The Wrath of the Irish – Part 2

Author: Sherry Thornburg

Author's Email: Thornburgs77 at gmail

Feedback: Yes, please

Permission to Archive: Privately only, with notice to me and where it is.

Category: Suspense

Rating/Warning: K+

Main Characters: Phileas and Rebecca Fogg and David Fogg and Irene O'Donnell.

Disclaimer: SAJV and original characters copywrite Tailsman/Promark/etc., no infringement is intended.

Summary: Phileas and Rebecca's newly discovered cousin, David Fogg, is in dire straits. Irene has been attacked and fights for her life, while David is on his way back to Ireland, taken captive by his enemies. But Phileas, Rebecca and Jules are on his trail. Rescuing David from the gibbet will take all their skills and a little luck of the Irish.


Chapter 1

The day turned soggy. A misting rain accompanied by a thick fog dampened the streets. The news of Drummond's return to the countryside lightened the town's soggy mood. Despite the weather, Rebecca was out gathering intelligence. She heard of Phileas's night ride from ladies talking about handsome rouge in the teahouse.

Jules heard a similar talk at the tavern, and the courthouse as Mr. Harris gave him a tour.

Phileas hid in his room. The caution he had insisted on last night had been vindicated by what Rebecca told him of David's arrival. There had only been two men guarding him, but too much open ground to approach safely.

Jules also came by to report on David's arrival. He had been transported into Mr. Kingston's house in a box, put on display, and given a token beating. Jules was sick with disgust at the viewer's self-satisfied revelry. Working so close to the enemy was harder than he had originally thought.

Phileas fervently hoped Jules could continue without giving his true feelings away. Verne was a poor liar under the best of conditions. Phileas knew of the deficiency firsthand. The only truly good news had been how his late-night escapades were making their enemies livid. Mr. Kingston had ordered a hunt day and night to find the counterfeit Drummond.

We have bought ourselves time, but for how long?


Jules left, meeting Mr. Harris at the courthouse for a tour. The lawyer seemed distracted through their walk. When Jules asked what the issue was, The lawyer grimaced. "There is a copycat pest running the roads. You would think people would have better things to do. Will come to no good end. I'm told there are orders to shoot him on sight. If he can be captured, Kingston wants him to share Drummond's gibbet."

Jules blanched but kept walking. Phileas was hiding in his room well and whole, but he needed to get this information to Rebecca to stop his night rides.


Not having Jules's information, Phileas took advantage of the foul weather to do some reconnaissance around the Kingston estate on his own. He borrowed a coat and an oilskin from the proprietor; added a hat to hide his features and took Rebecca's chestnut horse. With those changes, he looked like any other heading out of town.

The Kingston estate was only a half-hour ride from the city. Phileas took the road to within sight of the entrance and circled, crossing the hills to reach the house. The grounds were sparsely wooded, allowing him cover as he approached in the fog. Thankfully, there were only a few servants out in this dismal weather, all rushing their errands to get back inside.

Jules had said the cellar room David was locked in had no windows. "It is near the wine cellar and toward the back of the house, under the kitchens." He then drew a diagram of the house.

Phileas saw a wagon heading to the kitchen entrance. Under cover of the fog, he watched as the wagon stopped. It was unloaded of casks which were bought in through a cellar door half hidden in vines. The more he saw, the more he thought their original plan was the only one to serve. It would also be as risky as Rebecca had warned. Phileas did not get back to the inn until late in the afternoon.


Phileas walked in the door after several hours and settled on his bed. The oilskin and hat he dropped over one of the two chairs to dry. Rebecca appeared to be napping. He wished he had foreseen the extended stay and requested separate rooms for them. He had been thinking all the way back about how he was acting like a lead agent again. Phileas laid back on his pillow, fidgety about the very idea he was sliding back into old habits.

Old habits die hard. I have been out of the service for two years, yet I am acting like I never left. The skills are lifesavers, but I am not an agent of any kind. Rebecca is in charge here, not me.

The admission unnerved him. He looked at Rebecca, trying not to look at him, giving him as much privacy as the shared room allowed. I can't be doing this to her. I don't want to be doing this. Next thing I know, I'll be thinking about returning. NO.

"Rebecca," he said.

She rolled and looked up.

He told her all he had seen, giving the information as a report.

Rebecca listened and talked over possibilities. Ideas were shared and turned over to thorough scrutiny until she chose a course of action to follow. Rebecca told him of her day and Jules's news that he was making people nervous. "You have been ordered shot on sight. Your absence worried me after what Jules said. Besides that, my day earned me a pretty wool shawl and a good pair of riding gloves."

"A bit more caution may be needed, but the weather kept me out of sight," Phileas said. He sat down on the bed and rolled toward the far wall.

Rebecca laid down and rolled facing her own wall, but didn't sleep. She considered Phileas's change of manner.

I enjoy working with him. When he is not being doctoral, that is. His I-know-better-and-you-will-obey, I can't stand, and never take well.

How would it have been to work as a partner with him if he hadn't left the service? The chance had never come up. Phileas had been a senior agent, away most of the time. He gave me some of my training, but…

She turned her head, looked at his back.

This partnership would not have been possible if he were still an agent. His seniority would override. He would be my lead, like he's been acting. Phileas and Erasmus were so unbearably paternal. Yes, it is better for Phileas to be my helpful cousin in these things, instead of a senior agent.