Bartholomew Fair (22 page)

Of course, Adam might be mistaken. The soldiers might have reverted to their original plan of breaking into Drake’s warehouse. I knew where it was, an anonymous building close beside the Legal Quays, under the shadow of the Tower, near to where he unloaded the treasure from his freebooting forays against the Spanish treasure fleet returning from the New World. Near enough to the Tower that there were always guards about. It must itself be strongly guarded. Drake was wealthy enough to afford his own private troop of guards. And now I thought about it, I realised that, although its location would not be generally known, many men must have unloaded his ships and moved the goods into store there. All it would have needed was for the soldiers to bribe one of the men who worked on the docks. Although, if they hoped to gain access to the warehouse, they would have to bribe the guards as well.

So there were two potential targets – the Herbar in Dowgate and the warehouse near the Tower. What I had overheard, that word ‘Dowgate’, might have been part of a discussion, not a final decision. And in all this, how did the puppeteers come into it, as I was sure they must do?

My feet were taking me automatically back to Seething Lane. Rikki kept wanting to stop and settle down again to his bone, but I tugged at his lead and would not allow him to linger.

I must tell Phelippes what I had discovered. There could be real danger for Berden and the other men searching for the puppeteers, if the Italians were in company with the soldiers. I had no understanding of how gunpowder worked, though I had seen it used in both cannon and muskets. Could you somehow light it and throw it? Use it as a weapon, hand to hand? I shook my head impatiently. Phelippes might know.

Although it was vital not to keep this new knowledge to myself, somehow I must protect Adam. I would need to tell Phelippes that the information had been passed to me, but not how I had come by it. He would want to know. He would want every detail. But somehow I must keep Adam and his whereabouts secret. It would not be easy.

The stable yard was deserted when I arrived, for the lads must be at their supper in the kitchen, though as always there was a watchman by the gate. Sir Francis Walsingham’s house was too important, and held too many state secrets, ever to be left unguarded. The watchman nodded me through, grinning at the bone Rikki was carrying. Phelippes might not care for a greasy bone in his office, but I was too preoccupied with turning over this new development to care whether he was annoyed.

‘Kit!’ Phelippes looked up from his table, a candle, burnt down to a stub casting shadows up over his face so that it was oddly distorted. ‘I did not expect you until the morning.’

‘Has Berden been back?’ I asked, taking a fresh candle from the box near the fire and lighting it from the dying end. I wedged it into a candlestick from the mantelpiece and carried it over to Phelippes’s table, then pulled a chair forward and sat down.

‘Nay, there’s been no word from him.’

He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. ‘Have you seen those men?’

‘I have other news,’ I said grimly. ‘The renegade soldiers, the real troublemakers, have not fled. They had already left Finsbury Fields. They are in London.’

I drew a deep breath. ‘And they have gunpowder.’

Chapter Twelve

‘G
unpowder!’ Phelippes’s voice rose, as mine had done, when Adam had told me. ‘Where would they obtain gunpowder? And where did you come by this information?’

He looked at me searchingly, pushing his papers impatiently to one side.

‘They got it in Plymouth, it seems,’ I said. ‘They stole it from one of Drake’s ships in harbour, when they were turned ashore. When our fleet left Cascais, all our provisions and military supplies were loaded on to the ships which were to go with Drake to attack the Azores. That included all our remaining shot and powder. Drake, as you know, made no attempt at the Azores. While we were encamped outside Lisbon and he failed to come to our aid, he learned from the crew of the New World ship he had seized that there was no treasure at present stored on the Azores. He failed to pass the information on to Norreys or any of the other leaders.’

Phelippes was becoming impatient and opened his mouth to urge me on, but I forestalled him.

‘So instead of heading out to sea, of course he returned directly to England. The stores of gunpowder were still on board. When the soldiers were turned ashore, some of the bolder fellows managed to steal a quantity of gunpowder and carry it off, meaning to sell it and eke out their pitiful pay. Then, it seems, another plan was hatched.’

‘Where have you heard this? Phelippes said.

‘Just a moment.’ I raised my hand to fend off his questions, thinking, even as I spoke, how I could steer him away from Adam.

‘I expect if compensation for the soldiers had been forthcoming, a share in the spoils of war, that would have been an end to any other plot and the gunpowder would have been sold off to sportsmen or the like. Somehow the men with the gunpowder were warned about the attack on the camp at Finsbury Fields – something which ought to be looked into, I think. As a result, they were well away when the attack came, taking the gunpowder with them. In fact, it seems likely that they were indeed the same men that Arthur and I saw last night at the puppeteers’ tent.’

‘Do you have any idea what they intend?’

For the moment Phelippes was diverted from asking about the source of my knowledge.

‘It seems likely that they intend to use the gunpowder for an attack on one of two buildings. Their chief quarrel is with Drake. One of their targets is his house, the Herbar in Dowgate, as we suspected last night. The other is his warehouse in Tower Ward.’

