Thank you to Rochelle, the hard-working captain of the good ship Friday Fictioneers and thanks also to Jen Pendergast for the lovely photo this week, I’ve kept the connection with boats…
copyright Jen Pendergast
Genre: Historical Fiction
Word Count: 100
Prussia Cove
‘Come away from the window Alice.’
‘Mother, I heard their horses.’
‘You know it’s not safe, come away.’
Alice climbed back into her bed. She drifted back to sleep cuddling Charlotte, her new rag doll. As she slept, her mother lit the torches in the network of tunnels below their house, before running out to help her husband and the other men from the village. Rolls of silk, packets of tobacco, barrels of brandy were swiftly hidden from sight.
‘The King of Prussia’s’ men had relieved another wreck of its cargo, before the customs men came galloping along the beach.
The house above Prussia Cove
Copyright Halsgrove Publishing
For more information on the self-styled King of Prussia and his family
… and an extract from ‘A Smuggler’s Song’ by Rudyard Kipling
‘IF you wake at midnight, and hear a horse’s feet,
Don’t go drawing back the blind, or looking in the street,
Them that ask no questions isn’t told a lie.
Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by.’
40again's Blog 
I loved the descriptions ( Rolls of silk, packets of tobacco, barrels of brandy) and the tunnels. It’s all very mysterious. This is a great historical piece. Well done, Dee.
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Thank you Amy, must have been a very adventurous life 😀
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Nice story!
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Thank you 😀
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Oh smuggling that could be profit in that. I wondered if there were also false lighthouses involved.. sounds like they wanted the daughter to get something honest though
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There were rumours of beacons lit to draw ships into the rocks in some places, but I’m not sure about that as lighthouses and beacons were usually a warning to shipping.
Thanks for reading Björn
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This reminds me of a story I read as a child. Your bring a lot to the reader in so few words.
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Thank you Erin 😀
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Wonderfully atmospheric story Dee. So much in so few words. Well done.
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Thank you Sandra 😀
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Good piece Dee.
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Thank you Tracey
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Wonderful story Dee!
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Pleased you liked it Joy 😀
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Oh, smugglers, and caves and tunnels–great adventure. What an interesting piece of history, great story.
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Amazed how resourceful they were . Thanks for reading .
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I like this has taken me into an unfamiliar world and yet made it so familiar in so few words.
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Pleased you liked it Dawn 😀
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Dee I loved this. Thank you too for putting the Rudyard Kipling lines. I went in the tunnels at Dorking that the smugglers used. Just a fascinating part of history.
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Pleased you liked it Irene, I love the Kipling poem he was such a great story teller.
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He certainly was a great story teller.
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I like the insight into the child’s and mother’s view of the events. Nicely told.
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Thank you Margaret
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Love it, Dee. I’ve read lots of English historical fiction and know all about the Gentlemen and that poem, although I’d not heard of the King of Prussia, except as an enormous outlet mall near Philadelphia. 🙂
janet
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Thank you Janet. You do have some huge malls over there, some are the size of a small town! I like the fact that there is one called the King of Prussia – do they sell contraband ??
Dee 😀
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This started innocently enough, then morphed into something more daring. Those must have been exciting times. A great read, Dee.
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Thank you Russ 😀
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