{IRP} The Great Escapade

Saira walks into the Liverpudlian, the Town Hall tavern of Liverpool. She has received a whispered message to be in the back room at a certain time, and to mention a certain codeword.

She sidles in and drinks a beer, nodding to the man in green who never seems to leave. She's sure he follows her around. She whispers to the barman, "I'm told that ye can meet with friends in the back room of this pub for friendly games of...hangman?" The barman nods and opens the door into the back room, filled with a stash of cheeses and empty whisky barrels.

Why are they meeting? To discuss the extended incarceration without any news of a Westmorland Councillor and the Harbourmaster of Liverpool, and what they can do about it. The time for direct action has come... but it will probably end up that taking some of Liverpool's pub regulars and having them meet in a pub to plot and conspire over large amounts of alcohol might be a bit of a bad idea...

A sign tacked outside the tavern reads:

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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

"Well now, Lady Aggie, he does have to avoid being frivolous with the public purse. He more than makes up for it with his requisitioning of pastries. Although I'm hoping that he'll bring some bread this time. For the cheese. He shall be along presently - I saw him earlier in church while I was polishing the silverware and polishing off the communion wine again."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

"Cake?" Lavea said entering, "where's the cake? I'll have some."


occ: joined on invite
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Lady Lavea de Lyle, Viscountess of Salford, Earl of Leeds, Marchioness of Lancashire. Lady of Bramall Hall, Pontefract Castle and Holker Hall.

"Alex is supposed to be bringing the cake, when he gets here. For now, we just have overpriced ale." She passes the jug round.

"Of course," she adds virtuously, "drinking too much on an empty stomach probably wouldn't be a good idea."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

Shurelia headed to the tavern after receiving a secret note. She was receiving too many secret notes lately. One had gotten her... errr... on a ship sailing away from Liverpool. Now she was back and received yet another note.

She hurried to this not so secret place since it was announce on the tavern board about the secret place. One would think she would be a bit more cautious about secret notes after that last misadventure she had. She was supposed to have a codeword, but the note had not mentioned it.

Entering the tavern, she announce loudly, "So where's this secret meeting we're having?"




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Aleks entered through the secret entrance to the backroom-the door that led to the alleyway. In his hands was a large cake, while also hholdin several maps and charts under his arms as he held the door open.

"Hello all. Hope you don't mind, but I've brought some cake. I think that most of us are here, so we'll begin our secret meeting."

He cleared his throat and pulled out a map.



"As we call can see we are here and they are there." He pointed to the spots on the map that he had previously marked. "The issue arises in the fact that we are here and they are there and not here, because if we were here and they were here, we would both be here and therefore they wouldn't be there. That would be a better outcome then what we have, but what we have now is better then if we were there and they were here. Any questions so far?"
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The Rev. and Rt. Hon. Sir Aleksander ap Meurig, Bt
Baron of Cemaes, Baronet of Liverpool,
Presbyter of Llanbadrig and Liverpool Churches

Aggnes peered at the map. "That's one of the old ones, isn't it? I always did like the pictures of the mines on that version - look, you can see the Liverpool iron mine really clearly, though the gold mine we found more recently isn't on there. And there's the stone mine, south of Kendal."

She nibbled some of the cheese Saira was offering. "Isn't this the Extra Mature? Must be a good six months old by now. Nice."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

"No, no, no. We don't need to take over the whole of Kendal, just the prison cells. At least, that's assuming the prison is at the capital... I haven't visited since the Lancaster days, when the prison was in the caves under the castle, and we ran ghost tours."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

Saira listened to Aleks' concise and to-the-point explanation of the problem. She took another pull of her beer and leaned in to examine the chart. She wasn't terribly familiar with land charts, but did some calculations. "Sooo, that'd be about 8 miles away? And we've still heard nothing. Do they yet live? Do we have a spy up there who can say?"

It looks like she's either misunderstood the scale, or is very bad at arithmetic. Its about 80 miles. She's not been inland in Westmorland and seems not to be aware of just how big it is...
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

She listened to both ladies speak. She knew there were an abundance of old mines around the ruins but had forgotten where the entrances were situated. It had been so long ago and she wasn't one to remember things especially something she had no interest in. But now the mines were important in their plans. She could kick herself for not paying more attention to them before they became... not so useful. But one thing did come to mind when she heard they were going to use the old mines or rather, connect all the mines into one big tunnel stretching all the way from Liverpool to Kendal. Most of those mines had been abandoned long ago and surely maintenance hadn't been done. There were dangers in such plans.

