“Trevithick!”He was waving a folded sheet of paper.“Someone brought you a letter.”He handed it to Jed, who was too surprised to do anything but take it.“Also, you’ve to pick up a load from Hensworth’s brewery today.You too, Dyer.You can leave as soon as Johns and Norris get back here with the spring waggon.”
Jed nodded absently, barely noticing as Toby hurried away to talk to another waggoner who had just arrived.
He broke the seal and unfolded the letter.Black ink covered the sheet of paper, all lines and loops.With his finger, Jed traced the letters of the signature at the bottom of the page.The first letter was a ‘C’.For Caroline, surely?This had to be a letter from Carrie.It was the first time he had ever seen writing from her pen, and it gave him a strange feeling to hold it in his hands.
He ran his eye over the rest of the message, but could do no more than make out a letter here and there.
“Have you any schooling, at all?”he asked Solomon.
“I have the Gospels off by heart.But I don’t think that’s what you had in mind.”
Jed showed him the letter.“It’s from my sister.”
It must have arrived by way of the Royal Oak on the Taunton road.Jed had spoken to the landlord there, a friend of long standing, asking him to pass along any letter that might come for him and stressing that his direction in Barnstaple must not be revealed to Mr Morgan or anyone else.
“I expect Emma Yates would read it for you, if you ask her,” Solomon said.At Jed’s doubtful look, he added, “You can trust her.We’ve come to know her quite well, Wallace and me.”His gaze flickered to the letter.“Ah… do you think it mentions Lieutenant Vaughan?”
Helplessly, Jed ran his eye over the page again.He was familiar with the shape of the letter ‘V’, but it wasn’t easy to pick it out.
“You can come listen to it, if you want.”Jed glanced around.Johns and Norris were not here yet.“Now?”
Emma was beating a rug in the alley behind the Boar.
“Of course,” she said when Jed made his request.
She sat down on a barrel, letter in hand.
“Dear brother,
“I am entrusting this letter to Mr Morgan, who tells me he will see to it that it reaches you.
“I expect you do not think of me fondly since our last meeting, but I could not let another day go by without attempting my Christian duty to bring about a reconciliation between us.
“You put Mr Penwick in a very difficult position when you came to see us.How could he, a respectable gentleman who dines with magistrates, ignore the presence of a deserter in the village, at a time when our country has need of every man to defend our shores?”
Solomon gave a little snort, but said nothing.
Jed’s mouth was dry.The hope he’d felt at the wordsdear brotherwas rapidly fading, and foreboding was settling cold and unpleasant in the pit of his stomach.
Emma went on reading.
“Aiding and abetting a deserting seaman is a serious offence, and Mr Penwick has a duty as a gentleman to set a good example to the people of our district.
“I pray that you will follow his advice and return to the Service.In any case, you must never come to Ledcombe.You will know, I am sure, that the Impressment Service has been established at Minehead this past month, and Lieutenant Vaughan, the officer in charge, often rides up the coast to dine with us.He is a charming gentleman, and Mr Penwick has taken an interest in his charitable works on behalf of retired seamen.Indeed, we had the pleasure of his company only last night.”
At the mention of Lieutenant Vaughan, Emma glanced up at Solomon, whose lips were pressed tightly together.
“I hope that you will find it in you to follow your duty and the law.I pray that you remain in good health, and await with impatience our reunion when the tyrant Napoleon has been defeated and the war is over.”
Emma looked up.Her expression was apologetic.“That’s all.It’s signed,your affectionate sister, Caroline Penwick.”
There was a short, pained silence.
Emma held out the letter, and Jed took it.Vaguely, he was aware of Solomon’s hand on his shoulder.
If Carrie had slammed a door in his face, she couldn’t have hurt him more.
He could hardly believe she’d written those words.Carrie, who had always been his friend and ally, as he had been hers—to send him a letter that could have been written by a stranger!It was as though she’d been bewitched.
