Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Henry left before sunrise the next morning. He’d decided to forgo the carriage his father had offered him and ride on horseback instead. If he wanted to truly blend in he couldn’t be seen exiting a privately owned carriage. Information was given to men who were perceived equals. Henry knew his true identity would compromise it. He was to go under the alias of ‘Peter Winterberry’. It was the name in which he would be writing to Ebony so he decided it was perfect.

He’d secured his satchel of belongings to the horse tightly. The bag contained a few changes of clothes (nothing too particularly fancy), writing tools and enough money to tide him over until he returned home.

His mother had been tearful when he left and his father had warned him to be careful.

Henry stopped in a few towns along the way for food and a place to sleep. A rainstorm had kept him inside for a day but he’d still managed to get to Suffolk within a week.

His father had given him the location of Lord Pembroke’s residence so Henry had an idea of where Ebony’s village was. He rode through several little clusters of homes and shops before he came to a town that most definitely was Ebony’s home village. He knew because the sign on the tavern said ‘Seaver’s Tavern, Distillery & Inn’. It was sometime in the afternoon so Henry didn’t think it too inappropriate to go inside and order a pint.

The houses in Ebony’s village were tiny and tatty and several needed repairs. Broken windows were boarded up and he could smell the faint scent of sewage. In the distance on a large hill, Henry could see a large Tudor mansion. Lord Pembroke seriously needed to invest in his land. That was what made Ethridge so prosperous. Sebastian always made sure to know what the people needed. If the people were happy, their businesses prospered which meant rent was paid and Ethridge boomed. It was simple really.

Henry tied his horse to the hitching post. He would find somewhere to board the brown stallion later. He took his coin pouch from the horse’s back and went inside the tavern. Instantly he was hit with the smell of tobacco and ale. There were chairs and tables scattered about the small floor of the tavern occupied by men playing cards. The bar was to the left of the tavern which also housed the staircase up to the rooms above stairs. Henry could not see any women, so he figured that this was not the brothel in which Celeste was kept. That would be too easy.

A man stood behind the bar wiping classes with a dirty rag. He was a portly fellow with a full head of greasy black hair and inquisitive blue eyes that peered at Henry just as soon as he walked into the tavern.

Henry straightened his simple, black coat and walked up to the bar, taking a seat on one of the stools before it.

“You sure you’re old enough to be in here, boy?” the barman muttered as he put the glass he was cleaning down.

Henry was not a boy, he was in his mid-twenties for goodness sake! Sure, he had a youthful face but he was not a child. “Yes,” he replied firmly. “A pint if you please,” he ordered, setting a coin on the bar for the man to take.

“Coming right up,” he replied, happily pocketing the coin. He placed a cloudy glass underneath the nozzle attached to a keg and filled it up with golden brown liquid. He placed it in front of Henry and Henry fought the urge to gag. The glass looked like it hadn’t been cleaned properly in years.

Henry placed his hand on the handle and pulled it towards him. “I’m after some information, perhaps you can help?” he asked.

The man’s bushy, black eyebrows furrowed. “Why kind of information?” he replied cautiously.

“I’m looking for the proprietor of this … fine establishment,” Henry continued.

“What?” The man cocked his head.

Henry cursed himself. He needed to sound less Eton educated. “I’m looking for the owner,” he clarified. “Mr Seaver.”

“You a debt collector?” he immediately retorted.

“No …”

“Then you’re looking at him.” Mr Seaver sniffed and wiped his nose with the rag he had been cleaning the glasses with. “The name’s Bill.”

“Peter,” Henry replied.

“What can I do you for, Peter?” Bill asked. “I don’t have any jobs going, if that’s what you want.”

“No, nothing like that,” Henry replied. It was time to implement the cover story he had rehearsed on the ride. “I just noticed the name on the tavern and it is not a name one hears very often. Your surname is the same as a famous opera singer in London. Miss Ebony Seaver. Any relation?”