"Ummm... How safe are those old mines? When were they last maintained? Are you sure they won't collapse on us especially with all the digging we're going to be doing?"
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"Build a boat....? well, this is a port town. I expect the harbour master could tell us how long that would take."
She walks over to one of the hat racks in the corner and tosses the "Liverpool harbour master" hat in Alex's direction.
"What do you reckon, if we stopped work on the harbour - a few weeks to build a ship? I don't know how to get one carried by birds, though."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

"I have it!" Aleks exclaimed. "We flood the mines and float on a boat all the way to Kendal. It'll take less time and..." he took a bite of cake and chewed for a bit before continuing, "...and they won't spot us until it's too late!"
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The Rev. and Rt. Hon. Sir Aleksander ap Meurig, Bt
Baron of Cemaes, Baronet of Liverpool,
Presbyter of Llanbadrig and Liverpool Churches

"We could take jolly boats? Or them little fishing rowboats? Calm down Lady Aggie, deep mines are probably half-drowned anyway if not in use. Jah knows it rains enough."

She is, to be frank, rather amazed at their transformation. A priest, a deaconess and a prim noblewoman plotting drama and mischief. She leans back in her chair and watches, smiling. Liverpool was such a fun place. She might stay.

"And what of when we get there? I reckon that Bailiwick must be honeycombed with old passages and the like. Do we have any of the locals we can trust to guide us? We may need a safe house to hide 'em once they be freed."

Saira helpfully refills the drinks, thinking that once the planning is over and the doing begins, two clerics and a lady of the more vintage persuasion might need a little liquid courage in them to see the job through. Although they did seem well spirited already. In particular, she was amazed that the local Bishop had seen fit to put Liverpool's spiritual guidance in the hands of a noted thief and cake addict. She was fascinated to see what would happen.
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

Pilgrim pushed open the swinging fly-screen doors and walked into the Liverpudlian.

The inside was gloomy, the ancient windows caked in saltspray and something altogether nastier, seagull guano maybe? Only the doorway let in a slanting shaft of light which picked out dust motes quivering in the sudden movement of air.

The clientele was decidedly "interesting". Shifty types huddled in the corners, an elaborately-tattooed sailor was slumped on a table, some giggling ladies with a lot of make-up and not many clothes sat at the bar.

Pilgrim shrugged. Manchester's Red Lion had had its moments in the past.

The bar-keep was staring, making slow circular wipes of a filthy towel on the stained counter, a toothpick jammed in his mouth.

"A pint of Lee Lager, please" said Pilgrim, feigning an air of world-weary nonchalance. "And whatever they're drinking", inclining his head towards the ladies.

Maybe a free drink or two would loosen tongues. Pilgrim had been trying for some days to find out why Lavea and Shurelia had rushed off in such a hurry to Liverpool, but as yet no-one could, or would, give him answers. It wasn't just that Pilgrim was curious as to the content of the private notes which had take them away, but he really didn't fancy spending any time alone at Ordsall, particularly at night, and this "mystery" was a perfect excuse to spend some time away from his new home. Plus, Lavea was his noble overlord (or lady) and he ought to offer help if she needed it.

While his drink was being poured, and paper umbrellas being dropped in the "Lewdness On The Docks"cocktails ordered by the ladies, Pilgrim could hear raised voices coming from a room at the back of the bar. Was that Aggnes?

Yes.

No.

Ask the person in charge.

When was this reported?

Siren's head is buzzing with all the things she is apparently supposed to know the answers to. How is she suddenly more wiser than she was when she was nothing but a low-life criminal scum-bucket? She doesn't feel any wiser at all. She feels even more confused about life than before if the truth were to be told, but despite that, she knows that she has to keep up with all events and be available to sort out any problems as they occur. It is near the end of the day when another harassed looking messenger stands panting in front of her. Now she knows she is terrifically good looking, but all this adoration is just too much! She is about to say something when it dawns on her that the lad might simply be out of breath because he has been running.

"Take your time .."

She mutters at him impatiently and meaning quite the opposite of what she says.

"So?"

She prompts and taps her fingers on her desk.

"Come on boy, spit it out!"

The boy clutches at his side as though he has a stitch and manages to stammer out

"Two *huff* ... *puff* people in Liverpool ..*puff* .. have been *huff*.. arrested by the *gasp* High Kings."

