Zealand

31. Small Matters

I took up the lantern and climbed the stairs, careful at the top step to not disturb the bags. With the trappe-door closed and locked, the carpet laid to cover and the chairs again in place, I paused to think. Captain had sent me here, but he did not bid me return to the Dockyard when finished. Only to be ready when the carriage arrives.

The carriage? Might that be the elegant one in the Dockyard with the Admiralty crest? It would have brought Mister – what was his name? The one to record and arrange payment. Aye, this is what he meant. The carriage to take the gold to the Admiralty.

Then I must remain here to await it – and for Captain. He is the one to give over the gold. That is not mine to do.

And the guard? What with him?

I moved a curtain aside and saw him atop the dike, his musket cradled in his arms. Do I now dismiss him? My duty is done, and I am safe.

But he will see me and know which house. Though, if he leaves before the carriage arrives and loads, he will not suspect my purpose here – not be set to thinking there is more. Captain said trust is earned, not assumed.

I unlocked and opened the door, feeling again the coldness of the day as I called in a loud voice, "Ahoy, guard."

When he turned his head toward me, I continued, "You may return to the Dockyard. My duty is now done, and I await here in safety for the arrival of the Admiralty's carriage."

"Aye, sir." He pointed. "And it now draws around the bend."

"Oh, excellent!" I looked along the road, relieved when I recognised its shiny blackness. "Thank you for allowing me to feel safe."

"My duty, sir." He leant his musket to his shoulder and headed along the road.

Back inside, with the door closed and locked, I stirred and added[1] to the fire, poured water into the kettle and swung it over the renewed flames. Captain will be in the carriage, and he will want tae.

And the men from the Admiralty – he might invite them in. As I added more water to the kettle, I thought, and with them in here, we cannot remove the bags without them seeing the hide.

Then with the chairs and carpet moved again, I opened the trappe-door and lifted out the five bags. After everything had been rearranged, I carried the gold across the room to the garderobe, placed it in a back corner and laid my boat cape atop it.

I had not long settled in my chair near the warmth of the hearth when I startled from a knocking on the door. Of course, Captain. I have the key.

Caution arose within me as I approached, so I went instead to the window and pulled the curtain aside enough to peep. Pleased to see him smile at me, I unlocked and opened the door. "I have tae water heating, sir."

He entered and looked across the room to the hearth. "I am relieved you are safe, lad. The corporal of the guard told us you had been accosted and delayed, and we hastened here. You have not had time to count, so we can do it together."

"The delay was not long, and the count is done, sir." I tilted my head toward the garderobe. "The bags are in there."

He looked at me with a strange expression. "Surely not. You had insufficient time to count five thousand."

I shrugged. "It required counting only ten, twenty-five and four, then four repeats of the four."

At Captain's twisted face and tilted head, I continued, "Stack ten, match the height twenty-four times, balance the two hundred fifty and repeat. Four balances to a thousand." I shrugged again. "Five minutes, rather than an hour or more, and a smaller chance of error."

"You continue to amaze me, lad." He stepped back outside.

A short while later, he re-entered with two men and opened the garderobe door. When I saw his puzzlement, I said, "At the back, beneath my cape."

I watched the two men carry a bag in each hand, Captain following with the fifth. Two armed guards stood beside the carriage, and another man – the driver, I assumed – opened the door.

Then with the gold loaded, the two men inside and the guards on their perches at the rear, the carriage pulled away, followed by four mounted guards. Who would dare accost them?

As Captain closed and locked the door behind him, he said, "So, tell me of your adventure, lad. I rushed here when I had learnt."

"Two ruffians seized me, brandished a knife and threatened to cut my throat if I did not yield my purse. The keys were in it, so I could not."

"Where was this?"

"Just out through the gate."

Captain nodded. "So, the guards chased them off."

"No, sir. The guard said the beggars are there every day, and they cause no problem." I motioned down at my clothes. "It seems this attire caused the two to consider my worth, and seeing that I was younger and smaller, they attacked."

"And the guards did nothing?"

"In the boy's minds, they did, sir." I chucked as I reflected. "I remembered your tales of distraction and deceit. When one held a knife toward me and said it is as easy to cut my throat as my purse, I nodded toward the guardhouse and told him that it is easier still for the guards to shoot musket balls through their heads."

Captain roared a laugh. "And the surprise and fear caused them to release you."

"Aye, sir, and I ran through the gate to Mister Pett's door."

"Why did you not enter and explain?"

"You have told me to not disturb you with small matters when you are engaged with others."

"That was not a small matter – your life threatened."

"But that had ended when I escaped them. They could not come through the gate, so I was safe, and it became a small matter." I pointed toward the vapours rising above the kettle. "Our tae water boils."

While I tipped water from the ladle[2] onto the leaves in the bowls, I said, "Besides, a guard approached and admonished me for running in and out the gate, and I found a way to have him to provide me with an escort past the ruffians."

Captain shook his head. "How did you accomplish that?"

"As in your tales, I inflated my purpose. Convinced him I had a duty to perform for the Admiralty."

"You will fare well in our adventuring, lad."

Notes:
[1] I would love to have used stoked here, but that word didn't enter the language until the 1680s.
[2] Ladle had long existed as a noun, but it didn't become a verb until 1758, thus the awkward phrasing.