Archie's Battleflat Adventures: The Harriman Mystery (27 page)

Now.
There in the middle of Archie’s dining table, lay an unconscious
murderer, bleeding all over his mum’s best tablecloth.

“
Good job, Archie,” Oswalde declared softly, his eyes shining
with respect and gratitude.

Archie
flushed and took a deep breath, poking his thin chest out
proudly.

“
Want to tell us what’s in there?”

“
Oh! I forgot,” Archie grinned, eyeing Brentwood warily as he
sidled around the table and handed over the heavy bag to
Oswalde.

“
I haven’t had the chance to look in it. I saw it the other
day at Mr Harriman’s funeral, and went to fetch it today after
work. Only Brentwood was there, and chased me.”

Oswalde
nodded. Archie knew that out of respect for his elders he should
really call Brentwood by his given title of Lord Brentwood, or sir,
but given his nefarious activities, it didn’t seem as though the
man deserved it. While his dad didn’t chastise him for being so
rude, Archie was never going to consider the man any better than
himself. He was a cold and callous murderer, who used his wealth
and status to bully, manipulate and steal.

As
everyone started to emerge from their various hiding places,
Oswalde’s men hefted Brentwood off the table and dragged him
unceremoniously outside. Oswalde himself placed the bag onto the
table with a heavy plop.

“
Let’s take a look in here then, shall we?”

Everyone
gathered silently around the table to watch. Jack, still gasping
for air and more than a little red in the face, gathered his wife
into his arms for a reassuring hug, while studying his children.
Assured that everyone was hale and hearty, he too turned his
attention to the bag’s contents.

Oswalde
untied the laces and slowly eased the folded fabric away. The
chinking of coins could be heard seconds before they spilled out
over the tabletop.

“
Oh, my word,” Marjorie gasped, her hands rising to her cheeks
as she stared in abject wonder at the huge pile of glistening coins
lying on the table.

“
Is that -” Edward swallowed.

Archie
nodded slowly, his eyes running over the mound of gold coins lying
before them. “Gold,” he whispered reverently.

Even
Sammy and Ben came to stand before the table, their mouths hanging
open in silent wonder.

“
Whose is it?” Sammy asked, one small, chubby finger reaching
out to poke at a coin teetering on the very edge of the
table.

“
It belongs to the man who owned the gold that Brentwood
stole,” Jack whispered, his own voice awestruck.

“
It was the King’s gold. These coins are his.”

Archie
felt a strange sense of despondency settle over him. Although he
was very proud of the part he had played in bringing an end to
Brentwood’s crimes, he was sorry that the adventure was now
over.

Life
suddenly stretched out before him in all of its monotonous glory,
and he wasn’t at all sure that he liked it. The large pile of gold
now sitting on his kitchen table, was indeed the end of Archie’s
rainbow. Only this time, they wouldn’t be able to keep any of it.
It belonged to someone else.

“
But they are forgeries,” Edward gasped, moving away from the
tempting display. He wasn’t sure what he felt about the sight of so
much wealth. “They are also why Mr Harriman and Mrs Humble were
murdered.”

Archie
nodded sympathetically. He could understand Edward’s
feelings.

Marjorie
seemed to snap out of her daze.

“
You are quite right, Edward. This is dirty money. Money from
a life of crime, and it doesn’t belong in this house. Mr Oswalde
here can take it back to its owner.”

“
Will he melt it down again?”

“
It will go to the Crown Mint, and will most probably be
turned into coins by the people with the authority to make
them.”

Archie
nodded, watching Oswalde fold the cloth back up. He stared at the
bundle Mr Oswalde was securing with a leather strap.

“
Where do you think Mr Harriman left the rest of the
gold?”

“
I don’t know, Archie. We think that given the amount
Brentwood has been spending, this may well be the last of it. But
now that Brentwood has been arrested, we will search Mr Harriman’s
house, and then Brentwood Manor. We won’t leave any stone unturned
until we find anything that’s left.”

A sliver of an idea began to flicker through Archie’s mind.
He frowned at the bundle. Was it really going to be that easy? Was
Brentwood really
that
arrogant? Having seen the defiant look on the aristocrat’s
face before he lunged at Archie, it was most probably he really was
that stupid.

“
I can’t think where it is,” Archie murmured quietly, tucking
the flicker of an idea away for later.

Oswalde
turned to stare at Archie. “I will be telling the King of your part
in all of this, Archie. Not only in uncovering the clues we were
looking for to convict Brentwood for his crimes, but also for
finding the missing coins. If you can find any missing gold too, I
am sure the King will be delighted.”

Archie
nodded, his lips quirked in a secretive smile.

EPILOGUE

The
following month passed in a blur for Archie, who spent most of his
days working in the corn mill. Although he had been heralded as a
hero by the villagers, and had been congratulated more times than
he cared to count, it hadn’t numbed the ear-bashing he had received
from his father for venturing out at night while a murderer was on
the loose.

Strangely, there was no mention of Archie bringing a murderer
to the door, or the door being kicked in, or even the gun going off
in the sitting room that made a huge hole in the wall – gunshot
which could easily have resulted in any one of them being killed,
or seriously wounded.

Shaking
his head, Archie swept the chaff into a pile and picked up a
shovel. As predicted, life had returned to mundane boredom, where
nothing exciting happened. Luckily though, harvesting had
finished.

