Madeline felt chilled. All she could think of was that Edmond was in the thick of that…. Her eyes widened. Horror slid icy fingers down her spine. “Edmond will recognize the wreckers—he’ll know who they are.” She looked at Gervase. “They’ll kill him.”
Gervase held her gaze. “They won’t get a chance to—we’ll get there before the traitor leaves. Until he finds his cargo and departs the scene, Edmond is safe. Once he leaves, Edmond won’t be, but as our villain’s not going to find his cargo in Kynance Cove, Edmond will be there when we go in to rescue him.”
The evenly voiced statement had her blinking, had her incipient panic subsiding like a pricked balloon. She swallowed, nodded—felt calmer. Enough to smile reassuringly at Ben and Harry when they looked to her for confirmation.
Thank God for Gervase.
She hugged Ben to her, and repeated the words in her head.
“How many of them are there—these wreckers?” Dalziel, narrow-eyed, looked at Abel.
He shrugged, glanced at Gervase. “Ten, maybe. No more.” As if in explanation, he added, “They’re landlubbers, you know—the lot of ’em—while smugglers are all sailors. There’ve never been that many wreckers, or the rest of us would know, but they’ve always been vicious about secrecy, so no one’s ever been certain who is and who ain’t, and no real way to tell, not in these parts. Only thing we do know is that their favorite cove these last years has been Kynance.”
Dalziel nodded. “How many nonlocals has our villain gathered?”
They tossed around numbers, and settled on less than ten.
Dalziel looked at Gervase. “How many men can we muster?”
The answer was in the thirties. “Possibly more, depending on what I find when we reach the castle.” Gervase caught Dalziel’s gaze. “I assume you’re suggesting a little local housekeeping while we’re dealing with our fine traitor?”
Dalziel shrugged. “If fate is steering us in that direction, then I for one say we shouldn’t fight the current. There’s more than one villain in our world.”
The others murmured agreement.
Madeline sat, hands clasped around Ben’s, with him leaning against her, and listened while they discussed and planned how they would put paid to the local wreckers, overcome the imported ruffians and capture the man who had kidnapped Ben, and now Edmond—at the same time keeping Edmond safe.
While she saw nothing to argue with in the plans that slowly took shape, there was one thing—one aspect—they’d overlooked.
“So”—Dalziel looked down at the map around which they’d all again gathered, Abel included; Gervase had just finished explaining the terrain of the clifftops, confirming that approaching undetected over land was impossible—“we’ll have to walk into the cove around the shoreline.”
“Can’t.” Gervase shook his head. “The way’s impassable at several points.”
Dalziel looked at him, then raised his brows. “How, then?”
Gervase looked across the table at Abel. “We go in by sea.”
Abel grinned, a startlingly ferocious sight. “Aye—there’ll be a small fleet putting into Castle Cove soon enough.”
They transferred their headquarters to the castle. Gervase and Madeline went ahead on horseback, leaving the others to follow in a procession of carriages. They left Harry and Ben at the Park; Ben had had enough excitement for the moment, and Harry accepted that he had to remain in case the men left as a token force at Lowland Point needed further direction.
Side by side, Gervase and Madeline clattered into the castle forecourt and dismounted. Before they reached the top of the castle steps, Belinda, Annabel and Jane rushed out.
Eyes wide, they grabbed Gervase. “You have to come and see!” Jane tugged him forward.
“There’s boats—lots of them—coming into the cove,” Belinda informed him.
“The sailors look rough—are they smugglers?” Annabel demanded.
Gervase raised his hands, palms out. “Yes, I know.” He looked at Annabel. “And yes, they’re local smugglers.”
“Really?” Belinda’s eyes grew huge. She turned back into the house. “How exciting!”
Annabel said nothing, just followed, the same look of fascination on her face.
“Maybe if we ask nicely they’ll take us for a sail.” Releasing Gervase, Jane ran after her sisters.
Gervase stared at their retreating backs, then looked at Madeline.