The Butterfly in Amber (7 page)

‘Who did you sell them to?' It was all Emilia could do to frame the words.

‘I sold them to Lady Elizabeth, the Countess of Dysart, out at Ham House. I knew she had a liking for such things. She came from Richmond once or twice to consult my mother.'

Fancy got up and knocked out the pipe in the hearth, then stood before the case of dead butterflies. ‘It's meant to be our lucky charm, that
amber pendant,' she said, putting out one finger to touch the fragile wings of one of the butterflies. ‘It's got a butterfly suspended in it, you know, a crushed-up little thing, grey as a moth. That's how we got our name, you know. From the Grayling butterfly. The Grayling angles its wings when it is resting, so it leaves no shadow. It makes them very hard to catch.'

Like you
, Emilia thought.
How well you have camouflaged yourself amongst these Puritans
.

‘But what do you care? Is that why you came to find me?' Fancy put the pipe back in its stand, then stood over them, her mouth twisted. ‘Criminy, but my heart was in my boots when I saw you lot. I just knew my wicked past had come back to bite me on the bum!'

‘Our family's been thrown in gaol,' Luka said angrily. ‘We heard you had married a lawyer, and were hoping . . .'

She laughed. ‘You thought Henry would help
you get them out? He's more likely to press the judge to a harsher sentence. Nay, no help for you here, weans.'

Luka said fiercely, ‘Well, you'd better help us get away then or we'll tell him everything. We'll make him believe us! And we'll tell him how you robbed your own mother and left her to starve on the streets. We can tell him where to find her so he can ask her himself!'

‘What, the old hag's still alive?' Fancy's beautiful dark eyes narrowed in calculation. ‘Fine,' she said. ‘I'll let you go, though it means Henry will be very angry with me, but I want your word of honour you'll never come back and bother us again.'

‘You have it!' Unlike you, our word actually means something!'

‘No need to get nasty,' she said, rising to her feet and coming quickly to untie their bonds. ‘These are dangerous times, especially for a
young girl with no one but a half-crazy old crone to look after her. Do you blame me for wanting to be safe and comfortable? Henry's one of the most powerful men at court. You think I could ever have lived in a house like this if I had not married him?'

‘Meanwhile, your poor mam is sleeping on the streets,' Emilia said.

Fancy frowned. ‘Well, she wasn't sleeping on the streets when I left her. She made a good enough living telling fortunes.'

‘Until you stole her tarot cards.'

‘Think of them as my dowry,' Fancy replied. She stepped back and regarded them thoughtfully. ‘Now, how will you manage to escape me? I know! I went out to fetch Grace, finding it all too frightening, and while I was gone you got loose and snuck out the back door.'

‘Sounds possible,' Luka said, rubbing his wrists and getting stiffly to his feet.

‘Very well then. I'll go and distract Grace. You two get out of here fast. And don't think of going back on your word – if all goes according to plan, we'll be leaving here soon anyway. I've had enough of dreary old London! I think we should try our fortune in the New World.'

‘That would be wise,' Emilia said deliberately. ‘I think you have some of your mother's second sight, Fancy. For you were right. Cromwell will die very soon, and then the king will return. He will seek a bloody revenge on all those who helped his father to the scaffold. He'll have Cromwell's body dug up and hanged on the gallows, then he'll chop Cromwell's head off and stick it on a spike in front of the palace gate. I've seen it, and I know I speak true.'

‘Oh, that husband of mine is a fool!' Fancy whispered. She opened the door, laid her hand against her forehead, and ran out calling in a fading voice, ‘Oh, Grace, I think I'm going to
swoon! Those dreadful gypsy children. My heart's all a-flutter!'

Luka swung his pack on to his shoulder. ‘Right! Let's get out of here.'

‘I wish we could say goodbye to Beedee,' Emilia said sadly. ‘She was nice.'

‘And clever,' Luka said approvingly. He glanced about, ensuring they had left nothing behind, then, on an impulse, snatched up the thick sheaf of parchment Obedience had shown them from the desk and stuffed it into his pack too. Then they bolted out the back door and across the small yard to fetch Sweetheart who, bored by her long, lonely wait, had made a great mess. As they hurried out of the shed, Sweetheart for once pushing ahead of them in her eagerness to be gone, they glanced up at the house and saw, with a leap of their hearts, Obedience leaning out one of the windows, waving madly.

They grinned and waved back, then ran away down the street, their animals bounding after them.

T
he two children ran till they were out of breath.

‘We should try and get on a boat to Kingston,' Luka panted, pausing in the shade of a tall house to wipe his face with his kerchief. ‘We'll get along much faster that way. We're really running out of time now. They go up before the magistrates the day after tomorrow, and after then it'll be too late.'

