Free Ironbark by Johanna Nicholls Page A

show, Maynard Plews was gesturing with uncharacteristic agitation to two police constables.
    Daniel’s first instinct was to flee. His second instinct was to bluff it out. If there were suspicions about the sixth landscape painting what proof could they have? He had burned the ruined original and put the ashes in the garbage pail.
    Maynard Plews caught sight of him. And then the die was cast when the two constables also turned to look at him.
    â€˜Is anything the matter, Mr Plews? Can I help in any way?’ he asked politely as he stepped inside the gallery.
    The older officer answered. ‘Aye, if you be Daniel Browne.’
    Daniel swallowed. ‘That I am, Sir.’
    â€˜Then you’ll come down to the station and answer our questions. According to an art expert a painting restored at this gallery is a fake. He claims that your employer knew it was when he accepted payment.’
    Maynard Plews quickly blocked Daniel’s reply. ‘My apprentice has naught to do with this unfortunate mistake. I will make amends.’
    Daniel felt shamed by his master’s attempts to prevent him from being taken into custody.
    Escorted from the gallery behind the ashen-faced Maynard Plews, Daniel glimpsed Saranna’s horrified look as she cowered in a doorway. A motley crowd milled around enjoying the arrest of a respectable citizen.
    â€˜No! There must be some mistake!’ Saranna cried.
    Maynard Plews looked defeated. ‘Tell your aunt to contact my lawyer, child.’
    Saranna ran beside Daniel and whispered, ‘Tell me this isn’t true!’
    Overcome by despair he said nothing, losing sight of her in the crowd.
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    At their trial at the assizes Daniel stood beside Maynard Plews in the prisoner’s dock. He searched the spectators’ faces until he saw Saranna supporting her aunt at the rear of the court. The fear in their eyes made him think of animals ready for the slaughterhouse.
    In contrast Maynard Plews’s gaze was fixed resolutely on the magistrate. He refused to look in the direction of his family, even when he entered his plea – guilty.
    Maynard Plews was accused of committing an act of major fraud inwhich Daniel had knowingly acted under his employer’s instructions. Despite his master’s protestations that his apprentice had not been involved in the mistake his words fell on deaf ears.
    When the old man was sentenced to transportation to the penal colony of New South Wales for the term of fourteen years, Daniel felt sure these words sounded his own death knell. He began to shake when the magistrate looked directly at him.
    â€˜Daniel Thomas Browne, the court has taken into account your youth. Therefore you are to be transported to the said colony for the term of seven years.’
    Above the courtroom clamour Daniel heard a girl’s thin voice cry out, ‘Daniel! I promise I’ll find a way to join you!’
    Over the heads of the crowd Daniel saw Saranna. She was being hushed by her aunt. Suddenly aware of the people staring at her, Saranna hung her head, mortified by her outburst.
    Daniel turned away. How much courage can you expect from a mouse?
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    Fog blanketed the roadway. Dark fragments of trees pierced the fog and the distant mooing of a cow told Daniel that they were being marched along a deserted stretch of road outside Chester.
    He was shackled to a line of prisoners headed for some rotting prison hulk on the Thames. He knew his master was struggling somewhere behind him because he could hear the sounds of his hacking cough – the trial had aged him overnight. Daniel avoided the old man’s eyes, knowing he had protected Daniel although fully aware of his guilt. Daniel tried to convince himself his own role in the crime was accidental, but he felt a wave of shame that his silence had betrayed Maynard Plews and Saranna. His cowardice had changed all their lives forever.
    Despite