, my breathing ragged with exertion. The voices were closing behind us. ‘Will,’ I asked, ‘are you the other one they want?’
Will hesitated and then nodded. ‘I am,’ he said, compelling me to climb on, over the next rock. A wave broke over it, drenching us in spray. I shivered.
‘It’s not true that you murdered anyone, is it, Will?’ I asked him. I could hear the pleading in my voice. I wanted him to tell me it wasn’t so.
‘I’m wanted for murder,’ said Will shortly.
‘That’s not the same thing! Is it?’
Will didn’t reply. He turned and helped me down into a pool of water and then pulled me up onto the next rock. ‘Not now, Isabelle! Focus on getting away. We can talk later.’
As I hauled myself up onto the next rock, my bad leg gave way and I fell heavily. I cried out in pain. ‘Go, Will!’ I begged. ‘Leave me! I can’t do it.’
‘Then swim!’ Will ordered, tugging at my hand. ‘Or you’ll be taken back to … to your … ’ His words trailed into silence.
‘I know.’ I looked at the water swirling black and hungry about my legs and shuddered. I couldn’t face plunging into that icy embrace again. I felt sure I wouldn’t survive it a second time.
Instead, I pulled my oilskin package from my shirt and pressed it into his hands. ‘Take it,’ I told him. ‘Maybe you can help me later. You’ll not be able to help me if you’re in prison too. And Will; whatever you’ve done, I don’t want you to … ’ I couldn’t bring myself to say the word hang, but we both knew what I meant.
The soldiers were close now, slipping on the rocks in their haste to reach us. Will caught me in his arms and held me close in a cold, wet embrace. ‘I’ll go,’ he said. ‘But only in the hope of rescuing you.’
He pulled away so that I could see his face. ‘Isabelle, it wasn’t me who betrayed your presence on board,’ he said. ‘I swear it. I knew nothing of this attack tonight.’
I reached up and touched his cheek. ‘I know,’ I said simply.
He stepped away from me and waded out into the water. At that moment the soldiers clattered round the corner almost upon us. There were four of them now. They stumbled to a halt and raised their guns. The senior officer ignored me; instead, looking straight at Will, he shouted: ‘William Marlow, you are under arrest for the wilful murder of Eliza Jones and her infant!’
Will’s eyes met mine for an agonized moment. I was frozen in shock and disbelief. He was wanted for the murder of a young woman and her baby? Just as Hard-Head Bill had said. William Marlow? I couldn’t take it in. My brain felt as though it had received a massive electric shock. Will’s clear blue eyes held mine.
‘Hands up, Marlow!’ shouted the officer when Will didn’t move. Will looked away from me and slowly raised his arms. He stood there, half-in, half-out of the sea while the waves washed around him. His fair hair was plastered to his head, his clothes hung limply off him. No disguise, no acting this time; just a young man facing danger with courage. I wondered what I truly knew of him. I couldn’t match this terrible accusation with the man I’d come to know.
I saw Will tense and glance towards me. I realized he wasn’t planning to surrender at all. He was going to make a bid to escape. He was going to risk those guns.
Impulsively, I got to my feet and limped towards the soldiers. ‘Was it me you were looking for, officer?’ I asked. I walked as bravely as I could, straight towards the guns.
‘For the lord’s sake, boy, not in the line of fire!’ shouted the officer.
‘I’m not a boy,’ I contradicted him. ‘I’m Isabelle Holbrook.’
There was an audible gasp from the soldiers. Two lowered their guns instinctively, and Will took the opportunity to plunge into the sea. ‘Out of the WAY!’ yelled the officer, rushing forward to push me aside. I fell onto the rocks with a cry, while the officer called: ‘Fire! Don’t let him get away!’
His men did as he said, and fired a volley of shots, but I’d gained Will a few vital seconds. Three shots hit the sea near Will, but as far as I could tell, they’d missed. Certainly he swam on as strongly as ever, distancing himself from the shore. The soldiers began to reload, but their officer turned to shout at them. ‘Too late! Too l
ate! Bring her.’ He pointed at me. ‘Smith, get back up to Lieutenant Oswald and tell him Marlow’s in the water. They need to try and cut him off when he tries to come ashore.’
I was grabbed and hauled roughly off the rock and into the sea, back towards the bay. ‘Your friend won’t get far!’ they told me. We reached the dry beach again at last, breathless and soaked, but I wasn’t allowed to rest for more than a moment. They marched me along the beach, half dragging me between them. Stabbing pains shot through my leg every time I put my weight on it. Climbing the cliff path was agony. Slowly, painfully, I half-walked and was half-pushed up it. As I drew towards the very top, two men stood waiting for me. I saw their boots level with my eyes as I dragged myself wearily up the last of the steep path.
‘Well, well,’ said a familiar voice. ‘I do believe it’s the beautiful young lady from Poole. In some most unsuitable clothes, what’s more.’ I looked up and saw Lieutenant Oswald standing looking down at me, a smirk on his handsome face.
I cast him a look of dislike. ‘Do I know you?’ I asked disdainfully.
There was a second man standing beside him and when he spoke my heart skipped a beat with shock: ‘You certainly know me. Unless I’ve already slipped from your memory?’ he said with heavy sarcasm. ‘Welcome home, my dear. You’ve been away quite some time, haven’t you?’
Filled with dread, I looked straight into the face of my husband. The mystery of our traitor was solved. It hadn’t been anyone on the ship after all; it had been our venturer himself, it seemed. He gave me a smile that had neither pleasure nor kindness in it. Weary, chilled, and in unbearable pain, I felt a wave of sick dizziness flooding me. Gratefully, I gave into it and fainted away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
After tangled dreams of forced marching and slow drowning, I awoke. I surfaced slowly, languorously, as though I’d been asleep for a lifetime.
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