Chapter 8: Gathered Information
Lindal was just preparing to open up for the dinner time rush when she spotted Min hovering by the side entrance door. Quickly, she walked over there and unlocked the door so she could come in. She glanced quickly up at the door to the parlour as Min walked inside. Was Barda with a customer? Should she call him down?
Deciding against it for the moment, she closed the door and made sure the sign read 'Closed'. Min was already sitting down.
"Not calling Barda?" She asked. Lindal smiled.
"I think he has a customer." She explained. Min nodded in understanding. "So, what brings you back so soon?"
"I have news." She murmured, keeping her voice low. "About the three in Turpin's house." Lindal's eyes widened.
"He needs to be here for this." She motioned for Min to stay put and made her way upstairs, hoping that he was alone. She peered in through the door and was grateful to see that he was indeed alone, and was standing by the window, staring out into the sky. She knocked on the door so as not to startle him by suddenly walking in, and she opened the door and stepped inside. "Your mother is downstairs. She has news to tell us." Instantly he was alert.
Downstairs, Min waited patiently for Lindal's return with Barda. She was listening to the footsteps above and knew they'd be down in a moment. Suddenly the side entrance door was flung open and a young man burst in. He saw Min sitting there and blinked in surprise.
"Oh, I'm sorry ma'am." He said politely. "I didn't know Mrs Lovett had company."
"Not to worry, young sir." Min smiled. "Mrs Lovett will be down in a moment. She's just fetching Mr Barda."
"Oh good, I needed to talk to him anyway." He sat down opposite Min. "My name is Anthony."
"Min Barker." She peered into his face for a moment. "You look familiar, son."
"Do I, ma'am?" Anthony asked, surprised. "Who do I remind you of?" Min smiled gently.
"Someone I once knew, very well." She said quietly. "A good honest man." Anthony returned her smile. There was silence for a moment, and then Lindal returned with Barda. She was surprised to see the young man sat opposite Min, but she didn't question it. "Ah, there you are. This young man has something to tell you, Mr Barda."
"Oh?" Barda asked, frowning slightly. "What is it, Anthony?" Barda sat down beside his mother, and Lindal sat down beside Anthony after locking the door once again.
"I was just wandering around Fleet Market to pass the time," Anthony began. "When I saw this young lad helping these men to build a new stall," He ran a hand through his hair, "and I spoke to the kid and he said it was for a barber, called Pirelli." Barda and Lindal exchanged glances. "And the kid got pretty annoyed when I mentioned your name," he looked at Barda pointedly, "and ran to tell his master."
Ask him what the boy's name was!
Mrs Lovett seemed desperate to hear about this boy, and so Lindal leant forward on the table.
"Did you get the boy's name?" She asked Anthony.
"Yes, I did." Anthony smiled. "He said his name was Josef Ragg. I can't help but wonder where I've heard that name before." Barda and Lindal shared another glance.
"I know the name Josef too." Min murmured. Barda smiled. Of course she would. After all, Josef was the librarian back when she lived in the palace. She didn't know of Marilen and Ranesh, and so she didn't know that Josef was also the name of their son. It seemed more likely that the young Josef would have been brought back to replace Toby, rather than the old Josef.
"So Pirelli is in town?" Barda asked. Anthony frowned.
"Do you know him, Mr Barda?"
"No, but I have heard of him." Barda said with a slight smile. "He's an Italian barber, come here for extra work. Though I have a funny feeling about him. I might have to go and check on him at some point."
"I thought I'd tell you about him, Mr Barda, because he could be a potential competitor." Anthony smiled.
"Thank you, Anthony." Barda returned the smile. "He may attract more customers than I. After all, he's not a relation to Sweeney Todd. People are still wary of this place."
"I knew I'd heard the name Sweeney before!" Anthony exclaimed. "Mr Todd! Of course!"
"You know him?" Barda inquired.
Careful.
Barda ignored Todd's warning. Anthony was concentrating hard, and it looked like he was searching in his mind for something.
