Mersey Dark

by Michael Whitehead

  “I don’t know if we can say with any degree of certainty that it was a mistake, Sergeant,” Templeton said before Tanner could speak. A few days ago he might have found this annoying, but now he was happy to think of this man as his temporary partner. He had, after all, saved his life on the deck of the frigate and had proven himself trustworthy a number of times. “It undoubtedly seems that way.”

  “This man Whitchurch that worked for Thomas Richmond, was nothing at all to do with our dead girl?”

  “So far as we can tell, no,” Tanner said. “We’ve asked her father but without a first name it’s difficult for him to say for certain. He definitely can’t think of any relatives who worked or lived on St. Helena.”

  “And you’re certain that Sir Thomas is the main target of this whole mess?” Philips asked, finally noticing the crumbs, he picked a large one off his stomach and popped it in his mouth, then seemed to realise he had company and brushed the rest to the floor.

  “One of them, at least,” Tanner answered. “I’ve told him he needs to get protection, whether he will or not is up to him, I suppose. The thing is Sarge, I have this story from Mickey Flynn to consider.”

  “The one about this mysterious Davidson and his plan to take over the empire you mean?”

  “Well, he didn’t say they were planning to take over so much as destroy the empire, but yes, that’s the one.” Tanner said, realising as he said it, how ridiculous it sounded.

  “Seems a strange place to start something like that, by attacking an old man,” Philips mused.

  “My thoughts exactly,” added Templeton. “In fact is seems so odd that I have to wonder if it might be personal.”

  Philips picked up his mug and looked into its depths, realised it was empty and sighed before returning it to the desk.

  “That would make sense, I suppose. These rat-things, are we absolutely sure they are what Miss Simmons says they are? Half man, half animal? I mean explorers are finding new animals in Africa and South America all the time aren’t they? People like Robert Chambers and Charles Darwin are putting new ideas out almost all the time,” he looked at the two men across from him and something on their faces made him continue, “What? I can read you know!”

  “Never a doubt, Sergeant,” Templeton said with a smile. “I’m afraid there is no uncertainty that Jane was correct in her analysis. My employers have taken delivery of one of the creatures and the studies they commissioned have come to the same conclusion. It would appear we are dealing with a thing not of the natural world. I would certainly be taking any reports of missing people very seriously. This Davidson, whoever he is, must be getting his victims from somewhere.”

  Philips nodded. Tanner knew the station received a huge amount of reports of missing people but did little in the way of investigation. There were too many real crimes to deal with, without going out and finding more to add to the workload. Murder and theft were abundant enough that the police did not waste time trying to find people who had almost certainly jumped on a ship to avoid debtors court or a nagging wife.

  “Okay, I’ll pass word among the men that they are to keep their ears to the ground. I want any reports of possible sightings of these...rat-men to come straight to me. I’ll also make sure they are listening out for mention of Davidson.” Philips glanced at the door, letting the two men know that the meeting was over.

  “That’s it?” Tanner asked.

  “What else can I do?” Philips replied with upturned hands. “Every one of the rats we’ve faced is dead. Not that they could answer many questions if we caught one.”

  “What about the arrests from the riot, Sergeant?” Templeton asked.

  “Not a word from any of them, and we haven’t been gentle. The trouble is I don’t think we have the right men. It was the strikers we arrested, as far as I can tell it was the so-called breakers that were working for this Davidson fella.”

  Tanner stood up, “Okay Sarge, let me know if anything comes in, will you?”

  “You be the first to know,” Philips said with a nod of his head.

  ***

  The light that poured through the entrance of the tunnel was the first daylight that Billy had seen in days. It almost made him cry with relief, the terror and panic the dark had induced was forgotten in its glow. He almost ran toward the sunlight and fresh air, and might have done so had it not been for Bird. She pulled at his hand, dragging him back into the last of the darkness.

  “There are two men standing guard by the end of the tunnel,” she whispered into his ear. He looked but couldn’t see them, maybe the light was too bright. He stayed still, watching and waiting to see what Bird had seen. Finally something moved, causing the shadow at the end of the tunnel to change and Billy glimpsed the figure of a man.

  He seemed to be looking outward, stopping people from getting in to the tunnels but he was as effectively stopping the two of them from getting out. Billy wanted to cry. He had been dragged down to this prison, fought to escape and spent hours or days in the darkness trying to find his way out, now at the end it might all be for nought.

  “What do we do?” he asked Bird.

  “We run,” she said simply. Billy turned to look at her, realising that he could see her properly for the first time. There had been light in the chamber but they had hidden from it, keeping to the shadows, now her face was lit by real daylight.

  She looked younger than him but not much, if her face told the truth. Her dirty blonde hair was stuck up in all directions, giving her a crazy look that the eyes did not carry. She looked like the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

  She skittered across the tunnel to where a loose pile of stones had been left behind by the construction crews. They were palm sized and had jagged edges. She picked up half a dozen and hurried back to him. She dropped them in his outstretched hands and returned for more.

