*
When they arrived back at The Crow’s Nest early the next morning, the first sign they had that anything was amiss was the sight of the front door swinging open in the early sea breeze.
‘Are you sure you shut the front door last night, Nancy?’ Amber asked anxiously.
‘Quite sure. I’d not be so daft as to leave it open,’ Nancy responded indignantly.
Jimmy had spotted it too. ‘You two had best wait ’ere while I go an’ check there’s no one inside,’ he said, hopping down from the carriage and tethering the horse to the picket fence.
As Amber and Nancy climbed down, he disappeared inside only to return a few minutes later with a grave face.
‘Someone’s been in, all reet!’ he told them angrily. ‘An’ you’re not gonna like what they’ve done, the rotten buggers!’
With her heart in her mouth Amber followed him back up the path and when she entered the kitchen her hand flew to her mouth. The lovely curtains they had sat and sewn so painstakingly had been yanked from the poles and the china Amber had selected so carefully for the dresser was smashed and strewn about the floor. But it was the wall against the fireplace that stabbed at her heart the most, for across it someone had written,Whore!in big, bold letters.
‘Eeh, who’d do such a thing? An’ after all our ’ard work!’ Nancy wailed.
Amber blinked back the tears that were burning behind her eyes and climbed the stairs to find the same chaos up there. The bedding had been ripped from the beds and trampled with dirty boots before being strewn about and some of the old sea captain’s beautiful maps had been callously smashed.
‘Whoever did this should be bloody ’orsewhipped!’ Nancy cried indignantly. ‘The lousy swines!’
Jimmy, who had been having a good look around downstairs, joined them then, and hoping to ease the situation he said, ‘Look, things ain’t quite as bad as they look. For a start off whoever wrote that on the wall in the kitchen wrote it in soot an’ ashes from the fire so it should wash off fairly easily. An’ the curtains ain’t damaged, I just ’ad a good look at ’em. I’m gonna get one o’ the men workin’ on the fence to come in an’ put the poles back up for you an’ they’ll be good as new.’
True to his word, he left them and soon returned with one of the men, who immediately began to rehang the curtain poles that had been wrenched from the walls.
‘Look, I ’ave to go,’ Jimmy told them reluctantly. ‘The master’ll be waitin’ down at the warehouse for me. He’s busy gettin’ it ready for ’is new venture an’ I’m givin’ him a hand. But should you ’ave any trouble durin’ the day just shout from the door an’ one o’ the men outside will come runnin’.’
The two young women nodded and when he had left, they began to collect all the dirty bedding together. As Jimmy had pointed out, it was dirty but thankfully a good wash would put everything to rights, although they could well have done without all the extra work.
Just over an hour later, as Amber was sweeping up all the broken glass from the smashed picture frames and Nancy was washing off the awful word scribbled on the wall, Barnaby appeared in the doorway, his face a mask of rage as he looked at the wanton destruction the intruder had caused.
‘Do either of you have any idea who might have done this?’
The two girls shook their heads and he proceeded to stride from room to room. ‘I think it would be wise if we had one of the men stay here each night until we move in, just in case whoever did this decides to come back,’ he said. ‘And I’m so sorry for all the extra work it has caused you both.’
‘’T’ain’t your fault,’ Nancy answered matter-of-factly. ‘But I’d love to get me ’ands on the lousy bastards!’
Amber as yet hadn’t even acknowledged his presence but he came over to her and gently took a framed map from her hands.
‘Luckily the map and the frame aren’t damaged,’ he said quietly as he studied it. ‘I’ll get a new piece of glass cut for it.’
‘An’ what about all the lovely china?’ Nancy motioned towards the broken crockery she had swept into a pile.
‘Just take some more from the house,’ he instructed, his mouth set in a grim line. ‘There’s so much there no one will even notice it’s gone.’
He stared at Amber for a moment but when she still didn’t even look at him, he left.
Nancy watched him jump into his saddle and said sadly, ‘I can’t ’elp but feel a bit sorry for ’im! I mean, he’s ’ad a lot o’ trouble lately, ain’t he?’
‘I dare say he has, but he’s still a lot better off than most people in the town,’ Amber said bitterly. ‘He’s still got this house, two ships an’ a warehouse.’
‘That’s true,’ Nancy admitted. ‘But it ain’t a fraction o’ what he ’ad, is it? I ’eard ’em say down in the kitchen last night that ’e’s goin’ to use one o’ the ships for transportin’ goods abroad an’ the other for fishin’. That’s what him an’ Jimmy are gettin’ the warehouse ready for.’
Amber shrugged. ‘I dare say he’ll make a go of it,’ she said ruthlessly. ‘After all, he didn’t have much when he met the mistress, by all accounts, but he worked to build the shipyard up thinkin’ it was his!’
‘Well, I reckon it were a dirty trick of ’is father-in-law’s,’ Nancy responded. ‘All them years the master worked on what were never goin’ to be ’is business if the mistress passed afore ’im an’ he never even knew it.’
Amber shrugged again as she looked around to see what needed doing next. She still found it very difficult to muster up any sympathy for Barnaby. ‘What’s done is done an’ now we’ve all just got to try an’ make the best of it,’ she said stoically and side by side they carried on working.
