“He stays at the lodging-house behind the hell, near the stable where we… met.” Whitton slumped further.
Colin recognized regret on Whitton’s face. The man bullied others less fortunate than he, yet he did seem to care about his family—even if most of it was fear of his mother.
The three friends turned, leaving Whitton piled on the floor of the grubby hall.
“I need to check Nora is safe,” Colin said as they exited the building into his waiting coach.
“Set me down at the club, if you will,” Morray commented as they drove across Town. Send word when you have decided when you want to find Sneed. He is a parasite.”
“I will go with you to the orphanage if you do not mind, just in case,” Bergen offered. “My horse is at the club. It can stay there for the time being.”
“I appreciate both of you. Morray, I shall send word as soon as I have seen Nora and know everyone is well.” The coach stopped at the club’s Belford Place address and Morray jumped down.
* * *
Dusk had given way to nightfall. The doctor had given the Runner laudanum and pronounced that Peeling would recover in a few days. His head would hurt with the ten stitches the doctor had applied to the gash in the man’s scalp. Once Perth had left, Nora asked Mary and Mrs. Simpkins to put the children to bed. She had the headache a little, so had taken her grandmother’s advice and retired early, yet thoughts stirred in her head. She missed Colin.
He did not return, as she had hoped. Surely, he would be here tomorrow? The other two women had the same idea, according to a comment Mrs. Simpkins had made. There were no more sounds of children. They must be asleep. She closed her eyes and tried to make herself go to sleep.
A scraping sound, coming from the direction of the boys’ room, dispelled those efforts. She sat up and tied her robe, deciding to investigate. Perhaps a hot cup of tea afterwards would help her to sleep.
The room was dark, with only the filtered light of the moon streaming in. How strange. We never leave a window open at this time of year. Nora adjusted her eyes and stared into the half-light. There was a figure standing over Benjamin’s sleeping form.
“Benjamin, roll away from him! Run!” she cried. The man grabbed her and dragged her to the window. Nora screamed, kicking and struggling in vain as he shoved a dirty rag into her mouth and thrust her on to the window ledge.
“Miss Nora,” Benjamin screamed.”
The small boy ran to her, pulling at her feet, yelling and finally gaining the aid of the other boys. One ran down the hall for help. Two others tried to help Benjamin pull Miss Nora away. The man reached over to grab Benjamin and was bitten for his efforts. He roared his anger and struck his fist into Benjamin’s head, then thrust a filthy sack over Nora’s face. She fell limp and slipped over the window ledge. As gravity stole her last chance of survival, her feet followed; barely sensible, she felt one slipper fall off before she succumbed to the cloying darkness.
Chapter 19
Nora woke to a pounding head, a freezing room, and a foul odor. Opening her eyes, she saw only blackness and could barely feel her toes. Her feet felt like frozen blocks of ice. She tried wiggling them and rotating her ankles, thinking it might help. She missed one of her shoes and thought she remembered losing it in the boys’ room. As her senses adjusted to her mean surroundings, she heard heavy breathing coming from across the room and men’s voices filtering up from below.
The sound of something thudding against a wall, she presumed, and followed by loud cursing, encouraged her to listen. Where was she? Where were they?
“Damn it, Hyde! You do me bidding or ye’ll finish yer days slung wi’ bricks and tossed to the bottom of the river,” a deep voice growled. “I’ll say what happens to the wench.”
Nora recalled what Becca had said about her mother and shivered in fear. They had found her facedown, floating in the river.
“Yer sure she ain’t connected to the gentry, Mr. Sneed? She smells clean,” a higher male voice persisted. “She ’jes don’t seem like no Haymarket ware.”
“Quit yer belly-aching and git her to the game. Wrap her up and git her gone. And never address me by my name if you value yer life.”
“Kill me. Ye threaten ’n bluster, yet I knows of none as is mutton-headed ’nuff to take yer coin in trade fer thur soul. I promised me missus I’d not dangle at the end of a rope. Selling a Society miss could make a liar out of me,” the second man challenged.
“Do what I pay ye fer. The blonde in the robe will bring more money on the sale table than the other. Make sure ye grab the right one. I want that bitch to pay for interfering with my trade.”
“What’d she do, guv’nor?” Hyde probed.
A loud slap sounded. “Damn! What’d ye do that fer?” It was that same higher-pitched male voice. Hyde, Nora thought.
“Never ye mind. Yer asking too many questions. Git down there to the tables and tell me when they are ready fer the next one. I need to git to the boys. I have a chimney business to run.”
“Yus, yer ‘onour,” Hyde spat out, the sarcasm evident even above.
Are they discussing me? What game are they talking about? Swallowing a gasp with her fist, Nora realized her eyes had adjusted to the light in the room. It was so cold she could see her breath, and the only thing she had on was her pink wrapper, and gown beneath it, and one pink satin slipper. At least it had a leather bottom. One shoe could not get her far. At