The
harvest festival the village had held had, for once, been minus
Lord Brentwood, who was now sitting in the Tower of London awaiting
trial. Rumours were, the King had forcefully suggested that he be
hung for his crimes. He had already been stripped of his title and
house. Brentwood Manor had been renamed Battleflat Manor. The new
owner of Battleflat Manor would be arriving later that week, and
would be assuming the role of local Justice of the Peace. Not that
the village was rife with crime, but having two murderers and a
notorious thief living amongst them had made some of the villagers
a bit jittery. For peace of mind, they needed a man of authority
nearby would would support the village constable.

The
rambling mansion now stood cold and empty. A huge monstrosity on
the horizon that threatened as well as intrigued. Only last night
Archie could have sworn he saw a light inside, but dismissed the
notion because nobody lived there now. When Brentwood had been
arrested, Mrs Brentwood, having also been stripped of her title,
had gone to live in Cumbria with relatives, but not before laying
off the majority of the remaining staff – including
Betsy.

Despite
having more money than anyone had been able to count sitting in the
middle of their dining table, the family had since struggled
without Betsy’s wages to add to the coffers. Money was very tight,
and they had all had to make sacrifices to make sure there was
enough to go around everyone. Most of the servants who had lost
their jobs hadn’t been able to find other work. A few had moved
further afield in search of employment, but a few locals – people
who had been born and raised in the area, stuck it out in the hopes
the new owner would re-employ them.

Archie
could only hope they were right, because only last night Betsy had
begun to make noises about having to move away to find another job.
A suggestion that had been firmly squashed by their father, who had
insisted they would make ends meet. But Archie wasn’t sure how much
longer they could keep ‘doing without’. The extra hours he had
worked in the corn mill had brought in some extra pennies, but that
wouldn’t hold out for long, especially with the winter months
coming up.

The
family’s future had never seemed so dire.

Archie
shivered as an icy breeze swirled around him. He hated the thought
of Betsy having to leave. Although she spent most of her time at
work, when she was at home, she was always kind and ready to tease.
She helped mum out no end. Still, the family were putting a brave
face on their dire predicament. They still put on their Sunday
best, and went to church. Archie didn’t know who they had visiting
them this afternoon, but felt certain his dad would let him off the
hook. After all, he hadn’t ranted at Archie for putting himself in
danger for three whole days!

He
lifted a listless hand to Edward, who came out of the gate at the
end of his garden. His aunt had made a slow recovery and was now
living with Edward and his family. Something Edward despised as she
insisted on pinching anyone’s cheek who got close enough, and
smelled old and fusty.

“
You coming out to play for a while?” Edward asked, running to
a stop a few feet away.

Archie
paused. Did he feel like going out to play? He wasn’t sure he did,
but the idea of sitting inside, listening to Ben and Sammy squabble
made his head ache.

“
Yeah, I’ll just go and get changed, and then I will be out if
it’s alright with my dad.”

“
We have got the afternoon to ourselves, Archie,” Edward
grinned. “Want to go to the spinney?”

Archie
froze and turned to stare at Edward, whose grin suddenly
disappeared.

“
Sorry, I didn’t think –.”

Did he
want to go to the spinney? He hadn’t been since the afternoon of Mr
Harriman’s murder – would it be the same? Would he be the
same?

Shaking
his head at the remorseful look on Edward’s face, Archie smiled at
his friend. “If you can stay with me this time, we will go to the
spinney. You coming in?”

“
I’ll go and put my rough boots on. If I get these posh shoes
dirty, my mum will have my hide,” Edward grinned, delighted at the
prospect of having a few hours playing with his friend – in broad
daylight, without any dead bodies.

Archie
slammed into the kitchen. His mum had already put out a meagre
meal, that was heavily laden with fresh vegetables out of the
garden. He knew his dad was going to harvest the rest of the
vegetables and they would be stored, ready for winter, but if they
kept padding out meals with extra vegetables, what they had grown
over the summer wouldn’t last them for very long. Archie’s stomach
churned over with worry, and he wondered what would happen to all
of them.

Shrugging out of his jacket, he toed off his boots as he
mentally rehearsed how he was going to ask his dad for permission
to go out and play with Edward rather than sit inside with Aunty
Vi, and entered the strangely quiet sitting room.

“
Hello, Archie.”

Archie’s
eyes popped wide as he stared at the tall, distinguished man
standing beside his father in front of the hearth.

“
Mr Oswalde,” Archie gasped, his face lighting into a
grin.

“
That’s the first smile we have seen on his face in weeks,”
Jack announced conspiratorially to the man beside him. “Lord
Brewcaster, Archie, mind your manners.”

Archie’s eyes shot to his father. “
Lord
Brewcaster?”

“
That’s right, Henry Oswalde, the new Lord Brewcaster,” Lord
Brewcaster replied, stepping forward and holding his hand out to
Archie. “It’s good to see you again, Archie. Been working hard, I
hear.”

“
Yes, sir,” Archie replied, dropping his eyes to the
floor.

“
Come now, none of that formal nonsense with me. I thought we
were friends.”

Archie
smothered a smile, and glanced up the new lord.

“
Did you get the title because you found the gold?”

“
We
found the gold, Archie. You
played a very large part in it.”

Archie
merely shrugged, momentarily lost for words. “Edward helped
too.”

“
I know, but you played a significant part in all of it. Most
people would have fallen apart having witnessed a murder but you
were filled with determination to uncover the culprit, weren’t
you?”

Archie
merely nodded.

“
You were quite right too. Although I can’t condone some of
the things you did, I can understand why you were felt driven to do
them.” A knowing look passed between the lord and
Archie.

“
The King was informed of your part in finding his fortune and
was inordinately pleased with your assistance. As a result, I was
awarded a title, and have been given Battleflat Manor. I will now
assume the role of Justice for the area.”

“
You are the new Justice?” Archie gasped, his smile as wide as
he could make it.