‘We did not know last night that they had gunpowder.’

‘Nay, we did not.’

‘Anyone may know where the Herbar is,’ he said. ‘It is no secret. The warehouse is not so easily found.’

‘I thought of that. We speak of these men all the time as soldiers, but some of them are sailors. They will know men who work on the docks. It would not be too difficult to find one who can tell them the location of Drake’s warehouse.’

He nodded. ‘You are probably right. I can understand why they would attack the warehouse. They would hope to gain access to the booty stored there. After all, the original threat of the men who marched on the Fair was that they would seize goods to pay themselves.’

‘Aye, the intention behind the whole march was to repair their fortunes.’ I paused, for I knew that it annoyed Phelippes when I asserted so warmly that the men had been ill treated. ‘Some of the men must be truly desperate. Desperate enough, or daring enough, even to attack a guarded warehouse. It would not be easy, even if they bribed the guards. And I doubt whether they have the means to bribe them lavishly enough for the guards to risk their future employment by Drake.’

‘So the most likely target is the Herbar.’

‘I would think so. Though perhaps we should not rule out the warehouse.’

‘Even so.’ He took off his spectacles and passed his hand over his face. ‘I cannot understand what they would gain from attacking Drake’s house. They would not be so foolish as to think he keeps his booty there, surely?’

‘They may think – and they are probably right – that Drake surrounds himself in his home with fine objects.’ I thought of the house in Wood Street. ‘After all, it is not unusual for self-made men to covet the luxuries of the landed gentry and the aristocracy. Ruy Lopez’s house is stuffed with tapestries and rugs and gold and silver plate. Mostly bought from Drake, or obtained through his own spice trade. I expect there are such objects in the Herbar. Plenty to satisfy this small group of men. This is not the whole makeshift army needing to be paid.’

‘Aye,’ he conceded, ‘you may be right. But an attack on a warehouse, probably at night . . . there would be few people about. The Herbar, on the other hand, is in the middle of one of the busier parts of London. There are fine houses tightly packed, all around. Even at night there will be people passing by, lanterns and torches hung at doorways, the Watch patrolling.’

‘That is what has been worrying me,’ I said grimly. ‘I know nothing about the uses of gunpowder, except what I have seen when cannon or muskets are fired, but then it is used in very small quantities, is it not? From what I have heard, these men intend to use a large amount to blow up a building from within, but how would they do that?’

‘Mining.’ Phelippes said.

‘Mining? What do you mean?’

‘I do not mean mining for iron or coal,’ he said, an edge of irritation to his voice. I think he was becoming truly worried now. ‘When a besieging army attacks a castle or a town, they dig a mine under the fortifications. Then they place gunpowder there and set it alight. It explodes. As it does in a musket or a cannon, but on a much larger scale.’

‘Of course, I have heard of that, but not how it is done. Why are they not blown up themselves?’

‘I think they use a long fuse. A piece of string or rope, like the wick in a candle or the slow match on a musket. That way they can set it alight, then retreat to safety before the fire reaches the gunpowder.’

I shuddered. ‘If that is what they plan in the Dowgate, dozens of people will be killed.’

‘Aye,’ he said soberly. ‘They will. So we must prevent it.’

He put his spectacles back on and looked at me sternly. ‘Now, Kit, you had better tell me how you discovered this plot.’

I decided to tell him the truth as far as I could, without endangering Adam.

‘One of the soldiers found me at the Fair. He knew me already, from the expedition. Knew I am a physician. He had been badly injured when the camp was attacked. I treated his injuries and he told me about the gunpowder and what he knew of the plans to use it.’

‘Why did you not bring him here for questioning?’ Phelippes was looking even more annoyed now.

‘This man saved my life in Portugal,’ I said steadily, looking him boldly in the eye. ‘It was the least I could do, to physic his wounds. He is one of the moderate soldiers and has nothing to do with this other plot himself. He is well away now. To bring him here would have been to put him in danger, after the attack on the camp. In undeserved danger,’ I added emphatically. ‘We owe him thanks for alerting us to the plot. We should not then risk his own life.’

He looked suspiciously at me. Perhaps he did not quite trust my assertion that Adam was well away, but he decided to leave the matter, at least for now.

‘What I do not understand,’ I said, ‘is how the Italian puppeteers come into this.’

He shook his head in bafflement. ‘Nor I. Nick Berden has sent in one message by a lad he uses as a runner. They have asked questions at all the inns in the centre of London where entertainments of this sort are sometimes arranged, but none of the innkeepers knew anything of a troupe of foreign puppeteers. Or if they did, they were saying nothing. One cannot be sure of their loyalty.’

‘They might be performing at a private house,’ I suggested. ‘They might even have left London.’

‘In which case,’ he said, ‘they are not involved with these plotters. Or of course they may be lying low somewhere. There are a few Italians living and trading in London. They may be housed amongst their compatriots. Berden is to report to me at nightfall. Tomorrow I will have him search out the homes of Italians in London.’

