Tyburn by Jessica Cale

Author:Jessica Cale [Cale, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 33

Sally was closing the oven as Nick walked into the kitchen through the back door, Mark following close behind.

“Hellfire and damnation!” Mark cursed, striking the top of the table with his fist.

Jack leapt from his chair beside the hearth. “Any word?”

Mark ran a hand through his hair. “They’re talking transportation.”

“Transportation?” Jack repeated. “For four pence?”

Nick set his medical bag on the table with a heavy sigh. Sally watched the exchange with rapt attention, her hands white with a dusting of flour.

“Anyone else and they would have set bail by now. Mary’s father sussed what they were about and has it in for him. Right connections, as it were.”

Jack stared blankly into the fire.

Mark sat in front of Jack and looked him in the eyes. “We’ll get this sorted.”

“He can’t be transported. He’d never survive seven years in the colonies. He’s barely older than I am.”

“I’ll think of something, I promise you. In the meantime, practice your Bible verses in case you need to claim benefit of the clergy one day.”

“Does he have a court date?”

Mark shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Then we have time. Can we get him a file? Take it to him in Nick’s bag?” Jack suggested.

Nick opened the bag and began to withdraw the instruments for cleaning. “They’ve caught on to us. Searched my bag. Couldn’t imagine what a minister would need with all of these.”

“A minister?” Sally asked.

Nick shrugged. “Mark has them all convinced I’m a man of the Church now. Physicians are extra.”

Mark sat heavily on the bench beside the table and pointed a finger at Nick. “I saved your hide with that little piece of genius, make no mistake.”

Nick crossed himself. Jack laughed in spite of everything, drying his eyes with his sleeve.

Sally gathered the bread dough she was working and began to knead it between her hands, leaning her back against the edge of the hearth. “I think I’ve missed the joke.”

Mark chuckled. “The gaol has a lady warden, you see, a great, hulking monster of a woman, and she wanted a piece of Nick in payment for Harry’s room and board.”

“Over my dead body!” Sally gasped.

All three of them looked up at her outburst, and Nick realized he was holding his breath. Why would she care?

Sally coughed. “That is to say, no one should have to do such a thing. How awful! What did you tell her?” She smacked the dough against the table.

Mark smiled at her, eyes sparkling with suppressed laughter. He didn’t miss a thing. He leaned back and folded his arms behind his head, explaining, “I explained that our Nick here is a man of God and is above such things.”

Sally wrinkled her nose in distaste and looked at Nick. “You’re not, are you?”

Not with the kind of thoughts he’d been having. Nick blushed to his ears and Mark and Jack laughed out loud.

Sally put a hand on her hip and turned to Mark. “And was she satisfied with that answer?”

“Alas, she was not, so I had to satisfy her with something else.

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