Bonds of Earth, The (23 page)

‘L
OOKS AS THOUGH
you've got an important visitor, Cap'n, perhaps he's come to invite you to dinner at the big house!'

Looking up from his desk in the mine office at his shiftcaptain's words, Piran Pyne looked through the window and saw Sir John Spurre riding towards the mine office, his horse skittish because of all the noise and bustle surrounding horse and rider.

‘He's more likely to be coming to complain about Alan fighting with his gamekeeper, although he usually sends one of his servants with a note when he has something on his mind. Whatever the reason, it won't be to congratulate us on how well we're doing!'

Captain Pyne was wrong. After perfunctorily shaking hands with him, Sir John waited only until the shift captain had made a judicious departure from the office before saying, ‘You seem to be very busy up here, Captain Pyne – and doing well, I believe?'

‘We are keeping the adventurers happy.'

‘Ah yes, the all-important shareholders. Had I understood more about mining I might well have been one of them.'

‘Investing in a mine is a gamble, Sir John. More adventurers lose money than make it.'

‘Well, the Wheal Hope is not losing them money, by all accounts it is proving very profitable indeed for Agnes Roach and her tenant farmer.'

‘Happily, yes, they have both gone out of their way to be supportive.'

Well aware he had done nothing to co-operate with Wheal Hope, Sir John ignored any implied criticism. ‘It is actually mining dues I am here to speak to you about, Captain Pyne. One of the servants at Spurre Hall is friendly with one of your miners and he has told her you have discovered a very rich copper lode extending beneath the old mine which is on my land.'

‘I have not carried out any work beneath your land if that is what you are suggesting, Sir John.'

Piran Pyne's reply was decidedly cool and the baronet was quick to react, ‘No, no! I am not suggesting for a moment you would do such a thing without prior negotiation. In fact, the reason I am here is to say that if the information is true I will be very happy for you to pursue the lode beneath Spurre land – and I understand that if it is copper you are working the dues will be considerably higher than for tin?'

‘That is so,' the mine captain confirmed.

‘Have you any idea when you might begin work once we have reached agreement on the dues?' Sir John could not conceal the eagerness in his voice.

‘I haven't given it a great deal of thought and before I go ahead I would need to carry out a great deal of cross-cutting in order to evaluate the lode's potential. Also – and this would need your approval – as the lode would appear to run
beneath
the old workings it might be necessary to install a pumping-engine on your land. I would need to choose the best place for such an engine.'

Doing his best to hide the disappointment he felt, Sir John said, ‘Oh! So even if you did decide to work the lode it would not be in the near future.'

‘I am not saying that. If this particular lode was followed we could be bringing out ore in weeks rather than months but, to be truthful, when we began working here and it was thought the mining dues would be coming to you, the percentage you demanded was so high it was quite unacceptable. In view of that I have stopped short of following the lode you are discussing. For the foreseeable future I can make a very satisfactory profit from the ore we have beneath Mrs Roach's land.'

‘You must forget the dues I was asking for then, Captain Pyne.' Sir John gave the mine captain an ingratiating smile. ‘That was mere “business talk” when it was by no means certain the Wheal Hope would be successful and there was the likelihood of more disruption than profit as a result of your activities. That is no longer the case. I have no doubt we could agree dues that would be satisfactory to everyone involved.'

‘Should that prove so I would be happy to follow the lode beneath your land, Sir John, but the dues question would need to be settled first.'

‘Of course! As a matter of fact I am riding into Launceston today and will visit my solicitor and instruct him to call upon you to discuss the matter. If we can reach agreement when do you think you will begin the work?'

‘Once the legal details are settled I will begin checking the possible value of the lode immediately.'

‘Splendid! If you find my solicitor is putting difficulties in your way, come and see me at Spurre Hall immediately. I am confident we will be able to overcome them man to man.'

When Sir John had left the Wheal Hope, Piran Pyne thought of all that had been discussed. It was evident the rumours about the landowner's financial state were not without foundation. Sir John's eagerness to have him extend the Wheal Hope's activities to Spurre land was that of a desperate man.

Captain Pyne's observations were confirmed when Simeon Quainton, the Spurre estate's solicitor, arrived at the mine late the following afternoon. The negotiations in respect of mining dues were settled before he returned to Launceston less than two hours later, even though the mine captain offered terms less favourable than those he was giving to Agnes Roach and Goran.

However, there were a number of factors to be considered before work would begin on the lode beneath the Spurre estate and not until two days later did Piran Pyne send two of his miners to accompany a surveyor to the piece of land beneath which mining might, or might not begin. One of the miners was Alan Toms.

The three men set out together and, with the aid of a compass and some of the surveyor's instruments, were soon satisfied they were above the unworked lode and began inspecting the terrain to examine it for signs of previous mining activity.

