Jeanne wasn't sure how long it had been since they left Jamestown or how far they had gotten, but they had still not found Verity, even with both of them calling for the girl. She was either far ahead or refused to let them see her. The Scottish lass sighed when Alice called out for Verity. This was going nowhere.
"Verity Bridges, you come out here right now, or God himself won't be able to stop me!" Jeanne bellowed, her throat hurting, if only for a moment. Alice stared at her momentarily before joining in with her own threats to their mischievous friend.
"Oh, this is impossible. We'll never find her." Alice whined, looking around herself in hurried motions. "Wait! Did you hear that?" The brunette stopped, looking off in a random direction. Jeanne walked closer to her friend, both of them listening intently. Beyond the sounds of bugs and birds, the two could hear a faint voice calling out to them in the distance, which sounded panicked. Not wasting a second, Alice and Jeanne bolted off, not even concerned for their footing, as they came across Verity waist-deep in the marsh, the muddy waters too thick for her to wade through.
"Get me out of here!" Verity grumbled, her voice strained as she fought to move. "Alice, Jeanne, help me!"
Alice went off behind Jeanne to find something to aid with pulling the woman from the muck while Jeanne kneeled closer to Verity, avoiding getting too close herself, all the while trying to comfort her friend. "Aren't you glad you got friends who care enough to seek you out, Verity Bridges?" Alice lectured, returning with a long branch, holding it out for Verity to grab. Jeanne aided Alice in pulling Verity from the marsh, the soaked woman only grumbling about the new world they had formed themselves in. She complained about the bog, the bugs, and her betrothed. Alice sighed in reveal once Verity was pulled free, throwing the branch away. "You have to come back, Verity."
"A shit pants halfwit, I would've settled for. A one-legged, one-eyed dog of a man, I would have found something to like about him." Verity sobbed, pulling at the reeds around her as she sat on the ground before finally turning to her rescuers. "Why did I have to be bought by a drunk? A drinker is a different man every day of the week, and not one is worth a spit of love."
"Aren't we?" Jeanne asked, kneeling to eye level with her fellow redhead. "Alice and I need you here. You may have a drunk for a husband, but you have us for friends." Jeanne looked to Alice for clarification, who nodded, agreeing that she, too, would be there for Verity.
"I need you here!" Alice barked, gathering her shawl from where it had been discarded behind her in the race to save her friend. Verity looked away from her, somewhat ashamed, as Jeanne helped her to her feet. "I wanted to run too after what happened, but I had you and Jeanne here to fight for me, but I need to fight for myself too, and fight for the both of you!" Alice continued to bark, avoiding looking at her friends as she fought the tears welling in her eyes.
Jeanne hugged the poor girl, doing her best to comfort her. Verity shuffled her feet behind them, unsure how to act, before Jeanne pulled her into the same hug. Jeanne held her sobbing friends close, each understanding the other's pains. Verity had mumbled something about hating weeping, for weeping is only for babies, which caused the two of them to chuckle.
"Now that we've all settled, shall we return to town before all three of us are missed and a search party is summoned?" Jeanne inquired, gesturing to the path from which she and Alice came.
"Search party for you." Verity jabbed jokingly. While a joke, in truth, the Governor would most likely search for his niece before anyone else. Well, maybe his wife. Alice pulled on Verity's arm for the remark, guiding her friend forward as Jeanne had led them back.
They hadn't been walking long when Verity asked Jeanne to slow down, worried she was getting too far ahead of her and Alice. The brunette had been kind to keeping pace with Verity, knowing too well that she had been out far longer than she and Jeanne, and she was most likely tired from the journey and lack of food and water. When a wolf's howl could be heard in the distance, all three women froze, Jeanne looking back behind at her friends. She didn't waste a moment, telling them both to run. Jeanne took up the rear, pulling her blade from its hiding place in her stockings. If a wolf got too close, she knew she would have only one shot, to slam the knife into the side of the beast's skull before it would have the opportunity to bite into her neck.
