Free Reckless Rules (Brambridge Novel 4) by Pearl Darling

things that he had felt, yearning for an easier life, and when it came along, finding that you were like a fish out of water and in some ways perhaps not suited to the life that you thought you wanted to lead. That was why he had attacked Victoria so strongly about her giving to the poor. He really wanted to know. Would it make himself feel better too, about his lot?
    “Look lads.” Bill stopped and all six men visibly relaxed. “I know you have had a hard time adjusting to being here at the estate. I’ll make a bargain with you. I will let any of you who wishes, go back to their old job in the forge. Jim is getting quite lonely, and as the youngest apprentice he needs more direction.”
    There was a murmur as some of the men looked doubtful while others seemed more hopeful. “There are also other jobs on the estate that need doing that we haven’t yet recruited for. We need a cooper, someone to repair the machinery, and other jobs besides.” Bill forced a doubtful look onto his face. “I think it might be hard, but you are welcome to do those jobs if you don’t want to be footmen any longer.”
    “What about pay?” Percy demanded.
    “Same as now.”
    “What’s the catch?” George said, the most intelligent of the men, particularly with numbers, although not necessarily the best smith.
    “Trust George,” Bill said as the others smiled. “You might have heard that I had a spot of bother with a man called Pedro Moreno.”
    The smiles became sounds of mirth. “We heard that he back flipped out of the room faster than peeling a banana.”
    “I heard that he slipped his chains without even cutting them.”
    The men roared with laughter again.
    “I can tell you that is all true,” Bill said soberly. “What you haven’t been told is that this man also has information that was stolen from the British government, and that I am the one to get him and it back.”
    The men held their sides, seemingly unable to stop their snorts of merriment.
    “You?” George choked.
    “Pull the other one,” Percy exclaimed.
    So it was not just Bill who doubted his abilities.
    “No. Not just me. You too.” Bill sat back as his team of burly men saw that he was not joking. “All of you. You will find and get him for me. Lord Anglethorpe, the spymaster has told me how to do it. This should be no harder than the runs we do to France in the Rocket to pick up the brandy and émigrés, or even sourcing war information from the continent.”
    “Oh, come on, Bill. Us? Find a man who can slip chains like butter and ooze out of a room faster than lightning? What has that bloody well to do with sailing across the channel, sitting in a pub, drinking some wine and then coming back again?”
    Bill sighed. “According to Henry, in order to locate a man, you take your most trusted individuals and set them the task of finding who or what you are seeking. All you need to give is a little guidance.”
    “You say we’re your most trusted individuals?” Percy said quietly. It was not what Bill had expected them to pick up on.
    “Yes.”
    “Alright.”
    “Alright,” chorused the five other men after Percy.
    Bill waited for other protests, but the men looked at him expectantly. It had been enough, it seemed, to demonstrate to them what they meant to him.
    “Where do we start?”
    “I understand that Pedro Moreno may have gone back to his roots and joined a travelling group of entertainers. I want you to travel to the nearest six counties, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Hampshire, and Wiltshire, and make enquiries. They’re all west country or near enough. Visit every fair you can. Then move on to the next six counties and so on.”
    “What’s our timescale?”
    “Come back in two weeks. We don’t have much time.”
    “Can we ditch the uniforms?”
    “Of course. Look, he is a dangerous man. We do not want him to know we are looking for him. You should use each of your talents to find out where he is and report back. Think of it