Chapter Ten – Darkness Before Dawn
Fagin sat at the table, a half empty gin bottle beside him. He was near falling asleep; the candlelight hurt his tired eyes. Bill should have been back by now…
Nancy tried to sleep, but found it impossible. She knew Bill would come back, he always did… But what if something had gone wrong? What if he got caught?
--
Despite the darkness that clouded his vision and made his head throb, Bill was not without his hearing. He could still hear Bull's-Eye, growling ferociously and yapping loud enough to wake the dead. With a great effort, Bill managed to open his eyes.
For a moment, he wished he hadn't.
He was lying face down on the dirty cobblestones which were now flecked with blood. The metallic stench of it was overpowering but the burglar forced himself to keep his eyes open. What had just happened? Where was that d*** copper?
He struggled to turn his head, to see where the policeman had gone. There he was, bobby on the beat, backing away from a ferocious, growling dog. None other than Bull's-Eye!
Bill would have grinned but now was neither the time nor the place. Instead he endeavored to get to his feet, wincing and gritting his teeth with each small movement. The pain in his arm felt as though it had doubled while he was unconscious.
Unfortunately, as if Bill Sykes hadn't had his fill of bad luck that night, Bull's-Eye wasn't sufficiently distracting that the policeman ignored the robber's staggering to his feet. He began advancing on Bill again and, at last, Bull's-Eye struck.
He leapt at the policeman, sinking his teeth into the man's gun hand. The pistol clattered to the cobblestones as the policeman cried out in pain and fell to his knees. The dog let go, giving the now profusely bleeding man the canine version of a malicious grin.
Bill tried to call for the dog, they had to escape /now/, while they still could, but his throat felt as if he had swallowed granite. Instead he merely stumbled on through the murky alleyways, Bull's-Eye trotting at his heels, the whimpers and moans of the policeman fading into the distance.
How on Earth had they managed to escape? It had happened, all of it, he knew, the pain in his arm was real enough to remind him of that. And yet the whole expedition seemed surreal; he could still feel the weight of the various bits and bobs he'd plundered from the rich folk's house nestled inside his coat, he could still feel the white hot pain from when the policeman shot him, the piercing cold of the night air.
They were almost home now; the darkness fading as dawn crept in. How long had it been since he'd left on his raid? Two hours? Three? What would Fagin think, what would Nancy think? Would they think he'd gotten caught?
They'd better not…Bill Sykes never got caught. Never.
--
Bill was unsure how he found the strength to wrench open the door and stumble up the stairs but he somehow managed it. He could feel the darkness, the relief from the pain, at the corners of his vision. What wouldn't he give to slip into unconsciousness…
"Bill? BILL!"
It was Nancy. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, her hair a tangle from the countless times she'd run her hands through it, her face caked with dried tears. She ran to meet him in the doorway, engulfing him in a fierce embrace.
"Bill, what happened? I thought…I thought…"
Tears welled up in the girl's eyes and she trembled and sobbed. Bill looked down at her, his face showing revulsion, pain, anger…a shred of pity? If there had been that, it was gone in an instant.
"You thought wot?" growled Sykes, trying to extricate himself from the girl's grip but in vain. Her hold was too strong and he, for the first time, he was too weak.
"I thought you'd got caught, Bill!" cried Nancy in anguish. "I thought you would never come back, I thought you'd be 'ung!" She was crying again now, her voice constricted with sobs.
Bill winced slightly at her words. If only she knew how close he'd come to the gallows tonight.
"You… you thought wrong then, didn't ya?"
He managed to push her away, groaning as the movement took its toll on his arm. Nancy noticed this and gave a startled scream.
"Bill! What…what…"
Bill shook his head and collapsed into his armchair, closing his eyes to try and blot out the pain. Nancy flitted about, trying to find some medicine in a grubby glass jar, a strip of cloth to bandage the wound, anything!
"Nance?"
"What is it Bill?" Her voice was anxious, tremulous with worry and fear.
"Get me some gin an' be quick about it."
A/N: Sorry this took me so long!
Bill's safe and sound…or so it would seem…
Not a cliffhanger this time (that's good, eh?) but I have, as they say, much more where that came from!
Hope you enjoyed this chapter; I hope it's not too cliché. Maybe I'll have him get caught in a later chapter…'Wanted: Bill Sykes & a Fierce Dog', yes? XD