‘You have been the kindest master I ever could have had,’ said Gabriel. ‘I am truly sorry that I have caused such trouble.’
‘Trouble?’ said the tailor. ‘You have caused no trouble. Why, what would we have done without you? Coriander would be dead, Hester lost to us . . .’
‘Captain Bailey!’ I said.
They all turned to me. ‘We must go to Captain Bailey. Maybe he can get Gabriel out of the city,’ I said.
‘An excellent idea, but alas, it will take time to find him and we have no time,’ said Master Thankless.
‘Master Starling could help,’ I said, thinking back on the previous night and how helpful the waterman had been. ‘Surely he could find Captain Bailey.’
‘Yes,’ said Master Thankless. ‘All the same, there is no way of knowing if the Captain’s ship is down at Rotherhithe or out at sea. I shall have to go and make enquiries.’
‘No,’ said Danes firmly. ‘You must stay here and hide Gabriel. I will go, and take Hester with me. One young mistress and one old, asking after a sea captain, will look far less suspicious.’
‘She’s right,’ said Gabriel.
‘Oh dear, I am not sure,’ said the tailor, looking mighty worried.
Hester went and fetched two cloaks for herself and Danes.
‘Do not be vexed, Master Thankless,’ she said. ‘We will find Captain Bailey and he will know what to do.’
‘Please take care,’ said Gabriel, and he kissed her most tenderly.
‘Come, we have not a moment to lose,’ said Danes. ‘We must get down to the river steps and find the waterman.’
It seemed only minutes after their departure that there came a loud knocking and banging at the shop door.
‘Open up! We have a warrant for the arrest of Gabriel Appleby.’
‘Quick,’ said the tailor, lifting a trapdoor in the kitchen floor. It led to steps that went down into one of the bridge piers where Master Thankless stored his cloth. Gabriel did not waste a moment and we closed the trapdoor over him, concealing it with the kitchen table and further covering it with baskets.
The bell upstairs kept on jangling, as if the Devil himself was trying to get in.
‘Open this door or we will break it down!’
‘There is no need for that,’ said Master Thankless, rushing up the stairs to the shop and unlocking the door.
A constable marched into the shop, followed by a soldier, their boots caked with mud. They looked mighty hard men, filled with the blood of roast beef.
‘Where is your apprentice Gabriel Appleby?’ said the constable.
‘He has gone to take some gowns to a customer. Why? What is this all about?’
The constable shoved a paper into Master Thankless’s hands. ‘The breaking of the sixth commandment. Murder, that’s what!’ He clattered up the stairs to our chambers, leaving the soldier to look round the shop.
‘Whose gown is this?’ asked the soldier, picking up a dress that the tailor had nearly finished.
‘It has been made for a humble and godly lady,’ said Master Thankless.
The soldier ripped off the sleeves. ‘The Apostle Paul would have us fashion ourselves for God, not for the world. This is unseemly, a garment not befitting a devout woman,’ he said. With that he tore the bodice apart, pulling from it all its fine trimmings.
‘Please leave it,’ begged the tailor.
‘Clothes for strumpets,’ said a soldier, stabbing at the skirt with his knife. ‘A woman should be plainly dressed so that a man can keep his mind on God.’
‘Look at this,’ said the constable, dragging Nell down the stairs. ‘She was hiding under the bed. Who is she?’
‘I am maid to Master Thankless,’ said Nell.
‘Where is Gabriel Appleby?’
‘On my honour, sir, I do not know,’ said Nell.
‘You know what happens to girls who lie,’ said the constable, picking up an empty glass and letting it smash in front of Nell. She crossed her arms and looked very put out to be spoken to in such a tone.
‘Come, let us look in the kitchen,’ said the constable, and he and the soldier tramped downstairs and started with much delight to pull the kitchen to pieces.
‘Still don’t know where your apprentice is?’ asked the constable.
‘No,’ said Master Thankless.
