Lies and Misdemeanours (7 page)

She was like a guiding angel; there to escort him to the afterlife. She didn’t move, blink, or look away. Her steady gaze was full of horror, but was also intriguingly calm; as though she wasn’t quite sure what to make of him; or the entire situation.

He wanted to apologise, but he had nothing to say sorry for. He wanted to assure her that he wasn’t the murderer he had been branded him as, but it was too late now. He had wanted to write to her last night; his final night alive, but had known that it was far too late to tell her the things that he should have told her face-to-face. He had been blind to everything but his own ego. Now, he would never get the chance to tell her that he loved her. It was ridiculous really given that he didn’t really know her but he knew, with absolute certainty, deep inside, that Hetty was the ‘one’. That special someone; his soul-mate; whom he had spent his whole life waiting for. She meant the world to him, and he should have taken steps to secure their future together long before they were so cruelly torn apart.

If only things were different.

Regrets pummelled him as he became aware that Simon was pushed onto the gallows beside him, but he still couldn’t tear his gaze away from her. He wanted her to be the last thing he saw.

Hetty was held transfixed by the stoicism in his eyes as he stared back at her. She felt branded by that look. It was enough to give her the strength to do what she needed to.

Time was of the essence. If she got this wrong, she was going to be single-handedly responsible for not only her brother’s death, but Charlie’s, and two other people’s lives too.

She sent a silent prayer of help heavenward and watched as the hoods were placed over the prisoner’s heads. The nooses were ready, but she couldn’t risk them actually being around the prisoner’s necks.

“God save me,” Hetty whispered.

She opened her mouth and, without thinking about what she was doing, or the possible repercussions, screamed. She kept one hand on the shawl over her head, and lifted her hand off her side, which was now liberally smattered with the pig’s blood that had burst out of the pouch she carried.

Women around her suddenly screamed, as someone else shouted.

“There he is. He has stabbed her. Get him,” Mabel screamed loudly.

Hetty screamed again, and tightened her grip on the second pouch of pig’s blood, which added to the rapidly growing stain on her dress.

“It was him,” she screamed, and began to stagger dramatically. She pointed in a random direction through the crowd, toward the side of the gallows where the jailers stood.

The already frenzied crowd bayed and shouted at one of the jailers, who stared around him in confused panic. The crowd surged and began to jostle each other as they tried to get a better view, and escape the threat of danger. People looked at Hetty, and exclaimed loudly at the sight of her blood soaked dress.

“Murderer on the loose,” a man shouted frantically. “He is over there.”

Hetty screamed again and looked down at her blood soaked hands. Now that she had started, all of the fear, worry, and sheer terror that had dogged her every footstep over the last few days suddenly surged forward. It felt exhilarating to be able to release the chaotic emotions that had swamped her of late, and she screamed again with such angst that the crowd began to run.

She glanced at the hooded figures of Simon and Charlie, and the nooses that hung threateningly behind them, and screamed louder. Hatred for Cedric Meldrew suddenly bubbled forward and she began to look at people around her.

“It was him,” she screamed, and pointed to an empty spot beside one of the jailers with a hand that dripped blood.

“Why are the jailers not doing anything?” someone cried.

“There is a killer on the loose. A killer is on the loose,” she screamed over and over again.

“Catch that killer,” an old man beside her shouted.

People screamed and panicked, and began to run in all directions. Men tried to help women and children out of the crowd, but were wrenched aside by blood soaked people who were splattered by the rest of the pouches Wally and Mabel carried and shook everywhere.

Two of the jailers nearest to the scaffold were swept along by the veritable tide of people who surged toward them. A huge swathe of people suddenly pushed toward the scaffold. The hangman vanished within seconds, along with the rest of the jailers.

Hetty screamed over and over, and wished now that she had brought more pig’s blood. The weight of the people around her was suffocating, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the condemned, who were completely unable to see what was happening. Everything within her was locked onto the sight of them.

Inwardly, she was silently begging for the nooses not to be put around their necks. Thankfully, there was no sign of the jailers, or executioner but, to her growing horror; the prisoners were still standing on the trap doors – waiting.

She glanced around frantically for someone she recognised.

Why the hell nobody was getting them down?

She was helpless to do anything except be carried along by the tide of panicked humanity that swarmed around her. For a brief moment she thought she caught sight of Mabel, but she was gone so swiftly that Hetty couldn’t be sure it had really been her friend.

