Woman in Love

Jim Webster

Description

Asked to look for a missing husband, Benor finds that the female of the species is indeed more deadly than the male.

Sujets

• Fantasy (canción de Mariah Carey)
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 13 juin 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781785385360
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
Woman in Love
Book four of The Port Naain Intelligence series
Jim Webster



Publisher Information
Woman in Love
Published in 2016
by AG Books
Copyright © 2016 Jim Webster
The right of Jim Webster to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.



Chapter 1
As he helped the young woman to her feet, Benor supposed that it was the fact that Fellmonger’s Wharf wasn’t really a ‘working’ wharf that meant people tended to leave bulky low-value items scattered about. As a general rule, sailors and stevedores tend to be tidy people, coiling ropes neatly away so that nobody trips over them.
He’d been heading back to the barge, looking forward to his evening meal, when a young woman in front of him had measured her length on the ground, nearly tripping him up as well. As he helped her to dust herself down he studied her.
He guessed her age at about seventeen. Her hair was probably long but was done up into a tight bun under her hat. Her clothes were conservative, the skirt relatively long, but they were made from good quality material. Benor suspected that she wasn’t the first wearer. Not only were there leather patches on the elbows, there were leather bindings on the cuffs. He assumed that the jacket at least had been her mother’s; the style and colour would have suited an older woman better.
As she looked up from rearranging her clothing he caught the first glimpse of her face. Quite pretty, a pale complexion, and by the way she peered at him, almost certainly short sighted. She also looked worried.
“Thank you sir.” She was well spoken and could at least give the impression of being self-possessed.
“Think nothing of it.” Benor gave a half bow and turned to go.
“Excuse me, but I was looking for Shena the Mud-jobber.”
Benor turned back. “I lodge with Shena and her husband. If you want I can take you there.”
She smiled at him. Benor upgraded his assessment from ‘quite pretty’ to ‘pretty’, “Thank you sir.”
Benor offered her his arm. It might be a rather old fashioned gesture but given the state of the dock it could save him from having to repeatedly pick her up. “My name is Benor Dorfinngil; at your service.”
She took his arm. “Ami Shadear.”
He led her across the wharf and helped her down the ladder to the first boat. She had strong calves and well-formed ankles. The grip on his arm had been firm as well. A young woman used to activity. Benor marked her down as a skilled artisan, perfectly capable of supporting herself but forced to be careful with money.
He led her across the decks of the first five barges and onto the one he currently called home. He knocked on the door, opened it and looked inside. “A Mistress Ami Shadear wishes to speak to Shena the Mud-jobber,” he announced.
Shena took off her apron and walked across to the door. “Well don’t stand there, bring her in.”
Benor stepped in and beckoned Ami to follow him. She entered the galley hesitantly, walking cautiously, as she stepped out of daylight into the relative gloom.
Shena said, “Welcome Mistress Shadear. To what to we owe the pleasure of your company?”
Ami’s voice was formal, but Benor detected an underlying tremor. “Are you the mud-jobber?”
“I am.”
“I believe you buy... bodies.”
“Yes.” Shena realised this sounded a bit stark. “Well that’s how they describe it. In reality I pay a reward which I recoup when I to return the body to the family.”
“I was hoping you’d found a body, a man of thirty, of middling height and build with bushy sideburns and a moustache.” Benor heard the tremor again. This young woman was upset.
“No, I’m afraid not. Do you have a name for him?”
“Garen Aspurn, my husband.” It was then that she finally burst into tears. Shena helped her to a chair, and let her weep.
Finally Ami regained control. “I’ve been looking for him all over and you were my last hope. If I pay a finder’s fee for his body will you look for him for me?”
Shena sat down next to her. “Perhaps we can help. When did he disappear?”
The galley door opened, Ami looked up as Tallis walked in.
“Don’t worry; it’s just my husband back.” Shena said. “He’s someone who has a lot of contacts in the city. Tell us your story and we’ll see what we can do to help.”
***
By the time Tallis had placed strong coffee in front of her Ami had dried her eyes, blown her nose fiercely on a large but clean gentleman’s handkerchief and seemed to have recovered her self-possession.
