CHAPTER 34

C HAPTER 34

I t was late afternoon when they arrived at the Portsmouth Royal Dockyard. As Bran had said, the Yard was even larger than the one in Devonport. Even the porter’s lodge that guarded the main entrance was a substantial building in its own right with several guards stationed at the gate.

Bran said, “I’m supposed to meet with Chief Howard, who is the head of security for the whole Dockyard. His office is here in the porter’s lodge.” Looking cool and confident, Bran led the way in and presented his Home Office credentials to the officer on reception duty, explaining that his companions were part of his team.

The officer studied the credentials, then gave a nod. “Chief Howard is expecting you. Smith, escort Mr. Tremayne and his colleagues to the chief’s office.”

Smith, one of the younger guards, bobbed his head and led them across the large, bustling entry hall to an office in the corner of the building. After announcing the visitors, he departed.

The office was cluttered with books and papers, and a large map of the Dockyard was pinned to the wall on the left. Chief Howard rose from his desk to greet them. He was a dark-haired man in early middle age with alert eyes. Tam suspected that he was also at least a little gifted.

Howard scanned them. “Which of you is Bran Tremayne?”

“I am,” Bran said. “When I considered the size of the Portsmouth Royal Dockyard, I thought that a larger team might be useful. This is my sister, Miss Tremayne. My brother, Cade Tremayne, and our cousin, Mr. Andre Jameson.”

Howard arched his brows when he looked at Tamsyn. “I believe your sister is more correctly styled Lady Tamsyn Tremayne?”

Tam smiled at him. “I didn’t think our reputations would have preceded us!”

Howard’s serious gaze held hers. “My brother is the sailing master of the Royal William, which was almost blown up in Devonport . He says he and his friends would have died if not for you Tremaynes.”

Tam caught her breath when she remembered how narrowly disaster had been averted. “Did he suggest that you contact Lord Tremayne at the Home Office if you had concerns about the Portsmouth Dockyard?”

“Yes,” Howard said. “He mentioned Bran Tremayne, Cade Tremayne, and Lady Tamsyn Tremayne.” His gaze went to Andre. “I don’t know if you were present, Mr. Jameson. If you were, I didn’t hear your name.”

“I’ve just arrived in England,” Andre said. “An engineer in training. I believe there is much for an engineer to learn here in Portsmouth.”

“Indeed there is. There are almost seven hundred ships in the Royal Navy, and it’s the Navy that keeps Britain safe. Portsmouth is not only the largest Royal Dockyard, it’s also the largest industrial complex in Great Britain.” He frowned, looking tired. “There are so many important things being done here that could be vulnerable to attack by French agents.”

“If we can help, we will,” Bran said. “Have you been sensing a particular threat, or is your concern more general?”

Howard thought. “I have many general concerns, but lately I’ve been feeling as if something specific is being threatened. I have no idea what that might be. There are so many possibilities!”

“Can you use that map to give us an idea how the Yard is laid out?” Cade asked.

“Excellent idea.” The chief stepped up to the map and his visitors gathered around him. His pointing finger circled the sprawl of the Dockyard. “You can see how many basins and wet and dry docks we have. New ships are being built and older ships are being repaired. Here’s the smithery, which is huge and as noisy as the hammers of hell. That’s where the anchors are made. Next to it is a copper-smelting furnace and a refinery used for recycling the copper sheathing that’s used on ships’ hulls. The copper needs to be replaced every five years so that’s a substantial operation.”

“I’ve heard about your revolutionary block mill,” Cade said. “Where is that?”

Howard tapped an area near the middle of the Yard. “Here. We now have two steam engines that drive the block mills and the sawmill and the woodworking shops.” He glanced at Tamsyn. “Blocks are pulleys that control the rigging and lines on a ship. A ship of the line might have as many as a thousand blocks of different sizes, but in the past, procuring them has always been a problem. Our new mills make blocks much more quickly and the quality is consistent.”

“This place truly is extraordinary!” Andre breathed with engineering lust in his eyes.

“What area of the Yard do you consider most vulnerable?” Bran asked.

Howard frowned. “There are many places doing vital work and none is invulnerable.”

They all gazed at the map. “It’s hard to know where to begin looking,” Andre said.

“I have a thought,” Tam said. “Bran, you love experimenting with new techniques. What if the four of us turn our backs to the map? Chief Howard can ask us one at a time to point out the area we feel is most endangered. If we feel strongly, we can select a second or even a third spot. When we’ve all done that, Chief Howard can tell us which areas we singled out and we can discuss what was chosen and then perhaps visit those sites.”

“I like that idea,” Bran said. “Shall we see if this works, Chief Howard?”

The chief looked surprised, but said, “It’s worth a try. Now all of you turn away. Who will go first?”

“I will,” Cade said. “I had an idea when the chief was outlining the different facilities.”

All but Cade turned to face the opposite wall. Tam felt him gathering his intuition. Then he tapped the map briskly. Howard gave a thoughtful “Hmmm,” then asked, “Who’s next?”

“I’ll try,” Bran said.

Cade moved to stand by Tam, his back to the map. Bran took longer before tapping. “There and perhaps also there, but that feels less urgent.”

Andre said, “I’d like to try now.” He turned to face the map and there was a longish pause.

