Chapter Seven
(JWJ sets up a bucket over a doorway.)
Leigh: What are you doing?
JWJ: Shhhh, she's coming!
(They hide. Ratigan opens the door, where the bucket tips over and pours raw eggs all over him.)
Ratigan: WHO DID THIS? WHERE IS MEG? I'M GOING TO KILL HER!
(Runs off)
JWJ: (laughing) Man, I thought Meg was going to come through. This is even better than I expected!
"And then?" Scarlet asked eagerly.
Rose shrugged. "The most baffling thing of all happened. He offered me a job."
"What? Yer kiddin'!"
The young girl shook her head. "No, I am not."
It was later that evening. Scarlet had heard from gossip on the streets that Giovanni took Rose to see the Boss, and had come running as fast as she could, fearing the worst.
But instead she had found the girl in the kitchen, washing her clothes in the big tub Millie kept in there, a little nervous and distracted, but otherwise fine.
"Why did 'e offer ye a job? Ye, of all people?"
Rose frowned as she hung up her dress to dry. "I don't know," she admitted. "It scares me…"
She thought back to her first impression of Professor Ratigan. He was a heterogeneous mixture of everything Rose had expected the Boss to be and not be. She had anticipated the Boss to be some sort of nightmarish boogey-man, with large features and a deformed face, dressed in black from head to foot. The image had been sort of vague, but it had been vivid enough in her fantasies. What she had not expected were the details.
Although Professor Ratigan had been wearing a black suit, he had a pink and purple cravat to go with it. It was elegant and fitting for his character. And his face was not deformed, but unique and also terrifying in its own way. He had been grinning at her when she first laid eyes upon him, but in such a way that she felt like he would take up the revolver on the desk at any wrong move and do away with her anyway. She wondered how it would feel to have him not smiling at her. After thinking about it for a while, she decided that she did not want to find out.
He was a rat—that was certain. His large features, his worm-like tail, his yellow eyes could tell her that much.
His eyes frightened her the most. There was no kindness in those eyes; only a sort of amused mirth, as if it pleased him to know that he had made her fear for her life. She wondered how many people had looked into those eyes before the icy grip of death had closed them forever…
"He scares me…" Rose added quietly.
"What sort o' job did 'e offer ye?" Scarlet asked cautiously.
"He wants me to do his cleaning and cooking and laundry for him."
"But… why?"
"I already told you, I don't know," Rose said uneasily. "He said that Giovanni told me about how he was going to turn me out… and said that he could help me if I helped him."
"So 'e didn't kill ye for taking 'is cloak?"
"No. Does he normally do such a thing?"
"Well, I never 'eard of someone ever actually stealing 'is cloak, but if someone attempted it, 'e'd probably catch 'em and kill 'em quicker than ye can say 'Long live the Queen.'"
"But I didn't steal the cape!" She paused before saying, "Maybe he knows that I never took it."
Scarlet looked doubtful. "Maybe… but still…" Suddenly the whore's eyes grew wide. "What's the deal 'ere?"
"Deal? What deal?"
"Well, 'e probably made a deal with ye about the job, right? Did 'e ask ye to keep mum about 'is… ye know, operations, down there?"
Rose scrubbed furiously at the undergarments in the tub. "The deal is to not leave. I have to stay here, at the pub. I have to go down during the day, do the cleaning and laundry and such, and then come back here at night."
"What'd ye get in return?"
"A salary and room and board here."
"A better room, I 'ope?"
"Yes, much better. It's not very big, but at least it has a bed to sleep in."
"Well, that's better than before," Scarlet said sadly.
"Miss Scarlet? What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "Don't worry about it, love."
"No, I want to know."
Scarlet wrung her hands. "Are ye 'appy with this deal?"
Rose shrugged. "I don't think I really have much of a choice there. Miss Scarlet, he was going to kill me if I didn't accept that job."
"Mayhaps death would 'ave been better."
"Miss Scarlet?"
She shot Rose a dark look. "Don't ye see? Ye can't ever leave this place anymore! Yer stuck 'ere until ye die or get yerself killed. Ye can never see yer family no more!"
Rose nodded sadly. "I know."
"Then why'd ye accept the deal?"
"Because I had no other choice!"
Scarlet sighed. "Ye should 'ave gone back 'ome long ago."
"I know that! Can't you see that I know that? Running away was the most foolish thing I have ever done! If I hadn't been so proud I would have gone back home two months ago! But I insisted that I was right, and as a result, I have lost everything."
"And now ye might even lose more than everythin'."
"What?"
Scarlet closed her eyes. "Love, jest lissen. Things 'appen in the sewers. Please, take care of yerself."
She rushed out of the room before Rose could see the tears in her eyes.
When Rose reported to work the next morning in the sewers, Millie met her at the entrance to the large barrel with the 'R' on it. Taking the surprised girl's hand, she gave her a tour of Ratigan's domain. Millie told Rose where she was allowed to go and not go, what her duties were, what she was expected to do and not do, and some other aspects of her new job.
Rose set about her work nervously as Millie looked on. None of the professor's men were anywhere in sight the whole morning. She was thankful for that. She was also grateful to the cook for giving her advice, telling her which supplies to use and how to get the jobs done more quickly. Millie also caught the girl several times before she made mistakes, such as when she nearly knocked over valuable items from tables or burnt food.
Millie left her sometime in the evening, claiming that she had to get back to her job at The Rat Trap. "The Professor likes to have dinner around seven. Have it ready in that first room off to the right of the throne room. That's his study."
"I will. Thank you so much Millie."
Millie chuckled. "Don't mention it."
Millie was crossing over to the grate when she heard someone say, "Acting the part of the fairy godmother now? Should I be preparing for a ball?"
The cook jumped and looked towards the large barrel. Professor Ratigan was leaning languidly against the doorway, a dark glimmer in his eyes.
"I thought you said she was experienced at these regular household tasks," he said dryly.
"She is, sir. She just needed someone to show her around a bit, to let her know what to do and what to keep her nose out of."
"I hope I did not just make a bad business deal. A wrong move could turn disastrous for your little friend."
Millie scoffed. "I don't have friends."
"Oh, that's good to know. I was starting to ponder the state of the world, where people betrayed their friends."
"I didn't betray her."
"The first and second time you stole my cape and put it on that girl, I thought you had a personal grudge against her. The third time, I thought you had a personal grudge against me. But by the fourth time, I figured out the problem."
"What problem?" Millie asked uneasily.
He laughed. "Your grudge against working for me, of course. You hate being down here. I knew that Giovanni forced you to take the job after Agatha died. You've been eyeing that girl to replace you ever since she arrived."
Millie started to twist a lock of her yellow hair around her index finger. "That ain't true."
"Oh, spare me. I'm only holding it against you until that girl proves her value to me. Then I'll let you off the hook."
"She won't disappoint you, sir."
"She had better not. If she does, you're back down here for good."
(Ratigan barges into room, still covered in raw eggs. Meg and Luke are playing a computer game. Meg looks up, hand to her mouth, trying not to laugh. Lukepays no attention.)
Ratigan: WHO DID THIS?
Luke: It was probably me. I'm always messing stuff up. What'd I do?
Ratigan: WHAT?
Luke: (looks up, turns pale) Hey, I didn't do that!
Ratigan: I AM GOING TO KILL BOTH OF YOU!
Luke: But I didn't-
Meg: Don't open your mouth next time, Einstein. RUN!