4. Damages
CHAPTER 4
Damages
S aturday morning was the Baxter sisters’ usual cleaning and washing day, but thanks to their brother-in-law Felix Yates, they now had the very welcome assistance of Rosie. She and Mrs Poole did the bulk of the chores, and although the young lass barely said a word to the Baxters, Louise often overheard Rosie and Mrs Poole exchanging breathless town gossip as they scrubbed and cleaned. The fires were more than gossip, though, they were quite real, and quite frightening to think some ne’er do well was causing havoc.
Louise was sure it was a returned soldier, because why would someone from Hatfield damage their own town?
She and Bernadette had the much more welcome task of sorting out the crates of books that had arrived from Father and Minerva Press. Before they could make a start, she walked out the front door and checked the fire insurance shingle was still attached to the front wall. In daylight, she could see one of the screws securing it in place had come loose, and Louise humphed under her breath before going inside, finding another screw, and fixing the shingle straight again.
Satisfied with her handiwork, she then walked back in and made sure neither Crafty nor Pie could escape. Then she grabbed their mouse-entrail-collection tools and looked for dissected rodents. To her surprise, there were none behind the counter. She tapped the top of the counter to ‘touch wood’ that there were no remains, and then spotted not one but two murky furry remnants in front of the counter.
This would not do! How dare they change positions! And right where potential customers would stand, too! Cursing the pair of them, she wondered whether she should place a note outside the shop offering an excellent mouser to a good home? Maybe Bernadette might offer Pie to a farming family the next time she visited one?
Mess cleared up, she checked the hessian at the bottom of the stairs. It was shredded beyond repair. Bernadette walked down from the kitchen at that point and they wished each other good morning.
“I’ll replace the hessian, then we can sort the books,” Louise said.
Bernadette nodded and made her way over to the counter. She grunted as she lifted the ledger from the shelf to record the newest arrivals.
The two had a good routine now, checking each book and writing down the title, the condition of it and whether it needed repair, then assessed it against the London Catalogue of Books to see how much they could charge.
Even more importantly, they carefully turned through the pages to see where the note from their father might be, if he had included one.
“Oh dear!” Bernadette said as she opened a book to look inside.
“Gosh!” Louise agreed as she took in the sight of the illustrated plates. It appeared to feature people from the Indies in scandalously strange positions. “Best put that behind the counter in the locked section.”
Bernadette turned back to the title page and read out, “‘Camma Suttra?’ Is that how you say it?”
Heat stole over Louise’s face. “I’m just as puzzled as you. Any more like that in the crate? Pile them up over here so we can put them under lock and key.”
“But then how do we sell them if they’re locked away?”
Well, yes, her sister had a point. “Perhaps Papa has a client already and he just needed to get them out of France before anyone else could get them? Have you found any notes yet?”
“Not yet,” Bernadette looked through another title, this one with illustrations and diagrams of flower segments, labelling each section. “Oh, this is glorious. May I keep it?”
“Botany? It’s like Papa was thinking directly of you,” Louise said with a smile. “Go ahead.”
“Another one for the lock box,” Bernadette said when she opened the next book. “Heavens, if people found out about these, we’d be run out of town!”
Louise peered over Bernadette’s fair head to see what book she was looking at. She caught an eyeful of illustrated internal organs. It was enlightening. “Is that what we look like on the inside?”
“I think so,” Bernadette said as she turned the page to see a much closer illustration of a male appendage. “I wonder if Doctor Rasley would like this one?”
“Into the lock box,” Louise recommended. “What kind of estate did Papa raid to find these?”
“Not a vicar’s library, I’ll guess!” Bernadette said with a giggle.
Lead poured into Louise’s belly at the mention of the vicar. “Old Brimstone already can’t stand the Minerva books in the lending section. Can you imagine how much of a hue and cry he’d make if he knew we had these?”
“He’ll be the one leading the mob running us out of town!”
They carefully sorted through the rest of Papa’s crate and put several more books in the locked cabinet.
“What a shame there’s no note from Papa,” Bernadette said as they reached the bottom of the crate. “I checked every book, ever so carefully.”
Louise sighed in frustration. A small note shouldn’t be such a hard thing, but it seemed beyond their father’s abilities. She was amassing quite the list of grievances to deliver upon him when he returned.
