“Why?” Harriett demanded, flicking each of the men a careful glance. Although she didn’t like men, or trust them, there was something about these three standing in her kitchen that made her feel safe and protected somehow. She wasn’t sure what to make of them, but trusted Jemima and Eliza to be intelligent enough to know who they could trust. Clearly they trusted the men now commanding most of the tiny space in her kitchen. Although Harriett wasn’t entirely comfortable with them being there, she couldn’t find any cause to demand they leave.
Casting them a wary glance, she was about to put a pot of water onto the fire to boil, when Eliza touched her arm.
“We don’t have time for that. It will be saf
er if you don’t leave your fire burning while you are not here,” she said, her eyes full of sympathy for her friend.
Harriett’s hackles rose and she realised something was dreadfully wrong. Clearly both Jemima and Eliza were struggling to find a way to tell her.
“Although it is wonderful to see you, do you mind my asking why you have come together?” Harriett asked, motioning for everyone to sit at the table.
“Hugo works for the War Office, Harriett,” Eliza began once everyone was seated. Although it had been agreed she would do most of the talking, now she was there she wasn’t sure of the best way to broach the subject they needed to discuss.
She threw Jemima a beseeching look and was relieved when Jemima immediately stepped in.
“Scraggan set me up for murder, Harriett and thinks I was executed for it in Derby Gaol just over a week ago,” Jemima told her. It felt strange to talk about such an important day in her life with such detachment.
Harriett gasped, her eyes immediately going to the pale, unmarked flesh of her friend’s throat before turning to the tall, protective man now holding her hand.
“Scraggan?” Even saying the man’s name made her feel sick. She hated Scraggan and everyone associated with him, and not only because he was a man.
“So how come you are still alive?” she asked, trying not to throw too many questions at them. “What happened? What did he do?”
Jemima quickly described what had happened to them since they had left Padstow all those months ago, culminating in her rescue from the gallows.
“How were you saved?” Harriett gasped, not sure whether she should be cheering her friend’s cleverness, or booing at Scraggan’s evil intent.
“We knew she was being set up, and made plans to rescue her,” Hugo replied, shooting an apologetic glance at Jemima for interrupting. He quickly briefed Harriett on the events in Derby, Jemima’s survival and the hurried journey to Padstow in a quest to save her from Scraggan’s fury.
“But why do I have to leave? I mean, I don’t think Scraggan suspects it is me. I have given him absolutely no cause to suspect it is me. None of his men have come anywhere close. This is my home; I can’t simply walk away.” Harriett’s voice was laden with distress at the thought of leaving the only thing in the world she held dear, besides the two ladies now seated opposite.
“Because one or two of his men have said they’re suspicious that it is you.” Hugo ignored her startled gasp and continued explaining. “Although we have gone over the plans time and again, and have a backup plan if something should go wrong, we still have no idea how the next few hours will work out. Redcoats are converging on Padstow as we speak, and for the next day or so, it is going to be a very dangerous place to be. Not only are you isolated and alone, but if someone does decide to find somewhere to hide, we don’t want it being here with you. For your own safety, you need to come with us.”
Although he had agreed to allow Eliza to do the explaining, he was aware that it was taking too long. If they didn’t hurry things along a little, they would all be stuck in the little cottage, and that was something Hugo wasn’t prepared to let happen, especially with that feral feline on the loose. They would all be sitting ducks. Briefly Hugo wondered if they should just send Harrold after Scraggan, then they would all be certain who would come out the winner, but decided it wouldn’t be fair on Scraggan to be at such a disadvantage.
“So what do I do? Leave for a couple of days and then return when it is all over and done with?” Harriett frowned at Eliza who was staring at the man seated opposite - Edward - far too intently.
“If you like,” Hugo replied noncommittally. “We cannot leave you behind. Besides, there is the important issue of Scraggan.”
“What about him?”
“Do you know him?” Hugo’s voice dropped a notch, and became hard and vaguely threatening.
“Of course not. We hardly move in the same circles,” Harriett snorted. If she was honest, she didn’t move in any circles. The resident witch didn’t usually get too many invitations to parties and the like, but she wasn’t about to announce that fact to a room full of strangers.
“You have been watching him, though.” His eyes met and held hers.
Harriett felt a flicker of awareness deep in her stomach and shivered at the strange sensation that swept through her. Something, some innate sense of self-preservation warned her not to let this man too close. Although he wouldn’t physically harm her, he posed a threat to her way of life, and she felt it went way beyond the need to leave the village while Scraggan was captured.
“I haven’t been watching him, but rather the activities of the ships and the gangs,” Harriett argued, throwing Jemima a careful look.
“When we left here, Eliza and I each took two of the sheets of information you gave to Father. We have kept them safe while evading Scraggan and Rogan since the day we left. When Eliza felt it was safe, she gave her papers to Edward and I gave my papers to Hugo. With the help of the information you have so painstakingly gathered, they have put arrangements in place to arrest Scraggan, but need as much evidence as possible to ensure he is tried and given the death sentence.” Jemima hated even saying the word, or condemning anyone else to such a fate as the one she had faced, but since the man concerned was Scraggan, she felt she could at least try to make an exception.
“Have you been keeping track of comings and goings since Jemima and Eliza left?” Hugo asked hesitantly. He didn’t want to offend her, but he was practically bristling with urgency not only to have the valuable information she had so meticulously gathered, but to get everyone out of the area.
Harriett nodded, rose from the table and motioned everyone to follow her. She led them to a small room at the front of the house. Although lace curtains at the windows blocked her from view, she had a perfect view of the harbour at the bottom of the hill, and could even see the main thoroughfare that ran around the harbour. Several streets veered off in different directions, through shops, past the Revenues office, up toward the fishermen’s cottages. It was all laid out below her in clear view.
Hugo studied the scene carefully and shook his head in wonder. He looked in admiration at Harriett and took the opportunity to study the room.