“I suppose I had better start at the beginning. I was orphaned when I was only four or five. My father had been a successful cooper and he’d made some good investments. So when he died he left me a lodging house on Nailor’s Close. It is rented out to a long-established tenant who runs the business. She was an old friend of my mother so there’s no problem with the rent.”
Tallis butted in, “The big house with three floors and a turret?”
Ami looked surprised, “You know it?”
“I knew you looked familiar, you’re the image of your mother, or will be when you get a little older. I was a tenant there, a young poet starving in his garret, when your parents bought the place.” Tallis stared off into the far distance. “Your father, the cooper, had inherited a little money and decided to put it into this property. I helped your father fix the roof instead of paying rent. I have fond memories of your mother’s fruit cake and her kindness to a penniless artist.” He smiled gently at Ami, “Your mother’s beauty glows within you and in a few years will burst forth in radiant glory.”
There was a brief silence and Ami continued, a little embarrassed by Tallis’s praise. “There is still the cooper’s business. I insisted on being apprenticed to the trade and I work in the craft. But until I come of age everything is controlled by my cousin Rodge. He’s my guardian and oversees my affairs, collects the rents, and sees to maintenance, checks the accounts for the cooper’s yard.”
“Do you live with your cousin?” Shena asked.
“No, I live with my only other kin, my father’s younger sister, my Aunt Effi. She’s a maiden lady who lives quietly on her own investments. She inherited a house, number eight on Treddel’s Prospect, but she hasn’t got much money so I make a point of contributing to the family budget.”
“So what about your husband?” Benor asked, curious. Shena shushed him but Ami turned to him.
“That’s a good question. Aunt Effi has always been most protective of me, discouraging me from going out much. Rodge is very similar in that regard. Both seem to think that the minute I am out of their sight I’ll either end up raped, murdered or married to some gold-digger who only wants me for my money.
“Nonetheless, I did meet Garen. He came to our workshop when Rodge was out somewhere so I dealt with him, gave him some prices. He was very pleasant and asked me if I fancied having a little light lunch with him. As it was my lunchtime I agreed and he took me to a little place just off Coalporter’s rise.” She looked closely at Shena. “It was all perfectly respectable; we just drank a glass of infusion and shared plate of cakes and fruit.”
Shena patted her hand. “I’m sure it was my dear.”
“Anyway when I got back to the workshop Rodge still wasn’t there so nothing was said and to be frank I thought nothing about it. But then Rodge announced that he had to go down to Partann, to Tantavitas where he owns some property. The morning after he’d gone, Garen turned up in the workshop again and asked if I would care to dine with him. Over the next couple of weeks we became good friends and I went to a dance or two with him.”
“Did your Aunt Effi know and what did she think of your new friendship?” Tallis asked.
“She said that as long as I was careful and sensible then it should be alright. But really she was quite supportive. Twice Garen called for me and both times she passed the time of day with him while I was getting ready. After a month Garen asked me to marry him. I agreed. It was a quiet ceremony because we decided to get married first and tell people later. So we were married at the Hall of Records.”
“Whose idea was that?” Shena asked.
“Garen said it might stop unpleasantness. Once we were married there was no point family complaining, and they’d have to make the best of a bad job.”
“So you were married, what happened next?”
“We were just leaving the Hall of Records; I was giving some coins to the blind beggar who sat there wishing us luck, when a man appeared out of the crowd. Garen introduced him to me as his friend and business partner Shanus Lissel. Shanus said that he was sorry to interrupt but that he needed Garen to come to the office to meet a client. From what I could tell, Garen and his partner purchased beers, wines and similar from a lot of different places and supplied them in manageable batches to both businesses and large households. Anyway Garen seemed resigned to the intrusion, summoned a sedan chair to take me home. He promised to join me within the hour. That was two days ago and I haven’t seen him since.”
Benor asked, “This Shanus, what did he look like?”
“He was a big powerful man, solid. Just the man I could use in the works for loading the large barrel