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There were two things Tzip couldn’t resist. Beautiful women and adventures. When her brother Hiram had dragged her to his lover’s house on a secret mission to rescue someone, the last thing she’d expected was that the very beautiful, very snobbish Lady Coxspeckle needed to be rescued from her brute of a husband. Tobias and his vast experience as a spy had come in handy. He’d concocted a plan to remove Lady Coxspeckle to safety while misdirecting Lord Coxspeckle through a faked kidnap note. The letter would ensure Lord Coxspeckle thought his wife had been kidnapped for ransom, and meanwhile, she’d be safely sailing to the continent to start a new life without him.
“I’m at the bottom.”
“Catch.” Tzip had not expected the fragile strength of Lady Coxspeckle. Her face was a disaster, bruised and battered, and so swollen that Tzip could barely make out the porcelain beauty Lady Coxspeckle was so famed for. Even as a child, she’d sat aloof in the Swain Cove church every Sunday, perfect in every way, and the few times Tzip had seen Lady Coxspeckle as an adult, she’d become more and more like carved marble. Cold and beautiful. It was all a mirage, apparently.
“Excuse me?”
“Your dress.” Tzip rolled the dress carefully inside the blanket to protect the fabric. She secured it with a piece of string pulled from her pocket and dropped the bundle. One day, Lady Coxspeckle would be able to sell the dress, or remake into a new one, so there was no point in wrecking it now, and it would be silly to leave it here. There was to be no evidence that Lady Coxspeckle had ever been at Pencarrow; not if they were to pull off this fictional kidnapping. A thud told Tzip that Lady Coxspeckle hadn’t caught the bundle.
“Are you coming down?” The soft whisper fluttered in the air as Tzip made her way down the ladder into the smuggler’s tunnel.
“Yes.” She held both candles in one hand as she made her way down. Pants were much better for this type of task. When she reached the bottom, she handed Lady Coxspeckle a candle, then picked up the bundle of cloth from where it had landed.
“Come with me.” At the end of this tunnel was a small cove, only accessible from here or from the water. There should be a small rowboat in the cave that formed the entrance to this tunnel and Tzip paced along quickly until she spied it. Good. She’d hate for their plan to fall over at this; the most simple part of the plan. She lobbed the bundle into the boat and set about untying the rowboat from its hoarding.
“Lie down and stay out of sight.” Tzip didn’t row this section of the sea very often. She was usually on board her lugger, The Lady Gin, waiting for villagers to row out to her to collect the goods she’d bought in France. Once she made it over the rough part of the water where the waves rolled into the tiny cove, she started to relax a little and used the feel of the water to keep the small rowboat headed directly away from the land. She pulled the oars into her lap and let the boat still for a moment so she could turn and scan the water for the tell-tale lamps on The Lady Gin. Hiram and two of her crew would meet them out here soon. Nothing. She rowed out a bit further, then stopped to scan again. It wasn’t until she’d repeated the exercise four times, that she finally spied the flicker of three lamps sitting together in a triangle.
“Can you see those three lights?”
“Yes.”
“Guide me towards them.” Tzip shuffled on her seat and squared her shoulders, then rowed. Long practiced strokes that slowly took their tiny craft towards her lugger. When she finally came alongside her boat, her arms burned with the effort. This was the main reason she preferred to be on The Lady Gin and not in the row boats. She grabbed one of the ropes on the side of The Lady Gin and quickly hitched the rowboat to it.
“Hiram.”
“You made it. Do you have her?”
“Yes.” Tzip bit back her growl at her brother.
“Just checking that everything went well.” He threw a rope ladder over the side and Tzip caught it.
“Help her up.” Tzip braced her feet on either side of the rowboat, then tapped Lady Coxspeckle on the shoulder. “Take the ladder. Slowly stand up and lean your body against the bigger boat. Then climb. My brother will help you.”
Tzip steadied the boat as Lady Coxspeckle awkwardly climbed up the rope ladder, swaying all over the place. Tzip almost reached out and grabbed her hips to straighten her when Hiram leaned over and pulled her into The Lady Gin. With a short breath out, Tzip tossed Lady Coxspeckle’s bundled up dress onto the deck of the lugger, then climbed up the rope ladder too. Her arms trembled a little as they took her weight; she really wasn’t used to doing a lot of rowing, and once she was on board, she shook them out. Lady Coxspeckle sat on the deck, a sad crumpled heap of a person. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, casting a purple glow across the sea, and it made Lady Coxspeckle’s injured face look horrific.
“She’s all yours. Keep her safe for Tobias.” Hiram pulled Tzip in for a hug and she nodded stiffly.
“Will do. What is the plan?”
Hiram stepped back but kept his hands on Tzip’s shoulders. “You know the plan. Take her to the continent and help her start a new life. We will deal with Lord Coxspeckle.”
“This is very inconvenient. I have a business to run.”
“I’m sure it’s inconvenient for her to have a husband who beats her too.”
Tzip ground her teeth together. She was being a bitch. “Fine. Yes. She can accompany me. I’ll give you and Tobias a few months to sort out her husband.”
“Thank you. You are a good sister.” Hiram kissed her on the cheek, then swung over the side of The Lady Gin. Tzip waited until he was settled in the rowboat, then pulled the rope ladder back aboard. She stood there, hands on hips, until he disappeared from view. With the sun starting to rise, Tzip could watch Hiram almost all the way back to the tiny cove hidden between the cliffs. A feather-light touch on her elbow made her jump.