Bill smirked. “She’s kin alright.” He nodded. “Not mine, my late wife’s. Didn’t realise the hassle and the money that kids take up when I married Helen. Ebony was more trouble than she was worth.”

That angered Henry. Immensely so. Bill spoke so candidly about a child. How could one not sympathise with an innocent child? “What made he leave here. This seems like a nice place to grow up,” Henry lied.

Bill scoffed. “Oh, she let me know every second of every day that she hated being stuck here. She wanted to take the little one and go and live on her own. Perhaps when she couldn’t do that she appreciated how much money I spent on her.”

“The little one?” Henry prompted. He needed information on Celeste. That was his purpose in coming to Suffolk.

“Just a kid I had with Helen. Girl.” He rolled his eyes. “Not any good for working, just sitting around and costing me money. She had fast hands though, a thief’s hands. When we were going under her quick hands kept us afloat for a few months. That was until my saviour arrived.”

There were people on the earth who were not meant to have children. Bill Seaver was one of them. “Your saviour?” Henry reluctantly continued.

“A man with more money than God and an eye for helping out those in need. He bought me this place,” Bill said, gesturing to the bar. “Gave me the deed and everything and said I never had to pay him back. It was a gift, he said. All I had to do was give him the girls and I had my business.”

“You gave the man your children?” Henry repeated. He shouldn’t have been surprised, the man seemed like he’d cut his own hand off if he could get some money for it.

“They weren’t serving me any purpose so he could have them.” Bill shrugged. “Happy to see the back of the ungrateful one. I was quite fond of the little one though. It made me smile every time she came in with a feather or two. He brings her around once or twice a year when he’s passing through and she practices her talents for me.”

“He brings her here?” Henry gasped. He tried to mask his excitement.

“So?”

“Where do they go after he leaves?” Henry pressed.

“How should I know?” Bill sniffed and rolled his eyes.

“You’re her father.”

“So?” Bill said again.

He was infuriating. “Look, Mr Seaver. I came here under false pretences. I’m looking for Celeste. It is highly important that I find her for Ebony. I’m willing to pay for credible information.”

The mention of money had Bill’s eyes lit up with excitement. “They come in from the north each visit. That’s the truth, honest. Now give me my money.” Bill held his hand out expectantly. Henry placed another gold coin in his hand which he again pocketed. North. That was something at least.

“Do you know of any brothels in the county north of here?” Henry asked as he stood up from the bar, leaving his untouched ale behind.

Bill chuckled. “Looking for Ebony, eh? I always thought she was good for that trade.”

That did it. Henry snapped. He launched across the bar with a balled fist and slammed it into Bill’s cheek with great force, so much so that his own hand hurt enormously for it. “Don’t you speak, breathe or even think her name again,” Henry said poisonously as he through another punch at Bill, this time in the stomach as he’d fallen over the other side of the dirty bar.

Chairs were thrown astray as the other customers came rushing to Bill’s aid. Henry was pulled away from him by two men while another quickly threw a punch into his stomach for revenge.

Before another punch could be thrown, one of the card player, the least drunk by the smell of him, ordered the other men to fetch the lawman.

‘Great,’ Henry thought. ‘Jail.’

He was held down on a chair while his untouched pint was poured over him. The ale saturated his clothes. They did this so the lawman could arrest him for being drunk as well as violent. Henry cursed them for defending a pathetic excuse for a man.

Twenty minutes later one of the card players returned with a man dressed in a simple suit with a pistol attached to his hip. He wore a displeased look on his face as he made his way over to Henry.

“I was eating my afternoon tea, boy,” he said angrily. “Get up,” he ordered and pulled a pair of shackles from his pocket. He snapped them on Henry’s wrists tightly. Henry didn’t know what to do. His parents couldn’t exactly come and bail him out. Well, they could but not without a lecture and a mandatory return trip to London. The only other person he knew in the area was his aunt and uncle a few counties over in Nottinghamshire. But he couldn’t expect them to travel and bail him out. The only other person he knew in the county was Lord Pembroke. That would be an awkward first meeting.

