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“I’m finished. This is my final drop.”
Father’s eyes flashed. “You cannot leave your brother without help.”
“We can discuss this at another time, but I do believe there are plenty of willing hands. Mine just happen to be done.”
John Caney’s boat was halfway between Jack’s ship and the shore. They needed to move faster. Something shone on the top of the cliff, glinting against the starlight, and caught William’s eye. He swore.
“What is it?” Jack asked.
“I think we have a visitor.”
* * *
Pippa had stayed awake four nights in a row, watching the shoreline for sign of any ship from her bedroom window. She knew William didn’t want her to be part of it, and she wouldn’t be. She would watch out for him from a distance, and he would never even know she was there.
She understood that he wanted to protect her. Could he not understand that she only wished to protect him as well?
That had been the plan at least. When the ship pulled into the harbor, Pippa had straightened from her slouched position at her window and donned her scarlet cloak. She let herself outside and slipped through the trees, avoiding the gravel drive, and hovered at the edge of the coverage they provided.
Her plan was to watch for Mr. Ainsworth and warn the men if he appeared. So far, the lanes appeared empty. She shivered in her cloak, the cold evening air slipping through cracks in her clothing and chilling her exposed skin.
One of William’s boats had made it onto the beach and finished unloading the barrels, and the second boat was on its way back from the ship. Urgency tainted the air, buzzing along and making Pippa’s body hum. She searched the beach for William’s form, but it was too far and too dark to see clearly. A motion caught her eye on the opposite end of the cove near the rock pools, and she peered closer, trying to determine if it was a man or a shadow.
He turned, and light glinted from his eyes. It was most certainly a man, and given his avoidance of the activity on the beach, it was likely Mr. Ainsworth.
Pippa froze. If she ran down to the beach, he would see her coming. If she shouted from above, he would certainly be warned alongside William and the other Collacott men.
The promise she made to William to stay away was irrelevant now that he was in danger.
She needed to sneak down to the sand and warn them quietly. But how? Pippa shed her bright red cloak and immediately regretted not owning one in a darker color. It was freezing outside, and the cold penetrated through her layers of woolen clothing. She hung the cloak on a branch and made her way toward the treacherous path that led from her house directly down to the beach. It was dangerous with the help of sunlight, so she would need to be extremely cautious in the dark.
Voices from the beach reached her when she’d made it halfway down the path, and she wanted to hush the men. Surely Mr. Ainsworth did not yet have enough proof or he would have made himself known. She really wished she’d asked Mac to explain the law surrounding smugglers to her before now. If she understood exactly what it was Mr. Ainsworth needed, she might prevent him from obtaining it.
Pippa’s foot slipped on a slick patch of mud, and she grabbed the rock to her side, the rough stone cutting into her palm. Her heart hammered in her chest, and she searched the rock pools for Mr. Ainsworth, but came up empty. Had he already moved on the smugglers? Given their positions waiting on the beach for the second boat, she rather thought that wasn’t the case.
Pippa searched the beach, and her gaze snagged on a shadow moving up the main path. Mr. Ainsworth? Was he retreating? Nothing made sense, except that she was immensely grateful she hadn’t descended to the beach that same way.
Pippa continued to climb down, taking slower steps despite the urgency skittering through her body. She jumped with both feet when she was only a few feet from the ground and let out a breath of relief. She’d made it.
Hiking up her skirts to her calves, Pippa ran quietly toward the men gathered on the sand.
Someone spotted her, and William whirled around. The starlight was ample this evening and she could see much better than she’d been able to a week ago during the last smuggling evening. Or mission. Whatever it was William called it.
“Pippa?” William asked, his voice incredulous.
She panted, her breaths coming in heaves. “I’ve come to warn you.”
“Ainsworth?” he asked.
She nodded, then realized he might not be able to see her. “Yes. He was over on the rock pools, but he just left.”
“Deuce take it,” William said.
“It is not good news? He’s retreated.”
“No, it’s not good,” William said. “He’s likely gone for assistance. We need to get off this beach now.” He turned toward another man. “Tell Father to get home. Take men with him and hide the barrels.”
Father? That man must be his brother.