The shop door tinkled as someone came in. Louise stood up from behind the counter and said, “Terribly sorry we’re clo…” before she realised it was Cousin Joshua, with Phoebe holding their youngest son Little Sticky, and Benjamin.
She cursed herself for forgetting to lock the shop door. But then, even if it was locked, he probably would have banged on it until she had to answer it lest he break the glass in the little window.
“Cousin Joshua, Phoebe,” she deliberately left out their son, “To what do we owe this visit?”
Mercifully, Bernadette remained crouched down behind the counter, where they couldn’t see her. A soft click she hoped only she could hear told her Bernadette had locked the cabinet. Not a moment too soon.
Phoebe placed Little Sticky on the ground and he charged directly over to where Crafty and Pie were nestled on a gap in the shelves. Crafty immediately scarpered, but Pie sniffed the toddler’s hands and began licking whatever was on them. Sticky, whose real name was Barnaby, giggled with glee.
“This!” Joshua thundered as he held up a book. “You gave this depravity to my son!”
Louise gulped and had to think quickly. She was confident Brutus hadn’t taken anything from the sorting piles from the night before.
Benjamin’s grin of superiority grew. He clearly enjoyed the way his parents treated Louise and her sisters, and was learning far too eagerly how to follow in their footsteps.
“I did not think Benjamin was interested in reading?” Louise said, stalling for time to think.
Spittle formed at the corner of Joshua’s lips. “I’m not talking of Benjamin. You gave this moral excrement to Brutus to bring into our home! What kind of depraved mind does that? You bring shame to the name of Baxter at every turn. Being in trade isn’t enough for you, you have to drag us all into the gutter with this depravity!”
Phebe joined in, “We’ve a mind to inform the vicar. You should not even possess such things!”
Louise wracked her brain wondering what book it could be for them to form this objection. Not that it had to be much at all for Joshua and Phoebe to complain. Joshua took a step closer to the counter. Louise could almost make out the title on the spine if he stopped waving it about.
“This is bestiality!” he roared, right in her face.
“Ohhhhh,” Understanding dawned. “The book on horses! Yes, it’s about types of horses and such… what could possibly be concerning about that? Brutus is quite enamoured of horses and the illustrations are rather good. From what I saw they were accurate. I said he could borrow it so long as he took good care of it so we can sell it later.”
To Louise’s mind, there was nothing depraved about the book whatsoever.
“So you admit you gave it to him! That it came from these premises?”
She was getting very tired of this, and poor Bernadette was still crouched down behind the counter, possibly losing the feeling in her feet at this rate. “Fine, you’ve made your point. Leave the book and get out.” This routine of Joshua’s of coming into their lives, blowing fury their way and making them miserable had to stop. If things became too bad, they did have Felix’s grandfather, Lord Ferndale in their corner, but she hoped it would not come to that.
In any case, Marie would be home before Christmas with enough money to keep them going for months, and with any luck their father himself would be home any day. They could endure this for a little longer. She scowled at Benjamin, knowing full well this was revenge for her chasing him out of the shop with a broom.
Benjamin appeared to take delight that she’d looked his way. He stepped forward and took the book from his father and opened it to an illustrated plate.
It was a stallion covering a mare.
Benjamin leered at her.
Louise sighed and shook her head. It was literally nothing they hadn’t seen in person; they lived in a country town, for heaven’s sakes!
Benjamin snapped the book shut. Joshua and Phoebe stood beside him with smirks of confidence.
Louise had to fix her eyes forward in order not to roll them.
Then Benjamin threw the book down on the ground with such force it broke the spine.
That was a step too far for Louise. They could tear strips off her for whatever reason they liked, and it mattered not. But damaging books was beyond endurance! Not taking her eyes off Benjamin, she reached under the counter for the crowbar she’d used to open the crates and pulled it out with one hand. She held it up so all three could clearly see what it was and take in its significance. “If you damage one more item of our property, I will damage your head, young man!”
Phoebe shrieked. Benjamin, to his credit, took a step back, alarm dawning in his expression. He knew she meant it. Good.
Joshua puffed his chest out and blustered for a moment until he could make proper words. “You cannot threaten us like this!”
Louise’s heart raced in her chest, but the crowbar remained steady and sure in her hand. She had no intention of retreating. “I have the right to defend my property. We are closed on Saturday, as everyone in Hatfield well knows. You are the ones trespassing.”
