2. Going Under

William had found it hard but had adjusted to life in the cold of the small coastal village, through this was nothing to the cold of his exceptionally distant grandfather. His matter of fact directness lacked warmth and no matter what he tried, nothing could crack the old man’s resolution. He never smiled, passed on a positive word or offered any kind of friendly acknowledgement. William’s mother explained that it wasn’t his fault, he was always like that. He felt comfortable with the distance. It didn’t stop the boy trying.

For all the difficulty of the challenge of connecting with his grandfather, the ease of the relationship with his grandfather’s assistant was decidedly simple. Rags was a hardworking loyal employee, but the reality was he was as close to family that Douglas had since his daughter had left him for a better life in the big city. Not that he would admit it, but Rags was comfortable in his role and their silent agreement suited both men, and William became very grateful for it. In that first few weeks William had felt lost. It was somewhere he didn’t know and nobody knew him. He was kept away from the front of his grandfather’s Inn and so often found himself very bored and even more lonely. This is where Rags became his saviour.

For all the difficulty of the challenge of connecting with his grandfather, the ease of the relationship with his grandfather’s assistant was decidedly simple. Rags was a hardworking loyal employee, but the reality was he was as close to family that Douglas had since his daughter had left him for a better life in the big city. Not that he would admit it, but Rags was comfortable in his role and their silent agreement suited both men, and William became very grateful for it. In that first few weeks William had felt lost. It was somewhere he didn’t know and nobody knew him. He was kept away from the front of his grandfather’s Inn and so often found himself very bored and even more lonely. This is where Rags became his saviour.

It had started with a smile of acknowledgement, then quick chats in between tasks, and eventually Rags began taking his new found shadow on all of his many errands. Rags was twenty, his family lived on a farm even further into the wilderness and as a second son knew his future would never be as a farmer so had left to find his own way. He knew Douglas had a daughter and that the pub could never be his, but he also knew that there would always be a need for someone to run the place in her absence, her appearance had certainly dented these ambitions but he wasn’t a man to hold any kind of resentment and was actually quite happy with the warmed atmosphere the newcomers had brought.

The only time he refused William’s request was when he headed out on his dusk trips. He was always very insistent about it and never gave an explanation. He knew there was something untoward about what was going on, and he knew that his grandfather was involved because the trips were always preempted by a long conversation in the quietest corner of the pub. William gradually became obsessed with these clandestine affairs and after a couple of months decided that as spring was beginning to appear and dusk becoming later he would have a perfect opportunity to follow Rags on one of his secret errands. The reason he had been able to watch Rags leave was the early dusk meant he left before William was in bed, however as dusk moved later he could head to bed and then secretly slip out of his bed, climb from the upstairs window onto the lower roof of the private room at the back and then drop into the small courtyard at the back. One mild evening in early February he decided that his chance had arrived.

His plan worked like clockwork, when his mother put him to bed he gave a perfect performance pretending to be fast asleep within minutes and gave her enough time to creep away along the corridor and back down the stairs to the pub before he slid out of his bed and crept towards the window. He lifted the heavy pane up and shoved his head through letting the wood of the frame rest on his shoulders. He swung his legs over and gripped the sill tightly with his hands. He lowered himself and then dropped down quietly onto the roof of the pub kitchen before shuffling along to the end so he could drop into the small, dark courtyard.

Hidden behind a group of old barrels William waited for Rags to appear. After what seemed like an age the back door of the pub opened and his friend slipped out. He was carrying a large leather bag over his shoulder and to William’s horror, a pistol in his other. He shut the door quietly and made his way away from the pub. Not in the direction of the front street of the village but the fields behind. After about half a mile Rags stopped, looked around and ducked behind a set of bushes. A moment later and he was out, but now leading a horse and cart.

The pair, no more than 100 yards apart quietly made their way towards a small cove, when they arrived it was deserted and silent. Rags sat his bag down and removed a small piece of mirrored glass and began moving it between his fingers. Occasionally it caught the moonlight and shone towards the far edge of the cove.

Suddenly there was a flash that came from the other edge, this was followed by a whistle which Rags replied to and then a quiet splash. William strained his eyes and spotted a large rowing boat heading across the cove, as it neared he saw it was stacked with barrels and bottles. William knew this meant only one thing. His grandfather and Rags were smugglers.