They had soon found a great deal to enter on the surveyor's map, but there was a strong westerly wind blowing and they decided to return to Goran's farming land and crouch in the lee of the boundary wall while the surveyor entered the information.

The second miner accompanied him to help with his instruments, leaving Alan Toms a short distance into Spurre land inspecting what he suspected might be an old capped-off mine-shaft, around which generations of rabbits had established a warren. If the hidden shaft linked up with the old mine it might prove of use to the planned Wheal Hope expansion.

He was examining the area when a voice said, ‘Well now, there's nothing I enjoy more than catching a poacher red-handed – especially if it happens to be a miner!'

Startled, Alan swung around and saw Marcus Grimble advancing towards him carrying a fowling-piece, the long barrel of which was cradled in the crook of his left arm.

Recognizing Alan, the mock-humorous expression on the gamekeeper's changed to one of elation. ‘It's you! Oh, this really is going to be a day to savour.'

‘Don't be so bloody silly, I'm here on mine business.'

‘Mine business in a rabbit warren on the Spurre estate? No court in the land would believe such a story, and neither do I.'

Alan was ill-at-ease at meeting up with the armed gamekeeper, but he was not frightened of him. ‘I couldn't care less what you think, I was sent here to check out the land by Captain Pyne and that's what I've been doing. If you don't believe me go and ask him.'

‘Oh, I've no doubt he'd back up your story. What is it you miners are so proud of boasting about, “one for all and all for one”? Well, it's not going to work with me – and it won't work with the magistrate I'm taking you to.'

‘You're not taking me anywhere. I came up here with a job to do and I've done it. If you want me you know where you can find me.'

With this dismissive retort, Alan turned his back on the gamekeeper and began to walk towards the boundary wall, where the second Wheal Hope miner and the surveyor had heard the sound of voices and were peering over the wall at Alan and the gamekeeper.

He had not taken many paces when, without warning, there was the loud sound of a gunshot behind him and he felt immediate pain in his back and neck. He stumbled and fell, his head striking a large chunk of granite, excavated many years before from the now capped-off shaft – and he knew no more.

Behind him, with white smoke seeping from the barrel of the fowling-piece, gamekeeper Grimble stood looking at his victim, his emotions a confused mixture of elation and apprehension.

While he was contemplating what he should do next, there was a shout from the direction of the boundary wall where the surveyor and miner had watched horrified as the gamekeeper cold-bloodedly shot Alan in the back.

Suddenly aware of the enormity of what he had done and dismayed that there had been witnesses to the incident, Grimble turned and hurried away from the scene.

A
LAN
T
OMS WAS
not dead, although he would have been had Marcus Grimble's gun been firing anything heavier than birdshot. As it was there were many pellets from the gun embedded in his back, neck and scalp and one had clipped an ear.

Perhaps even more serious was the blow to his head when he fell against the granite rock. He had struck it with the side of his head, close to the forehead, and even when he regained consciousness seemed to be disorientated.

Alan's two companions helped him to Elworthy Farm, the closest place from which they believed they might be able to summon help. When they reached the farm, Goran was on hand to help them take him into the farmhouse to a spare bedroom.

Mabel was away at Agnes Roach's farm and Goran called in Harriet Bolitho to attend to Alan, while Jenken was sent off to alert Captain Pyne on all that had happened. He would then ride on to fetch the doctor from his house in the nearby village of Rilla Mill.

Jenken had no need to make the second part of his journey, the doctor being at Wheal Hope, where he was treating a young bal maiden who had managed to break a bone in her wrist wielding a cobbing hammer to separate waste from ore.

The doctor hurried to Elworthy Farm accompanied by the Wheal Hope captain. Here, whilst the doctor examined the wounded man, Piran Pyne listened in grim silence to the story told by the shocked surveyor and miner who had witnessed the whole incident.

‘Where did Grimble go after the shooting?' Piran Pyne asked.

‘When he realized we must both have seen what had happened he hurried off in the direction of Spurre Hall. We didn't see exactly where he went because we were too busy rescuing Alan and getting off Spurre land in case the gamekeeper returned and shot us too,' the surveyor explained, adding, ‘The man's insane!'

‘Possibly,' Piran Pyne agreed, ‘The chances are he was also drunk, but he'll not get away with this.' Turning to the other miner in the room, he said, ‘Tell everyone on the mine to be ready to come with me and find Grimble – and they are to bring pick-handles with them. We've had quite enough of Marcus Grimble. While you're doing that I'll go to the Hall and see Sir John – then we'll go after his gamekeeper.'

Alarmed, the doctor looked up from examining Alan and pleaded, ‘Let me see just how serious this young man's injuries are before you take any such drastic action. There are a great many pellets to be removed from his body, neck and head and he is quite obviously suffering concussion, but unless any of the pellets have reached his lungs or other organs he should suffer no lasting effects. Report the matter to Sir John, of course, after all he is a magistrate, but don't take the law into your own hands.'