As she was carried down the road, her gaze locked on the sight of Charlie still waiting for death to call, and began to pray.

Charlie could see nothing because of the hood that covered his head. He was blind to everything other than panicked screams, and wondered if the first of the convicts had been dropped. He swallowed and began to pray aloud as he waited for the inevitable tightening around his neck. He could only hope that Wally would be true to his word, and had actually arranged for someone to hang off his ankles like he had requested.

The quicker the next few moments were over now the better as far as he was concerned.

He began to recite the Lord’s Prayer, and could hear Simon also praying quietly beside him.

When hands suddenly grabbed him around the waist, he jerked and gasped but, to his shock, he was yanked backward, clean off his feet. He couldn’t kick his legs out because they had been tied together and was helpless to do anything except be carried away – somewhere. He tried not to panic, but it was difficult as he was pummelled in all directions and completely helpless to the unseen hands that carried him.

Was he being taken through the crowd, or back to jail?

“What the hell is going on?” He growled as he tried to quell his own panic.

If only someone would take the hood off so he could see, he would feel considerably better. The noise of the people around him was incredible. He suspected that the men carrying him couldn’t hear him because nobody bothered to answer. They held him so tightly that he couldn’t move.

Had Sir Hugo arrived in time after all? Had his colleagues been waiting in the crowd to rescue him?

He opened his mouth to call out to tell them about Simon, but then closed it again with a snap when a heavy weight was draped over him and stifled everything but the shallowest of breath.

Doubts, worry, confusion and fear flooded through him, but he couldn’t think of one particular thing because of the chaos that surrounded him.

“What’s going on?” he croaked, as sweat popped out on his brow.

“Shut up,” someone replied, but his voice was not familiar to Charlie.

With little ability to do anything else, Charlie lapsed into silence and waited.

It felt as though he had been carried for hours when in reality it was more likely just a few minutes.

Eventually, the noise of the busy town dimmed and was replaced with an almost melodious silence.

He was placed on the back of a cart. At least he assumed it was a cart because it smelled of hay and manure. Something else was draped over him but, despite the avid curiosity that plagued him, he remained perfectly still and silent while he listened to the steady clip-clop of horses’ hooves, and the occasional tweets of birds in the trees.

He wanted to call out to ask what was happening. A wild thrill of elation swept through him. He wanted to cheer for the fact that someone had rescued him, but daren’t hope too much right now. The jailers may have just gotten him out of the area while the crowds were cleared. His death may still be imminent; and would be if Meldrew had anything to do with it.

Had it been Barnaby in the crowd? If so, where was Hetty?

He wanted his wife. He needed his wife.

If someone had taken the audacious step of getting him off the gallows then they were not out of the woods yet. It was imperative that he keep quiet and make sure that he didn’t draw attention to what they were doing.

He closed his eyes on a prayer. Although he had yet to see who his rescuers were, it was comforting to think that the Star Elite had been responsible. He knew that if it was them, he had a good group of men at his back. They would work to ensure that Meldrew was removed from office and wasn’t able to squirm out of his due sentence. The court the blackguard magistrate would be in next would not be his own, and there would be fair trial that would result in a just and fair prison term – or hanging.

As his body rocked and swayed with the cart, Charlie found his thoughts captured by the one woman he had thought never to see again. Hetty; his wife. She had been there; in the crowd; looking lost and forlorn, yet so damned beautiful that his heart swelled with pride. While a part of him hoped that she cared enough to take such an incredible risk, another part of him was horribly appalled at the thought that she had placed her own life in danger in order to save him.

The cart suddenly stopped. A rustling noise preceded the heavy weight being lifted off him. Before he could say anything, he was hauled to his feet. It was then that he realised that the ropes had been removed from his legs.

When the hood was yanked off his head, his gaze landed on Wally.

“Thank God,” Wally growled, and hauled him into a hug.

“Thank you,” Charlie croaked in a voice that was too choked with emotion to say much else.

“That was too close,” Wally whispered.

“Where is Hetty?” Charlie asked as he glanced around in search of her.

“Back at Derby. We lost her in the crowd,” Wally grunted. “We wanted the crowd to go wild, but we just didn’t expect them to go like that. It was madness. Utter madness.”

“We have to go back for her,” Simon declared once his hood had been removed.

He glanced at the men beside him curiously.

