by Dilly Court
‘I’ll have to think about it, Nora.’
‘Yes, you will. But you won’t get a better offer, and I’ve been looking for a suitable tenant for the top floor. You’ve got something about you, young Hetty. I think you’ll go far.’
That evening, after supper, Hetty gathered everyone in the parlour and told them in plain terms of Clench’s threats and Nora’s offer. There was a moment of silence as she finished speaking, when everyone, even young Eddie, sat staring at her as they digested this startling information.
‘Well?’ Hetty said, glancing at their dumb-struck faces. ‘What do you think?’
Natalia, apparently bored with sitting on her mother’s lap, wriggled and squirmed until Jane set her down on the floor. She crawled over to Hetty and tugged at the hem of her skirt. Hetty scooped her up in her arms and she gave her sister a searching look. ‘What do you say, Jane?’
‘I can’t cook, and I ain’t no skivvy. How can you suggest such a thing?’
‘Stop whimpering, girl,’ Granny snapped, glaring at her with undisguised irritation. ‘You should be grateful to Hetty for standing by you. It’s time you did something for yourself instead of relying on others.’
Jane leapt to her feet. ‘How can you be so cruel, Granny? It ain’t my fault that I can’t go out to work.’
‘And it isn’t Hetty’s fault that you couldn’t say no to your young man, and allowed him to get you in the family way. Your sister’s worked her fingers to the bone to keep you and the child, and don’t you forget it.’
‘How can I?’ Jane wailed, covering her face with her hands. ‘You won’t let me. I made one slip, that’s all, and I’m paying for it.’
‘What did you do, Jane?’ Sammy asked innocently.
‘Nothing,’ Hetty said quickly, seeing that the situation was about to escalate into a full-blown row. ‘Jane, sit down, please. I’m not going to force you to do anything against your will, but I’m worried that Clench might know something we don’t. He’s thick as thieves with Mr Shipworthy, who as far as I know still works for Tipton’s bank, and they own this house. Ain’t that so, Granny?’
‘It is so,’ Granny said, nodding her head. ‘When your grandpa died, the bank allowed me to stay on at a fixed rent for my lifetime.’
‘You see, Hetty,’ Jane said, wiping her eyes on her apron. ‘You’re panicking unnecessarily. We’re safe as houses here with Granny.’
‘You didn’t see the look on Clench’s face when Nora threw beer all over him,’ Hetty murmured, shuddering at the memory. ‘He’s out to get me one way or the other. I never told you what he did to me under the railway bridge.’
‘What did he do, Hetty?’ Sammy demanded, jumping up and down with his hands fisted. ‘If he hurts you, he’ll have me to deal with.’
Eddie began to snivel and Natalia’s mouth drooped at the corners as if she was about to join in. Hetty hugged her and leaned across to pat Eddie on the head. ‘He was a bit nasty, that’s all. Nothing to worry about, boys.’
Granny frowned. ‘Seems to me that you’re the one in danger, Hetty. I think you should accept this woman’s offer. Not that I mind having you here, but you can’t go on boiling your eggs in me copper, let alone walking all the way to the market with that barrow of yours. You’re all skin and bone as it is and you’ll wear yourself into the ground.’
‘I’m stronger than I look, Granny. And I don’t mind the hard work because I’m going to make a success of me stall, and open another one as soon as I’ve saved enough money.’
‘Even so, I think that you and Jane would be better off in Princelet Street, but the boys will stay here with me.’
Sammy and Eddie stared at her in horror. ‘No, Granny . . .’ Sammy protested.
She held her hand up for silence. ‘You boys are at a good school, and I don’t want you mixing with the guttersnipes and young thieves that hang about Spitalfields and Whitechapel. You will stay here with me and that’s that.’
Hetty bit her lip. The last thing she wanted was to abandon her little brothers, but she could see the sense in Granny’s words. ‘It would be for the best, boys. You’re both doing well at school, and we could still meet up on Sundays and go for our walks in the park.’
‘And what about me?’ Jane stamped her foot. ‘Don’t I get a say in all this?’
‘Of course you do,’ Hetty said, rocking a sleepy Natalia in her arms. ‘You must do what you think best for yourself and for Talia. She’s your child when all is said and done.’