All Siren gets from this is 'Liverpool' and 'arrested'. These are two words that go together often and so she fails to react all.

"Yes? Liverpudlians are well known to be in need of frequent incarceration, so what is the urgency this time?"

The lad tries again and this time she does react in a more shocked and outraged manner.

"WHAT!!! How dare they!!!"

She stands up hurriedly and sends parchments flying willy-nilly all over the place.

"Those people are MY minions! They work for me and are under MY protection! This is like declaring war on my right to rule this land!"

In her outrage, Siren is prepared to use the authority that everyone has been telling her that she has but has so far been far to shy to use.

"Fetch me my advisors! Get me my guards! And for pity's sakes, bring me a cup of tea!"

With that said she flumps back down in her chair and frowns at the desk as if it is to blame for her troubles. This is really serious and as much as she hates to admit it, she has no idea how to go about fixing the problem. If this means that she is going to have to ride all the way to Kendal to sort matters out she is going to have to get severely grumpy with someone.
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"It is better to be pissed off than pissed on!" * RA to Helvetica

"Owwww, if we were to flood the mines I know just how we can do it, I may have already accidentally flooded Liverpool once before. I'm sure it would go much better this time. "
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Lady Lavea de Lyle, Viscountess of Salford, Earl of Leeds, Marchioness of Lancashire. Lady of Bramall Hall, Pontefract Castle and Holker Hall.

koffie covers her ears..

"Aggnes, are you sure you do not have any hearing disabilities from being near all the noises in the mines? we can perfectly hear you where you are standing right now."

koffie thinks for a moment and shakes her head, bringing in the judge's hammer to give everybody time to speak and call for order will not work here....
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Baroness of Warrington, Ex-rector of Lancaster University, Owner of the Paga Inn and the Burwood Manor, Lady of Coffee

"We don't need to flood them anyway - they're much easier to get through if they're NOT flooded."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

Saira jumped up, hand on hilt of cutlass, and opened the door a crack. She saw a man she didn't recognise.

"Mayor says he gave at the office. Go away."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

Since she's standing only a few feet away, Aggnes doesn't really need the message passing on. "The Baron of...? Oh, Pilgrim. Good, I think we'll be needing him. He hasn't got Daisy with him, has he?"
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

"That's a shame. What Pilgrim does is make things - revolving stages, siege towers, contraptions in general. What Daisy does is wreck them, usually."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

A small grey tabby face appears from Saira's shirt pocket and mews. Saira sees a familiar, scarred face. Not a face that would bring a smile to many girls' faces, but it does to hers.

"Hello chief. What brings ye here? Ale said hello too so I should offer ye one at least. Come in. Hangman crowd from the Tower are in.... well, except for Moggie. Come in. We shall tell ye about it."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

Pilgrim nodded at the lady with the tabby kitten, and stepped past her into the back room, glad for the newcomer's arrival which meant he did not to have to explain that Daisy was what you might call a "sporting" dog, bred especially for hunting small furry creatures and fighting other dogs. Not that he or Daisy had any stomach for such activities, both preferring to snooze in a warm armchair than indulge in unpleasant blood sports.

"Hello Aggnes" he grinned "My dog....cause trouble? As if..."

Poor Daisy. Obviously she had got the blame for the Southampton revolving stage debacle, although she hadn't set the stage alight in the first place, nor fed the flames with flammable liquid. Best try and gloss over the episode though, before someone mentioned a gingham frock and singed eyebrows.

"So....what's going on here then?"
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'Know it?' he says with a dry chuckle. 'I practically lived there the first few days after I came to Kendal, until I could earn enough for a hostel bed and then a cottage. I don't reckon on knowing all the doors, but the main ones I can do.'

He finds a chair and slides into it, ticking things off on his free hand between bites of bread. 'There's the front door, where folk come and go to the court. There's a side door where they let those who've served sentence out. There's the back door where the penniless go, because scrubbing the jail floor for a roof for the night is better than nothing. That's the one I used.'

He finishes the bread, licks the dripping off his fingers and continues, 'There's a locked door with passage to the mines for those serving hard labour, and there's the under passage that the guards used to use for bringing bandits in when they caught them - or that councillors used to use to sneak into the castle when they travelled. It comes out right by the main door, but the other end's out in the wilds, kind of overgrown.'

