The Legend of the Phantom Highwayman

by Tom McCaughren

  ‘What happened?’ asked Róisín.

  ‘Let’s get him down to the house first,’ said Cowlick. ‘He seems a bit dazed.’

  By the time they reached the house, the cool night air had helped Tapser to get over his gulp of poteen. Now and then he felt as if he was going to be sick, but otherwise he had recovered enough to lie on the bed and tell the others what had happened.

  ‘Sorry we were so long catching up with you,’ said Cowlick. ‘But I was fast asleep when you woke me. So were the girls.’

  ‘I thought you were right behind me,’ said Tapser.

  ‘I didn’t know you’d gone until I woke up properly,’ Cowlick told him.

  ‘And by the time we all got dressed, you must have been up on the High Road,’ said Róisín.

  ‘We thought Cowlick was having us on when he told us you had seen the phantom highwayman,’ said Rachel. ‘Are you sure it wasn’t your imagination?’

  ‘The trees up there can look very scary at night,’ said Róisín gently.

  ‘It was him all right,’ Tapser asserted. ‘And if he hadn’t come along when he did, dear knows where I’d be now.’

  ‘Do you think it was the same lorry that we saw at the Castle Spa last night?’ asked Cowlick.

  ‘Could be. It looked the same, from what I could see of it.’

  ‘And what about the men?’ asked Cowlick. ‘Did you recognise any of them?’

  Tapser shook his head. ‘All I know is that they were after me, and they would have got me too if it hadn’t been for Hugh Rua.’

  ‘I think you were imagining things,’ said Rachel. ‘It must have been the poteen you swallowed.’

  ‘But I heard the men saying, “There he is!” and then one of them caught me,’ said Tapser.

  ‘That was us,’ Róisín told him.

  ‘That’s right,’ said Cowlick. ‘We carried you back to the memorial. We didn’t see any smugglers – or phantoms.’

  ‘But Hugh Rua saved me from them,’ said Tapser. ‘I heard him saying, “Stand and deliver”.’

  ‘Don’t be silly,’ said Rachel, ‘that must have been Cowlick. He told us to stand aside and give you air.’

  Tapser, however, was far from convinced. ‘What about the poteen? That wasn’t my imagination.’

  ‘You can say that again,’ said Cowlick. ‘The smell from your breath would knock you down.’

  ‘There you are then,’ said Tapser. ‘What did I tell you?’ He groaned and added, ‘I never realised poteen was such horrible stuff. And Mr Stockman’s right. It would drive you round the bend. I’ll never drink when I grow up, that’s for sure.’

  6. THE MOUNTAINY MEN

  Because Tapser wasn’t feeling well, he didn’t have go to church next morning. Instead he slept late, and when he came down for his dinner he found that the girls had already changed into their jeans and were waiting for Peppi.

  ‘Here, get that inside you,’ said his aunt, ‘and you’ll feel a lot better. You want to be careful and not be eating too many of them oul’ blackberries.’

  ‘Ours would eat them until they were coming out of their ears,’ said his uncle. ‘But it doesn’t seem to do them any harm.’

  During dinner none of them said anything about what they had seen at the Castle Spa, their encounter with Peppi, or what had happened to Tapser up on the High Road. They still had a lot of finding out to do and they had promised Peppi they wouldn’t discuss what was going on with anyone else.

  True to his word, Peppi arrived shortly after dinner time, and they set off for the mountains. He had emptied the caravan, but since it was still going to be a hard pull for the horse he suggested that Tapser and Cowlick should sit on either side of him so that they could jump out and push if the going got too tough. The girls could sit just inside the door, and change places with the boys on the way back down. As for Prince, he seemed content to run alongside.

  ‘Tapser says he saw the phantom highwayman last night,’ said Róisín.

  ‘I did see him,’ said Tapser, and he went on to tell Peppi everything that had happened.

  ‘And how do you feel now?’ asked Peppi.

  ‘Okay. But the others don’t believe me.’

  ‘We didn’t say that,’ protested Cowlick.

  ‘You didn’t have to say it. I could see you didn’t. I don’t suppose you believe me either, Peppi?’