“It’s not your property, it’s your father’s property,” Joshua countered. “For all we know he’s dea…”
“I grow weary of that silly claim. That crate, right there? Arrived from him just yesterday. Now get out, the lot of you. I’m sick of your hollow threats. I am absolutely prepared to follow through on mine!” She marched past them and banged the crowbar against the now empty crate. To Louise’s satisfaction, it smashed through the strong timbers as if they were little more than kindling.
Phoebe gave one more warning as she scooped up Little Sticky and Joshua herded them out, “The vicar will hear of this!”
Mercifully the door closed behind the four of them with a merry tinkle. Louise made sure to lock it firmly so they couldn’t come back for the rest of the day.
“Are you all right, ‘Dette?” she called back to the counter.
Bernadette stood up from her hiding spot, her cheeks a little pale. “I’m so glad you were here,” she said.
“I’m not scared of them, and you don’t need to be either,” Louise said. “There’s nothing they can really do to us.” She still held the crowbar in her hand, and the weight of it finally registered.
Feet shuffled from behind a bookshelf and young Brutus and Ruth poked their heads out.
“I hadn’t realised you were here!” she said, horrified, wondering how much they’d seen or heard.
“Rosie let us in earlier, so we could do some dusting,” Ruth said. “We didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
Brutus looked at his feet. “I’m sorry my parents are so mean to you.”
The words, “I’m sorry your parents are so negligent towards you ,” were on the tip of her tongue, but she held it back. The poor lad knew that for himself.
“You were so brave with that crowbar,” he said, looking up at her with shining eyes.
Louise wasn’t sure she was an appropriate target for the kind of hero worship he seemed to be developing, but Lord knew the boy didn’t have any good role models at home. With a smile, she held the crowbar out to him. “Want me to show you how to use it?”
“Would I!” Brutus looked eager. He took it, but it was obviously too heavy for his spindly boyish arms, and Louise took it back with a grin.
“We’ll start with some smaller tools. Build up to that one.”
To his credit, he didn’t look disappointed, just nodded, happy to accept that she would judge when the time was right.
“I’m awfully sorry about that book,” Brutus added. “I didn’t realise it would get you into trouble.”
“No real harm done,” Lousie said, finally putting the crowbar down on the counter and shaking her arm out with relief. “I’m sure they would have found something else to complain about in any case.”
Ruth moved in to deliver a hug of relief to Louise. “You were incredibly brave. But I fear they will still tell my father. Please be careful.”
Louise nodded. “Even your father can’t do much to us, Ruth, I promise. There’s nothing criminal about selling books.” At least, these books. The ones in the locked cabinet might be another matter.
Bernadette asked carefully, “Did you hear us talking about the other books before?”
Ruth and Brutus looked to each other, and then back to Bernadette. Then they nodded. It was a relief they were honest, but awful that they’d overheard.
“Ah well,” Louise said. “We didn’t order them, they simply arrived. And we do not have customers for them either, so they’ll remain locked away until Papa comes home. I do need you to promise me something, though.”
Both Ruth and Brutus nodded solemnly, eyes wide.
“Promise me that not only will you never attempt to open that cabinet, you won’t even speak of it. Not to each other, not to anyone. What’s in there could get us in trouble, maybe. It’s for my father to deal with when he gets home, do you understand?”
Both of them fell over each other promising her that their lips were sealed, and Louise nodded, satisfied. Neither of them were the type to brag to friends, and though Brutus might be curious enough to try and sneak a peek, she believed he wouldn’t do so now he’d given her his word. Handing them much safer books which could be shelved, she sent them both on their way. Then she retrieved the damaged book and added it to her pile for repairs.
Sunday morning brought heavy rain, making the familiar and usually pleasant walk to church cold and miserable, huddled under umbrellas. Usually they’d take time greeting friends outside, but Louise, Bernadette and Mrs Poole quickly headed in. Their housekeeper diverged to greet her friends and sit with them, while Louise and Bernadette walked farther ahead to the Ferndale pew. How quickly they’d become used to sitting with Lord Ferndale and Miss Yates, their new family, welcome benefactors and in some ways, protectors. At times, Louise suspected that Lord Ferndale’s patronage over the years had been the only thing between the bookshop and ruin.