"well Aleks, i did notice the map you brought, and the great artwork on it as well, but really, could you not have brought a more updated map? there are plenty to go around"

koffie sits down, while noticing that she missed a few of the more important details as she barged in a bit late, she decides to listen for a small bit
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Baroness of Warrington, Ex-rector of Lancaster University, Owner of the Paga Inn and the Burwood Manor, Lady of Coffee

"A locked door with passage to the mines? Perfect! We enter the mines from the other end, in the ruins of Lancaster, come up there, and Pilgrim unlocks the door. What could possibly go wrong? Well, unless the other miners spot us... or the Lancaster end is still under the castle, and haunted.... no, we'll cope."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

"Disguises? Ye have a surplus of surplices? Dress us all up? I could dress up as a nun but I don't want to make a habit out of it. "
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

"Yes, I agree. A disguise would be good. Deacon Shuie and I can vest and lead you all through the mines. You all could be dressed as the choir. If we get caught, we can say that we're blessing the mines and/or on a pilgrimage to Kendal. Plus, we'll all be able to claim benefit of clergy if worst comes to worst."
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The Rev. and Rt. Hon. Sir Aleksander ap Meurig, Bt
Baron of Cemaes, Baronet of Liverpool,
Presbyter of Llanbadrig and Liverpool Churches

Pilgrim hadn't had a full explanation from Aggnes yet, but had made up his mind to stay at the point when free drinks were mentioned. Anyway, it all sounded like a choir outing and picnic in the mines, with a teeny bit of breaking and entering at the end. He decided to ask for details later, after the free beer.

He swigged down the last of his Lee lager and pointedly put his empty tankard next to the cake on the table. Daisy barged her way under the table and lay down, alert for any dropped crumbs, or better still, whole slices.

Seeing Daisy settled and out of the way Pilgrim then turned to the lady who was minding the door and stuck out his hand.

"I'm Pilgrim, I don't believe we have been introduced."
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'So a quiet song about a cat. And an alibi? And maybe one or two to spare for the prisoners?'

He helps himself to a piece of cake and a mug of something.

Shurelia had quietly watched as more people came in. A mug of ale in one hand and cake in the other. It was an extremely good cake too. Something to be expected when the cake came from London. Listening to the others speak, she had to wonder why they had to sneak in anyway? All they needed to do was sneak out.

"Why don't we just waltz into Kendal? It's not like it's illegal to go to Kendal.... unless you don't have a penny to your name. We just need to figure out how to sneak the two out. We on the other hand can just waltz out of Kendal legally. Let's rally at the Elite Troop Camp II just outside of Kendal and dig through the ramparts or under it, before we head into town."
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Saira's eyes bulged as Aleks stood on her foot on standing to speak, and was grateful for him sitting down again. She was busy wiggling her toes to get the feeling back into them and missed a lot of the conversation after that, but did pick up one one scrap of information.

"Constable may be competent but he forgot his priest hat on account of it this Sunday..."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

"Why, Deacon! I'm surprised-a gambling den? Let it be said that Liverpool has some of the most...interesting and unorthodox clergy in all of England."
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The Rev. and Rt. Hon. Sir Aleksander ap Meurig, Bt
Baron of Cemaes, Baronet of Liverpool,
Presbyter of Llanbadrig and Liverpool Churches

"Just say that the best way to convert a sinner efficiently is to make them come to you. It's a combined casino and mission. When you've won all their money off them it would be an ideal time to show them the error of their ways. And of course the money raised can be used for the poor..."

Saira tries her best to look poor.
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

Aggnes sighed. Did nobody know even the basics about the mines?
"Shurelia, while in theory the mines are at the same location as your camp, they're a long way underneath. Unless you've got a very deep well there, and a long rope, we won't be going from one to the other. We want to come up under the Westmorland Jail, so we either go down the entrance the Kendal miners use, or the one in the ruins of Lancaster - and Lancaster is closer.

"When we get there... well, we need to pick the lock, from the wrong side of the door. Maybe Pilgrim can do that? Or we blow the thing off its hinges, get those two, and run. But I think the guards are going to notice, so yes, we'll need a distraction. A bun fight... Izzy, how close are the Sheriff corrals to the jail? If we can convince the Sheriff not to object to us providing the animals in there with fodder, a minor bun fight in the corral might be OK?"
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

'I think I could persuade the Sheriff,' he says dryly. 'Though the corral's on the far side of the castle from the jail. As for the door...' He grins suddenly, remembering times that seemed like another life now. His eyebrow quirks on the good side of his face as Pilgrim mentions lock-picking. Two of a kind blacksmiths, perhaps. 'I can probably deal with it if Pilgrim can't.' He was a blacksmith after all. He shaped and cut metal regularly. He'd even made locks and - tested them, thoroughly. 'Can always apply a good chisel. A lock does no good if it isn't attached to the door. Nor does a bolt.'