Tam said, “Don’t think too much. Let your intuition guide you.”

Andre drew a slow breath, then tapped. “Thank you for the advice, Tamsyn. It helped.”

Chief Howard said, “Will you take a turn, Lady Tamsyn?”

“Of course.” She turned to face the map and studied it with unfocused eyes. A sudden image of fire snapped into her mind. “Here!” she said, tapping hard. “Fire and soon!”

Her three companions turned around. “What were the results?” Cade asked.

Howard was staring at the map in amazement. “You all picked the block mill for your first choice.”

“That has to mean something,” Andre said.

“I think it means we have to get over there right now!” Cade said.

Howard headed to the door. “Lady Tamsyn, will you wait here?”

“I’m going with you,” she said briskly. “If I can’t keep up, leave me behind and I’ll catch up with you soon.”

As the five of them swept out of Howard’s office, the chief signaled to two of the armed guards. “Come along!”

The group set off at a swift pace, heading to the interior of the Yard. Tam was a swift walker but she said to Cade under her breath, “If I’d known we’d be running around the Yard, I’d have worn trousers!”

He took her hand to help steady her. “Since you’re just a little bit of a thing, I can carry you if necessary.”

“Ha!” she snapped, but didn’t say more because she didn’t have breath to spare.

They were moving between seemingly endless storehouses and workshops. There was a clamor of tools and machinery and beyond the building, ships’ masts were visible. A heavy bell rang and workers began pouring out of the buildings to head for home, moving in the opposite direction from their party.

Finally they reached an incredibly long building. Howard waved a hand at it. “This is the Double Rope-house, where very long lengths of rope are made in one piece because they’re stronger than spliced ropes. Over the years there have been several fires here because of all the fiber used. The last time that happened, it was caused by arson. Now water for firefighting is piped around the Yard so it’s less likely there will be another serious fire.”

Tam studied the length of the building, but the fire she’d seen hadn’t been here. They turned a corner and Howard gestured at a massive three-story building in front of them. “That’s the block mill building just ahead.”

Bran said, “Tamsyn saw fire. You said that the block mill included wood shops?”

“Wood shops and sawmills, among other things.” The chief scanned the area with narrowed eyes. “I don’t see anything out of order at the moment.”

They started to circle the building and turned into the alley that ran between the block mill building and a large storehouse. Tamsyn’s intuition was on high alert. Something odd flickered in the alley ahead of them. There was something there she couldn’t quite see....

She stretched her intuition to the limits, then caught her breath. “Ahead of us are two men using stealth to conceal their movements!”

Cade looked where she pointed and swore under his breath. “Bran, take my hand so we can combine our energies!”

Tam was already holding Cade’s hand and Bran and then Andre joined the connection. She felt a rush of power and realized that Cade was trying to overcome the stealth being used by the men ahead.

There was a shimmer and suddenly two men wearing workmen’s smocks became visible. They were running away from the block mill as fast as they could.

Howard gasped as they became visible, then bellowed. “ Halt! ”

Instead, the men sprinted harder, heading for the end of the block building, where they could turn out of sight and perhaps get lost in the maze of buildings and crowds of exiting workers.

The chief shouted again, “ Halt or we’ll shoot! ”

One of the men pivoted around to face them and yanked a pistol from under his smock. He cocked it and fired, but his shot didn’t hit any of his pursuers.

Howard ordered his guards, “Fire!”

The guards were armed with rifles, more accurate than pistols, and their two shots were almost simultaneous. The weapons were deafening in the confined space between the two brick buildings, and the air filled with the acrid smoke of black powder.

Both of the fleeing men jerked and went down. When the pursuers reached the fallen men, Howard bent over the one on the left, whose head and neck were covered with blood. “Good shooting, Morris! He’s dead but I hope the other one is alive because I want to hear what he has to say.”

Tamsyn saw a faint glow of light about the man on the right, but it was flickering, and she guessed that he was mortally wounded. She crossed to him, with Cade in tow. This was the man who had fired his pistol, and because he was turned toward his pursuers, the bullet had struck his chest and he’d been knocked onto his back.

Tam knelt beside him and Cade placed a hand on her shoulder to help her study the man’s energy. He was young and ablaze with fury and defiance as he gloried in the knowledge that he was dying for France and Napoleon. He was also taking fierce satisfaction in the knowledge of the damage he’d arranged.

She rested a hand on his arm and said quietly in French, “You’re gravely injured, citizen. Do you have any last messages or prayers you’d like to make?”

He tried to spit but he didn’t have the breath to do it well. He did manage to snarl a few filthy French curses at her. Later she’d have to ask Cade what some of the words meant, though she could make a good guess.

She laid a hand on his cold forehead and continued speaking in French. “As an agent of France, you’ve done a brave and dangerous deed. But will your action today kill men you worked with who may have become friends?”

For a flickering moment she felt regret as her words struck home. She also sensed images of what he’d done and gave thanks that there should be time to undo his work. Again softly, she asked, “Were you working alone or are you part of a larger group?”

This time there was a jumble of words, place names, gone in an instant. She repeated them to herself so she wouldn’t forget.

His defiance dissolved into fear and he grabbed at her hand as he whispered a desperate “ Mama? ”

“You are not alone,” she said quietly.

He exhaled raggedly, then breathed no more.