Henry was hauled by the arm out of the tavern and dragged down the lane to the very edge of the village were a little law office had been set up. His stomach ached where he had been punched and he was sure he would get a nasty bruise. Though it would not nearly be as nasty as she bruises Bill would wake up with on the morrow.

The lawman unlocked the only cell in the small office and threw Henry inside roughly. The only thing in the cell was a small pail in which to relieve himself. The thought of it made him want to be sick.

“Pardon me, sir,” Henry said politely. “But what are the charges and how much is the bail?”

“Charges are for being a bloody fool,” grunted the lawman. “And I think a pound should do it for the bail. What’s your name, boy?”

Henry had to be honest. “Henry Alcott,” he replied.

“And where are your parents?”

“London.”

“I thought I detected a refined accent there.” He sniffed. “Rich boy.”

“I have a pound with me, sir, could I please just pay it myself and be on my way?” Henry propositioned. “I’m on rather an important quest.”

“You should have thought of that before you started throwing punches.” The lawman shrugged his shoulders. “You’re only getting out of that cell if someone comes and puts up your bail money or if Bill decides to drop the charges.”

Henry groaned. “I’m not like this,” he promised. “I’m a sensible man. I’m a solicitor. I co-run my father’s estate. I went to the best schools in the country.” He leant against the back wall of the cell.

“Then why are you here? Don’t tell me, a woman?”

“Yes.” Henry sighed. He quickly realised that love made one impossibly impulsive. But he would hit a thousand men if it meant defending Ebony’s honour. She deserved to have someone fighting for her. “Mr Seaver’s step daughter, in fact. He sold her and her younger sister, Celeste, for that tavern. Celeste is being kept from Miss Seaver and I’m trying my hardest to find her. She’s just a child, sir, and she’s being held against her will. Please, I need to be on my way.” He wondered if begging on his knees would help persuade the lawman.

The lawman did look torn. Torn between duty and sympathy. Unfortunately duty won. “I’m sorry, boy, believe me, I am. But I can’t just let you go. Perhaps if you give Bill some of that coin you were talking about, it might persuade him to forget the incident ever happened.”

Henry nodded. “Alright, I’m willing to pay five pounds for this to be forgotten about.”

The lawman’s eyes widened. He clearly had never seen that amount of money just handed over willingly. “I’ll be right back,” he said as he quickly flitted from the law office.

If Bill accepted Henry’s office, Henry needed a little help, and it was obvious he wasn’t going to get it in the village. He would make a trip up to the Tudor mansion on the hill.

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Hope you liked it :)

Had the most nightmarish day yesterday. My phone wasn't working for some reason, like it had literally turned itself off and I hadn't done anything. Took it into the big Apple store and God that was stressful. So many people! I was waiting for at least 4 hours while an engineer person tried to fix it and I was told if it wasn't fixable that they'd replace the phone for me and I was gutted because all of my pictures of Bella were on my phone and I hadn't had a chance to put them on my computer. I was literally so upset that I would lose my baby cat's pictures that I just wanted to cry in the store and then I stopped myself because I didn't want to look like a crazy person crying over their cat who passed away. But luckily my pictures were still there THANK GOD! By the time we got out of the Apple store it was about 3pm so my mum goes 'Let's go to Hyundai and see if we can get you a car' and I was like 'Okay!'. Long story short, I bought my first car!!!!! I reiterate - I bought, as in me and not my parents. I pay my own way in this world. Free things quickly lose their value. But I bought a 2014 Hyundai i20 in a pristine blue colour :D So mega excited. I haven't told my best friend yet, I'm just going to show up at her house and go 'Get in, Loser, we're going shopping.' #MeanGirls :P hehe

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