The constable went over to the fireplace, taking from it a tankard given to Master Thankless by a customer before the Civil War. Slowly he read out the inscription. ‘A Gift from Lord Selbury. Now why do I know that name? Of course. I never forget a good hanging. If I remember rightly he was the Royalist supporter who took to being a highwayman after his lands were confiscated by our great leader Oliver Cromwell.’ He threw the tankard on to the floor and lifted his boot high above it. ‘Are you sure you don’t know where your apprentice is?’
Master Thankless, with sweat running from his forehead, said, ‘No.’ And the boot came down hard and the tankard lay twisted and broken.
The constable came up close to Master Thankless’s face and almost spat the words at him.
‘You know the penalty for perjury. You will be taken to join your apprentice on the gallows.’
Master Thankless said nothing.
‘What’s all this?’ said the soldier, pushing away the kitchen table, and he kicked the baskets across the room so that the trapdoor was revealed.
‘It is a storeroom where I keep my cloth,’ said the tailor.
‘Open it!’ ordered the constable.
Master Thankless slowly lifted the heavy door. The soldier pushed him out of the way and climbed down to the first rung of the ladder.
Suddenly there came a cry from the shop and another soldier burst into the kitchen. ‘Come quick! He has been spotted on Bridge Street, running towards the City.’
In an instant the soldier climbed back up the ladder and pushed past the tailor and up the stairs, followed by the constable. He slammed the shop door so hard that the front of the shop shook.
The sense of relief was mighty. None of us dared say a word until the hubbub in the street had calmed down. Master Thankless, Nell and I stood in the chaos of the kitchen looking down through the trapdoor until Gabriel poked his head out. He saw the wrecked kitchen and the broken tankard. ‘What have I brought upon you?’ he cried.
‘Nothing that cannot be mended and made whole,’ said Master Thankless. ‘Though no one in this fair city can mend a hanged man. Come, let us hide you in the attic.’
‘Pigs, that’s what I call them. Worse than pigs’ turds,’ said Nell. ‘Look what they’ve gone and done.’ She started picking up the broken crockery. ‘Brought half the filth from the street and smeared it everywhere. Worse than turdy toads.’
‘Hush, Nell!’ I said, trying not to laugh.
‘I hate them,’ she said. ‘I wish we had the King back. Anything rather than old Noll and his henchmen.’
We spent the rest of that day tidying up, terrified in case the Constable returned. It was not until nightfall that the bell rang softly and Danes, Hester and Captain Bailey slipped into the darkened shop and down to the kitchen.
‘Where is Gabriel?’ said Hester, taking off her cloak.
‘Safe,’ I said. ‘He is upstairs in the attic. Come with me.’ I went with her only as far as the attic steps, for Gabriel had heard her and come down. She rushed to him so I thought best to leave them and went back down to the kitchen.
‘What has been going on here?’ said Danes, looking at Nell, who had a bucket in her hand and strands of hair falling over her face.
‘The constable and his soldier, that’s what,’ said Nell. ‘Tried to tear the house down, they did. Smashed everything they found. They’re revolting, them Roundheads.’
‘Oh, am I pleased to see you, good captain!’ said the tailor. ‘I am in fear of my life if those two come back.’
‘Then we are not a moment too soon,’ said Captain Bailey.
Gabriel and Hester came into the room.
‘I never murdered anyone, sir,’ said Gabriel, who in the space of a day had aged beyond his years with worry.
‘And I believe you, lad,’ said Captain Bailey. ‘Well, we should be making a move. Get your cloak and hat. I am sailing for France on the next good tide. What say you to that?’
‘I want Hester to come too, sir,’ was Gabriel’s reply.
‘No, lad,’ laughed the sea captain good-heartedly. ‘I will take you. Alone.’
‘Then I will not go,’ said Gabriel. ‘I cannot leave Hester. She is my life.’
The smile disappeared from Captain Bailey’s face.
‘What say you, Hester?’ he asked.
‘I do not want to be parted from Gabriel. I love him with all my heart.’
