7_5

Once more, Melchior found himself sitting in the freezing dark. Concealed in the long damp grass at the high end of a field of sheep, he went over the events which had led him to this point in his life. How often he had had to struggle and put in the extra hours at the treasury in order to have risen as high as he had in the ministry’s internal hierarchy. As a Jew he had had to work harder and longer than his colleague’s, proving my means of his diligence, his worth when others slid past him, helped along by nepotism and their parents connections.
All of that toil and labour he reflected had led to this. Sitting in the dark, freezing, with a musket cradled in his arms as he waited for some mythical creature or insane mad man to come along and fall into their trap.
They were on the high ground here, and a few yards away de Hogue lay on his stomach, peering across the moon lit landscape with a telescope.
For hours, nothing had happened, and the awful certainty was settling in Melchior’s heart that this night was also going to prove totally fruitless.
Seven long hours later, Bailey and Arkwright appeared as in the east the sky lightened.
Melchior, despite the cold, was fast asleep, huddled in his coat, his back against a rock. Bailey nudged him and the treasury man looked up in confusion.
“What?”
“We’re calling it a night” Bailey replied. “There’s nothing happening here.”
De Hogue stood up and started flapping his arms about him. He looked down at Melchior who was having some difficulty since his legs were both numb and he gave a short laugh.
“Don’t worry Mister Melchior. This afternoon we’re off back to Chatham to meet up with the Pegasus. Tonight we’ll sleep in warm beds you and I with hot food in our bellies, and if all goes well, you’ll not have to return to this poxy island again!”
Melchior realised this was true and a smile spread across his features. Indeed, he realised, he would be on the ship to catch the smugglers and if the mission was a success, then he would be going back to London!
He stared happily out towards the east and watched as the sun came up over the edge of the world.
All four men turned to watch in silence as the new day was born.
Around them the world held its breath and a moment of magic seemed to pass them by. As the sun heaved up into sight, the shadows were slowly pressed away and they all felt the grip of fear loosen and depart from their hearts.

In Margaret Hampton’s back room, the four women came out of their all night trance, and blinked at each other in the gathering light. Their candle had long since died and they groaned and stretched as they rose from the floor.
“What did you see?” Abigail Fisher asked Meg.
“Nothing certain” she replied, “I saw men out on the hills with guns. I think it was Bailey and his friends from the main land.”
“I saw them also” Margaret Hampton said. “I saw the Moss brothers as well, all carrying guns and burning dead sheep.
What did you see Abigail?”
“I saw nought much” Abigail Fisher shrugged. “But I felt the sea on my back, and I felt a great hunger. A hunger which I could not stop. It seemed to be eating me up from inside and I was mad with the feeling of it.”
Meg Tyler lifted an eye brow and regarded her old friend.
“You were in the sea? The whole time?”
“I don’t know. I just remember the feeling of being in the sea. I felt the waves on my back. As if I were floating in the sea staring down into the deep…”
Meg said nothing. They stood there in the cold room, still naked, and searched their minds for meaning. Finally they heard a sniff.All three women turned to the pale face of Emily Tyler. She stared back at them with an almost vacant fear. “I saw Jack Kirby die” she said.