"I knew someone who met him once. Heard of him, that's all." He said at last. Barda nodded. He looked at Min.
"Now, Mrs Barker, did you need to talk to us, also?" He asked with a smile. Before she could say anything, however, a man rapped on the window. Mrs Lovett stood up and unlocked the door.
"I'm closed for the moment, sir, if you wouldn't mind waiting?" She smiled.
"Actually I was hoping to catch Mr Barda." He replied, mirroring her smile. Barda stood up.
"Come for a shave, sir? I'm sure I can fit you in." He turned to Min. "Mrs Lovett will tell me everything you tell her." She nodded, and he led the man upstairs to the parlour. Lindal locked the door once again and sat down.
"Now, what news do you have for us?" Min stole a glance at Anthony. "Don't worry about this lad, he's a friend." She reassured her, and Min smiled again.
"I was down by the old judge Turpin's house, just on my rounds of the city," she began, "and I stopped to sit down on a bench for a moment." She paused. "And then I saw her. There was this pretty little thing sat in a window in the judge's house. Elegant, she was, with beautiful blonde hair. Not a natural blonde though, or at least, I don't think so."
"What makes you think that?" Anthony questioned.
"Well she didn't have fair skin, as most blondes do." Min explained. "No, she had tanned skin, very lightly tanned, but it was still too dark for a natural blonde."
"And she was in the old judge's house?" Lindal frowned. "That sounds vaguely familiar."
It has to be Johanna.
"Do you know what her name is?" Min shook her head.
"No, I just saw her in the window. Although, a couple walked past and started discussing her." Min remembered suddenly. "They said that the 'judge' keeps her locked away in that one room, saying he needs to protect her from 'the evils of the world'. Apparently the previous judge also had a little blonde girl locked away."
Yep, that's Johanna alright. But what is she doing back? I thought only those who died were coming back…
Slowly, Mrs Lovett's words sank in. Both she and Lindal felt an uneasy dread settle over them.
And this lad is Anthony…
"So there's a judge in that house again?" Lindal asked, quickly changing the subject before she thought about why both Anthony and Johanna were back. Min nodded.
"Yes, and he lives with the beadle." She told Lindal. "It's strange though. The couple I mentioned earlier said that people were getting suspicious of this new judge."
"Mr Barda isn't too fond of the Beadle Glock." Lindal muttered, remembering his anger after Glock had left.
"Oh yes, I remember you mentioning that he came here." Min smiled. "Was he not very nice?" Lindal realized that Min would never have met Glock before, so she didn't know that he had been a friend to them before he died in the caverns beneath Deltora.
"I think he insulted Mr Barda's brother." This made Min frown. She hadn't heard Barda's lie about his resemblance to Mr Todd, but she said nothing on it.
"I can understand why he would get angry then." Anthony cut in. "If someone insulted anyone in my family, I'd be angry."
"Yes, Mr Barda does seem the type to fight for his family." Min said wistfully. Lindal smiled. Barda had told her of all the times he'd been prepared to fight to the death when someone insulted his mother.
"Do you know anything about this judge then? Or why he has this girl locked away?" Anthony asked.
He'll want to know about the girl, considering he has to rescue her from the judge.
"No, only that he is an extremely good judge. He's locked up many criminals already and he's very new to the town." Min told Anthony. Lindal was watching Anthony closely. His attitude to everything he'd heard was very practical and it reminded her of someone she knew. She was trying to figure out who he was.
"Hmm… I'm going to do some investigation. That poor girl shouldn't be locked away like that. It's just not fair." Anthony murmured. Lindal's eyes widened as she suddenly realized who he was. Anthony saw her expression change and stared at her, confused. "Mrs Lovett? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I am, it's just…" She trailed off, staring into Anthony's bright eyes. They were a pale shade of blue. Her eyes wandered up to his hair, and she saw that his roots were very light in colour. Suddenly it clicked in Anthony's mind.
"Ma'am… you recognize me, don't you?" He asked with a smile.
