Jed’s captors pushed him towards the rest of the prisoners.“Keep a close eye on this one.He’s trouble.”
Jed found himself next to Solomon.By now, he had figured out what had happened.
“Well, was it worth it?”he demanded, bitter bile rising in his throat.“Your little distraction… At least it let Wallace get away.One out of three of us en’t bad, eh?”
Solomon leaned closer to him, speaking in a low, urgent voice.“Don’t worry, it’ll be all right.Just follow my lead.”
“Don’t talk to me.”Jed leaned back against the wall of the stable, letting his head fall against the wooden boards.His whole body was trembling.He turned his head away so he wouldn’t have to see Solomon’s expression.
“Jed, listen, I promise—” Solomon fell silent when one of the gangers stepped closer.
Besides Solomon, there were five other prisoners: the stable hand, the day labourers who had come as passengers from Barnstaple, and two middle-aged men Jed had seen in the taproom the previous night.
And there were more than a dozen gangers, cutlasses drawn, outnumbering the assembled crowd of prisoners and bystanders two to one.
The innkeeper was in heated argument with a boy in Naval uniform.With a shock, Jed recognised him as the midshipman who had been with Lieutenant Vaughan at the coaching inn three days ago.There was no sign of Vaughan, however.
“You can’t take him,” the innkeeper was protesting.“He’s my chief stable hand.He’s never been to sea in his life!He’s never even been on a riverboat.And that fellow”—he pointed at Solomon—“he’s the Barnstaple carrier, and so is his friend there.And”—he waved his hand at the rest of them—“those are all guests at my inn.”
“Oh, they are, are they?”The midshipman had the hoarse tones of a boy whose voice was breaking.“And where are the five seamen who are guests at your inn?”
“There are no seamen, you dolt!You come here, harassing honest folk—”
“We have a warrant from his Majesty to press.And a report of five seamen staying at your inn.”
The innkeeper drew himself up and said icily, “If you mean the group of five farm labourers I had here recently, they left two days ago.”
“Where did they go?”
“How should I know?I’m not in the habit of interrogating my guests before they may leave.Now let my stable hand go, if you please!”
The midshipman didn’t answer.He was looking nervously in the direction of the roadway, where villagers had begun to appear, drawn by the noise.At their head stood two stout, muscular men.They were empty-handed, but they were giving instructions to a little girl, who then went running off into the village.
The midshipman turned to his chief ganger.“Have you finished searching the place?”
“Only other men in the inn were an elderly gentleman and two children, sir.And we got these other fellows in the stableyard.”
It was almost daylight by now.The midshipman’s gaze fell on Jed, and his eyes widened.He strode over.“Where did you find this one?”
“In the hay loft, sir.”
“We’re carriers,” Jed spat.“That’s our waggon standing out in the yard.You can’t just haul us off, there are laws against that.”
The midshipman ignored Jed and spoke to his underling.“I have orders to arrest this person and any tall, thin, dark man or tall, broad, fair man found in his company.”He ran his gaze over the other prisoners, settling on Solomon.He gave a nod of satisfaction.“There’s one of them, most likely.Any sign of a broad, fair-haired man?”
“We’ve turned the place inside out, sir.”
The crowd out in the road had grown.The midshipman cast another nervous glance at it.
“All right.Get him, him, and those two into the cart”—he pointed at Jed, Solomon, and the two young labourers—“set the others free, and let’s be gone from this place.”
Chapter Seventeen
The cart jerked to a halt.Seagulls wheeled overhead, and the brine of the sea was sharp in Jed’s nose.He sat squeezed between two burly gangers.He couldn’t see Solomon, who must be somewhere behind him in the overcrowded cart.
Solomon.Jed let his mind turn to the thought, like probing a painful tooth.
He probably would have been pressed anyway, trapped in the hayloft as he was.But perhaps he could have lain silent.Perhaps he could have escaped.