'The other military manouvre people are practising to be robbers,' he points out, refilling Shurelia's mug and his own. 'You don't get much - shiftierish? Just persuade the Captain...'

Saira thought they were beginning to sound sensible and competent again. "Oh no, they're sobering up.", she thought to herself, and poured another round of drinks.
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

He shakes his head. 'The cart I drove down lives here. What we need is an inactive Marshal who will 'forget' to report that day. Shame...' His fingers tap to a silent tune for a long moment, then he shrugs. 'Can't we find a tunnel or a mine or something?'

"Preston North End eh? I'm in. It'll do me good to go inland for a change. As long as Aleks fills up his magic bag and we raid some pubs along the way..."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

"Tis a lot to carry though. I was thinking more along the lines of carrying a skinful until it wears off and then finding another pub."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

As the group assembled was speaking, Aleks had slipped out and gone to the vestry to find some suitible vestments for two criminals soon to be at large.

He hurried back to the pub and joined the group.

"Wait a minute! This tavern is the property of the Liverpool Town Hall. All goods and food must be accounted for. You want free food for the journey-raid Aggnes's tavern, not mine."

He pointed his his bag, filled with food and vestments. "Plus I already have loads of food in here already. I've decided to dress Lee and Moggie as nuns. Nun would suspect them. Deaconess, shall we vest into more suitable ecclesiastical attire?"
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The Rev. and Rt. Hon. Sir Aleksander ap Meurig, Bt
Baron of Cemaes, Baronet of Liverpool,
Presbyter of Llanbadrig and Liverpool Churches

"You mean you want me to persuade Mother Jasmine to lend us some of her robes?" Shurelia exclaimed shocked. 'Ummm... maybe I could just make some in my workshop. Saira can help me. But you'll need to find wool and hides. How many pockets do you need?"
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Shurelia gratefully drinks up the ale presented in front of her. Not thinking that it might have to be accounted for. Actually, she didn't care. Anything missing would be accounted for from... the Mayors pockets. She passed the rest of the ale around the room. "Bottoms up boys and gals. It's show time!"
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"I wouldn't be dressed up as a nun. I'd be dressed up as a priest, so that no one would know that it was actually me. That's how disguises work!"

As he finishes speaking, he eats another slice of cake and drinks his ale.
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The Rev. and Rt. Hon. Sir Aleksander ap Meurig, Bt
Baron of Cemaes, Baronet of Liverpool,
Presbyter of Llanbadrig and Liverpool Churches

'And claiming to be exercising demons, no doubt,' he adds with a wry smile. 'Come on, Father Not-A-Priest-Really-Just-Dressed-That-Way. Let's be having you down the road.'

"Exercising demons? What, he has a pair on a leash? That could be fun...."
For a moment she contemplated the hypothetical possibility of guard-demons and freak shows, but then sanity prevailed.

"Still, let's get going. Lanterns, provisions, disguises, the little cart if you're sure we need it. Mines are to the north."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

Pilgrim had had several free beers too many, but he felt confident that he could breeze through whatever the plan was, mainly cross-dressing and blowing stuff up as far as he could tell.

He stood up a little unsteadily and put his mantle on inside-out.

"I'm ready when you people are".
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"Well I don't know. Where did ye park it? Oh don't tell me someone nicked the wagon?! We shall probably find it up on bricks somewhere..."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

"To the north. The tavern door faces south-east."

"Just turn right as you go out the door, and follow the road past the arena."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

It really wasn't very far at all to the entrance to the iron mine, normally, but this time it seemed to have wandered off and needed tracking down. When Aggnes did find it, it looked rather sheepish.

She gave it a Hard Stare. "Stay!" she said firmly, and waited for the rest to catch up.
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

"It's an iron mine. We'd better alter the words."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

Shurelia had gone home to get her equipments and a few of her Sunday robes. She didn't think she would have enough time to sew everyone's disguises. Good thing she had some of her own... ummm.. disguises. She arrived at the mines a bit late and everyone had gone in. She didn't know her way through the caverns in the mines. Aggnes was supposed to guide them.