They could hear the pack coming up behind them, their barks and growls encouraging them to run faster, each one afraid of the possible death that awaited them. Verity, at that moment, tripped. Whether it was the exhaustion or the unfamiliar terrain, the girl went down, causing Alice to spin, acting fast and reaching for another branch to use as a weapon. Jeanne moved in front of Verity as she struggled to stand, her right ankle now in pain from the fall. The Scot stared at the three wolves before her as Alice approached her, acting as a wall between the beasts and their injured friend.
"Four." Jeanne's eyes widened, not taking them off the wolves before her. "I swear I had seen four."
In a split second, before either woman could react, they heard jaws snapping as Verity was tackled from her left, going for the woman's neck.
A shot rang out.
Alice and Jeanne turned to see James Read, musket in hand. The shot had grazed the wolf on verity, causing it to return to the safety of its pack. "Don't run. Walk backwards until you reach me." James ordered, gesturing them to come. "Don't turn away."
Jeanne and Alice looked to the forest around them, noticing the pack was gone, but could still hear their barks and growls. They were hiding in the foliage, waiting for the moment to strike. They joined Verity, following James' instructions to find his boat at the river. None of them hesitated. They ran as fast as they could down to the bank of the river, where a small rowboat was left tied to an old tree that had partly fallen into the river. Jeanne aided her friends in it. James Read was behind her, his strong hands on her back as he helped her in next. She took his musket from him as he got into the boat and turned her gaze back to the forest, watching for any wolf that may have been brave to come, but it was silent.
The entire boat rides back to Jamestown had been full of lectures. Alice lectures Verity about running off, Verity lectures her friends about coming after her, and James lectures all about going out alone. All Jeanne could do was beg them to make no mention of her aunt or uncle about the wolves. They may never let her leave Jamestown ever again if they knew. While James was hesitant to agree, unsure if lying to his new Governor was the right course of action, he did agree in the end, knowing it would cost the Scottish girl her freedom, something he knew was essential to them all. This was a land of opportunities, after all, and he, nor the women, wanted to lose them.
When the group of four had come stumbling through the gates so late in the day, all eyes were on them, but mainly on Verity, as word had quickly spread amongst the men when some of his patrons had found Rutter still slumped against the wall in only a shirt, drowning himself in ale after ale. But Rutter now stood outside the entrance to his tavern, watching the group intently. He moved forward to greet Verity, glad she had returned and not been caught by the Marshall's men.
"I'm not marrying a man who would gamble me away on the roll of a dice." Verity spat, glaring at her betrothed from mere feet away. Alice and Jeanne shared a look of shock. No one had passed that little bit of information onto them.
Rutter held his hands up in surrender. "Woman, no logic is left in me when I drink beyond my senses, except for one corner of the mind where cunning abides. But that little devil of thinking never deserts me. But it's like a heavenly angel taking care of me, and that's why I gamble. Do you suppose I'm some kind of fool? I paid for your passage. I like the look o' you. Did you think I'll let some old lechering sailor get his hands on you? If I thought I was going to lose that bet, I would never have made it" He came to stand before Verity, as she looked at him with malice.
"He was planning to cheat, Verity." Jeanne scoffed, having realised what he was getting at. The girl explained to her fellow redhead, who didn't understand what the drunkard hinted. Verity stared back at Jeanne momentarily, unsure how to respond, before turning back to Rutter.
"You let me believe I was to marry a man who would sell me…" Verity stepped towards him, ice in her words. She slapped him hard against his bad left ear when he failed to give her a response. The crowds of men laughed around them, everyone watching Verity stalk back into the tavern. Even Jeanne and Alice found themselves chuckling at what they had witnessed.
"Oh, she will bring damnation upon him." Jeanne joked, earning a pleasant sound from both Alice and James. Jeanne looked behind her, noticing that the town Reverend had also been watching the event, but his face was scorned compared to the joy of other onlookers.
"I think I've got myself a good wife!" Rutter bellowed happily, despite his embarrassment, and returned to his tavern.