‘And tomorrow I am still to go to Barn Elms?’ I said.

‘Aye. It is all the more important now to tell Sir Francis what we know.’

For the first time he seemed to notice Rikki.

‘What is that dog doing!’

‘Oh, I am sorry,’ I said with a laugh. ‘I am afraid he has made somewhat of a mess!’

Rikki had finally managed to shatter the bone and there were greasy fragments scattered all over the rush matting before the hearth. I knelt down and started to pick them up.

‘Leave it, leave it be, Kit,’ Phelippes said irritably. ‘As you go out, send one of the servants to deal with it. Go and eat and get some sleep. I want you here at dawn, remember.’

I called to Rikki. He wagged his tail cheerfully at Phelippes, who waved him away in dismissal, and we left for the walk back to Wood Street.

The Thames was a soft pink in the early morning light as the sun began to lift its head somewhere above the Kentish marshes. I was dressed for riding, with stout boots and a cloak over my doublet, for despite the first signs of a bright day there was something of a cold wind also blowing off those Kent marshes.

I had brought another bone for Rikki, to keep him occupied while he stayed in the stables, and my pockets were full of more of the small plum-red apples, as well as the ones I had never had the chance to give to Hector the previous day. We had an understanding, that whenever I visited him, I always brought apples, which could cause problems in the spring, when the winter store was finished and the new season’s crop not ripe. I had tried dried apple rings, but their leathery texture had not met with his approval.

After I had left Rikki with Harry, who promised that Hector would soon be saddled and ready for me, I made my way to Phelippes’s office, where I could almost swear he had spent the night. He handed me a thick packet of papers, which I stowed in my satchel.

‘When he sees these,’ I said, ‘Sir Francis will be chafing to come back to London.’

‘I am hoping that he will see that all is in hand, so that there is no need for him to return until he is well again.’

‘Have you written to him about the gunpowder?’ I asked.

‘Only briefly. I have said that you will give him all the details.’ He gave me a stern look. ‘
All
the details, including the source of your information.’

‘Has Berden reported anything further?’

‘Nothing about the Italians,’ he said. ‘However, he did find the toy shop of Nicholas Borecroft. It was in Cheapside, as we suspected.’

‘Was he there?’

‘Nay, the shop was closed and locked. The neighbours had not seen him for a week or more.’

I shook my head. ‘I cannot see what part he has to play in all this.’

‘Perhaps none at all. Perhaps he told you the truth, when he said he had merely been asked to play for the performance.’

I shrugged. ‘Perhaps, but there is something strange about the man.’ I slung the strap of my satchel over my shoulder. ‘I’ll go my ways, then. You will want me to come back here after I have seen Sir Francis?’

‘Of course. Try to persuade him to stay in the country and rest.’

I smiled. ‘If Dr Nuñez cannot do so, I doubt whether I can.’

As promised, Harry had Hector ready saddled and was about to put on his bridle.

‘Just a moment,’ I said, taking two apples out of my pocket.

I ran my hand down Hector’s dappled neck and he nuzzled into my shoulder, with his beautiful Arab head. Most people failed to notice its exquisite modelling, seeing only what most considered his ugly colouring – irregular patches of black, white and grey, with no satisfying symmetry to them. Now that I knew him so well, loving his intelligence and speed, I had even become fond of this odd colouring. They say you should never judge a man by his clothes nor a book by its binding. I knew that Hector should not be judged by the colour of his coat.

‘Two apples only for now, my lad,’ I said. ‘Perhaps more when we reach Barn Elms and you may take your leisure.’

When the apples had been crunched up in a few bites, Harry put on Hector’s bridle and led him over to the mounting block for me. The one disadvantage for me was Hector’s size, for I needed help in mounting. My friend Andrew Joplyn, the trooper, had given me a few lessons in leaping on to a horse from the rear, as the troopers will do when need arises. I had not practised it enough to be sure of myself, though I had attempted it a few times in the long trek across Portugal on a docile army horse. I feared Hector would not like it, and I had no wish to be kicked.

Even at this early hour the Bridge was crowded, which slowed our progress, but once we were across the river we were able to move a little faster along the streets of Southwark. The bear and bull baiting would not begin for hours yet, and the Winchester geese would be fast asleep in their tawdry beds, since most of their clients came a-visiting in the late afternoon or after dark. There was plenty of activity about the brick works, dye works, and tanneries, however, and the usual strong smells filled the air, the reason they were forbidden space inside the city.

It was an odd place, Southwark, both part and not part of London. The writ of the Common Council did not run here. It was like a separate village, yet people constantly passed back and forth across the Bridge, uniting it with the City. There was something faintly exotic about it, with its entertainments and bawdy houses, its strange foreign faces glimpsed here and there amongst the crowds. If Sir Francis did manage to find me a place at St Thomas’s here in Southwark, would I find that strange too? Still, a hospital is a hospital, wherever it may be. Surely it would not be so very different from St Bartholomew’s.