‘Well, here’s a salty barrel of eels,’ said the Captain, looking at the tailor.
It was Danes who spoke. ‘The constable will be looking for Gabriel alone. It would be safer for them to leave together and travel as husband and wife. And Hester could not be without Gabriel. She would pine her life away.’
‘I agree with Mistress Danes,’ said Master Thankless. ‘Better if she is away from here, for the constable will surely take her back to Thames Street if he finds her.’
‘Then do not say another word,’ said the sea captain. ‘Come, both of you. Let us be gone and I will see to it that you are married.’
I had never seen Hester look happier and I have never seen a young man look more pleased. Whatever their future held, at least they had each other.
‘Here,’ said Master Thankless, and he handed Gabriel a bag of coins. ‘This should help you.’
‘I cannot take your money, master,’ said Gabriel.
‘You can and you will. And I want you both to come home again when all this has been sorted out. Do you understand? You are free now, a journeyman.’
Master Thankless went with them, lantern in hand, to make sure they found their way to the end of the bridge, for a thick fog had come down which all agreed was the best cover for their escape. We watched them go and felt mighty pleased when Master Thankless returned, saying they had got away with the ferryman and by now should be past the Tower of London.
We had no more visits from the constable or his soldiers. There were many who swore they had seen Gabriel, either in the City or down by the old Globe, and a notice went up to say that Gabriel Appleby, an apprentice from Bridge Street, was a wanted man.
That was not the end of it. Master Thankless was determined to get the charges against Gabriel dropped and both Danes and he filled the empty shop with that hope.
The sheriff had called in a searcher, a Mistress Parfitt. It always strikes me as a miserable job to have to go round and see how people died, but Mistress Parfitt was known to be good at it and her word much respected. She said she did not believe that Tarbett Purman had been knifed, but instead was the victim of some dreadful accident. As a result, his body was not released for burial, which Danes and Master Thankless took to be a good sign.
The plague had ceased to have its hold over the city. People had begun to return from the countryside, hungry for gossip. Tarbett Purman’s strange and untimely death held a great fascination for many. Among them was an eminent apothecary who requested to see the body, even though the smell from it must, I thought, by now be most putrid and unpleasant. He pronounced that the marks on Tarbett Purman could not have been brought about either by dagger or by knife. They were wounds that belonged more to the animal kingdom than the realm of man. He added darkly that in his personal opinion it was the work of the Devil and proof, if ever proof was needed, that he stalked the earth.
The alligator was no devil. I knew one who was, though, and he went by the name of Arise Fell.
27
The Invisible Rope
I have thought a lot about skirts and how they make the world that much smaller for women. Uncluttered by petticoats, unencumbered by aprons which bind a woman to house and home, in breeches a man can all but fly. In truth, I had been much disappointed, for I had hoped for a chance to find the shadow when I went to Thames Street with Gabriel. I yearned to be a boy again, for I could think of no other way to get back into my house.
It had been a week now since Gabriel and Hester had gone, and every night I dreamt the same dream. The hounds were chasing me and I had to run for my life. The ground was white, thick snow was falling, and the forest trees were bare and black. The fox raced beside me, looking at me with his brown eyes. The dogs and huntsmen were still at our heels. I could only see the great white horse when its form was outlined against the dark night. I felt the breath of the hounds and thought my end had come.
The dogs were on me and over me. Their teeth were bare and saliva dripped from their snarling mouths. But then I realised it was not me they were after. They surrounded the fox, their tongues hanging out. They were going in for the kill. The huntsman’s horn rang out across the fields and I could see blood seep into the snow.
I woke and knew that I could wait no longer by this world’s hourglass. I must find the shadow and save Tycho.
I could not tell Master Thankless or Danes of my plans, for they were already worried enough about Gabriel and Hester. I felt very bad to think that I would be making matters worse for them by disappearing.
All through that long dull day I went over my plans again and again.
‘You are as fidgety as a blanket of fleas,’ said Danes to me as we folded fabric in the shop.