It was then that Charlie’s good friend, Barnaby Stapleton stepped forward.

“God; am I glad to see you,” Charlie whispered fervently, but couldn’t say anything else past the huge lump in his throat.

His relief was so strong that all he could do was clasp his good friend a fierce hug while he battled to control his raging emotions. He knew that at some point in the not too distant future he was going to have to face the emotional repercussions of today. Right now though, there were considerably more important things to worry about, like getting away from the gallows, and finding Hetty.

“Jesus, that was too close,” Barnaby growled as he slapped Charlie’s back and stood back to allow the rest of his colleagues to come forward.

“Far too bloody close,” Luke agreed with a nod as he drew Charlie into a hug.

Charlie thanked each of his other colleagues; Joshua, Marcus, Joseph and Brendan, with hugs and murmurs of relief before he introduced them to Hetty’s brothers.

“We have met,” Wally announced ruefully.

“How?” Charlie asked curiously. “I mean, I didn’t think that there would be time for any of you to reach us.”

“Long story,” Barnaby warned him. “I will tell you later. We need to look at getting you two out of here.”

“I thought I saw Barnaby for a moment back there, but didn’t know if I was going out of my mind,” Charlie declared quietly as he watched Luke remove the ropes from his wrists.

“Understandable,” Barnaby assured him as he looked down at his clothing. “Hetty looked a bit shocked too.”

“We need to get Hetty,” Charlie sighed. “She -”

“We will find her,” Joshua assured him. “Right now, half of Derby is likely to be looking for you two. We need to get moving.”

“We were going out of our minds,” Luke warned with a rueful shake of his head. “That has to have been the worst operation I think I have ever taken part in.”

“The executioner?” Charlie asked cautiously.

“Real,” Marcus sighed. “We only arrived late last night, and didn’t get the time to get a man inside.”

“I wanted you to see me so you knew that we were here, and to expect the unexpected,” Barnaby explained. “I tried not to venture too far away from Hetty, but the crowd just carried me away.”

“God that was fierce,” Joseph sighed. “We struggled to get to you,” he admitted wryly.

“We had to damned well fight our way back to the gallows to get you down,” Brendan snorted in disgust.

“How did you know?” Charlie asked with a frown.

“A rider reached us yesterday lunchtime. We were in Staffordshire, and were the closest. Sir Hugo is on his way, but is going to be a day or so late. We have a safe house lined up. Lord Afferley is a good friend of Sir Hugo’s, and has said we can use it while he is in London. He works with Sir Hugo apparently. It is far enough away for us to be out of Meldrew’s reach. We need to get you there as quickly as possible,” Barnaby growled. 

Joshua motioned to the cart. “Look, we can talk about this some more once we are at the safe house. We have to get out of here. I know that we have enough men here to fight out way out, but Meldrew is a rule to himself by the sound of it. We cannot risk all of us ending up behind bars, or being hung before Sir Hugo can get us released. Let’s get going.”

“What about Hetty?” Charlie argued. “We can’t just leave her back there.”

“She knows what to do,” Wally growled. “She has a friend with her.”

He didn’t tell Charlie that they didn’t know if Mabel would have been able to stay close to Hetty in that chaos, but sensed that Charlie already suspected something had gone wrong.

“Before we go any further, we have to get you two changed. We will meet back up at the safe house, but it is going to take an hour to get to,” Wally explained as he handed each man a pile of clothing. “Leave Hetty to us. We have men in the town who are on the look-out for her and will keep her safe once they find her. Get these on.”

“You work with the Star Elite now?” Charlie asked in surprise.

“I will work with Satan himself if it stops that bastard from hanging innocent people,” Wally growled fiercely.

Momentarily lost for words, Charlie watched as Simon ducked when something dark and cloying was rubbed over his hair by Wally.

“
What
is that?” He growled with a dark scowl at the offending gloop.

Wally showed him the small pot. “It’s goose grease and soot. We have to change your hair colour,” he warned. “Just keep your bloody hat on and hope it doesn’t rain.”

In spite of the dangers of the situation, Charlie grinned and watched Simon rub the sticky gloop into his tell-tale red hair before he wiped them on the straw Luke handed him.

Both Simon and Charlie then changed clothes. Charlie stood back to watch the bundle of their old clothing being scrunched into a tight ball before Barnaby moved to the ditch that ran alongside the road. Once the clothing had been buried in the small hole he dug, he covered the pile over with sheep dung out of the field, and then hurried back to the cart.