Lighting a torch of her own, she bravely entered the mines. After walking for several minutes, she reached a fork. Now which way should she go? She distinctly heard singing coming from one of the caverns and decided to head that way.
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Saira is further back in the line. She can hear singing but can't hear the words, so starts singing a shanty instead; a Liverpool-themed one. The words mention strange things like "California" and "Yankee clipper ships" that make no sense to her though, so she changes them to fit her own current naval situation.

"Ah curse it. I can't remember any more."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

Saira hurries up with light, and sees him pick up the fork. "What is it with you and cutlery? Although I reckon that's just a prop.

And do try to get yer vestments under control. You don't want to strangulate yerself. "
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

Umm...no. But it occurs to me that now the Hangman Club are all down the mine we should be the Cavern Club. I reckon Liverpool will be famous for the Cavern Club one day..." She continues hunting for the sign. A brief moment of The Sight brings the phrase "Can I have a P please, Bob?" into her consciousness, but as is often with the Sight, the glimpse makes no sense and she doesn't know who Bob is anyway, so she disregards it.
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

He holds his lantern up and looks down. 'There's a P-shaped puddle on the floor over here, does that count?'

"No, we're trying to find a sign saying "Preston this way". It may just be the letter P and an arrow. So far the nearest we have is a puddle of... let's not go there."
She decided not to mention what she'd thought sounded like a hollow voice saying "Plugh" a little further uphill.
"Three main choices. I do not like the feel of the middle way; and I do not like the smell of the left-hand way: that's where Izzy's puddle is. I shall take the right-hand passage. It is time we began to climb up again."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

He follows down the passage, picking his way over puddles and dead rats as the tunnel slopes upward, gradually getting larger, colder, and drier, until it emerges into a cavern with several tunnels leading out of it.

'This must be the cavern for the cavern club,' he comments, raising the lantern in an attempt to illuminate the far side. 'And not so many puddles.*

He turns towards Shurelia, thinking he hears his name being called, and sees her close behind him with a look of relief on her face. At her question, he walks over to a vein of ore in the nearest wall and picks at it with a finger. Examining the result he confirms, 'Still iron.'

He goes cautiously towards the light, reaches it, and calls back, 'Yes, it is daylight, and what's more there's a stack of barrels by an unlit campfire!' He hears his voice bounce off the echos and waves his lantern from side to side too, in the hopes that he'll be seen if not heard.

"Siren's stash? If they are, we've gone past Kendal. I don't remember Siren having a stash to the south of Kendal." She remembers there being several campfires around but doesn't remember Siren having one way down south.
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"Eh now, not really my kind of thing. I know that may surprise ye, but I try and avoid the hard stuff. I get in enough trouble on beer..."

Saira thinks for a bit longer, and than adds. "Perhaps better not light a fire"
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

'Which means the road should be nearby.' He picks up a stick and beins poking the bushes and shrubs until he finds a narrow track that appears to widen out ahead. 'Guess this is it...'

"Northward, then, and down the old gold mine, assuming the upper levels at least are dry. That should bring us up in Lancaster - and you know, if there's a tunnel now from prison to mines, I bet there was when Lancaster was the capital and the prison was there, too. We can come up right underneath the old castle, and probably down the next mine, the Kendal stone mine, from there as well. We'll only pause to investigate the cellars at the old town tavern - the Baroness of Bury's Arms, it used to be called."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

Walking through the shruberries in church clothesmay have been a bad idea. Well at least, if they are seen, people wil,not have any suspicion later on when they head back with the Alms and some extra people. Maybe she should ask Aggnes, Izzy and Pilgrim to wear some church clothes so that no one would query about the difference in numbers on their walk home.

"Would the three of you like to be in disguise as well. Umm.. until we reach the outskirts of Kendal at least."
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The track widens out and then turns onto a good sized, if rather badly rutted, road, that Izzy recognises - he'd driven over this bit coming down in the cart. Which meant that, yes here was Preston, or what was left of it, and here was a not quite so overrown track up to the gold mine. It looks almost as if someone's been using the old mine track more recently.

He shrugs. Gold will do that to some people where iron won't. He peers into the entrance, spotting a smoke-blackened bit of wall and a dry sandy floor, but no people. 'Looks dry, at least.'

"Fancy dress? I don't know what you're talking about. I wear this everyday." Aleks said as he smoothed his surplice and wiped some dirt from his shoulders.

