Chapter 9

We bathed together in the bays warm water, all our cares and worries about the kidnappers returning had left our minds. Then we got dressed and ate a breakfast of leftover pheasant. After we had eaten breakfast, we spent some time tidying up our little camp and taking stock of our meagre possessions.

We had a good supply of weapons, ball, and powder. We had flasks of water, fresh from the stream but we were short of food. I could hunt rabbits but rabbit meat every day was boring, to say the least. We needed some sort of variety. I had tried to hunt down a deer but they were always skittish and heard me coming.

After we had tidied up I decided that I needed to find a village and buy some food. So, I left with one of the sacks, a loaded pistol, and a pocket full of the coins. As I left Makosi kissed me goodbye and told me to be careful. I told her I always was and always would be.

I walked inland for two hours before I found a village, it was far enough from my estate and Saint Austell for me not to be recognised. The village was small but had a good-sized grocery store. I went in and bought cheese, a couple of loaves of bread, a pot of honey, a few fresh pasties and topped it off with a bottle of rum.

I guess the store was regularly used by travellers as the storekeeper asked no questions about where I was headed or where I was from.

There was an inn in the village, so I went in and ordered a pot of ale and a bowl of stew. I felt bad that I was eating when Makosi was at the bay, but I figured that I needed feeding up before the walk home. The stew was great full of beef and vegetables. The ale was good and hearty.

The inn was quiet, and the locals seemed to keep to themselves, after eating I headed back to the bay. The road was quiet, and I did not see anyone other than two shepherds walking a flock of sheep along the lane. The nodded their greetings to me but did say anything to me.

Halfway back to the bay I passed an old cottage where I bought a big bag of mixed vegetables; if there was one thing I had learnt during my time as a sailor was that fresh vegetables were essential for good health and there was nothing I loved more than a big bowl of stew.

When I got back to the bay, I could not see Makosi and was starting to get worried, then she stood up, she had been hiding.

“Hi John, I heard you coming so I hid in the bushes” she smiled. A flush of relief spread through my body.

We kissed like long lost lovers ... a gentle kiss that became more forceful, more urgent, more passionate...

Our bodies moulded into each other. We must have snogged for a good few minutes before Makosi pushed me away giggling

“We need to eat john, “she said and gave me a playful slap.

Then we took my purchases into the barn, Makosi was impressed with my choices and she soon had ideas of stuff to cook. She also showed me some fishhooks and line she had found. She had been exploring the barn and found a few bits and pieces that we would find useful. She had used a long handle from some old farming tool to tie the fish lines too, six in all. Each topped with a hook.

I had never been a fisherman but Makosi assured me that in her village back home, they have caught fish this way for years. Later on, that afternoon we swam out into the bay and she showed me how to get bait from the little limpets that were stuck to the rocks. We used a knife to slip them from the rock and to dig out the fleshy meat from its shell.

Then she baited up the hooks and wedged the bar holding the hooks between two rocks, we then swam back to the shore. That afternoon we made love, twice, and each time was better than the one before. After the second moment of passion we swam out and checked the hooks, Makosi had worked wonders, each of the hooks had a fish. She unhooked them and dispatched them by bashing their heads off the rocks. She baited up the hooks and we swam with our catch back the sandy beach.

I got dressed and made the fire whilst Makosi used my knife to gut and prepare the fish, she did it naked and when she had finished she asked me to cut some branches from a nearby tree to thread the fish onto. She filled them with a mix of herbs and leaves before she washed off the blood and slipped on her dress.

The fish cooked quickly over the fire and they were delicious, one of the best meals I had ever had to be honest. That evening we sat with our backs against the rock and talked about the future. My plan to rid the world of Jacobs and his band of bastards had been put on hold for a few days and my arm still felt week. I knew it was better to have both arms back to full strength before I took them on. The swimming was helping of course, and the fun I was having with Makosi was taking my mind off my work.

That night we made love twice in the loft of the old barn and then slept likes babes.

I awoke suddenly, there was a hand over my mouth. I was about to struggle when I realised it was Makosi’s. I lay still and she leaned in and whispered into my ear

“There is someone outside John,” she said so quietly I only just heard her. I nodded so that she knew I understood her and then she let her hand slip off my mouth. I moved to one of the little gaps in the roof of the barn that acted as windows.

The was a man on the beach, he had a rucksack which he had rested on the rocks. He was wearing a black cassock, and I knew him. He was the priest that served the villages local to the estate, and the estate workers. I searched around in my head for his man. Father Crilly that was his name.

He looked around the bay and I thanked the lord that we made up our fire below the high tide line, it meant that the debris was washed away when the tide came in.

He wandered around and seemed not to see anything that worried or bothered him. I was thinking about what to do when he turned and looked at the track. Even from this distance it was obvious he was smiling, and he waved at someone that was obviously walking toward him.

A few minutes later another man walked down onto the sand, that changed my plan that was for sure. But what happened next made a huge difference. The other man had his back to me, and I could not see his face.

The other man was also carrying a sack and he dropped that by the rocks then he stepped close to Father Crilly. Then they kissed, not a brotherly kiss, this was a kiss of the kinds that lovers share.

I heard Makosi gasp and she whispered into my ear

“John, I don’t understand, are they both not men?” she whispered, showing her innocence and naivety.

“Yes, they are both men Makosi” I whispered back

“But they are kissing like a man and woman,” she asked, there was obvious confusion in her voice.

“they are sodomites, men that that find pleasure in other men,” I told her.

As we spoke the men shed their clothes and embraced again as naked as the day they were born.it was obvious this was not the first time they had met and enjoyed each other’s company

“I have never heard of such a thing,” she said shaking her head.

“Have you not heard of molly houses? “I asked, but she just shook her head.

