Raiders' Ransom (9 page)

She looks at me expectantly, like I should be jumping up and down or something.

“In place for what?”

“Why, your marriage negotiations. I'm so happy to be able to do something for you, and to bring some cheer in these dark days. I see no reason why it shouldn't go very smoothly, even now. You have the seacat for a dowry, and myself as a sponsor.” She gives me a big smile, like she's wanting one back from me. “Mrs. Ainsty and I both agree it should be a fairly simple matter to persuade the Hindles to accept you as a wife for their son. And since he is one of the few men spared, you could be his wife in just a few weeks.”

“A few weeks!”

“I know, isn't it wonderful?”

After Mrs. Denton leaves, I feel like I'll explode if I don't tell someone what her and Mrs. Ainsty's got planned. I end up at the harbor, cos that's where everyone is. And I practically run down Andy's ma, I'm that keen to find her.

“Mrs. Denton wants me to marry Lun Hindle!” I cry, soon as I clap eyes on her.

I think she'll laugh, but first she doesn't even seem like she's heard, then she looks at me out of tired eyes and says, “Well, maybe that ain't such a bad idea.”

The other women in the crowd nod and agree.

“Lucky lass!” says one.

“And her an orphan, too,” says another.

“But I ain't marrying Lun! I'm going to get a boat with Andy. We're going to be captains together.”

Mrs. Whitedove tuts and purses her lips together.

“Lilly Melkun, terrible things have happened these last few days, so it's time you stop living in your dreamland!” she snaps.

“Lilly, how do you think we're even going to feed ourselves, let alone buy a boat?” says Andy's ma quietly. “Everything's wrecked, Pa's in jail, and Andy …” Her voice cracks. “He might not even be coming back.”

Mrs. Greenstick butts in. “So if Mrs. Denton wants to help you, then you should count your blessings!”

All the women are tutting and huffing at me now.

“Ungrateful little thing.”

“The girl's gone wild, I tell you.”

“Out on her own in that boat, it goes to show …”

But I ain't standing around to listen. I've got to find someone who understands me. Who cares. And I know where he'll be. It's where I want to go, anyway. Back home.

When I get there, Cat's sat on the windowsill, tail neatly round his feet.

“Meow,” he says when he sees me. Which means: Open up, I can't get in by myself. I open the front door, and Cat leaps down and trots inside. He walks over to the fireplace and looks at it, like he's expecting it to be hot.

“Granny ain't here,” I say to him, and sit down at our table, feeling a chill from the cold, empty hearth.

“Everyone wants me to get married,” I say to Cat, who looks at me, his ears flicked back. “They reckon you'll make a good dowry, and Lun Hindle'll get you for his seacat.” His ears pull back a bit farther. “Lun probably won't even let me sail. And he smells. And what about Andy? What'll he say when he gets back?” A cold stone settles in my belly. “If he gets back.”

“Mreow,” says Cat, and starts licking one of his feet. Something about the sound of his raspy tongue makes me remember him sat on Mrs. Denton's fancy carpet, and the idea just pops into my head! I get so excited, I can hardly breathe, cos it all makes sense.

“So what if all the able men are gone from the village?” I shout. “I can sail as good as any of them, and I've got you.
We can take the ransom to the raiders!” Cat licks his other foot. “And if I saved Alexandra, the Prime Minister'd be sure to reward me, wouldn't he? Then I'd have enough money to buy a boat for me and Andy, and I wouldn't have to marry Lun! And Andy wouldn't have to fight, he could just come home with all the others. And Alexandra could tell how we aren't traitors and the captains would be set free and everything would be fine again!”

Cat turns around and starts licking his back.

“With you I could get to London easily.”

Lick, lick, lick, is Cat's reply.

“All I'd need is Mrs. Denton's treasure and the letter. I'm going to tell Mrs. Denton right now.” But that's when I get a sinking feeling inside. Cos I know there's no way she'll give me the ransom. Most folk in the village don't think I should even be sailing; all they think I'm good for is getting married to Lun Hindle.

Cat makes a funny little coughing noise, and spits out a bit of fur.

“'Cept … I could
take
the jewel and the letter. And it wouldn't be stealing, would it?” I ask him. “Not if I'm going to give it to the raiders and save everyone. It can't be stealing then?”

Cat doesn't answer, just lifts up a leg and starts cleaning his belly.

Toward dark, I go back to Mrs. Denton's, Cat following behind. This time, when Martha opens the door, she doesn't even pretend not to be cross.

“Mrs. Denton ain't in. Leastways, she's resting in her room, and I ain't disturbing her for the likes of you.”

“I … um … I left something when I was here before. Left it in Mrs. Denton's drawing room. I just wanted to fetch it.”

Martha's eyebrows go up into arches. “I cleaned that room top to toe since you was here, and there weren't nothing ragged or dirty in it. So whatever you lost, you didn't lose it here.” She starts to shut the door in my face.

“No. It was a locket. My granny gave it to me. I think the chain snapped and it fell on the floor. Please, it's only small, maybe you missed it? I've looked everywhere else.”

I can feel a blush coming on, cos the locket's right here, hidden under my shirt. And the blush gets redder when I think what Granny would say if she caught me lying like this.

I'm waiting for Martha to catch me out, but she just goes frowny. Then she says, “All right, I'll take you in there, and you can look for your locket. But I'll be keeping both eyes on you, so keep your dirty fingermarks off anything that ain't yours.”

“Thank you,” I say, but inside I'm cursing cos my plan's going wrong already! Of course Martha ain't going to let me in by myself, and how can I get the jewel without her seeing? But then Cat solves the problem by trying to get into the kitchen.