Alice shook her head. "I best got find Pepper. Thank you, James, Jeanne." She nodded to them, wandering off and searching for her future brother-in-law.
Jeanne watched her leave, with James going soon after to return to his station. She, too, decided to return home, having felt the day was far longer than it was, but as she neared her uncle's home, she was stopped by Jocelyn coming out of her own. The petite blonde raced to her, grabbing her closely.
Jocelyn had enquired if Jeanne could be trustful, as Jocelyn had gained fears that day that could affect not only her husband's station here in Jamestown but also her own, something that no woman of noble birth would want to give up. Jocelyn revealed to Jeanne Secretary Farlow's threats unto Jocelyn's betrothed, Samuel Castell. Farlow had asked Castell to spy on the Governor to gain information regarding his knighthood and the reasoning behind his return to Jamestown. Why would Farlow seek this information, Jeanne had wondered? For what purpose did it serve him, and no doubt the Marshall as well? Jeanne thanked Jocelyn for the information, telling her she would handle these matters without getting involved.
With that, Jeanne changed her direction to Farlow's home to seek him out and pester him with her questions. His lodging was on the other side of Jamestown. It was built just like the other wooden houses, but the inside she found upon entering his home for the first time that evening was furnished with only the most exquisite décor as if he had moved his entire London home to Jamestown. Farlow, after all, was a man of taste and status.
He had eyed her from his small dining table, a wine goblet in hand as he indulged himself after a busy scheming day. "Jeanne, you look dreadful." He gestured to the hem of her green gown, covered in muck from the marshlands. "Wine?" He stood up, not waiting for a response, and poured her a glass.
"Thank you." Jeanne smiled, placing herself opposite where he had been sitting. When he returned, he put the goblet into her hand. "I found myself in the marshes today, hunting down a wayward Irish woman."
"Verity Bridges? Yes, I heard about her take-off from the Marshall. He didn't care to act." Farlow sighed, but Jeanne could tell he was putting it on for her sake. "Now, why did you come to see me?" He asked, bringing his wine back to his lips.
Jeanne took a small sip, letting it savour in her mouth as she thought about her words. "I understand you're curious about my uncle's knighthood. I could tell you." The statement caused the man to choke briefly, no doubt caught off by her words.
Farlow studied her, and she returned the gesture. Jeanne was indeed an enigma to the man. After all, she was nothing more than a Scottish farm girl, who happened to have the luck of powerful and wealthy relatives, and yet she appeared before him as a woman who had been raised in the heart of court life. Had it been her mother's doing, or maybe the girl was just born for it? Farlow clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Could you?"
Jeanne smiled, taking another sip of her wine. "The King wants someone he trusts in power here. It's simple." Farlow nodded at her words. It did make sense.
"And want does the King want here?"
"What any ruler wants, more land…power. And control."
Farlow thought deeply at her answer, leaving him to ask his question. "And what does the King wish to control."
"I'm not fully sure, but I believe I did overhear my aunt and uncle discussing tabaco." Jeanne had to control herself from smirking. She could hook and reel him into believing what she was saying without fault. In truth, she could always admit to not knowing or simply plant a seed that could merely help out the Sharrows on Alice's behalf.
"Tabaco?" Farlow enquired. "What were they discussing?"
"The King's hatred for the stuff," Jeanne stated innocently. "Maybe he'll ban the sale of it."
When Jeanne had returned home after her small chat with Farlow, she laid everything before her uncle, out of the earshot of her aunt, of course. George Yeardley was smiling at what she had gathered and the false information she had planted in Farlow's head. Both knew the fashionable man would share the information with Redwick and Massinger, and the three would then begin plotting. Yeardley knew that if he did ban the farming and production, it would be men, whom he had granted land to the day prior, would gather in a rage at the loss of possible future profits. But Yeardley would never do such a thing. He wasn't stupid. He had let his niece know his plan to ban the sale and transfer of the gifted land, which would hinder whatever Massinger and the other two had been planning.