“Split the horses up and put the cart back,” Marcus ordered Joseph while he started to check the girths on the horses.

Charlie was a little nonplussed by the sight of his colleagues working alongside Hetty’s brothers. Within seconds, the cart-horses had been released from the cart and saddled with saddles from the back of the cart, and were now ready to leave. The cart was pushed back against the side of the farmer’s barn in the far corner of the field. While it was being shoved into position, Joseph led several more saddled horses out of the barn.

“Good Lord,” Simon whispered as he watched the men work.

“Thank you,” Charlie murmured fervently to Joseph as he accepted one of the horses and quickly mounted. He turned to look at Simon, and opened his mouth to speak only for Luke to interrupt him.

“You can’t stand around to chat. You, Charlie, will go with Marcus, Luke and Barnaby,” Joshua said. “You, Simon, will come with the rest of us.”

Charlie pierced him with a stare. “I just can’t go and leave Hetty behind,” Charlie objected.

Although the thought of going back to Derby filled him with sickening dread, he hated the thought of her not only struggling amongst the crowds, but being at the mercy if Meldrew if he caught her. He knew from his sight of her earlier that her red hair was stood out in a crowd. If Meldrew saw her, he would capture her for certain. The thought was horrifying.

“She will come to us once it is safe, and is going to take a different route to all of us. She is with Mabel, so will be fine.”

“You can’t leave them by themselves,” Charlie protested.

He had no idea who Mabel was, but was horrified at the thought of what Meldrew would do if he caught either one of them. The gallows were already built. If she was captured, she too could be tried, found guilty, and be sentenced to death before any of them knew about it.

“The lads from the tavern are in town,” Wally added. “They are going to help them get out. She is my sister, Charlie. I don’t like leaving her behind any more than you do, but it is imperative to all of us keeping our freedom, that we stay the hell away from there. Give her a chance to come to us.”

“She is my wife, Wally,” Charlie argued. “It is my responsibility to keep her safe.”

“She is your
what?”
Marcus demanded. He stared at Charlie in stunned disbelief.

Charlie looked at his colleagues, and read the shock on their faces. “Hetty is my wife,” he announced.

“You are married?” Luke shook his head in disbelief. “I didn’t think that I would ever see the day that Charlie Ryder was married.”

“Wife or not, we have to get you out of here,” Barnaby growled as he mounted his horse and swung it around to face the opposite corner of the field. “We can talk about what to do about her on the way to the safe house. Now, move.”

His stern gaze silently challenged Charlie to argue. 

“Let’s go,” Charlie sighed reluctantly.

Although he allowed his horse to follow the group, his mind, body and soul was firmly back in the town with Hetty.

As he rode across one coarse field after another, not for the first time that day, he silently began to pray – and it wasn’t for himself.

He had not slept at all last night. He had not been able to settle his mind to anything other than the opportunities he had lost. The image of Hetty had hovered in the corners of his mind, and refused to leave him. By dawn, he was exhausted, but firmly resolute toward the fate that awaited him.

The thought that she had willingly placed her life in danger, and risked putting her own neck in the hangman’s noose, in order to spare his was as humbling as it was horrifying.

He realised now just how seriously he had underestimated the young woman who had crept up on him, and stolen his heart. He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry; be immensely proud of her fortitude, or stunned at her daring.

“She has to be alright,” Charlie growled to nobody in particular as he paused at the brow of one particularly large hill, and looked back at the town. The place looked busy even from this distance.

A steady procession of people was streaming down the busy road that led out of town. Now that the entertainment had vanished, there seemed to be no point in lingering, and it appeared that the majority of people had decided to make their way home.

“I hope that lot aren’t looking for us,” Barnaby whispered as he studied the carriages that wove their way around the people.

“I hope that Hetty is in that lot,” Charlie replied fervently. “She has to be leaving town.”

“Mabel grew up in Derby. She volunteered to help guide Hetty out,” Joshua replied confidently.

“We have to go the long route to Afferley, but most of it is through countryside. We will avoid the villages,” Barnaby added and threw a warning look at Charlie. “There is a lot to update you on.”

“You may have been fooled by Cedric Meldrew and his men, but at least you had Simon and his family to work for you. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have known about today,” Joshua informed him.