Michael Jecks - The Death Ship of Dartmouth

Adam smiled sadly. She was as stupid as her dead husband.

Simon saw young Humphrey at the street corner, and beckoned to the lad. He came reluctantly, eyeing the Coroner as though he expected to be punched at any moment for molesting another woman. ‘I’ve done nothing!’ he said sulkily.

‘Right now, I don’t care,’ Simon said. ‘I need you to run a message.’ Quickly he explained that he needed Humphrey to run to the gaol, rouse Ivo and have him collect some men, and go to Will’s house to see if Ed was there. ‘And tell them to be careful. If Adam’s there, he may be dangerous. All right?’

‘What’s in it for me?’

Coroner Richard took two steps forward, and Humphrey turned and fled.

‘How do you do that?’ Simon asked.

‘Years of practice, young Bailiff. Years of practice,’ the Coroner asserted smugly.

They took the short cut to Danny’s home. Simon strode to the door and struck it with the hilt of his sword.

‘Yes?’ came a woman’s voice from within.

‘It’s the Bailiff, mistress. Can we speak to you for a moment?’

The door opened, and Alice stepped out warily. There was still that sadness in her that spoke of her loss, but it was moderated now. ‘Well?’

‘Where is your brother?’

‘In the sea, isn’t he?’ she responded swiftly, but her face flushed with guilt.

‘Madam,’ Baldwin smiled, ‘we know he’s alive. He’s been seen. And we have heard how he protected his master and had the two sailors shown to be dishonourable and treacherous. May we speak to him?’

‘He’s not here. I don’t know where-’

Simon shook his head. ‘Alice, it was he killed your man. He murdered Danny.’

She gaped. ‘What? You’re mad! You tell me my own brother would orphan his nieces and nephew? He’d make me a widow? Why would he do that to us?’

‘It is true. The men, Odo and Vincent, were not guilty of the rape of Mistress Amandine. It was Adam did that. He tortured them to make them confess, and then, when all was done, he had to silence the one witness who could denounce him — your brother. Danny saw something that night, that he only recalled very recently. Adam killed him to silence him.’

‘No! Tell me it isn’t true, in God’s name!’ The woman’s face was deathly white now.

‘Danny was killed on the night before the Saint John sailed. You saw him earlier that day, didn’t you? So he was alive then.’

‘Yes,’ she sobbed.

‘Odo and Vincent had been tortured and were being held in Master Pyckard’s house by then, so they couldn’t have killed Danny. The man who did it thought the ship was to be destroyed, so he would get away with it, as Danny’s body would never be found. Only Adam thought that. No one else could have murdered your husband, woman . Now tell us where is he?’

‘I …’

There was a faint clatter from behind her, and Baldwin saw a figure darting out through the rear of the house — a big man, beardless, and with the rolling gait of a man well used to the sea.

Simon jumped to his feet, but his head thundered with pain, and he swore, suddenly pale and giddy.

Baldwin and the Coroner sprang to the doorway, and Baldwin was marginally faster through the screens, urged on by the screams of Alice. As he came into the daylight again, Baldwin threw a quick look all around. There up at the far side of the garden was Adam, and Baldwin set off in pursuit even as the blundering figure of the Coroner reached him.

‘Where is he? Ach! This is work for younger men. Still, never let it be said … that a Coroner … ever let a mere Keeper … catch a man when … ach, damn it!’

Baldwin grinned to himself, but conserved his energy instead of talking.

The ground here sloped steeply upwards, and all three must labour to climb the hill. They had left the last of the cottages behind them now, and were toiling through scrub and thick grasses, with sprinklings of furze and heather. Baldwin felt his leggings catch on the spikes, and thorns scratched him as he pushed himself onwards. It was ever harder, and as he went, he felt the air searing his lungs; his mouth was dry and his throat sore. But the man would not give up, and Baldwin must follow him until one of them could go no further.

And with that thought, Adam disappeared over a lip in the ground. When Baldwin reached it, he found himself looking down into a natural hollow. There was a rocky mess within, with lank grasses sprouting between each, and low, hunched bushes that looked stunted and crabbed like the trees on Dartmoor.

A loud panting and blowing at his side announced the Coroner’s arrival. ‘Where is the bastard? He nearly made me throw up that wine from Pyckard’s house, and no man — no man ! — should do that. I’ll open his gizzard for him, the pox-ridden cur!’

Baldwin said nothing, but drew his sword and slowly paced along to his right.

‘Are you sure he’s here?’ the Coroner shouted after a few paces. ‘Can’t see him yet.’

Baldwin did not speak. All his attention was fixed upon the ground nearby and any rocks or bushes that could conceal a man of Adam’s size. It was only at the last moment that he realised that there was a tree nearby that was less stunted and hunched than the others. As he did so, he remembered that a sailor could climb like a monkey, and he darted back just as the figure dropped.

Adam was a big man, and his knife looked little more than a toy in his fist, but there was no doubting his skill as a fighter, as he stamped his bare feet on the ground and jumped towards Baldwin.

‘Yield, man, or you’ll die here,’ Baldwin snarled.

The dagger came close, but Baldwin had the range afforded by his sword, and he was not going to allow a dull-witted sailor to get inside his defence.

As he brought the sword around to stab at the man’s breast, Adam stepped forward, blocking the movement with his forearm. The blade hit with the flat, and Baldwin knew he was lost unless he was quick. The dagger was already lunging forward. He forced his tired legs to leap, and moved to his right. The dagger missed him — just — and he brought his left hand down onto Adam’s wrist. Adam now had his sword-wrist in his own grip, and Baldwin felt, to his horror, that his left hand was moving. He squeezed with his fingers to try to force the man to drop the blade, but there was no joy there. All he saw was a brutal glee in Adam’s eyes as the dagger turned in towards Baldwin’s chest. Then began the inexorable journey. It was only a matter of six inches or so, but Baldwin fought it with all the strength at his disposal. He could do no more. But his left hand was not so strong as Adam’s right, while his own right was locked, his blade up under Adam’s armpit. Adam would not allow him to move his hand to attack … but then an idea occurred to him. He suddenly yanked his right hand back. Adam was surprised by the simple movement, and Baldwin nearly thrust the weapon into his breast before he felt that astonishing grip tighten again, and saw Adam’s teeth shine ferociously. His sword’s progress was halted, and the sailor’s knife was moving nearer and nearer.

‘No harming him. He’s the King’s man!’

Baldwin looked up to see that Sir Richard’s sword was resting on Adam’s shoulder. The point was close to Adam’s chin, and as he stared down at it, the Coroner angled it and brought it to Adam’s throat so that the edge snagged on a lump of leathery skin.

‘I said, I won’t see him harmed, churl. Let him go and drop that knife before I drop you, eh?’

Adam made as though to drop the knife, but then he suddenly whirled about to stab Sir Richard. As the Coroner stepped sharply backwards, his sword dragged along the back of Adam’s neck, and then as Adam span, it ran along the side of the sailor’s throat — and Baldwin was drenched in a sudden shower of blood.