“I’ll try.”
“No, Mister Soames, you will do better than that.”
I left him watching my back. I didn’t like trusting him, as I thought he’d run at the first sign of trouble. He wasn’t to know how restricted we were, so perhaps he would do as I had asked.
I met Mary and Evelyn Frobisher as arranged and enjoyed a surreal luncheon at a small restaurant in the fashionable part of town. Thereafter we visited a few shops, which I found purgatory, as I knew that there were things I should have been doing.
Finally, at four o’clock, I persuaded them to stop at the offices of the Chronicle. Soames was already waiting outside as our carriage drew up.
“I won’t be a moment,” I told my companions, and alighted.
“You’re booked onto the coach that leaves tomorrow morning. I’ll meet you at the coaching Yard down by the river. It stops over night at inns on the way. It’s six hundred and fifty miles, in all, and they reckon on travelling at between five and twelve miles an hour. They go for six hours before they stop and get fresh horses, and then another six hours before stopping for the night. It will take six days to get there. And, do you know, they’re proud of it!”
I was stunned. Six days, and that was one way. What with doing what I had to do and then returning.
How the hell could I explain away a fortnight’s absence to my husband?
Wait a minute. I didn’t have to go all the way, if Soames identified Frost to me at the beginning of the journey, then I just had to wait for an opportune moment to remove the problem, so to speak.
“That’s not a problem, as long as you identify Frost to me.”
He smiled, nodding nervously.
It was at that moment that I realised that he had betrayed me. He just wasn’t behaving as I had anticipated, he was way too nervous. Then I realised what must have happened.
He feared them more than he feared me, so this trap I was arranging for Frost was going to be a trap for me, and had probably been in the pipeline ever since I let Soames go free.
What a complete fool I had been; but then they say one learns by one’s mistakes.
“Good, then I will meet you tomorrow by the coaching yard.”
I couldn’t get out of there quick enough.
I mounted the carriage and allowed it take me round the corner.
“Oh, my word. I dropped something!” I exclaimed. “Stop the carriage!”
“I’ll get a ride back with my friend, you go on!” I said, jumping down before they could question me further, and then walking cautiously round the corner to see Soames disappearing off down the road as fast as his fat little legs could carry him.
I followed at a distance, cursing the voluminous clothing that I wore. I kept a good distance between us and on the opposite side of the street. After about a quarter mile, he went into a nondescript, wooden building. It looked like a warehouse.
I really wished I had my gun with me.
Moving closer, I went round the back of the building.
Through the window, I could see Soames in a lower room. There were two persons with him, both male. One I recognised as my friend from Abingdon, Paris and Oxford, while the other man had his back to me. They were having a heated discussion. I moved as close as I dared.
“….she doesn’t suspect,” I heard Soames say.
“You don’t know her, she’s a very devil. If she has the slightest suspicion that she is the target, then we are all in danger,” said the man I had already killed or seen killed.
“How could she, I didn’t even have to tell her that Lincoln is in Indiana. She naturally assumed he was the target.”
“Why don’t we just go to where she’s staying and shoot her?” the other man, Frost, asked.
“Because they’d be back here like a shot, almost before we walk away. No, she can’t die, as her life force would return to the Centre and then they’d know exactly where we are. She has to disappear, and remain alive but neutralised, until we complete this part of the operation.”
“So, what’s the plan?”
“The coach is the obvious choice. We must take her out just before it gets to the first river crossing, so we can take her to the river and get her onto the boat.”
“She’s not going to go willingly, how will we get her there?” Soames asked.
“A sack over her head and then bind her up. If necessary, we bang her on the head, but not hard enough to kill.”
“What about the coachman and other passengers?”
“We’ll play it as if it’s a kidnap, they’ll report it, but we’ll be miles away.”
“It’s a risk, are you sure we can’t just kill her and hope there’s enough a delay to let us reach our objective?”
“No, she mustn’t die. For if she gets back to her centre, then we’ll have reinforcements down on us before we can take another breath.”
They say forewarned is forearmed. I left them, to find the Frobishers still waiting for me. I waved my purse at them, remounting the carriage.
Later that evening, as Roger and I were alone after dinner, Roger remarked that I seemed distracted.
Distracted? That was an understatement.
I was actually thinking about killing myself, just so I could get back to the centre and get some help. Then I thought about it. I was better than that!
It was as if I had forgotten who I had been. I was, or would be, a senior NCO in the US Marines, so why was I behaving like this?
I was also a woman, mother and wife. To say I experienced some degree of inner turmoil is an understatement.
“Roger, can I tell you something?”
“Of course, is something the matter?” He immediately seemed concerned.
“Do you remember Paris?”
“Yes, why?”
“Well, I was in town today and, well, you won’t believe me, but I swear I saw the very same man as you caught about to assassinate the Duke.”
“What, today?” he asked, surprised.
“Yes, I was with the Frobishers, and there he was, walking across the street.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
He was silent, looking thoughtful.
“What should we do?” he asked.
“You’re asking me?” I asked, surprised.
“My dear, you hold many mysteries in your exquisite head, most of which I shall never fathom. I have always believed that you are special, but how special, I don’t think I’ve yet understood. These sightings are perhaps an indication or a key to these mysteries, so I ask you again, what do you think we should do?”
He said we, not you, so I smiled, taking his hand.
“Is the regiment still in camp?” I asked.
“Yes, we have another three days in training manoeuvres.”
“Have you a map of the area?” I asked.
“Of course, do you want to look at it, my dear?” he asked.
“Please.”
Once we had the map on the table, I looked at the rather crude effort. However, it had the necessary roads, rivers and tracks. I identified the road on which the coach would travel, and the first ferry crossing some ten miles out of town.
“Roger, do you trust me?” I asked.
“My dear, you have to ask?”
“Then I have a suggestion as a training exercise,” I said, feeling like a senior NCO once more. “You see, I have a confession to make.”
I know it’s against the rules, but I owed it to him to know the truth, or at least some of the truth.
To say he took it well would not do it justice. He had to sit down, shaking his head.
“I knew you were special, but this… this is…” he was beyond words.
It took him a few moments to think of questions. I answered them all honestly, but then he came to the big one.
“So, your coming to Abingdon was pre-planned. Was I part of the plan?”
“No. I simply sought employment so I could live there.”
“Is our marriage….?” He couldn’t form the question as he wanted to.
I smiled, taking his hand.