Strike a Match 5 by Frank Tayell

Author:Frank Tayell [Tayell, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Frank Tayell
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16 - Floating Purgatory

The Prison Hulk, Scrabster

Breakfast was artificially spiced porridge served with dried strawberries from Nana MacKay’s own indoor farm. The portions were vast, the tea endless, and took Ruth from starving to satisfied to soporific. The noise in the inn kept her awake, but the only news being discussed was of the down-track land-slip.

Regretfully leaving the inn’s warm cocoon, she made her way to the harbour. The new day had brought clear skies, but there was little warmth in the sun, and the rising winds quickly stripped her flesh of any residual indoor heat.

The guard at the harbour gate hadn’t been expecting her, meaning she had a ten-minute wait on the sub-zero quay as a swing-bridge was extended from the pier. There was another, though shorter, delay as the drawbridge-gantry was then lowered from the ship. Though the guards ashore were armed with rifles, the man waiting at the bridge’s far end wasn’t.

“Governor Byrd,” he said, after crossing to the shore. His words were whipped away by the rising wind and washed over the side by a squall of salt-water rain. He motioned her into the small sentry box. “Your I.D., please,” he said as he squinted at her face.

After she handed it over, he peered at it, so she peered at him.

He was old, not just older, and probably a lot older than this ship. His white hair had grown wispy and thin. His cheeks and chin had grown too craggy for a wet-shave, particularly aboard a ship, so he’d grown a beard, trimmed to an uneven inch in length. He was only five-six, and made to seem smaller by his rounded shoulders. Around his neck was a pair of half-moon glasses, which he held up rather than put on, using them as a magnifying glass to read her warrant card. His uniform was blue, like hers, though he had no tie, no belt, and he wore pull-on boots rather than shoes with laces.

“We had word you were coming from the city,” he said. “We didn’t hear why.”

“I’m to give Stevens twenty-four hours to co-operate or we’ll move him somewhere worse,” she said.

He looked at her face, her I.D., and then at her again. “You came all the way from Twynham to tell him that?”

“I was supposed to be on holiday,” Ruth said. “But someone had to accompany the paintings north, so the commissioner asked me to pass on this message.”

“My prisoners are the worst people on this planet,” the governor said, with a hint of rebuke. “For them, lying is a reflex, so I know well how to spot a falsehood.”

“I was asked to check for myself that he’s not passing messages,” Ruth said.

“He’s not. Whatever scam is afoot, it was put in play before his arrest,” the governor said. “Now the railway is blocked, you won’t be moving him anywhere for at least a week, but I won’t stop you completing your duty. I can promise you that there is no jail in the country more inhospitable than this, so be aware you are threatening him with a reward.

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