“I’m sorry.”
“For?”
“Being inconvenient.”
Tzip gulped. “You heard that?”
“Yes.”
“It’s fine, really. I’m tired, that’s all. Come.” Tzip turned and paced towards her captain’s cabin. She flung open the door and waved Lady Coxspeckle inside. “You can sleep there. I need to speak to the crew about our plans.” Tzip let the door swing shut and walked away.
***
A couple of days later, The Lady Gin sailed into Roscoff on the French coast. Tzip needed to talk to her trade contact Esteban about her change of plans. She had no wool to deliver and wouldn’t be collecting her usual cargo bound for England; instead, she’d be heading to Italy to help Lady Coxspeckle start a new life. Hopefully Esteban would have something for her to take there on spec so the trip wouldn’t be a complete waste of money and time.
Having spent her time with Francis and Dinesh, her small two-person crew, as they crossed the Channel, Tzip had slowly become more annoyed with her passenger, who’d stayed in her cabin and hadn’t helped at all. Was she such a fancy Lady that she couldn’t help her own rescue? Tzip didn’t have time for people like that. She shook her head. Her mother would be so disappointed in her lack of empathy for Lady Coxspeckle’s plight. It wasn’t lack of empathy, not exactly, more than she expected more gumption from someone who’d been brave enough to run from a hateful husband. Disappointment. Yes, that’s probably what she felt.
“Can I come ashore?” Lady Coxspeckle emerged from the cabin looking every part the proper Lady, dressed in the gown she’d worn on the night of her escape. Her face looked better; the swelling had gone down, and the bruising had faded into a green-yellow toned mess. The sharp cut down one cheek had started to heal into a thin red line.
“If you must.”
“I could do with some assistance.”
Tzip blinked. “You want me to play at lady’s maid? No. I have business.”
Colour flooded Lady Coxspeckle’s cheeks. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Just that I need some assistance to lace my gown.”
“Excuse me?”
“My gown is designed so I can’t put it on by myself. It’s the fashion, and I never realised until today just how helpless that makes me. Could you please assist me in fastening my gown?”
Tzip sighed; she didn’t need to be tetchy with Lady Coxspeckle who freely admitted that she was useless. It likely wasn’t her fault that she’d never ... been allowed to be practical.
“Of course. And then we can go ashore, and I’ll purchase you some practical clothes and you can learn to dress yourself.” Tzip’s mother would be annoyed at her inability to apologise properly.
Lady Coxspeckle chuckled. “I can dress myself. Goodness, you make me sound terribly inept.”
“You started it.” Tzip shrugged.
“So I did. My apologies.”
“You don’t have to apologise for everything.” Tzip spent most of her time around men who never apologised for anything, even when they ought. “It’s fine. Let’s get into town. I have some business and then we will get you some more appropriate clothes.”
“Tobias gave me some coins. I can fund my own wardrobe.”
Tzip nodded. Her tongue had already been too cutting, she didn’t need to remind Lady Coxspeckle that her brother funding her clothes was hardly her doing it for herself. The Lady couldn’t even dress herself.
“What is so funny?”
Tzip wiped the smile off her face. She hadn’t realised she’d been grinning at her own silly joke. “Never mind, and please don’t be sorry again. For anything.”
“I don’t understand. You don’t want me to be polite?”
“I’m a sailor, darling, not a...” Tzip clamped her lips shut before she insulted her guest again. “It doesn’t matter who I am. You don’t need to apologise for everything. It’s how men keep women small.”
Lady Coxspeckle nodded. “Lord Coxspeckle did like it when I apologised.”
“I bet you apologised to him when he hit you.”
Lady Coxspeckle blinked rapidly. “I did. I lay on the floor, curled up, sobbing that I was sorry as he kicked me. Why did I do that?”
“You probably hoped it would make him stop.” Tzip reached out and held Lady Coxspeckle’s hand. “What is your name? I would rather use your own name than his.”
Lady Coxspeckle heaved in a shuddering breath. “Abigail. My name is Abigail. And thank you.” She squeezed Tzip’s hand tight.
“Abigail. Dry your tears and let’s get you dressed for your new life without that feral abusive creature.” Tzip dabbed at Abigail’s face with her sleeve.
“I have a handkerchief of my own.”
“Good. Wipe your own face, like the independent person you are going to become.”
Abigail almost smiled. “Do you think I can?”
Tzip shrugged one shoulder. “That’s up to you, isn’t it? Now, let’s get moving.” She pulled her hand free and walked down the small plank onto the dock at Roscoff, then turned to hold out her hand for Abigail to use as balance if she needed, but her guest walked smoothly with perfect balance in her silk gown. She’d wrapped a small blanket around her shoulders which reduced the effect of the gown—a damned shame—although it helped her fit into the rougher surroundings of the wharf. Tzip had no desire to get mugged as they walked through the various collection of small-time traders and hawkers looking to sell goods to British smugglers, and she had no doubt that many of those who plied their trade here wouldn’t hesitate to steal a silk gown off the body of a Lady. It wasn’t a long walk to Esteban’s office. Tzip hooked her hand onto Abigail’s elbow and steered her along the well-trodden dirt track.