  ‘I believe there’s something very peculiar going on up here. Mind you, I have been keeping a very close eye on the High Road and I haven’t seen Hugh Rua. But there are others besides yourself who say they have.’

  Cowlick told Peppi what they had seen at the Castle Spa, and wondered if the lorry Tapser had seen could have been going there.

  ‘It could have been all right,’ said Peppi. ‘But if Max and his men are bringing poteen down by lorry, what are they bringing in by boat?’

  ‘That’s what we were wondering,’ said Róisín.

  ‘We thought maybe the poteen was being bottled at the Castle Spa and sold to tourists,’ said Tapser.

  ‘I wish it was as simple as that,’ said Peppi. ‘But our men have already checked the shop and their retail sales seem to be in order. They’ve also been at the harbour keeping a close eye on their exports. They seem to be in order too. Even the shipload that left yesterday.’

  ‘I don’t understand it,’ sighed Rachel.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Peppi consoled her. ‘Neither does anyone else.’ He handed the reins to Cowlick and took out his pipe and filled it. ‘You know,’ he said between puffs, ‘you’ve done very well. You’ve found out more in one night than I have since I came here. You even found me out. What made you suspicious?’

  ‘Your gloves,’ Róisín reminded him.

  ‘Oh aye, so you said.’

  ‘We thought it odd that you should wear them all the time,’ explained Rachel.

  ‘Hmmm … well, you’re right you know. When I took up this job as a cover, my hands were soft and white. I knew people who worked with their hands would soon see that I wasn’t accustomed to working with mine. So I came up with the idea of wearing these gloves.’

  Tapser and Cowlick looked back to see the girls smiling, as if to say, ‘We told you so.’

  ‘We also thought Pandora’s Box might contain a secret,’ said Rachel.

  ‘You know, you should be the detectives, not me,’ smiled Peppi. ‘But I hope you haven’t told anybody.’

  They all shook their heads and assured him his secret was safe with them.

  Then Cowlick thought of something. ‘But Peppi … I mean … what do we call you now?’

  ‘Just continue to call me Peppi. That suits me fine. If you didn’t, other people might become suspicious too.’ As they jogged on, he asked, ‘What made you suspect that Max van Weshal might be up to something?’

  ‘I thought it was funny that anyone should be exporting water in the first place,’ said Tapser.

  ‘Hmmm, I suppose it might look odd,’ said Peppi, ‘but it’s not so remarkable when you think about it. We take water for granted in this country. But in some countries the water isn’t as good as ours, and in some places they’ve none at all.’

  ‘Do you think Whaler and Scamp could be doing something behind Max’s back?’ wondered Rachel.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ said Peppi. ‘They don’t do a thing except on Max’s say-so.’

  ‘I didn’t think it would be worth anyone’s while to smuggle poteen,’ said Róisín. ‘I mean, all I ever heard of was the odd bottle coming down from the mountains at Christmas.’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Rachel. ‘I didn’t think the Customs and Excise would be interested in a small thing like that.’

  ‘Ah, but that’s the point,’ Peppi told them. ‘It’s not a small thing – not any more. During the past year a lot of it has been finding its way into Europe. And my inquiries have led me to believe it’s coming from the general area of this glen. That’s why Pandora and Company was formed.’

  Cowlick looked puzzled.
‘How could our glen be responsible for sending poteen to Europe? I mean, that really would be big business.’

  Peppi nodded. ‘It is big business, and if it’s not stopped soon it could grow into an even bigger business. So you see, it’s not just a few bottles for Christmas any more. Judging by the volume of exports, my theory is that someone has set up a big still in the glen or up here in the mountains.’

  ‘You mean their own private distillery?’ asked Róisín.

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘But how could they hide it?’ asked Tapser.

  ‘Good question,’ said Peppi. ‘Unless it’s being concealed in a farm or old building, or built underground.’

  ‘Like the bottling plant at the Castle Spa,’ said Cowlick. ‘It’s in a big cavern.’

  ‘I imagine it would have to be something like that,’ agreed Peppi. ‘But as I say, we’ve checked the Castle Spa, and that machine is just what Max says it is – a bottling machine.’

  ‘So it must be made up here on the mountain and brought down by lorry,’ said Tapser. ‘But how does the phantom highwayman come into it?’