Emilia nodded, her face sombre. She knew that her family would all be hanged the same day as the
magistrates passed sentence on them. This was so the magistrates could see justice done before they travelled on to the next town, and the next assizes. The faster they got through each assize, the sooner the magistrates could get home. It was a rough sort of justice, and left little room for a change of heart.

‘We need to get my bracelet back first,' she said.

Luka looked troubled. ‘We can't, Milly. We just don't have the time. It's a long way to Kingston from here, even if we get a boat.'

‘We have to at least try,' Emilia said. ‘Let's just ask if anyone knows where we can find one of these fences. We may get lucky.'

‘Fair enough,' Luka sighed. He knew how much the charm bracelet meant to Emilia.

But though the children trudged the back-alleys and laneways of London for almost two hours, they had no luck. They were shown numerous gold necklaces, bracelets, lockets, rings,
earrings and jewelled combs, but no one they asked had ever seen a dainty gold chain hung with five mismatching charms. At last Luka said gently, ‘I'm sorry, Milly. We can't wait any longer. If we want to catch a boat up the river, we need to go now, before the tide turns.'

‘But my bracelet . . . all the charms . . . we went through so much to find them! Was it all for nothing?' Her voice wobbled.

Luka patted her arm. ‘None of it was for nothing. We've got powdered fish-berries to drug the guards, and a lock-pick to open the cell doors, and big, strong men coming to help us. And don't forget those pardons I nicked! We'll have no trouble saving our families now. Maybe it was the luck of the charms that helped us get all those things, I don't know. We certainly do seem to have had Providence on our side.'

‘Until now.' Emilia wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

‘Come on, let's just get to Gallows Park now, and start laying some plans.'

‘Shouldn't we stop at Richmond first?' Emilia said. ‘Isn't that where the countess is, who bought the butterfly in amber?'

Luka shrugged. ‘I don't remember. Besides, it's getting late, it'll be dark soon. We don't have time to stop now, Milly, we need to get to Gallows Pond. Tomorrow is the last day of the month, and our last chance to save our family.'

‘But Gallows Pond is in Richmond Park,' Emilia said. ‘That's why I remember about the countess. I realised at once that her house must be close to where we're all meeting.'

‘But Gallows Pond is right at the end of Richmond Park, near Kingston, don't you remember?' Luka said. ‘The park is huge! And we really don't have time to go wandering about looking for some countess whose name we can't even remember.'

‘It was the Countess of Dysart,' Emilia said. ‘I remember because it sounds like dessert. And her house is called Ham House. They sort of seemed to go together, like honey and ham.'

‘It can't be called Ham House!'

‘It is.'

‘What is it, some kind of pig farm?' Luka said.

‘Would a countess have a pig farm?'

‘Why not? Anyway, who cares? We haven't got time to be going around asking. Don't forget our own pig-man. He'll still be on our trail. And there's not a hope we got through London unnoticed, leading our dearest Sweetheart around by the nose. Every street caller for miles around will be talking about the two ragamuffins with their pet bear.'

‘But, Luka –'

‘Don't go on about it, Emilia! We've got an awfully long way to go, and not much time. Let's just get to Gallows Pond, and meet up with our
friends, and think about how we can best get everyone out of gaol. Can't you see that's the best plan?'

Emilia set her jaw stubbornly, but did not argue anymore, following Luka through the hot, crowded streets to the river. They found a boatman who was willing to take Maggie's gold earrings in return for some food and drink, and a berth on a boat heading west along the River Thames to Kingston. It was a relief to sit down and stretch out their dusty feet and lift their faces to the breeze. It had been a long day, full of alarms and apprehensions.

Soon the sun set into clouds as high as castles, and an early dusk settled over the countryside. The water was purple-grey, and rocked under the prow of the boat, parting and falling away in two long white curves. Emilia's head was heavy. She sighed, yawned, and let herself rest her head against her sleeping cousin's arm. In moments, she was asleep.

Emilia's grandmother came to her in a dream. Maggie was ragged and filthy, her grizzled hair full of straw, her back hunched with pain. She seemed to be trying to warn Emilia of something. She waved and pointed over Emilia's shoulder, and mouthed words.
Watch out
. . .
he comes
. . .

Emilia woke with a jerk. She sat up, and looked about her anxiously.

All was dark. The only light came from their lantern, which shone like a red star in the night. Far behind them were the lights of other boats, casting fiery ripples across the river. The only sound was the splash of the water against the hull, and the ceaseless melancholy call of frogs in the reeds.

The men rowed on in the darkness. Luka was curled up beside her, Zizi huddled against his neck. Rollo was snoring softly at her feet.

Emilia looked back at the other boats. One was far bigger than the others, and alight with flaming torches which glanced off the metal of many helmets and pikes, dazzling her eyes. Emilia bent and shook Luka roughly awake.

