About the Author
Nathan Dylan Goodwin was born and raised in Hastings, East Sussex. Schooled in the town, he then completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Radio, Film and Television Studies, followed by a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing at Canterbury Christ Church University. A member of the Society of Authors, he has completed a number of successful local history books about Hastings, as well as other works of fiction in this series; other interests include reading, photography, running, skiing, travelling and, of course, genealogy. He is a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies and the Society of Genealogists, as well as being a member of the Sussex Family History Group, the Norfolk Family History Society, the Kent Family History Society and the Hastings and Rother Family History Society. He lives in Kent with his husband, son and dog.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
nonfiction:
Hastings at War 1939-1945
Hastings Wartime Memories and Photographs
Hastings & St Leonards Through Time
Around Battle Through Time
fiction:
(The Forensic Genealogist series)
Hiding the Past
The Lost Ancestor
The Orange Lilies – A Morton Farrier novella
The America Ground
The Spyglass File
The Missing Man – A Morton Farrier novella
The Suffragette’s Secret – A Morton Farrier short story
The Wicked Trade
The Wicked Trade
by
Nathan Dylan Goodwin
Copyright © Nathan Dylan Goodwin 2018
Nathan Dylan Goodwin has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This story is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Where the names of real people have been used, they appear only as the author imagined them to be.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author. This story 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 author’s prior consent in any form of binding, cover or other format, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Cover design: Patrick Dengate
www.patrickdengate.com
To Clair, Ciaran,
Poppy, Noah, Milo & Luna
Author’s Note
Inscription
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Epilogue
Historical Information
Acknowledgements
Further Information
Author’s Note
This novel is set against the backdrop of a real moment and period in history: smuggling on the Kent and Sussex border in England in the 1820s.
Many real locations, characters and events have been used in this book. It is, however, largely a work of fiction.
As with one of my previous novels, The America Ground, this book revives some wonderful regional dialect, which is sadly now almost completely out of use.
Inscription
Sacred
to the memory of
RICHARD MORGAN
First-Rate Quartermaster of HMS Ramillies, who was unfortunately killed in the execution of his duties on the Blockade Service, 30th July, 1826
Aged 34 years
Left surviving Mary his wife
Stay, Reader, stay, incline your ear
to know who this is buried here.
A husband dear, a brother kind
a friend to all the well-inclined.
In doing duty he hath gained
the threat of some malicious men;
but those who serve their God and King
care not for men or worldly things.
His death was sudden, but we trust
in Jesus’ arms he’s now at rest.
No more in this vain world will he be toss’d
though many friends are left to mourn his loss.
Headstone in St Martin’s Church, Dover, Kent
Prologue
7th July 1963, the Bell Inn, Hythe, Kent
‘You ready for a drink, yet?’
Paul Major was standing awkwardly in the open fireplace, sweating profusely. He paused, the club hammer in his right hand ready to strike the back of the bolster chisel. Turning, he saw the grinning face of Ian Austen, the landlord of the pub in which he was working, peering under the horizontal beam of the inglenook fireplace.
‘Drink?’ he repeated.
‘Is it too early for a beer?’ Paul asked, setting the tools down on the pile of old bricks by his feet.
Ian took a glance at his watch. ‘Is nine o’clock in the morning too early for you?’
‘Na—that’d be great,’ he grinned, running his shirt sleeve across his gritty, damp forehead.
‘Is it going okay?’
Paul looked at the partially demolished wall beside him. ‘Yeah, fine—the mortar between the bricks is like breadcrumbs—they’re practically falling out by themselves.’
‘So, not long until it’s down, then?’ Ian asked hopefully.
‘Well, I don’t think it will be ready for lunchtime like I said it would, actually.’
Ian groaned. ‘Why’s that?’
‘Well, I expected to find a single course of bricks running up the middle of the chimney, dividing the two fireplaces, which would have taken a couple of hours to knock down and another couple to clear up.’
‘But..?’ Ian pre-empted.
Paul sniffed. ‘There are two courses of bricks, not one.’
‘So, double the work-time, then?’ Ian mumbled.
‘Possibly more. It’s a weird one—the two courses have got about a foot’s gap between them with a brick lid on the top—completely sealed up, it was.’
Ian frowned. ‘Is that normal when one open fireplace has been divided into two?’
‘I’ve never seen it before.’
‘Well, just do your best and