“It’s a place where men go to have sex with other men,” I told her as I watch the two lads on the beach, she shuddered.

“But that’s not natural “she gasped, “The bible says it’s not surely John”

“Well trust me it happens, men that mount other men are called Mollys, queers, dandies or sodomites”

“So, what do we do now john?” she asked, at the same time both men walked into the water of the bay.

“We wait and see where this leads Makosi” I whispered.

The lads swam for around ten minutes before the priest walked up the beach, the other man followed. They were obviously comfortable in each other’s nakedness. The other man now had his face to me, I knew him, he was the son of a well-known merchant and shipowner from Saint Austell. I searched my mind for his name.

Charles Brashleigh, that was his name, and his father was Sir Charles Brashleigh. My father and Sir Charles Brashleigh had been both friends and business partners at one time. I had been to several birthday parties that had been held for the young Charles as well as many other events.

I had not looked up when I had returned to my estate but I was sure that I had heard that he was married, so that made his little tryst with the priest even worse. This gave me more leverage, neither man would want this little secret becoming public knowledge.

The two men kissed again before Brashleigh dropped to his knees and leaned forward, there was only one thing he could be doing, his head was bobbing back and forth. The priest had a look of contentment on his face.

“Right it’s time we made our move “I whispered to Makosi.

We got dressed quickly and quietly, and I took three pistols, making sure they were loaded. We dropped the ladder into the gap in the floor of the loft and stepped down into the barn. I opened the door as quietly as I could, and we stepped into the morning sun. we were well hidden from the men on the beach.

“Right Makosi, you go left and walk up the side of the barn,” I said, “I will go into the woods and sneak around them”

“Yes John,” she said taking the proffered pistol from me, it looked huge in her tiny hands.

“When you see me on the beach step out of the lee of the barn and come towards me,” I said, “and keep the pistol visible as you do so”

“Yes john, when I see you, I will show myself,” she said with a smile, she then kissed me and stepped around the left-hand side of the barn.

It took me a good ten minute before I had skirted around the bay so that I was walking up towards them, along the beach. The men had moved on, the priest was now on his hands and knees while Brashleigh was on his knees and it was obvious he was sodomising the priest. By the noises they were making, they were enjoying their coupling.

As I crept along the sand, I made no judgement, it was not my place to judge these men. Each to their own but it was not for me. As I have said before I have known men in the ship, I called home for all those years take part in such acts, I have known men that frequented the Molly Houses in the ports we docked at. Many were married men, men that would and could fight like true jack tars, but they found they had a need for something and that something was not for everyone. As I say not my place to judge or to reason why...

But catching these two men, both prominent in the local community both upstanding members of society in such a way would give me power, leverage and I aimed to make full use of it.

I was ten feet away from the men as they coupled, the air full of grunts and groans before I made my move.

“Good afternoon Gentlemen” I shouted, and they stopped moving and for a few seconds, nothing happened Brashleigh stood up and turned to me, his cock waning as he realised that they had been caught.

Makosi stepped from behind the barn, pistol in her hand, and walked up the beach toward us.

Father Crilly dropped on the sand and rolled over, reaching for his cassock.

“Leave it where it is, father, “I shouted, he looked at me, saw the guns I was waving at him and his hand retracted, I could not be sure he did not have a weapon hidden in his priest’s skirts. He stood up, all the colour had drained from his face and there were tears in his eyes.

Both men held their hands over the groins.

“We are doing nothing wrong” he pleaded, and then he paused and looked me up and down.

“But hang on don’t I know you?” he said, I could hear the shock in his voice as he realised who I was.

“I never said you were doing anything wrong and yes I think we have met once or twice” I retorted.

“You are John Trelawny. or the man that said he was, “he said shaking his head.

“Said I was?” I questioned the priest.

Brashleigh looked at me ... then he looked back at the priest and then back at me. His eyes were wide...

“It is its John Trelawny I have known him for years, my god man you have set tongues wagging around here,” he said, “there are quite a few rumours about you being bandied about”

“But Arthur Jacobs is telling everyone you were an imposter” the priest cried out.

“Well you can tell me more about that in a few minutes,” I told them, “Makosi please check their clothes for weapons”

“We have no weapons, Sir, “said the priest and Brashleigh nodded like a fool.

“Still it is better to be safe than sorry gents,” I told them and beckoned to Makosi, “And remember gents these two pistols are both loaded, and it would be hard to miss you from here!”

Makosi moved forward and ran her hands over the priest’s cassock and Brashleigh’s clothes, she shook her head telling me that there was nothing there to worry about

“Well, I think it is time you two got dressed and don’t try any funny business,” I told them and wave my pistols at them.

The priest looked at Makosi and then back at me, before speaking.

“Could we ask that the young lady everts her eyes sir?” he pleaded. I laughed and shook my head

“No, she can’t and she won’t, “I said, my voice full of menace, “You came to this bay to commit sodomy, you can’t be that easily embarrassed”

The men looked at each other and then grabbed their clothes and dressed as quickly as they could. I had my guns trained on them all the time. Once they were dressed, I ordered them to sit cross-legged on the sand a couple of yards down the beach. I was not expecting any trouble from them but there was always the risk they might try it on.

I walked over and check the content of the bags they had bought with them; the priests had a bottle of brandy, bread, cheese, and a porkpie. The merchant’s sons had a flagon of cider and some cooked chicken legs.

“Now gents while we eat your food you can tell me all you know,” I said, “and tell me lads do I need these guns?”

Both men looked at me and shook their heads, they both looked as nervous as kittens and I was happy they would not try anything. I placed the guns down but close enough to make them a threat, Makosi joined me on the rocks, and we tucked into the food.

“Right Crilly you can tell me exactly what you have heard,” I said as I chewed on a chicken leg.