Mary's Guardian by Carol Preston Read Free Book Online

She would have to pull herself together and find a way out of these predicaments herself. But right now, she was overcome with fear and hopelessness. She curled herself into a small ball in what seemed a spot out of sight. She hugged her knees hard and kept a watchful eye, praying now that any who meant to have their way with a woman had found a more willing one than she. Clearly there were plenty of those about.
    ***
    On the beach women were still being unloaded from long boats, and those assisting the women were having trouble holding the boats still enough for the frightened prisoners to alight.
    William took the arm of a small woman who was trembling so hard she could barely lift a leg to straddle the side of the boat.
    ‘Hold it, mate,’ he called to Joe Wright who was assisting him. They’d worked together all morning, dragging women ashore, directing them to the tents inside the tree line, assuring them they’d soon be in a dry and safe lodging.
    ‘Don’t fear, love,’ he said to the woman whose arm he was now supporting as she gingerly stepped into the ankle deep water. ‘There’s tents erected for you up there behind the trees. I’m sure they’re holding. Make your way up there and someone will take care of you.’
    William had no idea of what awaited the women. The noise of the storm obliterated any sounds coming from beyond the beach. He looked out across the water. There was only one boat still heading for shore.
    ‘I think this next one will do it, Joe.’ He handed a drenched bundle to the last of the women scrabbling onto the sand.
    ‘Thank God for that.’ Joe mopped the sweat from his face. ‘Who’d have thought you could be this wet with rain and still nearly expiring from heat? It’s a strange climate we’ve been brought to, Will.’
    ‘Seems so, Joe. But I guess we’ll get used to that. Perhaps it’s good for growing crops. Bit like a hot house, eh?’
    They passed the next few moments in relative quietness, taking a short rest from their duties and catching their breath. William splashed the sea water over his head, watching Joe follow suit. He’d made a chum quite quickly of this young man over the past week. Joe was probably ten years his junior, but congenial and apparently grateful for someone who’d encourage him to focus on the positive aspects about their future. They’d kept their minds on the tasks of building and clearing, erecting tents and assembling tools. There was hope in it all, William kept asserting. He felt an assurance within himself, and found as the days passed he became even more determined to maintain a positive outlook.
    When the last of the women had been landed, those who had been assisting them headed for the encampment. William and the men anticipated a rest, the possibility of getting into dry clothes and perhaps a bite to eat. William hurried his steps, his mind now having turned to his own goal. Mary had not come ashore on one of the boats he’d stood by, though he’d searched each face carefully, his heart beating with expectation. She must have been on one of the others. He wouldn’t let himself think for a moment that something had gone wrong, that Mary might still be on a barge in Portsmouth. Such a thought made his blood run cold. He was still firmly assuring himself that he’d find her amongst the women in one of these tents when he began to hear the shouting and squealing. He and Joe stopped dead in their tracks at the edge of the encampment. Their mouths dropped open at the sight before them. A few soldiers were rushing about demanding the attention of the rollicking bodies, with little if any effect. Even shots fired into the air simply joined with the claps of thunder and went largely ignored as men and women rushed from partner to partner, disappearing behind trees and tents or falling where they’d collided, into squealing, guffawing heaps of arms and legs.
    ‘What in the name of God is going on here?’ William found his voice though