An: is what Swindon is according to Christopher's father, Ed, in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime by Mark Haddon. The title of which incidentally is a quote from a Sherlock Holmes story.
Vastra was not best pleased with Swindon. It was cold, even colder than London had been, and noisy, and people seemed more fascinated by a woman in a veil than they were in London. Consequently, after the first few walks around the town centre with Jenny, Vastra spent most of her time in the hotel room, huddled in blankets in their room by a roaring fire, reading books Jenny brought for her from the Mechanics Institute library.
Jenny could not find much more to occupy her time. She wandered around Swindon, when not keeping Vastra company or buying food for them both from the market hall. She visited Jim at the train station in the evenings when he'd finished his work, but neither he, nor the police had any news for them regarding Joseph Fields and his whereabouts. For want of other entertainment, she took Jim to an evening of entertainment at the Mechanic's Institute, in aid of some society or other, leaving Vastra sulking in their room. It wasn't very good in Jenny's opinion but then again, she'd never really been to a theatre before. She wondered whether shows in London were better and made a note to visit a theatre to find out.
It was nearly March before Jim rushed to meet her outside the railway station one evening, with the most tenuous of news. But even the small titbit he had for her was better than nothing, after a week of sheer boredom that they weren't even being paid for.
He collided with her in the dim lamplight, his face flushed with excitement. "'parently there's someone else lookin' for Joe Fields too. A navvy name of Matthew. He was askin' round too, seein' if anyone had seen him." Jim gasped. "I reck'n Joe musta bin in debt to this Matthew an' he's done 'im in fer it."
Jenny rolled her eyes. "So 'ow come 'e's arskin' round to see where he is then?"
Jim's face fell. "Well…it could be like…throwin' people of the scent."
Jenny stared at him until he looked suitably chastened then asked, "Whereabouts can I find this Matthew then?"
"In the foundry?" Jim shrugged. Jenny waited. "Should…should I go get 'im fer you then Miss Jenny?"
She nodded, half mocking in her earnestness and he dashed off with an apologetic grin.
Jenny shivered as she listened to the sounds of the railway. The last train would soon be leaving and she saw Sergeant Rebbick wander into the station to see it off. Jim reappeared with a burly man in tow. He was covered in oil and grease and soot, which he was attempting to wipe off his hands with a rag. As it was as oily as he was, he merely succeeded in spreading the oil around some more. His teeth seemed white against his dirty face as he flashed her a brief smile.
"Jim said you wanted ter see me? Whut c'n I do fer you then?" He gave up on cleaning his hands and shoved the rag into his back pocket once more.
"I'm the assistant of a Detective from London. We're investigatin' the disappearance of one Joseph Fields…" Jenny watched as Matthew's face became guarded. He folded his arms across his chest and rocked on the balls of his feet.
"An' what would you be wantin' ter see me about? I dunno where 'e is more'n the next man. Woss a detective from London doin' 'ere anyway? Why d'you care?"
"'is wife in particular is missin' 'im and has engaged our services." Jenny gave a fixed smile.
"Wife?" Matthew frowned.
"Yes. She'd quite like 'im back. An' as you have been askin' about his whereabouts too, I was thinkin' perhaps we could join forces in gettin' 'im back to her." Jenny suggested, raising her eyebrows.
Matthew shifted uncomfortably. "I ain't seen 'im in near two weeks. Sorry lady, carn't 'elp yer." He turned hurriedly and stalked back into the rail yard.
"Oi!" Jenny called after him but he didn't turn back. She gave a dispirited sigh, handed Jim his guinea and walked back to the Great Western Hotel to report to Vastra. She was half tempted to just give in, but Harriet Fields' face kept swimming in front of her. She'd looked so desperate.
Upon hearing the update, Vastra merely grunted.
"D'you want to go back to London?" Jenny asked.
"Give up you mean?" Vastra eyed her. "My reputation forbids it. I refuse to have an unsolved case on my record. It's bad for business."
"What business? We ain't even bein' paid. An' if you are that interested in solvin' it, maybe you could lend a hand?" as much as Jenny felt sympathy for the stares Vastra got the minute she stepped outside, she was slightly irritated with the continued sulk.
"With what?" Vastra snorted.
"Well this Matthew. I reck'n he knows more'n he lets on. He clearly knows Joseph Fields well enough to be enquirin' as to 'is whereabouts, but not well enough to know 'e's got a wife back in London? There's some sort of deal there I reck'n. Jim's idea about a debt might not be too far wrong."
Vastra stood upright slowly. "And he is being uncooperative, is he?" her eyes flashed.
"He is not bein' the most forthcomin' of gentlemen, no." Jenny shook her head solemnly.
"Well then." Vastra grinned, the prospect of terrifying an ape cheering her a little. "Perhaps I should interrogate him more strenuously."
