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CHAPTER FOUR
Wally put a comforting hand on her back, but it did little to ease her anxiety.
“Wait ‘ere,” the jailer growled before he shuffled off to find his quarry.
Hetty and Wally shared a look. A stony silence settled over them as they waited.
It took an age before the prisoners shuffled into the room. In spite of her best efforts to remain strong, Hetty took one look at Simon, and burst into tears. It was evident from the stunned disbelief on his face that he understood himself just how dire his situation was, but she couldn’t find the words to offer him any comfort. Her emotion wasn’t helped by the fact that he couldn’t even return her hug because his hands were confined behind his back.
She hugged him anyway. Eventually, she released him so that Wally could give him a hug. She turned to Charlie, took one look at his face, and began to cry again.
She couldn’t help it; she threw her arms around him and leaned against him as she fought the helpless desperation that threatened to buckle her knees. The feel of him against her brought forth memories of last night, and it helped her find the strength she needed.
Their embrace last night seemed such a different world away from the situation they were now in. She wished that they could go back to that special moment and start all over again. If she knew then what she knew now she would never have let him go back to the tavern, and would have insisted that everyone just go home while they were still sober.
It was too late to go back though. What was done; was done.
“It is alright,” Charlie assured her. He leaned toward her and kissed her cheek. “It will be alright, sweetheart.”
Over the top of her head, his eyes met and held Wally’s meaningfully. Both men knew that it wouldn’t be. He couldn’t help it; although he couldn’t hug her in return, he placed a tender kiss on the top of her head, and swore silently against the surge of frustration that swept through him at his inability to even have the freedom to move.
“It can’t be,” Hetty choked out. “Meldrew and Gembleby have decided you are guilty. They just said so. If they could get away without having a trial, they would do. They won’t let you leave here unless it is through the gallows.”
Charlie nodded. The only outward sign of his inner turmoil was a muscle that ticked steadily in his jaw and, for a moment, he couldn’t speak beyond the fury that threatened to overwhelm him. He knew that losing his temper would get him nowhere; but he had to dig very deep indeed to get some semblance of control over his burning rage. In all of his years with the Star Elite, he had never thought he would face such a situation. He was stunned to find himself in it now.
“Look, I need you to do something for me,” Charlie whispered directly into her ear so that the jailer couldn’t overhear.
When she leaned back and looked up at him, he nodded toward an empty space in the far corner of the room that was as far away from the jailer as they could get. He threw
a dark look at the jailer that warned him to stay where he was, and encompassed Simon and Wally in a look that asked them to join him and Hetty.
“What?” Simon whispered once they were huddled in the corner.
“I work for the War Office,” Charlie admitted quietly. “I am here on an official government investigation. Neither of us shot that man last night. Meldrew’s men did. We watched them do it. Unfortunately though, we were ambushed before we could leave the area because we were a little unsteady on our feet.”
He shook his head at the memory of them crashing through the undergrowth like a herd of charging bulls.
“The War Office?” Hope lit Simon’s eyes.
“Shh. You mustn’t tell anyone just yet,” Charlie reasoned.
“Why not? I mean, if you tell Meldrew, he wouldn’t dare hang you,” Wally countered.
“This is Meldrew we are talking about here. If he has any suspicion that the War Office is onto him, he could very well hang me quickly to get me out of the way. Did you see the gallows out in the yard?”
Hetty nodded slowly. “Meldrew would most probably speed up the process if he suspected that officials higher than him were on to him.”
“I know. So don’t tell anyone just yet. Not yet,” Charlie urged. “I need you to send an urgent note to my boss, Sir Hugo Dunnicliffe, at the War Office. Mark it extremely urgent, and also for the attention of Simon Ambrose if Sir Hugo is not available. I gave them a false name here. My real name is Charlie Ryder. Tell Sir Hugo that I am in jail for a murder that I did not commit. Tell them that the magistrate here is corrupt, and has men in his employ who have lied about my guilt. Tell them that I need help as a matter of urgency because death by hanging is threatened. They will arrange to get us out, but you must notify them as quickly as you can.” He glanced at Wally. “In my room at the pub, beneath the third plank away from the wall, directly underneath the chamber pot, is a small hiding space. There is a pouch of coins in there. Use those to get the message sent urgently. Don’t rely on the post chaise because it will take too long. Send a rider, and pay him well. Can you do that? If you can, I stand a chance of getting us both out of here before we even get to court.”
Hetty listened in rapt silence, and stared at him in stunned disbelief for several moments once he had fallen quiet. It took a moment to absorb the full import of his words. She was flabbergasted at his quiet declaration. She glanced at Simon and Wally, and was unsurprised to find that they also looked completely stunned.
“Will you do it?” Charlie asked when nobody seemed inclined to speak.
“We will,” Wally assured him, a new note of respect in his voice. “Of course we will. I will get the letters off as soon as we leave here. If I send a rider with them, they should reach them the day after next.”
“Send someone from the next county. Don’t send them from Derby, in case Meldrew intercepts them. My boss can, and will, stop Meldrew in his tracks. You just need to inform him for me.”
“Good Lord, who -”
