uncomfortable.
Home. Bed, she thought, and timed it to her steps: Home. Bed. Home. Bed. Home. Bed.
What was that?
A movement in the bush off to her left.
Probably a vagrant finding a sheltered spot for the evening; a place where the bobbies wouldn't see him and move him along.
She started to give the bush a wide berth, just in case. This corner of the park was secluded.
'You can never be too careful, jenny my lass,' she whispered, quoting her father. 'Keep your eyes peeled and your ears open.'
Home. Bed. Home. Bed. Home. Bed.
'Jennifer Shepherd!'
The voice, a loud whisper, came from the bush.
She stopped and looked at it. There was someone lurking in there; she could see patches of white clothing.
'Jennifer Shepherd!'
Someone who knew her!
'Who's that?' she demanded. 'Is that you up to your tricks again, Herbert Stubbs? Aplayin' highwayman, are we? Dick Turpin is it? I'll not stand and I'll not deliver, my little lad. Ho no! It's off 'ome for me, and a nice long sleep 'twixt cool sheets. So you stay in that there bush and wait for the next mug what comes along!'
She turned and made to walk away, then stopped and faced the bush again.
'Hey, Dick Turpin!' she called. 'Come and escort me 'ome like a proper little gentleman. Your mam'll be wantin' you back for tea! This is no time for little boys to be out and about!'
Silence.
'Herbert! Come out o' there at once!'
The bush rustled.
'Even highwaymen have to eat, my boy!' she declared. 'And maybe you'll-'
She stopped dead, her mouth open, her eyes wide. Her legs began to shake.
A tall, gangling figure rose up from the bush and strode out on long storklike legs. Blue flames played around its big black head. It reached her in three strides, squatted, and grabbed her by the shoulders.
'Is there a mark on your chest?' it hissed.
She tried to move, to scream, to run, but her body wouldn't move.
'Answer me, girl!' snarled the creature. 'On your chest, over the heart, is there a birthmark shaped like a rainbow?'
Home. Bed. Home. Bed. Home. Bed.
Urine trickled down her leg.
A horrible whining noise suddenly surrounded her. It started quietly but built rapidly until it hurt her ears. The thing raised an arm and swung it down, the flat of its hand cracking against her cheek. The whining stopped and she realised that it had been coming from her.
'No!' she sobbed.
'You don't have it?'
'No!' she said loudly.
'No birthmark?'
'NO!' she screamed, and, tearing herself out of the monster's grasp, she hurled herself along the path, running faster than she'd ever run before, the tears streaming from her eyes, her aches and pains forgotten.
October 9, 1837
She was aged fifteen and had been living with her employer from Mondays to Fridays since she was twelve.
It was like being sent to gaol on a weekly basis.
The first rule of the prison was that she should only ever speak when spoken to.
The second was that whenever she encountered her mistress or master or their son in a hallway, she must turn to face the wall until they'd passed. When the son was on his own, he always brushed a hand over her bottom as he walked by, which she didn't like at all.
The third was that she was obliged to pay for anything that she damaged. This was the rule she hated the most, for Mary Stevens was a clumsy girl and the way the year had gone so far, she'd be lucky to have any money left by the end of it.
The weekends! Goodness, how she loved the weekends! Every Friday night, she left her employer's house on Lavender Hill, walked along Cut Throat Lane until she reached Clapham Common, then skirted around it to Raspberry Lane, where her parents lived, for two happy days at home.
This Saturday had been her brother's fifth birthday and her mother had sewn together a little soldier's uniform for him from scraps of material which she'd scrimped and saved over the past few months, whilst her father had carved a rifle from a long piece of driftwood.
As she walked back toward her employer's house along Cut Throat Lane, Mary remembered her brother's expression of pure joy as the gifts had been presented. How proudly he'd marched back and forth! And how eagerly, at her father's barked command, had he stood to attention with his chest out and his shoulders back.
'Now then, Private Stevens,' her father had said in his sternest voice. 'I see your uniform is unbuttoned. Her Majesty Queen Victoria may be new to the throne but that doesn't mean she doesn't have established rules and regulations for her brave boys in the Army! Let me tell you, young man, that bright shiny buttons are a requirement for every soldier! What say you?'
Her brother had glanced uncertainly at his mother.
'I-I-I-' he'd stammered.
At which point Mary had stepped forward and said: 'I think I might be able to help. Happy birthday, Private Stevens!'
Her present to him had been six gleaming brass buttons.
She laughed to herself as she strode along, holding in her mind the image of her brother's delighted expression. Far better to dwell on that than on the week to come.
'Mary Stevens!'
The hoarse voice sounded from behind the fence at her side.
She stopped. 'Yes?'
'Are you Mary Stevens?'
'I am, sir. And who are you?'
Something flew up over the fence, over her head, and into the lane.
She cried out in shock, spun around, and was grabbed by the throat.
A hideous face glared into hers and Mary's legs gave way. She dropped to the cobbles. The thing holding her followed her down, its grip not loosening, bending over her.
'Your chest, girl! Is there a mark on it?'
She tried to scream but only a croak came out.
'Stop struggling, you fool! Answer me!'
'Wha-what?' she gulped.
Suddenly the fear flooding through her galvanised her into action. She started to thrash about, her arms and legs flailing, her mouth opening wide to emit a scream.
Before any sound could emerge, the thing transferred its grip to the collar of her coat and yanked her upright by it. The garment tore open.
Finally, the scream came out.
'Shut up! Shut up!' shouted her attacker.
But she couldn't stop.
'Fuck this!' snarled the tall, uncanny figure, and, snatching at her dress, it violently jerked the material, ripping it and the underclothes beneath down from her neck to her waist.
She fought wildly, twisting this way and that, hitting and kicking, shrieking at the top of her voice.
The thing, struggling to hold her, lost its grip and she fell backward into the fence with such force that it bent