‘You don’t have to keep on reminding me of that. She’s a millstone around me neck, that’s what she is. If I was free I could get a job in one of them big stores up West. I could wear a black dress and sell perfume and soap that smells of flowers instead of carbolic. But you want me to scrub floors and peel taters. It’s just not fair.’
Granny rose majestically to her feet. ‘Life isn’t fair, Jane Huggins. You got yourself in this pickle and you have to live with the consequences. I say you should go with Hetty.’
‘Oh! You are so cruel,’ Jane sobbed. ‘I hate you all.’ She flung out of the room, slamming the door.
Eddie buried his head in his arms and began to sob. Sammy hooked his arm round his brother’s shoulders. ‘She don’t mean it, Ed. You know how women are.’
Hetty swallowed a lump in her own throat. She did not want to be parted from them, but it was important for the boys to have a good education, something which was denied to her and Jane. She did not think that Clench would go so far as to pick on two small boys and an old woman. Reluctantly, she had to admit that it would be better for them to stay with Granny in Totty Street. She gave Sammy an encouraging smile. ‘Good boy. I know you’ll look after Eddie for me, and it won’t be forever. When I get another stall going, I’ll make lots of money. We’ll all be together again soon, I promise you that.’
Sammy began to weep silently, which touched Hetty’s heart even more than Eddie’s abandoned sobbing, but Granny frowned at her, shaking her head. ‘They’ll get over it, don’t you worry, girl. They’ll be all right here with me. I’ll look after them.’ She took a pitcher of milk from the windowsill and poured some into a pan on the hob. ‘A cup of warm milk will settle them, and they’ll see things different in the morning. We all will.’
Hetty thought she might find Jane in their room, but when she went to put Natalia to bed she discovered that Jane’s shawl and bonnet were missing from the peg behind the door. It was not hard to guess where she had gone, and Hetty’s suspicions were confirmed when, an hour later, Jane returned to the house with Tom. By this time, Sammy and Eddie were tucked up in their bed, and Granny was busy stitching silk flowers onto a bonnet, squinting at the intricate work in the light of a single candle.
‘I’ve told Tom what you want me to do,’ Jane said with a defiant toss of her head. ‘And he’s come to sort things out.’
Hetty had been darning one of Sammy’s socks and she looked up, raising her eyebrows at Tom in a mute question. He dragged off his cap and scratched his head. ‘Jane’s a bit upset.’
‘Huh!’ Granny muttered. ‘She’s always flying into a miff about something.’
Jane rounded on her. ‘That’s not fair, Granny.’
‘Can I speak to you in private, Tom?’ Hetty put the darning down on the table and she rose to her feet.
‘You can say anything you have to say in front of me,’ Jane stormed. ‘I ain’t a child, Hetty.’
‘No, but you’re behaving like one,’ Hetty snapped, losing patience. ‘I only wanted to save you the grisly details, but if you insist, then I’ll tell Tom right now, and you can both hear exactly why I need to get away from Clench. And it’s not just me that he’s got his eye on. If he can’t get to me, then Jane will be his next victim. That man is mad and he’s dangerous.’
Jane’s lips trembled into a pout, but she took off her bonnet and slumped down on a chair by the fire. ‘All right. Let’s hear what you got to say.’
‘Don’t mind me,’ Granny added, settin
g her work aside. ‘At my age, there isn’t much that will shock or surprise me.’
‘Tom?’ Hetty held out her hand to him. ‘Sit down, please, and hear me out.’
He perched on the edge of the chair beside her, twisting his cap round between his fingers with an anxious expression on his face. ‘Go on, Hetty.’
She took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy. ‘I never told you the full story. For one thing, it’s hard for me to put it into words, and for another I didn’t want you going after Clench and getting yourself in bother with the coppers. But now I see I must tell all, and not spare the details.’ Hetty launched into an account of Clench’s behaviour from the time they lived in Autumn Road to the attempted rape under the railway bridge and his continued propositioning, including his veiled threats to her family. She could see the muscle tightening in Tom’s jaw, and a vein throbbing at his temple. His fingers flexed as though he would like to wrap them round Clench’s skinny neck and squeeze the life out of him: it was just this extreme reaction that Hetty had feared. She laid her hand on his arm, and she could feel the tension in his muscles. ‘That’s why I didn’t tell you before, Tom. I feared that you would seek him out and beat him up. Not that he don’t deserve it, but he’s a crafty one and he would see you in Newgate before he’d admit he was to blame.’
