Mystery Woman

"Matches, matches. I'm 'ere all day." Jenny shouted at the passers by, but to no avail. She had been standing in the cold all day, without a single match sold and her patience was running thin. If she didn't sell any she'd be hungry and at 17 she didn't look young enough for people to take pity anymore. Her bare feet were covered with blisters and sores from the chilblains she had received about a month back. She was lost in her own world and so much so that she didn't notice anyone walk up to her.

"I'll take some." A cool, calm voice spoke from somewhere behind her. It wasn't a tone she had heard often, the softness of a female voice, but without the ware of poverty or the pathetic pity of a well off lady. It was a mysterious voice.

"'Ow many?" Jenny replied. She doubted it, but really hoped the woman would say a lot, so she could go home. As it was nearing dark; and her feet were cold.

"Come with me and I'll tell you." The woman replied. Her presence seemed to calm Jenny and she felt a strong pull of trust towards the mysterious woman she was not just going to go with anyone, especially on the streets of London.

"Ma'am, I ain't gonna go anywhere I don't feel comfortable, now you gonna buy any matches. Cuz if you ain't I'll 'ave to as' you to move alon'" Jenny was slightly annoyed with the woman but still felt as though there was something to the woman with the black veil. Her face was concealed by the laced mask and she couldn't understand why a lady would want to cover her face so completely, if her voice was one of calm supposed if she could see the face, she may have been able to form some opinion of the figure, but she couldn't and so the women remained a mystery.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to impose, but I see you're all alone and your feet are bare. I was wondering if there was anyone around who could look after you." Her care seemed evident but she clearly wasn't accustomed to seeing poor young women on the side of the road.

Jenny shook her head. "No I'm afraid ma'am, there ain't no one an' I am grateful o' your care but I'll be needin' to sell all these matches by the end o' the day or else I won't 'ave anywhere to stay and no food for a couple of days."

"Well, I must do something about this immediately." The woman brought out her purse and provided Jenny with £2 for the next month. £2 being enough to feed and clothe Jenny for a year.

"This is far too much, you mus' need this for yoursel'. I don't know why you would wan' to waste your money on some penniless, filthy girl like me." Jenny was shocked by the level of hospitality by a complete stranger. She was used to people dropping tuppence or thruppence at her if she was lucky.

"No, I want you to have it. I live alone and my job pays well. As for filthy, I personally think you are stunning as you are." Jenny's feet instantly felt a little warmer and she wandered where the woman had wanted her to go and wandered what had made her offer money, as they departed each other's company and took off in opposite directions.

Over the next 6 months, Jenny spent just the right amount of money on what she needed and tried not to go over budget, as she felt like the woman was too special to appear on the streets again and she feared she would never know luxury like this again. She occasionally gave some of the money away if she saw someone in need; maybe to provide an example to others, but Jenny was not really sure why she did it. Maybe it was the hospitality shown to her was so uncommon that she wanted to give others the opportunity.

Jenny thought about the woman often and why she had covered her face? Why she had asked her to go to somewhere else? Why had she chosen her? There were so many questions looming and swirling around her brain that she didn't feel like she could not see this woman again as she had been so kind and the thought of not thanking her properly or making sure she had enough supplies for herself was too unnatural and unfair. Also, she wanted to know what it was, the woman had thought was so stunning about as all she happened to be wearing at the time were some rags she been provided by the workhouse.

She had to admit she had always had a bit of a thing about women and she was not going to stop now. It was how she had ended up selling matches in the first place and without that fact she would not have met the mystery woman. So even if Victorian society could not accept her she bet the mystery woman could and that was how she came to the conclusion that she would do whatever it took to find and befriend this woman again. It felt like a dream to pursue or a mission to complete. Almost like a line of work that didn't require training.

It took Jenny a month to track down even someone who had seen this woman. A plump, rounded woman about 4'10'' had spotted her at the butchers, but warned Jenny that this women was not ordinary and had no intention of being in the company of a young, desperate girl like herself. However once Jenny explained the mystery woman's actions towards her; she soon started to understand why Jenny wanted to find her so badly; and sadly that appeared to be the opinion of many people that Jenny crossed in her search, that she was a desperate girl in need of some more money and that if this woman really cared she might give in and take pity on her.

Of course this was not Jenny's aim but it was 1886 and no one would have understood that a woman could be desiring another. Although her inquiry was actually achieving something she still felt alone and often tried to plan what she would actually say if she managed to find her target. Though the fact she now owned a proper outfit and a pair of leather shoes comforted her as at least she looked a hell of a lot more presentable than she had the first time they had met. She had also gained weight from the influence of regular food and as she was doing less exercise as usual, mainly due to all the thinking. Her cheeks had puffed out and she had filled into her youthful body. She was quite impressed with the body she had managed to achieve over the last few months and felt as though she was in good stead for meeting the woman and that hopefully she would find her attractive.

Jenny's breakthrough came when she least expected it as she had seen the woman go into the butchers and hid around the corner until she came out. It was nearing daybreak and she knew it was a bad idea because if she was spotted the consequences would be dire. But she pressed ahead anyway and followed the woman home to a large house on Paternoster Row. The Row was in a nicely built up area of London, and was not swamped with tourists, workers or 'ladies' which is the posh term she reserved for working women.

The house itself held much character and Jenny admired the architecture of such a building as though it were a piece of art. It stood alone but surrounded and seemed too big to live in alone. If it were in Whitechapel at least 8 families would be squeezed into its overzealous walls. White walls that stood high but were ended by a neat set of stairs that unravelled towards a large oak door, which fitted perfectly into its frame. Jenny wished she could have seen the inside of this perfect house. It was almost as though her mind had brought it to life as if it wholly represented the woman inside like a perfect personification of a non-moving object. She felt if the woman was anything like her house that she could never fit in with it and went home discontent and distracted.

The woman was perfect. Her house was perfect. But Jenny found herself swamped by it all and sometimes unable to cope with how different their lives were and she began to doubt if the woman had seen anything in her at all and whether when she rounded the bend she had not offered the same to another poor, desperate girl in the same position. This thought left her broken-hearted and upset. Not the emotions she thought she would leave with when she followed the woman home early that afternoon.

It had been around 4 months since Jenny had last seen the mystery woman, and she still wondered as to whether she should be pursuing such a person. But the money was running thin and she felt almost drawn to her. Before, they would let her sell what she liked provided she found herself what she wanted to sell and she had found a local boy who would sneak into the large matchstick factory on the southbank of the Thames. And prior to that she had worked in the factory itself. But having not needed to sell anything for a year; she had lost her contacts and decided she would have to start stealing her own items to make a living. Only small household items, but ones that could be sold as lock picking tools or could be cleaned up and swapped for food amongst the other street dwellers.

She would start on the row of houses near to the building she slept in, and the mission was set.

She would watch the target house from behind a hedge for around a week or so. Just to notice the owner's movements, learn their routines and locate where they may hide their money or possessions. Once she had concluded where and how to enter the building she would do so. However, one particular night right as she was about to break in, she spotted the woman walking through the row of houses, it completely distracted her and even though the break in was successful she knew it wasn't her finest work and she had left multiple clues to her being there. Which is the exact thing she was trying to avoid the most.

Over the weeks of stealing Jenny had accumulated a large amount of items worth selling. But the night of the break in flooded her memory with questions once again she was in fear of what the police may do to her if they found out it was her.