Piran Pyne shook his head, ‘Grimble wouldn't be the way he is if he hadn't been given Sir John's support for so many years. Grimble has bullied his way through life because he knew he enjoyed his employer's protection – tacit or otherwise. There are men – mostly miners – who are rotting in prison because Sir John refused to see his gamekeeper for the man he is. Alan is my sonin-law, but he is also a miner. I've had one miner crippled by Grimble and now this has happened. I'll have no more men suffer because of this unholy alliance. We'll deal with Grimble our way … the miners' way.'

The doctor looked at Captain Pyne in silence before shrugging his shoulders, saying, ‘Well, I've told you what I think, if you choose to ignore my advice there will undoubtedly be unfortunate consequences for everyone involved. I suggest you send for your daughter before you do anything else, she might like to be with her husband while I do what needs to be done.'

Immediately after the shooting Marcus Grimble made his way to Spurre Hall where he found his employer giving his disgruntled head gardener instructions to turn the walled garden into a productive vegetable plot, sufficient not only to feed the whole household but also provide a surplus to sell in nearby mining areas, where such produce was always at a premium.

The head gardener had worked all his life at Spurre Hall and prided himself on the spectacular flower beds he had so diligently nurtured in the garden that was now to be turned over to vegetables.

Sir John greeted his gamekeeper with, ‘What are you doing here, Grimble? You should be out on the estate. I thought I heard the sound of a shot not long ago.'

‘You did, Sir John. There was a man, a miner, poaching on the estate, up towards the moor.'

‘Again? Did you catch him?'

Grimble shook his head, ‘No, he ran off and, as you know, I can't run as fast as I used to before I was attacked by that miners' leader and his men. I fired after him to try to bring him to a halt but he got away.'

‘Did your shot hit him?'

‘It might have done but I was only carrying a fowling-piece and he had others with him, at least two of 'em and they'll have helped him get away.'

‘Oh well, let's hope he needed to pick pellets out of his backside when he returned to wherever he came from. He certainly won't want to report it or he'll know where he'll end up. Well done, man.'

It was about an hour after the shooting when the Spurre Hall butler entered the study where Sir John was at his desk writing a letter. The baronet looked up irritably, but before he could complain about being interrupted, the butler said, ‘I am sorry to disturb you, Sir John, but there is a Captain Pyne from the Wheal Hope mine in the hall. He insists upon seeing you.'

All his irritability vanishing, Sir John said, ‘Show him in immediately. It is probably something to do with mining commencing beneath the estate. That will be good news indeed!'

The landowner was on his feet to greet his visitor when he entered the room – but Piran Pyne's first words were not those of a man bearing good news. Grim-faced, he said, ‘I've come here to tell you that I and my miners will be coming on the estate in search of your gamekeeper, Sir John. If he gives himself up peaceably we will take him before a magistrate in Launceston to be dealt with there, but if he puts up any resistance he will suffer the consequences as my miners will be armed with pick-handles.'

His disbelief showing, Sir John spluttered, ‘You've come here to tell me you intend hunting down one of my gamekeepers on my estate? This is gross impertinence! Grimble came to tell me he'd caught a miner poaching on the estate and had fired a warning shot in an attempt to stop him from running away and persuade him to give himself up. This is what I pay him for and it is his duty to arrest poachers on Spurre land – even if it happens to be one of
your
miners. As a magistrate I demand you hand the man over to me and
I
will decide what action is to be taken – and against whom.'

‘The man Grimble shot was
not
a poacher and he must have been aware of it. The miner was on your land with another of my men, and a surveyor, acting on my instructions and drawing up plans in preparation for the work you and I have discussed. Furthermore, my man was
not
running away. He was quite coldbloodedly shot in the back at close range, most probably because he and Grimble had a disagreement when they were both drinking at the village inn a few evenings ago. I have two very credible witnesses who saw what happened today. It would seem to be the culmination of a long-running feud between Grimble and miners – a feud that is seen as having your support. Miners are convinced they will receive no justice from you, which is why I intend taking Grimble before a Launceston magistrate when we catch up with him.'

‘You have the audacity to question
my
integrity, Pyne?
I
will deal with Grimble, not a mob hell-bent on avenging some spurious wrongs – and if you set one foot outside the law I will deal with you too.'

‘You could have dealt with Grimble a long time ago, Sir John, but have done nothing. There are a great many actions Grimble could never have taken without your support – things like laying mantraps around the estate, for instance. When evidence of these are laid before an unbiased magistrate I have no doubt he will investigate them further. In the meantime, until Grimble is tried and convicted for the shooting of my miner there will be no work carried out on any ore beneath Spurre land.'