Chapter 5

The road was quiet, and the weather was good for walking, dry with a bit of wind and not too sunny. I guessed it would take me two days to get near to the estate, once I was there, I could make plans but for now, my only plan was to put one foot in front of another and head home.

I walked all day, stopping only for lunch near a stream that enabled me to refill my flagon. That evening I stopped in an old coaching Inn in a small village just south of Truro. Coaches were coming in and out all the time I was there, and the place was full of people that passing by, so I did not stand out. I did not want Jacobs or his little gang to know I was back in the county and preparing to hunt them down For a small price, they offered me bed and food. It felt good to sleep in a real bed, and the food was well tasty and welcomed. After my night of fun with the lovely Mary, I knew I would sleep well that night.

That evening I sat in the bar and I drank a few pots of ale and kept my ears open for gossip, to see if there was any talk about Jacobs but there was none, I guess we were too far away from St Austell.

The following morning, I breakfasted before dawn and then hit the road as the sun came up. My long stride ate up the yards as I walked along the dusty road toward St Austell. As I approached the town my head was filled with thoughts about Kathryn Jenkins and the part she had played in the plot to get rid of me, the more I thought about it the more I wanted my revenge. She would be the first to pay for her betrayal I decided.

The sun was high in the sky as I walked into Towns market square. There was no market on that day but there were a few food stalls around, I found an Inn that was facing the house that Mrs Jenkins had been stopping in. I spent the whole afternoon there but saw no sign of her.

I was not even sure that she was still living there but I had time on my hands and this plan had to start somewhere. That night I bedded down in the cheapest room the inn had.

I did the same the following day, sitting and watching. That evening I decided I had to make a move.

I spoke to one of the Inn’s whores who for a silver coin told me that Mrs Jenkins still lived there but she now lived alone as far as she knew, she no longer lived with servants, and her daughters were away at school. she told me that Kathryn was in mourning for her husband who had been attacked by vagabonds on the way to Plymouth last month and who had died of his injuries. She also told me the following day was market day and Mrs Jenkins always did some shopping on market day!

I was eager to make the silver coins I had last as long as possible, so I walked out of town and slept that night in a barn that stunk of cow shit. It was a dry berth and that was something supposed but I woke up cold and hungry, so I headed back into the town after a wash in a nearby stream.

The market square was buzzing as traders set up their stalls. Stalls were selling all manner of goods, books, clothes, tools, food you name it there was a stall at the market selling it.

I took the same table at the same inn and breakfasted on porridge followed by bread and jam. I was offered a pot of ale, but I wanted to keep a clear head so opted for a mug of warm milk. The whore that I had spoken to yesterday sat with me for a while. She tried to bed me but when I told her I had no money left she went on her way.

I had been sitting watching the town’s people as they shopped and went about their business when she came out of her house; she was dressed from head to foot in black. I waited until she was long gone and slipped over to her side of the road. I had a look in through the windows, I could see anyone inside I knew there could be people upstairs, but I had to gamble on the house being empty.

I slipped down the alley between the houses, I soon found a gate that led into a little yard and let myself in. there was an open window that was just big enough for me to slip through. I was soon standing in the kitchen. I stood as quiet as a church mouse for a while but heard nothing from inside the house.

I slipped my knife from its scabbard and searched the house, it was empty, and there was no sign of any males living there. I settled down in the kitchen and waited for Jenkins to come back. I treated myself to a meal from her well-stocked larder. I figured that with my money running out food would be in short supply in the near future. There was also a bottle of rum, so I took a tot or two to keep out the cold.

I sat and waited, and I did so I wondered about what would happen when she got back. for a brief second, I thought about having my way with her when she got back, but I might have been a murderer, but I was not a rapist. I might have killed men in cold blood, but rape was a different thing altogether. The murders I had undertaken had been done in revenge for my father’s death and for the actions Jacobs and his gang had taken I would say there was an honour to this, there could be no pride or honour taken from raping anyone.

It was dark outside by the time she came back; I heard the door unlock and footsteps over the floorboards. My own eyes obviously had become well-adjusted to the darkness as I could see her clearly, as she came into the kitchen.

She used a taper to light a lantern from the embers of the fire. She hung the lamp from a hook in the ceiling and the tallow candles dim light cast a shadow over the room. I sat as silent as a mouse as she bustled about the kitchen with her back to me.

She turned to face the table and saw me, the shock registered on her face and she froze for a second. The look on her face changed from shock to rage, a smile of sorts.

“Shit you scared me... , John Trelawney I was told you were dead,” she said, the look on her face went from shock to horror and then to a false smile.

“How are you John, I have missed you so much!”

She moved close to me as if to kiss me, I stood up so quickly the chair tumbled to the floor.

“Missed me did you, you evil cow, you missed me my arse! “I growled, “You helped Jacobs to trap me and have me sent to America”

“No, it wasn’t like that...” she tried to say but I interrupted her.

“Save your words, he told me all about you and how you had taken a bag of gold for your troubles “I growled my anger boiling over.

“He’s lying, he made me do it, and he told me he and his men would rape me and my daughters if I did not help him” she cried and dropped to her knees. She looked up at me, hands clamped together begging me to believe her.

“Please John you have to believe me” she sobbed “Jacobs is a wicked, wicked man”

I was just wondering if she was telling the truth then a flash of steel told me otherwise. She had pulled a small dagger from under her coat. I punched her hard in the face, I have been taught never to hit a woman, but when she is trying to stab me then she has it coming.

She screamed and dropped the blade; I kicked it away and grabbed her by the hair. I pulled her to her feet and slapped her twice around the face, left and right. That seemed to knock the fight out of her.