  ‘Unless,’ suggested Peppi, ‘it’s some sort of decoy – you know, to draw attention to the High Road when the stuff has reached the Spa.’

  ‘Do you think Max may be behind this phantom business too?’ asked Cowlick.

  ‘Well, I think it’s more likely to be him and his men than Sam Stephenson or Blind Jack. For a foreigner, Max has taken a great interest in Hugh Rua. He was the one who suggested erecting the memorial to him on the High Road – and what’s more, he paid for it.’

  ‘And he sings the Ballad of Hugh Rua any chance he gets,’ said Róisín.

  ‘But if that’s what they’re doing,’ argued Tapser, ‘how do you account for what happened to me? I mean, Hugh Rua appeared when the lorry was still up at the High Road.’

  ‘Exactly,’ said Peppi. ‘Because it had broken down, so the phantom rider appeared too soon.’

  ‘But he helped me, not them,’ Tapser pointed out.

  ‘We were the only ones who helped you as far as I could see,’ said Róisín.

  ‘That’s right,’ said Rachel. ‘You must have been drunk.’

  The girls giggled, but Tapser just ignored them.

  ‘Whatever about Hugh Rua,’ said Cowlick, ‘he didn’t imagine the lorry, and it was poteen they were smuggling.’

  ‘Precisely,’ said Peppi. ‘So, assuming it was another delivery for Max, how is he getting the stuff out?’ He gave his horse a flick with the reins and puffed on his pipe thoughtfully, before continuing, ‘Now, I could understand if he was shipping it out. But you say he was shipping it in. That’s the part that puzzles me.’

  ‘Us too,’ said Róisín. ‘And how did the bottle we found come to be in the sea? That’s another mystery.’

  ‘There are a lot of mysteries in this case,’ Peppi told them. ‘And the biggest one is the source. I mean, the Widow Mulqueen makes a bottle or two. I know that. And so do half a dozen others I know of. But where’s the big still? That’s what I want to find out. Once we have that, we have the lot.’

  They all wished they could help Peppi find the big still, but they couldn’t imagine where he might even start looking.

  As Peppi’s old horse plodded slowly up the mountain road, they passed the Widow Mulqueen’s place. It was an isolated farmstead at the end of a long stony lane.

  ‘I wouldn’t fancy living up there,’ said Tapser.

  ‘It’s a bit out of the way all right,’ agreed Peppi.

  ‘And there’s Max,’ said Cowlick. ‘He’s fixing the Widow’s tractor.’

  The girls stuck their heads out through the doorway to see. They could just make out Max’s white coat as he bent down at the engine. Straightening up, he wiped his hands on a rag and gave them a wave.

  ‘But if Mrs Mulqueen is making poteen,’ said Tapser, ‘how come she hasn’t been arrested?’

  ‘Well,’ Peppi explained, ‘it’s one thing knowing that she makes the stuff. It’s another thing catching her at it. But you never know who we might catch before we go back. Giddy-up there.’

  They all looked at each other and wondered what Peppi meant, but he told them no more.

  Further up the road, Peppi guided his horse onto a narrow track and after some time pulled in to the side. ‘Now,’ he said, leading them up to the shadow of a large boulder, ‘I want to show you something.’

  From the cover of the boulder they scanned the valley below them. There was a lake in the middle of it, and it looked as peaceful and picturesque as a postcard. ‘Look,’ pointed Peppi. ‘Down there … and there … and there.’

  They followed his directions, and to their surprise saw uniformed men, whom Peppi informed them were police and Excise officers, lying in wait not far from the lake.

  ‘What are they watching?’ asked Tapser.

  ‘There’s a poteen still down near the edge of the lake,’ Peppi explained.

  ‘Do you mean we’re watching an actual raid?’ asked Róisín.

  ‘With a bit of luck. They know the stuff’s there, and they’re hoping to catch the men who are making it.’

  Time passed, but nothing happened. The waiting officers shifted restlessly. It was obvious they had been there for some time and were feeling cramped.

  Peppi’s horse scraped the rocky ground with its hoof and threw up its head to get the remaining contents of a nosebag. Prince lay and watched Tapser as he and the others watched the valley.

