during the morning, and Mog said it was to be expected as she’d been fond of Millie. Belle thought it was more likely she was afraid the funeral would draw further unwanted attention to her.
Lily and Sally, the two eldest of the remaining girls, had been left in charge. Mog told them they were to put the kettle on at four-thirty and lay out the tea things in the kitchen. She and Annie would be back soon after.
As soon as Mog and Annie were out of sight, Belle put on her cloak and left by the back door. The girls were all upstairs – she could hear them shrieking at one another. Dolly’s necklace had gone missing and she had claimed one of the others must have stolen it.
They had been bickering constantly since Millie was killed. Mog said it was because they were bored, but whatever was causing it, Belle was sick of hearing their nastiness to one another. She was going out to find Jimmy.
She didn’t dare go into the Ram’s Head to look for him, so she walked slowly past it, hoping he might see her. He had said he could usually get out around four o’clock, so she crossed over the road to look in a second-hand clothes shop window while she waited for him to appear.
The temperature had risen slightly during the day and the heaps of dirty ice in the gutters were melting fast. She waited at least fifteen minutes till it was dark, then, feeling really chilled, she walked down towards Covent Garden market, keeping an eye out for Jimmy.
As always, the narrow streets were a seething mass of humanity, and Belle’s ears were assaulted by street vendors’ cries, buskers playing accordions, violins and even the rapping spoons on a thigh, rumblings of carts over cobblestones, and people shouting to one another over the din. It was not just her ears, but her nose too. Horse dung, toffee apples, fish, rotting vegetables, hot bread and cakes all mingled together and hung like a stinking, foggy web in the cold air. She dejectedly noticed the buildings all around her in a bad state of repair, the rubbish-strewn street, men and women in various states of drunkenness, and filthy children swarming around wearing nothing more than a few rags. The only places which appeared thriving and well kept were the public houses and pawn shops.
It seemed odd to her that she’d grown up here, yet until now she’d never really noticed how squalid, depressing and broken down it was. Maybe she wasn’t quite herself, for the noise was making her head ache, the smells were turning her stomach, and she sensed danger lurking in every alleyway and court. She began to walk faster, anxious to get home to safety.
Belle heard a carriage behind her as she approached Jake’s Court, but she didn’t even turn her head as it was a common enough sound. All at once, however, she felt herself jerked off her feet by someone who had pounced on her from behind. Her arms were caught in a tight grip and twisted up behind her back, and at the same time a hand slapped her mouth to silence her. She struggled and tried to kick out, but her male attacker was a great deal bigger and stronger than she was, and she was lifted bodily into the black carriage which was now alongside her, filling the narrow street.
As it was dark, the gas street lighting murky, and darker still inside the carriage, Belle didn’t realize there was another man inside, not until he caught hold of her arms while the first man leapt in after her. One of them rapped on the carriage wall to tell the driver to go on.
Belle was terrified, but she still shrieked as loud as she could, and struggled to reach the carriage door to escape. A hard blow to the side of her head knocked her down on to the seat.
‘Another sound from you and I’ll kill you,’ a familiar gruff voice said.
Belle knew instantly that it was Millie’s murderer. And she had no doubt he’d carry out his threat if she disobeyed him.
‘Where is she, Mog?’ Annie asked peevishly. They had been home for some fifteen minutes. As
Lily and Sally, the two eldest of the remaining girls, had been left in charge. Mog told them they were to put the kettle on at four-thirty and lay out the tea things in the kitchen. She and Annie would be back soon after.
As soon as Mog and Annie were out of sight, Belle put on her cloak and left by the back door. The girls were all upstairs – she could hear them shrieking at one another. Dolly’s necklace had gone missing and she had claimed one of the others must have stolen it.
They had been bickering constantly since Millie was killed. Mog said it was because they were bored, but whatever was causing it, Belle was sick of hearing their nastiness to one another. She was going out to find Jimmy.
She didn’t dare go into the Ram’s Head to look for him, so she walked slowly past it, hoping he might see her. He had said he could usually get out around four o’clock, so she crossed over the road to look in a second-hand clothes shop window while she waited for him to appear.
The temperature had risen slightly during the day and the heaps of dirty ice in the gutters were melting fast. She waited at least fifteen minutes till it was dark, then, feeling really chilled, she walked down towards Covent Garden market, keeping an eye out for Jimmy.
As always, the narrow streets were a seething mass of humanity, and Belle’s ears were assaulted by street vendors’ cries, buskers playing accordions, violins and even the rapping spoons on a thigh, rumblings of carts over cobblestones, and people shouting to one another over the din. It was not just her ears, but her nose too. Horse dung, toffee apples, fish, rotting vegetables, hot bread and cakes all mingled together and hung like a stinking, foggy web in the cold air. She dejectedly noticed the buildings all around her in a bad state of repair, the rubbish-strewn street, men and women in various states of drunkenness, and filthy children swarming around wearing nothing more than a few rags. The only places which appeared thriving and well kept were the public houses and pawn shops.
It seemed odd to her that she’d grown up here, yet until now she’d never really noticed how squalid, depressing and broken down it was. Maybe she wasn’t quite herself, for the noise was making her head ache, the smells were turning her stomach, and she sensed danger lurking in every alleyway and court. She began to walk faster, anxious to get home to safety.
Belle heard a carriage behind her as she approached Jake’s Court, but she didn’t even turn her head as it was a common enough sound. All at once, however, she felt herself jerked off her feet by someone who had pounced on her from behind. Her arms were caught in a tight grip and twisted up behind her back, and at the same time a hand slapped her mouth to silence her. She struggled and tried to kick out, but her male attacker was a great deal bigger and stronger than she was, and she was lifted bodily into the black carriage which was now alongside her, filling the narrow street.
As it was dark, the gas street lighting murky, and darker still inside the carriage, Belle didn’t realize there was another man inside, not until he caught hold of her arms while the first man leapt in after her. One of them rapped on the carriage wall to tell the driver to go on.
Belle was terrified, but she still shrieked as loud as she could, and struggled to reach the carriage door to escape. A hard blow to the side of her head knocked her down on to the seat.
‘Another sound from you and I’ll kill you,’ a familiar gruff voice said.
Belle knew instantly that it was Millie’s murderer. And she had no doubt he’d carry out his threat if she disobeyed him.
‘Where is she, Mog?’ Annie asked peevishly. They had been home for some fifteen minutes. As
Similar Books