“Any more of that kind of funny business and you will get more of that” I scowled at her. I dropped her to the floor. She lay there sobbing for a few seconds.

I picked up the chair and ordered her to sit down which she did without arguing.

“So, tell me your tale and tell it well “I scowled, “and don’t forget Jacobs has told me his side already”

Therefore, she told me how after our first meeting Jacobs asked her for help and that day had given her a small bag of gold and promised more when she was needed. He had met her some days later and they had devised a plan that would see her getting rid of her lazy fat bastard husband and would see Jacobs getting rid of the thorn in his side that was me.

“So, you knew his plans for me when we slept together?” I asked, She looked at me, closed her eyes, and nodded.

“Yes, John, yes I did,” she said and looked me in the eye, “but if I could turn back the clock I would”

“That’s easy to say now,” I said with a shake of my head.

“it’s true John, making love with you was amazing and I went to Jacobs to try to get out of the deal but he made vile threats toward me and my family,” she said and tears rolled down her cheeks.

“You have to believe me, John, please “She pleaded.

“Why should I believe you?” I scowled

“The gold John I still have it all, it’s yours if you want it “she cried, “together we could defeat Jacobs”

For a few seconds, I mulled that over in my head, was she to be trusted, or was she just a silly woman that had been tricked by that bastard Jacobs.

I walked across to the larder and picked up the bottle of rum and two mugs, I poured us both a drink.

“John ... Please let me help you sort out this mess with Jacobs “she pleaded, “ we could live as man and wife on that big estate of yours, you said that the sex was amazing and there is plenty more on offer!”

Even as she said the words it all became clear in my mind; in less than five seconds I knew what sort of woman Kathryn Jenkins was. Callous, scheming, vindictive...

“So, you slept with me just to try to get your hands on my estate, but you took the gold of Jacobs to help have me killed?” I asked, “What sort of woman are you?”

She was silent for a few seconds, I could almost see the cogs turning as she mulled over her answer, and then a dark look came over her face.

“The sort that will do anything to get away from her no-good life, if you had beaten Jacobs we would have lived as man and wife and if not then the gold is there to make my life better,” she said

“So, you hedged your bets?” I asked, but I already knew the answer.

“Of course, I did, one of you would win and one would lose but I had a finger in each pie” she laughed callously.

My anger boiled over and I kicked out at her savagely, the devious cow had played us both for fools.

“Shit that fucking hurt,” she moaned as she lay on the rough floorboards.” Damn your eyes you will pay for that John Trelawney”

“And how will I pay for it, my lady?” I asked mockingly

“When Arthur Jacobs finds out you are back in Cornwall, he will come looking for you!” she laughed.” he’s twice the man you ever will be!”

That swung it for me; it showed me what sort of woman she was. I stood up and walked past her to look out of the window into the yard. I heard her take a gulp of the brandy, at the same time I knelt on the floor and picked up her blade.

In one movement, I turned grabbed her hair, yanked back her head, and ran the tip of her blade across her throat. There was a muffled scream and then some gurgling before she slumped forward.

I dropped the blade to the floor and sat down in my seat, blood was still oozing from her neck, but her eyes were lifeless. I sat for a few minutes as her life drained from her body. At first, I was felt repulsed at what I had done but, in my heart, I knew she could not be trusted, and I was sure that if I had not killed her, she would have killed me.

I drank down my rum and searched the house for the gold that Jacobs had gifted her.

It was well hidden, under some clothes in an old sea chest in her bedroom. Once I had her treasure, I dragged her still body down the steps into the cellar, the longer she remained undiscovered the better it was for me. I was sure news of her death would make it back to Jacobs and that might set him on edge.

I rummaged through the bags she had brought back from the market; there were a couple of loaves of bread as well as cold meats and cheese. All these went into my sack then I put the bags in the larder and tidied up the kitchen so that anyone looking in through the window would not see anything wrong.

It was dark outside, so I slipped out into the back yard and through the maze of small alleys and streets until I was on the outskirts of the town. I skirted around until I was on the road to Charlestown. I walked through the night and as dawn broke, I found myself a stream, so I took a wash and ate some bread and cheese.

I was dead on my feet, so I decided to try to sleep during the daylight. I soon came across a dense stand of trees. Therefore, I bedded down there, wrapped in my sea cloak.

I awoke to the sound of horses; they were moving down the road that led past the wood. I crawled as silently as I could to the edge, still hidden under the mass of trees and brambles.

Four men were riding along, each well-armed, I could see pistols and knives in their belts. I knew their faces well; they had been part of Arthur Jacobs’s band of traitorous bastards that had led to my downfall. At first, I wondered if this was some strange dream, four of the bastards I was looking to hunt down were on the road in front of me. I pinched myself to make sure I was awake, which I was.

In some ways, I could not believe my luck, but I knew I would be an idiot to take them on right there and then, the odds of four to one was very much in their favour.

Barney Mcgrew, Albert Cuthbert, Simon Dibble and Peter Grubb were riding just a few yards from me. I wanted to charge at them there and then, to take them on and beat the living shit out of them but the odds were stacked against me.

I watched as they dismounted and led their horses to drink from the stream; I could hear then chatting as their horses refreshed themselves.

“So, your off to see young Miss Isabella then Peter” I heard Mcgrew say. The others laughed, there was obviously some sort of ‘in’ joke there I was sure.

“Yes, I am, now I have a few coins she is more eager to see me” he replied.

“And does the vicar’s daughter make you welcome,” Dibble said, and let out a raucous laugh. The other joined in again.

“Isabella is a good girl” Peter Grubb shouted, “so you lot can keep your dirty thoughts to yourself”

“She’s good Alright, “one of the others said and they all laughed again. They obviously liked teasing young Grubb about his girl.