  “We sneak up as close as we dare, then we run. If they try to stop you, throw the stones at them,” she said on her return. Up ahead, Billy could now see two figures, they were standing in the middle of the tunnel entrance and talking to each other.

  “I’m scared,” Billy admitted. Bird leaned in to him and took his face in both of her hands, she kissed him on the forehead.

  “Where shall we meet if we get split up?” She asked.

  Billy explained to her exactly where he lived. The thought of home sent fresh pangs of worry through him. He had no real idea of how long he had been away from home. He wondered how long it had been since everyone had eaten, had his mother managed to stop drinking long enough to even realise he wasn’t there? How was his sister, Lily? Was she still alive?

  “I have to go home as soon as I leave here,” he said. “My sister is sick and she needs me. You can come and find me there.”

  She nodded in the shadows, “I’ll be there.”

  He reached out and squeezed her hand one last time, like so many times in the last few days he drew strength from her touch. They began to creep toward the men at the mouth of this underground prison waiting for the moment when they would have to run.

  They got close, closer than they might have hoped, certainly closer than Billy had expected. The two men, really only older boys Billy saw, were too busy smoking and talking.

  They did not expect anyone to try to enter the tunnels and certainly had no thoughts of anyone trying to escape.

  “She had legs that went right up to her...” one was saying. He paused for effect and to pull on the pipe he was smoking.

  “Arse?” his friend asked, engrossed in his friends tales of daring.

  “Well, I was going to say neck but...yeah, they went there as well,” they both laughed unaware of the two children not ten feet behind them.

  “Are you seeing her again tonight?” the second boy asked, but he never heard the answer. At that moment two streaks of lightning, wearing children’s clothes barrelled past them and out into the spring sunshine. There was a moment of indecision as they saw the two escapees split
off and run in two different directions, neither of them knowing which one to chase.

  Knowing that Davidson would skin them alive if they both left their post they looked at each other for a moment, each heartbeat letting their quarry get a few steps further away.

  “Go,” the boy who had been so engrossed in his friends conquests said, and the chase began.

  Billy heard the footsteps behind him and panic sent a jolt into his stomach. He forced his legs to push a little harder and skidded left down an alleyway. The boy behind him sounded like he had slipped, he cursed but in a moment was right behind Billy once more.

  “I’m gonna get you, little shit,” the boy hissed from between clenched teeth.

  Billy didn’t try to answer, he needed all his breath to work his legs and all his concentration not to slip on the cobbles. It wasn’t like he would have anything to say if he did.

  A cat ran out of a gate and tried its hardest to trip Billy, he managed a fumbling sidestep and tried to regain his former stride. He felt a hand reach for his shirt, the fingers brushing his back before falling away again. That was when Billy realised he was still carrying a couple of the stones Bird had given him. He didn’t know where the rest had gone, but these two might just be enough.

  As he ran he flailed an arm behind him, whipping one of the stones toward his pursuer. He did not hear the sound of contact but the boy swore and seemed to drop back out of surprise.

  Billy spun to his right, finding another alleyway that ran between the back yards of tenement houses. The boy turned with him, his panting breath seeming so close. Billy weighed the last stone in his hand, feeling its lines and hooking a finger around it to get the best purchase.

  This time he did not try to throw on the run, he stopped without warning and launched his missile in one movement. The boy had little time to react, but did try to stop. Had he carried on running Billy might have missed with his throw but the boys sense of danger made him try to avoid the stone instead of attacking Billy.

  The throw was only short, possibly ten feet at most, but there was still a small target at which to aim. Billy felt the stone spin along his finger, whipping out of his grasp in a perfect arc. He knew the throw was true the moment he released it, so did his target. It hit the boy square between the eyes, sending him crashing to the ground with his hands at his face and blood already dripping down the front of his waistcoat.

  This was the moment Billy should have run. He could have been clear before the boy could even see again, but a new target presented itself and he felt the need for a little revenge. They had taken him, locked him up in the dark, and who knows what they might have done to him had he not escaped. So when the boy lay on the ground and his legs were open, Billy kicked him as hard as he could.

  The boys hands dropped from his bleeding nose to his insulted testicles in a flash. He let out an animal cry of pain and curled into a ball at Billy’s feet. For a moment Billy stood over him, knowing what David must have felt seeing Goliath lying on the ground, then he ran.

  His feet found their way home, he wasn’t even sure how they knew, but eventually he saw his door. The peeling paint had never looked so welcoming. The tarnished brass handle he had turned a thousand times? Ten thousand? Had never felt so real to him.

  He stopped for a moment before stepping inside, just as he always did with his hand on the handle. He didn’t pray to God, he had no idea who God really was. He prayed to hope. The hope that his family would all be inside when he opened the door, the hope that they would all be well.

  His mother was inside, lying as she often did on the threadbare sofa, face away from the door and an empty bottle on the floor next to her. It was hard to tell if she was already drunk or still drunk from the day before, in a way it didn’t matter. Billy walked through the three rooms, counting his brothers and sisters as he went.

  Someone was missing, Lily wasn’t here. He ran back to his sleeping mother and shook her.

