Tempest could not let him be arrested but there was nothing else she could do without bringing attention to herself and her sisters. Rhys could deny that he had taken the things but they were standing by the newly repaired boat and a pot of tar near the boat.
“Bloody hell!” Rhys grumbled. “What if I pay you for what I took, and extra, will you leave me alone?”
“No,” a man answered. “You are coming with us. We do not want English on this island, especially thieving Englishmen.”
Tempest and her sisters remained quiet and listened as the voices drifted away until they could not be heard any longer.
“Stay here,” she whispered and peeked out from under the boat. When nobody was seen, she snuck around bushes and trees, then to the house, inside, then looked all around the front before she determined that Rhys and the soldiers were truly gone before she rushed back to her sisters. “It is safe.”
She then grabbed their bag and rushed to the house, her sisters following.
“At least he wasn’t arrested for being a spy,” Margaret said as she sank down on a bench.
“Why would he be?” Tempest demanded because she was certain that her sisters did not know the truth of why he was here.
“I overheard the two of you talking. I snuck out to listen.”
“You should not have done so,” Tempest scolded as she opened the cloth bag and dumped everything out until she picked up her dress, shook out the wrinkles then folded it. She then set it aside and found her reticule and counted her funds.
“All of you need to stay in the house. Do not leave for any reason.”
“What are you doing?” Nicoll demanded.
“I am off to save a spy.”
“How?”
“That I have not figured out yet, but I need to follow to find out where he is taken.”
“What if you are caught?”
“Then you need to take the girls and leave. As soon as that tar is dry, get into the boat and row as far away as you can and hope to encounter the Royal Navy.” She prayed that the tar dried quickly, just in case. “Keep them quiet and in the house. I will return as soon as possible.”
Seventeen
They had not secured his feet or his hands, and even though Rhys was marched between the soldiers, he could easily get away. He knew the forest because he had walked it often since his arrival. He also knew where there was a cave where he could hide.
The only reason he did not attempt an escape was because he feared the soldiers would return to the hut and lay in wait and hope to catch him only to find Tempest and her sisters. That could not happen even if it meant that he was imprisoned.
The people in Martinique were without supplies. If they did not have their own fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken and cows they would be destitute.
In fact, he was certain that the French soldiers were suffering more than the residents of Martinique and he wouldn’t put it past the French to keep Tempest and her sisters prisoner until the blockade was removed.
At least Tempest and her sisters were safe and so long as he was in custody, they would remain that way, though he would like to know who on the ship had given away vital information.
How soon would it be before the man revealed that messages were delivered and retrieved from that portion of the island? He had to know since the cutter stopped there regularly and put a ship’s boat in the water to be rowed to him.
Why hadn’t he shared that intelligence?
Rhys also assumed that it would eventually happen and needed to be prepared, if someone had not already been told and more soldiers were waiting to take him to the gallows.
He needed to make a plan. One that would see him freed and if given the opportunity, he would take it and run all the way back to the hut if he had to and get Tempest and her sisters to safety.
That was what he focused on as they marched. Making plans and dismissing them, unable to be certain of anything until he knew where he was to be held. If it was going to be in the fort, there would likely be no escape, but if he was to be charged with theft, maybe it would be the local gaol, which gave him an advantage.
Rhys glanced around, taking note of where they were, which was not the path he usually took, and longer than the one he used, which meant he would make it back to the hut quicker than anyone who followed.
That was good to know.