Looking over the congregation, Louise noticed a taller man in the crowd, a full head taller than everyone around him. Her breath stilled as she recognised the magnificent former soldier who had been in the bookshop only a couple of days ago. He was still in Hatfield! He turned her way at that moment. Her heart soared as he returned her welcoming smile.
The Ferndales arrived and were full of smiles, although Lord Ferndale wore a thick scarf that he did not remove. Louise didn’t remove hers either, despite the church being full of warm bodies. Louise’s shoulders remained tense for the whole service, partly through cold, partly through fear of what kind of sermon they were in for.
Old Brimstone droned on, but thankfully it wasn’t as bad as she thought. If Phoebe had whispered in his ear after their altercation yesterday, she felt sure the entire town would be getting a lecture on the dangers of unsuitable reading materials and the like. The hymns were familiar and she enjoyed adding her voice in song.
By the time worship was complete, Louise allowed herself a sigh of relief. She stood with Bernadette and the Ferndales, then turned slowly to see if she might catch sight of Mr Jackson. Thankfully the rain had eased, so she might catch up with him in the churchyard before he wandered away.
Stepping out onto the soggy grass, Lord Ferndale coughed into his gloved hand. A moment later, Bernadette reached into her pocket and produced a small bottle of tonic, which she pressed into Miss Yates’s hands for safe keeping. The winter months were a worrisome time for the town elders, and people would certainly not blame them if they called the vicar to Ferndale Hall’s private chapel for services instead of making their way into town in such miserable conditions.
Oh dear, there was Phoebe, striding up the vicar to bend his ear. There could only be one thing Mrs Baxter had on her mind.
Louise turned her back on the unfolding situation so that she could appear to not be listening. Meanwhile her ears strained for morsels. If only Mrs Poole and her friends were nearer, they’d overhear everything, without doubt!
Some words did reach Louise’s ears. As she suspected, they were terrible.
“You must speak with Lord Ferndale,” Phoebe said with a loud hiss of urgency.
An ominous start.
Then there was more about, “Being the only one who can rein them in,” which amused Louise greatly. Joshua was the head of the Baxter family, yet it was up to the vicar to plead with Lord Ferndale to pull Louise and Bernadette into line? If Joshua knew what his wife was saying about him behind his back, he’d be utterly humiliated.
For a moment, Louise smiled to herself, wondering how she might make sure Cousin Joshua did find out what Phoebe was saying without his knowledge.
As amusing as this exchange was, it definitely would not be good for Bernadette and Louise to endure the vicar’s wrath. She looked over her shoulder when Phoebe finally stopped talking and realised with a gulp that Reverend Millings was coming directly their way, a grim expression on his face.
Bless Lord Ferndale, he stepped forward to the vicar and greeted him with a hearty shake of the hand. “Marvellous sermon, marvellous,” he said with commendably well-acted enthusiasm. Without missing a breath, he kept talking and extolling the man’s virtues. Bernadette gave Louise a look of confusion and concern, and Miss Yates politely giggled into her handkerchief, pretending she had a cough. The three of them would fall about laughing if Louise didn’t look away right this minute!
Their run of luck had to run out, however, as the local solicitor, Mr Burton, and his wife walked over to speak to Lord Ferndale and Miss Yates about the Hatfield Hospital Committee.
This gave Reverend Millings the opening he needed. He cornered Louise and Bernadette before they could get away.
“It would be remiss of me if I did not express my grave concerns with the reading material you are trading. Especially to the younger minds of the town.”
Grave concerns? What an exaggeration.
“Do not disrespect your betters,” he demanded suddenly, raising his voice.
Bernadette must have rolled her eyes, because Louise was sure she had kept hers steady and her expression smooth.
On he went. “It is a serious undertaking to be alert for signs of moral decay, and there are a great many signs that decay is alive in Hatfield and must be stopped. Beginning with the books you make so freely available to all and sundry.” He was really hitting his stride now and loving the sound of his own voice. “I’ve a mind to start a new committee for the maintenance of Christian welfare of Hatfield. I’m sure Mrs Baxter would be eager to join!”
Louise had absolutely no doubt of that. Phoebe would be the first in line to boss people about if she so much as suspected they might be doing anything she didn’t approve of.