Strangely, Barnaby knew that Reg wasn’t offering him support in finding the spy. He was commiserating with Barnaby for having to tell Rose their new plan.
Nodding, he turned to Noah. “So, what about London?”
“Sir Hugo won’t say what he is up to but is in London keeping his eye on things. He will unearth the spy if it is someone in those hallowed walls,” Noah reported.
“I don’t envy them when they are found,” Reg warned.
“I have no sympathy for him,” Barnaby snapped. “As far as I am concerned they will get everything they deserve.”
“Here, here,” the men all chorused as they drank their rum and began to plan what they were going to do next.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
With the ship’s surgeon dispatched to check on Rose, and Reg and Ben discussing which route to take to get to the new safe house without being detected, Barnaby took a few moments to gather his thoughts.
“Trouble ahead,” Noah murmured suddenly from the doorway.
The men looked at each other as they hurried after Noah and followed him out onto the deck.
“Over there, look. It has been tailing us for the last ten minutes. It isn’t getting any closer, just following,” Noah warned darkly. “I saw that rig in the harbour at Portsmouth.”
“Is it likely to be on its way somewhere but following our path?” Ben asked hopefully.
Noah sighed. “We will have to wait and see. As long as it doesn’t come any closer we will be alright. We could try to outrun it but I wouldn’t recommend it in rough seas like this.”
“Let us just wait and see what it does for now. If it does try to catch up, we need to take evasive action. If it keeps its distance but follows us for a while then we need to decide what to do,” Barnaby murmured. “As soon as we try to dock somewhere, they will be on us.”
Noah shouted several orders to his crewmen who hauled themselves up the huge sails and began to move the ropes.
“I’ll report back in an hour,” he said when he turned back to Barnaby.
Barnaby nodded. He threw one last glare at the ship on the horizon then made his way below deck. He went straight to the cabin Rose had been allocated and tapped discretely on the door. The ship’s surgeon answered.
“Is she alright?” Barnaby demanded as he stomped through the door.
“I have just cleaned her wound for her. It shouldn’t need stitching,” the surgeon replied.
Rose was sitting upright on the bed looking paler than Barnaby had ever seen her. Barnaby hurried cross the room.
“How bad is it? Do you feel sick?” he demanded.
Rose looked at him and shook her head. “My head hurts, that’s all. I don’t feel sick. I need to lie down a little,” she whispered when the room began to swirl.
Barnaby glared at the surgeon.
“It is perfectly normal. She has a goose egg on the back of her head that will be worse than the cut for a few days but she will recover,” the surgeon reported unconcernedly before he left.
“How is everything?” Rose asked feeling slightly awkward at having to talk to him while lying down.
“It is fine,” Barnaby assured her as he covered her over with a blanket and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Good,” Rose said softly.
“We will have dinner soon. Noah is just altering our course. As soon as the sails are set, we will eat. Are you hungry?” He quirked a brow at her and smiled when her stomach rumbled in response.
“Don’t go,” she whispered when she saw him glance at the door. “I am sorry, I know I am being foolish but I don’t want to be alone at the moment.”
Barnaby knew what she was asking and doubted there could be any harm in it. Quickly locking the door, he re-joined her on the narrow cot but, this time, he lay down and gathered her gently into his arms.