"Gold mine, huh. We should have left a bit early and brought some picks and shovels, so we could make some money. We might have to bribe someone anyway."
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The Rev. and Rt. Hon. Sir Aleksander ap Meurig, Bt
Baron of Cemaes, Baronet of Liverpool,
Presbyter of Llanbadrig and Liverpool Churches

Saira giggles as Aggnes attends to her clothes confusion. "Thank you Auntie Aggnes...and Aleks, it's fancy clothes to the likes of me."

She looks around, getting her bearings.

"So, down another mine? Or do we stop off here for dinner? Aleks, do ye have yer magic bag of cake?" She looks hopeful.

What a motley crew. But they've come further than she'd expected. She was thinking they'd still be blundering drunk down the iron mine at this point.
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

Aleks searched his bag, but couldn't find any cake. "Strange" he said to himself. "I thought I put some cake in here. Oh well."

He continued to walk. Slightly mishearing Aggnes, he spoke after she did: "I don't know why you'd even want to own a nasty, dirty wet hole with funny smells, but if it's yours we'll take special care of it."
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The Rev. and Rt. Hon. Sir Aleksander ap Meurig, Bt
Baron of Cemaes, Baronet of Liverpool,
Presbyter of Llanbadrig and Liverpool Churches

"I don't think digging will help find food: it's a gold mine, not a treacle mine. Or was, until it got mined out. We'll only be digging if it's collapsed since it was last used."
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Vice Chancellor of Foreign Affairs, Royal Embassy, Keeper of the Privy Seal. Wiki entry

As they pause to go down the mine, Saira looks at Aleks and frowns.

"Yer hair is getting long. I preferred it how you had it before..."

As she went down in to yet another mine, she hoped it wasn't going to collapse any time soon. Perhaps she should have had some of that whisky...
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

She accepted the candied chestnut from Izzy. "Thank you. This will have to do." Following behind the rest, she was glad at least someone was reliable with the sweet stuff.

They seem to stop again when Izzy found a cart. She listened to Aggnes suggestion about the cart and her face lit up. " I agree! That'll get us to the food faster."
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Saira frowns.

"I think we're going to need a bigger cart...."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

"Much better. How ye had it afore made ye look like a girl. Or that funny Cuthbert bloke from Yorkshire. His eyes are wonky. And he wears stupid hats. "

Satisfied that all was right with the world again, and slightly confused about when she was (but remembering that it was before Lee and Moggie were released so AAAGES ago really) she looks at the cart.

"Bagsie I get to go in the front seat! I been on one of these at Blackpool. Russian mountains. Great fun."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

"Me! Me!" Shurelia waves her hand excitedly.
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'Sure. You're up next to Saira then.' He gives Shurelia a grin, and a boost up into the main wagon, and waits for the rest to climb up before he puts his shoulder to the back of the cart and shoves.

"Come on Pil and Aleks. Are you going to stand there all day?" She asked them when they made no attempt to board the cart.
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"I'm thinking that praying will be a good idea. Although if we must all wedge into one cart I doubt we'll lose anyone. Might need a goodly amount of butter to get out also..."
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

He pulls Pilgrim up into the cart, then hops down himself. 'Ready,' he says, and shoves hard. For a moment, the minecart resists, then it shifts with a groan and starts to roll, very slowly at first, but gathering speed as it heads downhill.

Izzy swings back up onto the end of the minecart again and hangs on, grinning. 'We're off!'

Saira is trying to hold on and hold on to the lantern at the same time. "Wee? Ye had better not ye dirty devil. Should have gone afore ye got in..."

Eventually the whistling draught blows out the lantern, and they plummet into darkness...

Saira tries to shout that she has a flint somewhere to light it when they get to the bottom but doesn't know if she can be heard over the rushing and clanking.

Where it stops, nobody knows...
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Midshipwoman, KotH ~ REN~ WML Navy ~ Hangman Club ~ I Kissed a Priest, and I Liked It!

SPLASH!

Was the first thing she heard after the sound of the wind rushing around them and of course the screech of the cart wheels as they rolled on the rails at high speed. They were all covered with some sort of yellowish liquid that sparkled in the light.

"Oh my! Now what are we going to do with our church robes? Tell them we're from the Church of the Golden Garbs?"

They would have to improvise a bit. Washing this stuff would take some time and they needed didn't have time to stop and wait for the robes to dry.
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