I wanted to tell her everything as I always had but all I could say was ‘When the King comes back then all will be well.’
‘I am sure you are right,’ said Danes, ‘though when that will be I do not know, for that old tyrant is still a healthy man and a king in all but name. I think he will keep us under his iron claw a while longer.’
I could think of nothing to say, anxious that more words might betray me. To tell the truth, I was terrified that this could be my last day on this earth, the last time I would see my beloved Danes and Master Thankless, and I fought back tears.
‘Is something ailing you?’ Danes asked.
‘No,’ I said, ‘nothing that a hug would not put right.’
There is a smell to Danes of fresh bread and lavender, a smell that says home to me, and I wanted to remember it, take it with me like a nosegay.
As we were laying the table for supper Master Thankless rushed into the kitchen.
‘Master Starling came by just as I was closing the shop to tell me that Hester and Gabriel have landed safely in La Rochelle,’ he said, taking Danes’s hand and dancing her round the kitchen. ‘A toast to a safe arrival!’ And he brought out his finest brandy.
I did my best to appear cheerful, though my hands felt as cold as my feet and the brandy tasted bitter as guilt. I hated to think what they would be saying tomorrow after I had gone. This thought worried me much and so I wrote a note and left it on my bed for Master Thankless to read to Danes in the morning. I hoped that it would comfort them.
When everyone had gone to bed I dressed once more in the clothes of a young lad and wrapped up my silver shoes and put them away inside my doublet. I was taking them with me in the hope that somehow they would allow me back into my mother’s kingdom.
Finally, when the watchman called in midnight, I went softly down the stairs. All was quiet, all heavy with that yeasty smell of sleep. I looked round the shop once more before letting myself out, and thought that this would still be here after I was gone, and it made me feel braver to think of it.
I was glad of the moon for my house lay in utter darkness. No lantern was lit outside. The sign of the mulberry tree that once had swung proud over the gate was now faded, the paint peeling.
I wrapped my cloak around me and looked up and down the street to make sure that no one was around. There is a way of opening the garden gate without a key. I had watched Danes do it many times and when I was small would try it myself, though then I did not have the strength needed. Tonight it was easy. I slipped my index finger into the
lock and, pulling back the catch, opened the gate. In the moonlight the garden looked dry and tired, withered from lack of water and care.
All was deadly still as I made my way into the house. The hall, as on my last visit, was unlit. In the gloom I could make out a higgledy-piggledy tower of tables and chairs, piled up against the door that led to the water gate. I wondered if this strange maypole was intended to keep out the alligator, for I could see no other reason for it. Then I felt a small pudgy hand grab me from behind.
‘I got her, Arise,’ Maud shouted up the stairs. ‘She’s dressed as a boy, but I smelt her out.’ There was no answer. ‘Arise!’ she shrieked. ‘Do you hear me? She’s come, just as you said she would.’
I pulled my arm free.
‘Not so fast,’ she said. ‘You shall not get away this time.’
She looked quite wild, her eyes opened wide. She wore no cap. Instead, her long thin hair hung down in greasy rat’s tails so that patches of her bald skull could be seen. Her breath smelled of rancid butter and her clothes looked unwashed.
Suddenly a light shone from the top of the stairs and there stood Arise holding a lantern, the light of which was reflected in his insect green glasses.
‘Ann,’ he said, ‘you have come back to us.’
Just for one moment I felt my old fear of him, but I took all my courage and said, ‘Ann? That is not my name and you know it.’
‘How dare you talk so to a man of God!’ said Maud, striking out at me. I saw her doing it and nearly let myself be a child again. Then I heard a voice in my head say calmly, ‘You are taller than she, you are a grown woman. You can stop this.’
I pushed her hard away and said, ‘You touch me, Maud Jarret, and you will much regret it.’ My voice sounded strong, stronger than I felt.
To my surprise she backed away.
‘Arise,’ she said, ‘kill her so that at least we have something to show -’