Jeanne smiled at her uncle's plan but secretly hoped it wouldn't backfire.
The next morning, Jeanne was aiding her uncle with getting into his most formal outfit for the morning gathering he had planned while Jeanne's aunt was busy tidying up the parlour after breakfast. Her aunt had already dressed in her finery and even offered the young girl a fine gown to wear to the assembly. Still, Jeanne wasn't comfortable borrowing her aunt's garments but instead dressed in a pale blue gown, while her green one needed cleaning after yesterday's adventures.
Jeanne could hear the townsfolk gathering outside when the meeting bell had yet to be rung. So what had them all coming together like that? She turned to her uncle as she finished fastening his cape. With a small nod of his head towards the window, Jeanne took his permission to head outside. There, she found nearly all citizens of Jamestown circling two men. Marshall Redwick and Silas Sharrow. Jeanne stood beside Farlow, who gave her a curt nod. They both listened as Silas reported to Redwick that Henry had perished during the night. The canoe he was using had exploded in flames, taking the older man with it. Silas believed that his brother's pipe had caused the fire, also setting the gunpowder aflame.
Jeanne noticed Alice staring at her after hearing the news. Did the brunette think her a witch? While Jeanne did offer to cause an accident before the bastard man, she surely didn't expect that.
The Marshall began to make accusations of Silas, first about the accident and next about what the two men were doing so far upriver into Indian Territory. Silas gave a simple answer. Trading for corn. Jeanne had heard her uncle discussing the food storages with Master Castell just nights prior, and she knew there was plenty of corn, so why go to trade for it? It didn't add up, and the Marshall knew it. And from how James Read looked at Silas, he knew it too.
"Enough of that. Can't you see he's grieving?" Jeanne interjected, pushing Silas towards Alice and his young brother Pepper, who was fighting the tears now poling in his eyes. "Master Castell shall handle the matter later." She turned to Redwick, who was eyeing her off in a way she wasn't certain of, almost suspicion, but there was something else she couldn't place.
"Very well," Redwick turned to the group surrounding them. "Governors called an assembly." He marched to Farlow, the two sharing whispers as they looked from Silas and then to Jeanne. She stared back at the two men, studying them just as hard as they were studying her.
When the gathering bell rang out, everyone began to huddle into the town hall, but Farlow and Redwick stayed outside, soon joined by Massinger as they watched for the last labourers to come in from the fields outside the village walls.
Jeanne had joined her aunt on the far right side of the room, sitting on a small stool, watching her uncle take to his seat on the platform beside Castell. Yeardley smiled down upon his two favourite women, knowing that today would be a good day. When the last two council members, Farlow and Redwick, joined him, Yeardley could finally start the meeting. Jeanne found herself fighting laughter as she watched the look of boredom and contempt on Redwick's face as her uncle started his speech, an expression which soon turned sour as the Marshall looked to Farlow. Farlow could only look down at Jeanne as she tried to ignore the man.
The town's men were overly joyed by the news, hinting to Jeanne that it hadn't been just the Sharrows that had been approached about their land. Farlow had taken the young woman aside when her uncle had ended the meeting.
"I thought you said your uncle was planning to ban the production of Tabaco?" He asked in a harsh whisper, not wanting to draw attention to their conversation.
"Planning?" Jeanne chided. "I never said that only speculated the possibility. I'm sorry if I gave you false fears, Nicholas." She said his name sweetly, hoping to curb the anger bubbling under his cool facade.
Farlow's mouth formed a thin line, his way of scowling without scowling. "It is fine, my dear. The wine affected my ears." He gave her a brief and quick bow as he turned to leave.
Jeanne looked to the uncle, where he now stood with his wife. The two of them approached her. "All is well?" He asked his niece with an underlying tone. When she nodded, he gave her a nod, offering his other free arm while his wife clung to his right. "Castell has informed me he is marrying today, so we have a wedding to attend."
"Looks like things are surely looking up." Jeanne smiled, taking her uncle's arm.