‘I’d kill him,’ Tom said through gritted teeth. ‘I’d make him pay for what he done to you, Hetty.’
Jane said nothing, but her fingers plucked nervously at her woollen shawl and her face had paled alarmingly.
Granny cleared her throat. ‘Hetty’s right. It won’t do to take the law into your own hands, young man.’ She turned her head to glare at Jane. ‘And you, miss. What have you to say for yourself now?’
Jane’s mouth worked for a few seconds before she managed to speak. ‘I – I’ll go with you, Hetty. But only if Tom promises he won’t desert us. You wouldn’t leave us alone and unprotected in Spitalfields, would you, Tom?’
‘Of course not, ducks.’ He leaned over to pat her hand. ‘But will you be any safer there, Hetty? Clench is bound to find out where you’re living.’
‘I expect he will, but it’s much nearer to the market, and I’ll be able to walk home with Nora. With Jane and me out of the way, I hope he’ll leave Granny and the boys alone. They’re of no interest to a man like him.’
Tom nodded thoughtfully. ‘It’s a rough area and not the best place to live, but I daresay Clench is more of a danger to you than the Ripper, who only picks on women of a certain kind.’
‘That’s true,’ Jane said, brightening. ‘We’ll give it a go, Hetty. But if that woman works me too hard, I’ll come straight home to Granny.’
‘No you won’t, miss.’ Granny glared at her over the top of her spectacles. ‘You’ll stick it out and help your sister. I don’t hold with niminy-piminy little whiners. You’ll do what the Jackson woman asks of you, and you’ll do it well.’
They had to wait until Sunday, but it did not take much effort to move their few possessions to Princelet Street. Tom helped push the barrow with everything piled up on it, including Natalia’s wooden cradle. Sammy and Eddie had insisted on accompanying them, treating it as a day out. It was overly warm for the beginning of May and by the time they reached Nora’s back yard they were all hot and thirsty, and Natalia was decidedly crotchety. Hetty opened the gate but she came to a sudden halt at the sight of a partially clad Charles Wyndham standing at the pump and allowing the cool water to gush over his naked torso. Even as she stifled an involuntary gasp, he straightened up to shake droplets of water from his hair, and he reached for a towel. A smile of recognition dawned on his handsome features. ‘Miss Hetty! I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting visitors. I must apologise that you find me in a state of undress.’
Hetty cast her eyes down. ‘I – I didn’t know you would be here, sir.’
‘Charles, please.’ He hooked the towel round his neck and strode across the yard to hold the door for her. ‘Allow me, ma’am. Nora told me that you would be arriving today, but she failed to warn me that you would be early.’
Jane had followed Hetty into the yard and she was staring at Charles, open-mouthed. Even Natalia had stopped crying and she plugged her thumb into her mouth, gazing at him with wide eyes. Sammy and Eddie pushed past Tom, who was trying to manoeuvre the barrow through the narrow gateway. ‘You talk funny. Who are you, mister?’ Sammy demanded, eyeing Charles suspiciously.
Hetty laid her hand on Sammy’s shoulder. ‘Don’t be rude, dear. This is Mr Charles Wyndham and he comes all the way from America.’
‘Do you know Buffalo Bill?’ Sammy asked, angling his head. ‘I wanted to go to his Wild West Show but we didn’t have the bus fare.’
‘That’s a great shame, young man,’ Charles said sympathetically. ‘I believe Mr Cody’s show was a great hit when he brought it to your country for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.’
‘But do you know him, mister?’
‘Hush, Sammy,’ Jane said, frowning. ‘I’m sure that Mr Wyndham has more important things to do than to answer your questions.’
‘Not at all, ma’am. I have four young cousins at home in Philadelphia, and two sisters.’ Charles beamed at her. ‘We haven’t been introduced, but I guess you must be Miss Hetty’s sister, and this little beauty must be your daughter.’ He tickled Natalia under her chin and she chuckled, holding out her arms to him.