“Hey! Get that scrawny beggar out!” Martha uses her foot to poke at Cat and flaps her arms about.

“I can't leave him outside!” I say, glad he never worries about invitations. “He's a seacat.” Martha looks at me, then down at Cat. Her face goes a little bit more sour.

“All right,” she says. “For your granny's sake, he can come in. But he ain't dropping his fleas on the carpet! I'll keep watch on him here in the kitchen. You go straight in the sitting room, find your locket, and come straight out again. And if you're any more than two minutes, I'll be in there finding out why.”

I push open the door of Mrs. Denton's sitting room, my hand shaking ever so slightly. The only light in the room comes
flickering from the fire, and it's nearly out. What if Mrs. Denton's locked her treasure away? I can't hardly ask Martha to get it for me. But I'm lucky, cos right on the mantelpiece is a dark wooden box with a golden clasp, and next to it a letter. I just have to step across and take them.

“It's not stealing,” I whisper. “I'm just doing Mrs. Denton's mission for her.”

I pick up the box and undo the clasp. When I lift the lid, I can't help but gasp. Cos inside, resting on a bed of white silk, is what looks like a huge jewel! It's a bit larger than an egg, and it's cut with lots of tiny edges that sparkle softly in the red glow from the fireplace. My hands are shaking even more as I take the jewel from its resting place, and when I pick it up, I gasp again. Cos I'm sure I can feel a little tingle as it sets in my palm, and there's a flash of light across the room, like lightning far away. Then it's gone, and the jewel lies still.

I look round, cos I can't believe Martha ain't seen, but there's no sound from away in the kitchen. My heart's beating so hard I can feel the blood pounding in my head, but I ain't got time to worry, so I just tuck the jewel into my shirt pocket and pull my coat round to cover the lump. Then I close the box, set it back on the mantel, and take the letter, stuffing it in with the jewel. Then I pull Granny's locket over my head and hold it out in my hand.

“Here it is!” I say when I'm back in the kitchen, holding up the locket for Martha to see. And I pop out her door like an
eel out from under a rock, Cat scampering after, before she can ask me any questions.

Soon as I'm outside, I want to start running. But I make myself walk, cos I don't want to look guilty. Like a thief would.

“We did it!” I whisper to Cat.

“Prup,” he says. And that's when I get a cold jolt inside me. What an idiot I am! First thing tomorrow, Mrs. Denton's bound to notice the envelope's missing from her mantelpiece. And when she does, she'll check her box. And when she's done that, it won't take Martha a minute to put the blame on me. So I've got to go now, tonight, or I won't be going anywhere 'cept the new jail!

And now I start running.

When I get home, I hurtle about getting clothes, oilskins, a knife, extra rope, my rope-splicing kit, and what food I can find. Which turns out to be a bag of oats and some hard sea biscuits. Well, I'll just have to catch the rest.

“I'm going on Mrs. Denton's mission,” I say to the empty dark house. Hoping Granny's there somehow, hoping she can hear me. “So I'll have to take the money from the jar.”

I put my hand under Granny's bed and pull out a small jangling jar. Granny's savings jar, where she'd hoard every extra penny for the winter storms, when it's too rough to go fishing. The coins rattle out of the jar, and I put them into Granny's purse, which hangs from a loop of leather. It goes
round my neck, next to Granny's locket, and it ain't heavy, cos there ain't many coins in it. But it should last me. After all, things can't cost much in London, can they?

I pat my shirt where the bulge of the purse shows through. I reckon it should be safe from muggers, cos all that shows of it is a bit of leather at my neck. But what about the jewel? All it'd take is one peek and any thief would be on me. After a bit of thinking, I take out my fishing belt. It's got plenty of pockets for stashing spare line and hooks and all the other stuff you don't want to go searching for when you're out. I wrap the jewel in a dirty cloth, then I squeeze it into the largest pocket of my belt, where it just about fits. It looks bumpy, but I reckon it'll be safe. After all, who'd ever think there's a big jewel inside a fisherbelt?

I've got my bag on my back, and I'm heading for the door, when I catch a glimpse of my reflection in the dark window: round brown face, dark brown eyes, bundled up in stained oilskins, long hair tied back in a ponytail. Girl's hair. But Mrs. Denton said she was looking for a captain or a young lad to do her mission. I take the letter out of my bag and carefully pry it open, trying not to tear the envelope too badly. I read down through her scrabbly writing and all her fancy phrases. It takes me quite a while, but halfway down are the words that matter:

This man! I ain't a man! How will I explain
that
to Mrs. Denton's London trader? What if he guesses I took the letter and the jewel? He'd never help me then.

And that's why I take out Granny's kitchen scissors, use the window as a mirror, and start to cut my hair. When I've finished, I look into the window, and there's a boy looking back at me. I lift my hand to my short hair, and he does the same. I open my mouth at what I done, and he opens his right back. I'm a boy now. A boy who Mrs. Denton could have asked to go on a mission. A boy she might have given the letter and jewel to. The boy in the window grins at me, and he doesn't look like the marrying type.

Cat ain't very keen to go out sailing before it's even light. And he ain't going to be very keen on his disguise, neither, which is why I'm leaving it till he's trapped in the boat and can't get away. Thing is, he's gray, cos he's a seacat. The color is how they get spotted out of a litter of kittens. But if raiders came all this way to get a seacat, what might happen if I try and walk a gray cat through London? I can't risk him like that. So the last thing I packed was a jar of Granny's polish, which she made out of tallow and ashes and herbs and who knows what else. That polish stains something terrible; even with all Cat's washing, it should take him a week to get it off.