[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.‘I wanted you to know that your John helped solve something.’‘John?’ she asked in astonishment.‘You mean those women you were looking for?’‘Yes,’ he said and told her everything, the deputy’s idea, the letter he’d written and what it had all meant.When he’d finished she sat back, shook her head and gave a small laugh.‘He could be a dark one at times, couldn’t he?’‘But worth ten of most people.’‘They’re going to hang?’ she asked.‘There’s no doubt about it.And soon after that I’m going to resign.’‘You?’ She looked at him in disbelief.‘Why?’‘Because it’s time.’ It was the best he could offer, a small sentence that seemed to say everything.‘But I hope you’ll still be a friend to us all.James and Isabell, too.’‘Of course.’ She grinned and he caught a glimpse of how she’d been before her man died.‘But only if you promise not to be a stranger here, either.’The school remained closed for a fortnight, long enough for Emily to regain her strength.She’d been taken home, to rest in her own bed, and Lucy had seen to her needs until she’d had enough of being waited on like a lady and was eager to do things for herself once more.Rob had been with her whenever he wasn’t working, attentive and asking what she needed until she finally snapped at him to leave her alone.That was when the Constable knew she was ready.The day the school reopened the girls brought in small bunches of wildflowers they’d gathered to give to her.She wasn’t going to stop teaching, he knew that, she wasn’t going to let herself be pushed out.The fear was still there, it would always be there, but she’d never let it show, she’d keep it locked away, hidden from sight; she took after him that way.The new books arrived and the smile slowly returned to her face.She didn’t say anything to him about what had happened, but he knew she and Rob must have talked.In the evening she devoted less time to her work and more to her young man.They still planned to marry; the banns had been read for the first time the previous Sunday.They’d decided that it seemed the right thing to do.The Corporation voted Nottingham a pension as gratitude for his bravery.Money to keep him, he thought as he sorted through a chest, finding one of Mary’s old dresses.He held the garment close to his face, taking in the scent of her that still lingered faintly in the material, picturing her face, the texture of her hair as he stroked it, and loving her as much as when she’d lain next to him.The moor was packed with people; most of Leeds and the villages around had come out, it was an event few wanted to miss.The members of the Corporation, all in their finery, had ridden the three miles out to Chapeltown after the cart had arrived and the prisoners taken up to the gallows, hands bound behind them and the nooses around their necks.The vicar moved between them, urging repentance and saying his prayers for their souls.Finally, as the small bell of St Matthew’s church tolled nine, he stood back.The executioner checked the knots and nodded to the Constable.The crowd fell silent, craning for a good view of the end.Before he could give his consent, Mrs Wade spoke out, her voice loud, ‘I damn Constable Richard Nottingham and his family.’The trapdoor opened and the bodies fell suddenly so all that was left above the platform were heads and shoulders.People surged forward, noisy, excited, eager to touch the feet as they dangled close to the ground.A few more minutes and the hangman would be busy selling lengths of rope and the clothes of the corpses, cut into small squares, as the bodies were taken off to be buried.‘A good hanging, Richard.’ Tom Williamson stood, a peacock in his finest clothes.As an alderman he had to be there.‘But her words can’t hurt you.’‘I know.’ He managed a sad smile.They’d slid off him, just one more curse among so many over the years.But there had been too much dying, too many deaths.The week grew into the next and the weather turned sultry, a patchwork of storms and prickly, fretful heat, sun blazing one day, rain pouring the next.The Constable was at his desk, noting down expenses, gathering together small notes and adding up totals.The windows of the jail were open wide and he was in his shirt, still sweating as he worked.He opened the drawer and glanced at his letter of resignation again.At the middle of the month he’d give it to the mayor.He’d almost finished his work when Rob returned from his early rounds.‘Did you know they’re starting to clear that old orchard on Lady Lane where it runs down to Sheepscar Beck?’‘The one by Vicar’s Croft?’ he said with interest.‘What are they doing?’‘I talked to the foreman.They’re going to build houses.’‘There?’ He knew the city owned the land; it had been bequeathed to them years before.‘I asked who they were working for.He said it was Tom Finer
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