‘Well, you certainly have a way with the women,’ Tom said as he finally managed to manoeuvre the barrow into the yard. He held out his right hand. ‘Tom Crewe, close friend of the family.’
‘Pleased to make your acquaintance, Tom.’ Charles shook his hand. ‘Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d better make myself presentable.’ He strode over to where he had left his shirt and he shrugged it on, fastening the buttons and turning away from his fascinated audience to tuck the tail ends into his trousers.
To hide her embarrassment, Hetty made a pretence of checking the items on the barrow. The sight of a well-muscled male torso wet and glistening in the sunshine had unnerved her to the extent that the blood was pounding in her eardrums, and she felt quite dizzy as a hot wave of desire ripped through her whole being. She had never experienced anything like this before in her entire life. It was as thrilling as it was shocking. If she had believed in such things, she would have thought she had fallen head over heels in love with Charles. Seeing him like this had sent her all of a flutter like some silly schoolgirl. She managed to regain control of her wildly fluctuating emotions and she turned to Tom. ‘I’d be ever so grateful if you’d carry the cradle into the house.’
He moved swiftly to heft the heavy wooden crib in his arms. ‘Of course. Lead on, Hetty.’
‘And you’d better bring Talia in out of the sun, Jane,’ Hetty said, tugging at her sister’s arm. She could see that Jane was also falling under Charles Wyndham’s spell, and that wouldn’t do at all. Jane was too susceptible to men with looks and charm, and, if anything, Hetty felt a little jealous at the thought that Charles might prefer her sister. She adopted a brisk manner. ‘Sammy, Eddie, you can carry things indoors too. Make yourselves useful.’ She picked up her can and was about to take it into the house when Charles took it from her hands.
‘Allow me, ma’am.’
She gazed up into his eyes. In this light they were the colour of woodsmoke drifting in a summer sky, and his smile was just a little crooked, which was endearing rather than detracting from his otherwise flawless good looks. ‘Th-thank you, sir.’
‘Charles,’ he corrected, holding the can in one hand, as if it weighed no more than a pennyweight.
‘Charles,’ Hetty repeated, savouring the name as if it were one of Grandpa’s pepper-mint creams. ‘But I don’t want to hold you up, if you’ve more important business to attend to.’
‘Not at all. I am a lazy fellow really, and I never go out before midday. As this is Sunday, I will probably just write up my notes to telegraph to my editor in Philadelphia in the morning.’
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Tom came striding out of the scullery door and he stopped, scowling, as he saw Charles and Hetty standing by the barrow. ‘There’s no need to trouble yourself, mate,’ he growled. ‘I’ll help the girls with their things. You can get off and do your prying into matters what don’t really concern you Yankees.’
‘Tom!’ Hetty said in a low voice. ‘For goodness’ sake, stop being so – so petty.’
‘I know his game, Hetty. What I want to know is, why is a gent like him stooping so low as to doss down in a house like this?’
Hetty drew him aside, speaking in a low voice. ‘Stop embarrassing me, Tom. Mr Wyndham is a newsman and he’s writing an article on the Ripper.’
Charles cleared his throat. ‘What Miss Hetty says is true, Tom. I am here purely on business, and you insult me, sir, if you think I would not treat either of the young ladies with the greatest respect.’
‘Well, I should hope so.’ Tom had the grace to look slightly abashed. ‘But Hetty and her sister are very important to me. If I hears of anything untoward I shall be back, fists flying, if you gets my meaning, cully?’
‘Tom!’ Hetty tugged at his arm. She could feel his muscles tensed as though he would like to land a punch there and then. ‘Stop behaving like a playground bully. I won’t have it, I tell you. You’ve humiliated me and I just won’t have it.’
‘Fine!’ Tom said through clenched teeth. ‘Suit yourself, Hetty. I know where I’m not wanted, but you watch out for him and his kind.’ He strode towards the gate, but the barrow blocked his path and he had to squeeze past it. At that moment, Jane came running out into the yard. Hetty could tell by her face that she had heard Tom’s last impassioned words.