‘Wha . . . what is it?' he mumbled.

‘Soldiers,' she whispered. ‘Coming up fast.'

Luka was up at once, swinging his pack onto his shoulder and scooping up Zizi, who clung to his coat, blinking her big round eyes. ‘We have to get away!' Luka said, scanning the great stretch of black water with worried eyes.

The steersman had turned his head and was looking back towards the soldiers' boat too. He cursed under his breath. ‘Just our luck,' he grumbled softly to the oarsmen. ‘When we're carrying illegal passengers too!'

‘You think they'll stop us and check?' one of the oarsmen whispered. ‘But why?'

‘Any chance of raising more revenue for Old
Ironsides,' another said sourly. ‘They'd fine their grandmother for sucking eggs if they could.'

‘There goes our profits!' said another.

‘You could steer towards the bank and let us sneak ashore,' Luka suggested, keeping his voice low. ‘The soldiers need never know we were here.'

‘Good idea,' the steersman whispered back. ‘They'd only make us put you ashore anyway. Better douse that lamp.'

Luka did as he was told.

At once there was a shout from the soldiers' boat coming up behind. ‘Hey! Lights! No sailing without lights!'

They ignored the shout, quietly steering the boat in towards the south bank of the river. Luka scrambled to his feet, and went to rouse Sweetheart. The clank of her chain and her mumble of discontent sounded very loud across the water.

‘Stop, I say! Stop in the name of the law,' a voice cried.

Emilia sucked her breath in sharply. She knew that voice. Coldham! Her legs trembled and almost gave way beneath her. She could not believe he had found them again! Did he never give up? She wondered where he had picked up their trail again. They had tried to get aboard the boat without arousing suspicion, but Sweetheart was hard to hide, and maybe their very haste had attracted attention.

The boat bumped gently into the bank. Luka jumped across first, Zizi clinging to his shoulder, and coaxed Sweetheart to follow him. The huge old bear refused sulkily, and he dragged hard at her chain, till at last she obeyed, landing with a loud splash. The tilt boat rocked wildly and Emilia almost overbalanced. An oarsmen caught her and steadied her.

‘I order you to pull over! Light your lantern, else I'll shoot!' Coldham shouted. The light of the flaming torches reached hungrily across the water
towards them, the soldiers' boat drawing closer and closer.

‘Don't shoot!' the oarsman called back. ‘The lamp's gone out. We're trying to light it again. Give us a chance!'

Emilia flashed him a smile, then scrambled down onto the bank. Reeds crackled under her feet.

‘Who goes there? Are you unloading passengers? Light your lamp!'

‘Hold your horses, we've almost got it fixed,' the oarsman called back, bending over the lamp and pretending to tinker with it. Rollo had jumped down behind Emilia, and together they crept up
the bank and into the shelter of some trees, where Luka was waiting impatiently for them. They heard the boats bang together, and the shout of voices and the thunder of boots on wood. They ran away from the river, trying not to blunder too loudly in the darkness.

‘There's someone there!' Coldham shouted. ‘Men, get ashore! They could be our fugitives!'

‘There's no one there,' the steersman said. ‘We just pulled up to fix our lamp. It must've been a rabbit.'

Coldham snorted. ‘A big rabbit!'

Soldiers began to search through the bushes, carrying flaming torches. Emilia could see Luka's face clearly as he turned back to look for her, strained and white and streaked with dirt. His eyes glittered. He laid his finger on his lips and beckoned her away from the river.

The soldiers were making so much noise that the two children did not trouble to move quietly.
Speed was more important now. They ran through the copse of trees, Sweetheart smashing aside the bushes with her bulk, and found themselves facing a high stone wall. They turned away from the torches, running along its length and came to a set of high iron gates. Gilded spears glittered in the wavering torchlight. Luka had the gate open in a trice, and they slipped through, shutting it quietly behind them.

They were in front of a grand house, an upper window lit warmly with candlelight. A formal garden of clipped hedges surrounded a wide stone path, lined by pots of dark, triangular trees and white statues posing in strange attitudes. The forecourt was surrounded on all sides by high walls.

‘I seen them, sir, Mr Coldham, sir!' a voice called from the wood. ‘This way!'

Luka and Emilia pressed themselves flat against the wall. Their pulses raced, thundering in
their ears. Sweetheart crouched beside them, for once as quiet and still as they could wish. Rollo stood, tense and expectant, his head turned back towards the gates. Emilia put her hand on his head, warning him to keep quiet.

‘You saw them?' Coldham's rough voice grated on their ears.

‘Sir, I saw two skinny little shadows, running fast this way,' the soldier said. ‘There was a dog too, I'm sure of it, and . . . something big that had to be a bear.'