He watched in horror as Rags and the boatman moved everything from the boat to the cart. It was a shattering experience as he saw his new friend completely differently in the moonlight. All the way back to the pub he struggled with his disappointment, anger and sadness.

William looked down the dark street towards home, it was so still and silent he felt no concerns about making his way quickly along the deserted road. He was within feet of the side passage that would take him into the rear courtyard when suddenly and without warning he felt a hard hand wrap itself around his mouth and an arm around his waist. He tumbled backwards into a doorway.

“Shhh. Don’t say a word,”

William hadn’t worked out what was going on and nodded. A paralysing fear began to grip him. He knew he couldn’t speak even if he wanted to.

The hand around his mouth loosened, but the other maintained its tight grip.

“It’s me William, it’s Rags.”

“Rags. You’re a smuggler!” William whispered through angry tears.

“No William I’m not. This whole village is run by smugglers, but your granda refuses to deal with them. It’s almost impossible to get our legal stuff through without them finding out. We bring it in at night. But that’s not for now. Something is up. Your granda leaves the lamp on when I go out. Look, it’s not on. Something is wrong. You wait here. I will check. If I don’t come back run to the vicarage, do you understand?”

William nodded and Rags slipped away silently to the rear entrance of the inn.

William waited in silence for felt like hours. In reality it was only minutes. Suddenly Rags races from the front of the Inn holding an old sword and what appeared to be a pistol.

“Come with me Will. The smugglers have got your ma and granda at the docks. They want our stuff to sell back to us as a punishment. I’ll go and see what I can do. You must listen to me and do everything I say. Do you understand?”

William nodded.

The pair raced toward the small dock, there were two ships moored up and as they neared they could just make out a dinghy bobbing in the open water outside the bay attached by a long rope to the end of the walkway. It didn’t take long to realise that inside the small boat were two figures, bound tightly and with hessian sacks over their heads. William recognised his mother’s dress in the moonlight and was about to call out when Rags grabbed his shoulder and shoved him behind a stack of crates.

“Hide here for now Will, whatever happens you hide and if the worst happens you know where to run to.”

Rags slipped away, preparing his pistol as he ran. William heard raised voices and a shot pierced the air. He strained to see round the crates but to no avail, suddenly a mad desire to see what was going on overtook him and he edged along the quay hopping from shadow to shadow towards the noise.

By the time he was within 20 feet he could hear exactly what was going on. Rags was behind a stack of crates shouting at a group of men on the end of the quay behind an upturned dinghy. He worked out that they were threatening to set his mother and grandfather adrift in a scuttled boat if Rags didn’t agree to their conditions. Rags was refusing steadfastly and offering counter threats of violence. Throughout the standoff the stricken dinghy was sinking slowly.

William could see that Rags was getting increasingly agitated by the height of the boat in the water looking more at it than the men opposite him.

Suddenly out of nowhere gunshots thundered across the quay. William spin around to see another group of men charging towards the battle, it was the militia. Suddenly chaos reigned and shots flew in every direction. Using the opportunity Rags dropped his gun ran from his position and dived towards the water to swim to the boat. He didn’t reach the water before another shot rang out. William waited for Rags to reappear but no matter how hard he stared at the water he didn’t reappear. Then to his horror he realised he could not longer see the boat containing his mother or his grandfather.

Suddenly out of nowhere gunshots thundered across the quay. William spin around to see another group of men charging towards the battle, it was the militia. Suddenly chaos reigned and shots flew in every direction. Using the opportunity Rags dropped his gun ran from his position and dived towards the water to swim to the boat. He didn’t reach the water before another shot rang out. William waited for Rags to reappear but no matter how hard he stared at the water he didn’t reappear. Then to his horror he realised he could not longer see the boat containing his mother or his grandfather.

William hugged the ropes as tightly as he could and kept his breathing as shallow as he could in fear of anyone spotting him. He did not dare look to see if anyone was on the boat, let alone the fighting on the dock. But as he started to get his composure he began to notice the noise had fallen to a few shouts and very occasional gun shots, and then he could hear the clank of metal, the creak of wood and the flap of a sail. The boat was moving.