  ‘There they are,’ said Peppi suddenly. ‘Keep down.’

  ‘Where?’ they whispered.

  ‘Over there to the right …’

  Peppi’s eyes were sharp. It was several minutes before they could see what he had spotted. Three men were making their way towards the still. They wore peaked caps, old tweedy jackets, baggy trousers and Wellingtons. Typical mountainy men, they also carried sticks to help them along.

  Gradually the men approached the still, unaware that they were walking into a trap. Taking great care not to be seen, the police and Excise men watched and waited. Then, as the three men reached the still and began taking off the covering sacks, the two nearest Excise men pounced.

  The mountainy men, however, soon showed they weren’t to be trifled with. As the other officers of the law made their way down to the lake, the two Excise men found themselves being flailed with the heavy ends of the sticks, which were being wielded like shillelaghs and with the same effect. The two Excise men went down under the blows, and as the policemen drew their batons and clambered over the rocks to lend a hand, the mountainy men, far from being trapped at the water’s edge, jumped into a small boat which they had hidden in the rushes and rowed furiously out onto the lake. The officers stopped at the water’s edge, pushed back their caps and stood, hands on hips, frustrated and perplexed.

  ‘Why don’t they run around and cut them off?’ asked Tapser.

  ‘They know they’d never make it,’ said Peppi. ‘It’s a lot longer than it looks from here. It’s boggy and by the time they’d get around to the other side they’d be too exhausted to chase them. Anyway, they’re not used to the mountain. Those men are. They’d never catch them. Come on. Let’s go home.’

  ‘I suppose,’ ventured Tapser, ‘that isn’t the big still you’re looking for?’

  Peppi laughed. ‘I wish it was. But I’m afraid that’s only one of the wee stills.’

  Róisín and Rachel sat beside Peppi on the way down.

  ‘How well do you know the shore?’ he asked them.

  Róisín shrugged. ‘As well as anybody else I suppose. Why?’

  ‘Because I want you to do something for me. That is, if you still want to help me find the smugglers.’

  They assured him they did and, as the boys leaned out through the doorway to hear what he had to say, he went on, ‘I think what you saw at the Castle Spa may turn out to be a very important part of this jigsaw. So I want you to try and find the cave that goes in under it.’

&n
bsp; ‘And what will you be doing?’ asked Tapser.

  ‘I have to find out where the stuff is coming from,’ Peppi told them. ‘But if you could find the entrance to that cave from the seashore, it would be a great help.’

  ‘There are a lot of caves down there,’ said Cowlick, ‘but I don’t think it should be too hard to find.’

  ‘And we were going to look for it anyway,’ added Tapser.

  ‘Good,’ said Peppi, ‘but be careful.’

  ‘And what about our folks?’ asked Rachel. ‘How much can we tell them?’

  ‘Tell nobody anything,’ advised Peppi. ‘At least, not yet. Remember what I said. Secrecy is most important at this stage. Whoever’s involved in this business, they’re in it for big money, and if the news gets out that we’re after them it could be very dangerous. So mind yourself.’

  7. STOWAWAYS

  After tea, Cowlick got the torch and they made their way out to the rocks on the far side of the harbour. It was a lovely evening. Gulls were circling the cliffs and terns were hovering gracefully offshore before diving for small fish in the incoming tide.

  Caves on the seashore were something new to Tapser, and he found that they were cold, damp and slippery, not the least like the ones he had read about in books. Somehow he thought they would be dry and warm, like the one Robinson Crusoe had lived in.

  ‘We know every inch of the caves on our own side of the harbour,’ Róisín told him as they went from one cave to another, ‘but we don’t come over here much.’

  They were in a fairly big cave now, and Cowlick crouched and shone the torch up into it. ‘Another dead end,’ he announced.

  ‘But we must be nearly opposite the Castle Spa by now,’ said Rachel.

  ‘Well, that seems to be the last one on this side of the point,’ said Cowlick, ‘and I think it’s time we were getting back.’

  ‘We’ll just have to continue the search in the morning,’ said Róisín. ‘If we can’t get around the point we’ll try and get down to the rocks on the far side.’

  They turned to go.