Page 19 of Echo in the Wind

The excitement infusing the air had always inspired Joanna to think of foreign ports. This, to her, was the real heart of London.

Zack ushered her into the building. “They are just sorting the barrels and chests now.”

Inside, windows set high in the wooden structure allowed light to fall on the tall stacks of chests and barrels. Two men organized them into smaller groups. She assumed it was to assist the delivery.

At a desk in the center of the large dust-covered room sat a man poring over a book that looked to be a ledger.

“We keep records?”

“Aye, we must. Else how would we remember who got what?”

“Yes, but records of smuggling present a risk, do they not?”

“I hold the book, m’lady. Ye need not fear its discovery.”

Joanna did not share Zack’s confidence but held her tongue. They would speak of the ledger again when they returned to Chichester. “I would like to see it.”

Zack spoke to the man at the table, a clerk of some sort, and carried the volume back to her. The leather-bound ledger included neat tallies of shipments beginning with their first forays into smuggling.

Zack drew his finger down the columns on the open page. “’Tis all in order. See, here are last month’s runs.”

“Where did you learn to read?” Most villagers were illiterate. Only a few had ever learned to sign their name.

“Before the war, the vicar taught some of the village boys. I was one. Ye can be sure he is never in want of tea.” Pointing to the last entry, he noted, “This here is the tea bound for the tea room at Twinings on the Strand.”

“Twinings, really?”

Zack grinned. “Ye don’t think all the tea drunk there comes from the East India Company’s ships, do ye?” At her raised brow, he added, “We supply a good bit, some might say the best of what they serve.”

“I see.” Joanna would never sip another cup of tea at Twinings without thinking of her part in it. “I knew the coffee houses bought tea from us, but I can see from this our distribution is wider than I realized.”

“Oh, aye, I expect ’tis.”

“What about the brandy?” she asked. Stacked high against the walls were barrels and casks of what she assumed was brandy. She knew some of the casks never made it to London. Once diluted and colored, many went to inns and taverns in Chichester. However, she was uncertain of the destination of the casks and barrels stored here.

Zack pointed to entries marked with a “B”. “The sugared mixture we sell, the kind the English swells like, goes to taverns around London and some to Vauxhall Gardens in Lambeth on the other side of the river.”

Impressed with Zack’s efforts, Joanna stayed a while to check more entries and to ask about the wagons that would carry the goods to their various destinations.

Zack told her he would not introduce her to the men he’d hired in London. “The fewer who know who ye are, the better.”

When it was time to go, she turned to Zack. “Once the money is in hand, will you see my share goes to the Ackerman family? They need it desperately. The mother has not been able to take in laundry or mending since she fell ill.” Joanna never actually received a share of their take, yet Zack went through the fiction so that she could direct her part of the proceeds to those who were the most in need.

“Aye, I’ll see to it, m’lady.”

“When is our next run?”

“More than a sennight, I expect. I should have the precise day soon.”

“Good. Then I shall have time to attend some events with Lady Danvers and return to Chichester. Lord Torrington, Aunt Hetty and my sister will remain here. We will have The Harrows to ourselves which will make our business that much easier.” She was glad Aunt Hetty had brought her cat to London. Though she would have to put up with sneezing when the cat returned, at least for the summer, Aloysius would not be there.

Zack walked her to the door and hailed a hackney. As he helped her into the carriage and closed the door, she leaned her head out the open window. “Will you visit Nora before you return to Chichester?”

“O’ course. She expects it.” And then with a smile, “’Sides, she told me she’d save me one of yer cook’s tarts.”

Knowing Zack’s fondness for fruit tarts, Joanna laughed and waved him goodbye.

By the time Jean arrived at the Thames, his ship was already tied up at the quay. Judging by the scarcity of crew on deck, la Reine Noire must have arrived earlier than expected. He expected his crew not on the ship were patronizing the quayside taverns.