"Yes I do…" Lindal returned his smile. "And you recognize me. And Mr Barda."
"I've known who you were since I heard your names." Anthony grinned. "But Mr Barda doesn't seem to recognize me." Lindal saw his saddened expression and sighed.
"Don't you worry about him. He's not himself recently. I'm sure once we tell him, he'll recognize you." She reassured him.
"Good, because I'd hate to think that he's forgotten who I am." While Lindal could reassure Anthony that Barda would remember who he was, she wasn't so sure of it herself. After all, a lot had changed in him. It had taken a while for him to realize who Min had been, and she was his mother, not just his friend. Then again, he hadn't been expecting to see her at all.
"Oh, he won't have done." Lindal said with a smile that was partially forced. She glanced up at the ceiling. At least, she hoped he hadn't forgotten.
Upstairs, Barda was in the middle of shaving the man who had come to the door when he smiled.
"I must say, sir, your skill is definitely impressive." He said, touching the side of his face that had been shaved. "Nothing compared to that other barber."
"Other barber, sir?" Barda questioned.
"Yes, there's a barber in Fleet Market. He brags about being the king of the barbers."
Seems like Pirelli's started work, then.
"King of the barbers? That's a bit of a boast." Barda muttered.
"Yes, sir. He's not very good at it though. Average skill." The man told him. "A man I work with received a shave from him and was complaining about it all day. Then a young man mentioned he should have come here instead." Barda smiled.
"Was that young man's name Mark Ingestrie, by any chance?" He asked. The man he was shaving laughed.
"Know him, do you?"
"Aye. My first customer." Barda told him. "He promised he'd tell everyone he met about me."
"Well then it seems to me that he's kept that promise."
So long as it gets you business, it doesn't matter who he tells.
Barda agreed with Todd. He was glad that Mark had come to his parlour. The lad had a big heart and was very kind. It reminded him of his son Liam.
"I'm glad you decided to come here instead, sir." Barda said at last. "What was that barber's name?"
You know his name.
"Something Pirelli. I cannot remember his first name." The man shrugged.
"Pirelli, aye? Doesn't sound like a Londoner." Barda chuckled.
You're just amusing yourself now, aren't you?
"I think he said he was Italian, or something."
"Then what is he doing here? Is business not good in Italy?" The man laughed.
"Probably not. He's cheaper than you sir, so people are going to him."
Well that's not nice.
"Ah, that's not good." Barda muttered. He finished off the shave and the man got up and put his coat back on.
"Maybe, sir, but here we are paying for the quality." He smiled, stroking his smooth face. "You truly are incredible." Barda bowed slightly.
"I thank you, sir."
Oh you just love it, don't you?
"You are welcome, Mr Barda." The man paid the fee and left the parlour.
You love feeding your ego, don't you?
"What man does not?" Barda asked with a smile.
You and your bloody pride.
"You and your bloody revenge." Barda shot back.
"Haven't got anything to say to that, have you?" He laughed.
Shut it.
"Oh, finally, I have found something that you can't find a comeback to!"
You must be so proud of yourself.
"You're just annoyed that I've won this little battle of words."
You haven't won anything.
"Gasp! Do I sense… denial?" Barda laughed again. He was in a good mood, and for once, Mr Todd wasn't changing that. He did enjoy their bickering though. Made things interesting for him.
What's wrong with you today?
"Nothing. I'm in a good mood." Barda rolled his eyes. "I, unlike you, tend to smile and laugh during my life."
You're strange. One moment you're brooding, the next you're laughing. I half expect you to start dancing around and singing about flowers.
"Now who's in the bad mood?" Barda teased.
Quiet.
"Payback time!" He was getting ready to torture Todd for the next hour or two when he remembered that Min was still downstairs with news to tell. "Aww… I was looking forward to annoying you."
Revenge comes first.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. It always does with you." Still smirking, he locked up the parlour and went down to find out what the news was about.
Author's Note: The end is near. As this book draws to a close, Sweeney Barda will learn the identity of both Anthony and the judge...