  “Where’s our Lily, mum?” but she didn’t answer. He shook her again and a little light came into her eyes, so he repeated the question once more.

  “Gone,” was all she could answer but Billy could see her waking up properly now.

  “Gone where?” he asked feeling the world fall away around them. Only he and his mother existed in that moment, her next words were the single most important thing he would ever hear.

  “Hospital. The Royal,” she said, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. It didn’t make sense, they couldn’t afford for any of them to spend time in hospital, who had taken her? He asked his mother.

  “When did she go? Who paid for it?” She looked like she was trying to free her mind from its drink induced fog but she didn’t answer. Instead she pointed up to the mantle piece.

  A small pile of coins sat on one corner, above the empty fire, it was almost ten shillings.

  “Where did that come from?” he asked, but received only a shrug in exchange. He glanced down at the bottle on the floor, it looked more expensive than her usual drink and he wondered how much of the mystery money she had already spent.

  He reached up and took the rest of the coins and allowed them to sink deep into his pockets. He would buy her another bottle, but not before he had filled the cupboard with as much food as he could buy.

  All thought of the previous days had been driven from his mind by what he had found at home. In fact it would be many hours before he even thought about it again. Had his ten year old mind been able to conceive of a bigger world than the one in which he already had so much responsibly, many lives might have been saved. As it was, thoughts of Lily and hospitals, mysterious money, and his hungry siblings were the only things he could think about.

  He didn’t even think about Bird as he left the house to buy food. He didn’t stop to think if she was free from the tunnels. Not because he didn’t care, but because there were more important things in his life. The people he loved needed him, and he was free to help them, that was enough to be thinking about for now.

  He kissed his mother and took another look at his brothers and sisters before stepping out on to the street. The money in his pocket felt heavy and unfamiliar. It was already less and less important to him where it had come from. All that mattered was his family would go to bed with full stomachs tonight. First though, he would find his Lily.

  Chapter Twenty

  The letter arrived, carried by a young man who nobody later remembered seeing. It was addressed to Tanner, but it sat on the front desk of the bridewell at Argyle Street for the best part of an hour. Day was heading into evening before someone finally thought to deliver it to Tanners desk.

  He was sitting with his feet on his desk with a drink in his hand when a constable dropped it into his lap. He didn’t stop, just carried on with what he was doing. Tanner sat up, putting his feet back on the floor and looked at the envelope. It simply read – Detective Nelson Tanner. It had no address and no stamp attached.

  He turned it over once, seeing no return address and opened it. Had he done so the moment it arrived, things might have been different. It read :-

  Detective Nelson Tanner,

  You have meddled in my affairs.

  It will not happen again.

  Davidson.

  He stared at it for a long time, then over at Templeton who was sat at a desk across the room composing correspondence of his own. After another look down at the letter he called, “What do you think of this?”

  Templeton turned, took the paper from Tanner’s hand, and read what was written. He too took a while to read what was no more than a few words, as if drinking in the meaning of each.

  “I would suggest that our mysterious friend has turned his attention to you, Detective.”

  “Personal threat or is it aimed at the lot of us?” Tanner puzzled, glancing about at the few of his fellow officers that currently occupied the station.

  “It’s hard to tell, he did put your name on the letter but I doubt if he aspires to killing just one detective,” Tem
pleton mused, passing the letter back.

  “Oh, very nice, I’m just a detective now?” Tanner goaded and elicited a smile from Templeton, which Tanner was beginning to realise was the same as a throaty laugh from most other people. It wasn’t that he was dour or in any way humourless, he was just restrained.

  The smile was cut short however, as a man’s cry carried from elsewhere in the bridewell. Every head spun in that direction. This wasn’t a shout of anger, those were common in the station, this was a cry of genuine fear and possibly pain.

  Tanner looked down at the paper in his hand and the threat written upon it, and a sick dread scuttled into his chest.

  Templeton was on his feet quicker than any of the officers, but within a second he was joined by most of the men in the station. There was a rush of feet toward the door, with men drawing their truncheons as they went.

  Tanner stood up but moved toward the back of the room. The single door led to a corridor and Philip’s office. At this time of the evening he had been gone for over an hour but it wasn’t the sergeant that Tanner wanted. Just past his office the corridor ended in a heavy metal door, it wasn’t used except in an emergency. It led to the back of the cell block and was only opened if there was a fight and the officers needed access from behind.

  The key was in Phillip’s office and luckily the sergeant wasn’t in the habit of locking the door. Too often, he had come in to work to find the lock damaged by his own men who had needed something in a hurry. He had once proclaimed that there were more vandals in the bridewell than they had ever brought in from the street.

  Tanner found the key in a dark wooden box that was attached to the wall behind the big man’s chair. It was a huge iron thing with more teeth than most of the people in custody. He closed the box and headed for the cell block door.

  The door was as heavy as it looked and it creaked when it was opened. The sound of fighting was carrying through the far end of the block, from somewhere near the entrance. He and Templeton did not hurry but walked with caution, fully aware of what might be happening up ahead.