March 1st 1888
Jenny waited with Vastra outside the foundry, waiting for Matthew to appear. It was dark by the time Jenny nudged Vastra and pointed him out amongst the crowd of burly railway workers. They watched as he tugged a cap on, turned up his collar and looked about suspiciously as the rest rowdily made their way home, as if he was expecting trouble. He spotted them almost immediately, recognised Jenny and his shoulders sagged but he made his way over.
"Thought you'd come round again." He muttered to Jenny, shoving his hands in his coat pocket.
"Thas cos you got somethin' to tell us, ain't it Matthew." Jenny crossed her arms and looked sternly at him.
"'ow'd'yer know 'oo I am?!" he startled.
"We have our sources of information." Vastra interjected smoothly.
"That boy Jim told yer din't he." Matthew called Jim a rude name. "So you must be this big London detective then." He peered at Vastra, as if trying to see through the veil.
"My name is Madame Vastra."
"Sounds foreign." Matthew grunted.
Vastra paused. "You could say that. Be that as it may, we would like to ask you some questions. If you would come with us?" she turned in a swirl of cloak and started towards the hotel, not bothering to check if Matthew was following. He stared at Vastra in disbelief until Jenny hooked her arm through his and tugged him after her, not releasing him until after they had returned to Jenny and Vastra's room.
"Shouldn't be lettin' me in 'ere. See a navvy comin' into yer room, be all sorts of rumours." Matthew twitched nervously as Jenny let him go to lock the door behind them.
"I believe that to be the least of my worries." Vastra said grandly. "And yours." She flipped her veil up to Jenny's horror and gave Matthew a toothy grin.
He stared at her transfixed for a full five minutes in silence until Jenny tutted loudly. He turned to gape at her but her unimpressed glare at Vastra seemed to snap him back to attention.
"So." Vastra said delicately, removing her veil completely and sitting down in the small chair in the corner of the room. "Joseph Fields. You are looking for him, so I hear."
Matthew shifted on his feet, now completely unnerved. "Aye well…" he took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair.
"And why might that be?"
"We know each other. Through the railway. Get to know the blokes on the trains. S'a ten minute stop at Swindon. Get to see faces."
"And you have not seen his face for a while, I suppose. Hence looking for him." Vastra leant back in the chair, steepling her fingers as Jenny had done back at Paternoster Row.
"Aye." Matthew nodded. In the silence that followed he nervously began twisting his cap in his hands. Vastra waited.
"When did you last see him?" Jenny asked, coming to stand beside Vastra. She could see Matthew was beginning to sweat and suspected it had little to do with the fire Jenny had stoked back into life as Vastra had begun the interrogation.
He gave her a pained look. "I din't do nuffin' to 'im. Well…not like that I mean. He…he said he needed a place to stay fer the night. Missed gettin' on the last train. So I said 'e could kip at mine. S'not a big berth, navvy quarters never are but large enough someone could bunk down on the floor."
"How charitable of you." Vastra remarked.
"Yeah. So. We got to know each other. So when I din't see 'im around fer a bit, got to wonderin' where he was."
"Your concern is touching."
That got Matthew's back up. "Last time I saw 'im was when he walked out my door near of three weeks ago now. I ain't seen 'im since an' I don't know where he is now an' I ain't got nuffin' more ter say." He tugged his hat back on, gave them both one final glower and then stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him.
Jenny waited a moment, listening to his heavy footsteps on the stairs, before turning on Vastra. "What in the bleedin' 'ell were you thinkin', takin' yer veil off like that?!"
Vastra stood up in a fit of pique. "Do I have to hide away from every single ape I meet?"
Jenny started at the unexpected reproof, unable to form a reply. "I…"
"I seem to face stares whether I wear it or not in this town. I may as well leave it off, for all the freedom it grants me." Vastra made to stride out the door but Jenny grabbed her around the middle.
"Don' be a damn fool!" she hissed. "Maybe it ain't so bad showin' the occasional cove, who'd believe 'im anyway but walkin' out into the street? You want to go back to the circus?"
"If my veil is yet another cage I might as well!" Vastra shook herself free.
"What the 'ell's gotten into yer?!" Jenny stared at Vastra, completely bewildered.
Vastra gave a small keen. "It is difficult here. I…" she threw her hands in the air in a defeated gesture and turned away from Jenny.
"What's so difficult? Bein' cooped up in the room? You survived weeks on a boat goin' to Japan. An' people stared then too." Jenny pointed out.
"I wouldn't expect an ape to understand." Vastra snarled over her shoulder.
"Try me!" Jenny snapped.
They scowled at each other for a few minutes. Vastra shocked Jenny by relenting and walking over to where the young woman stood, taking a clenched fist in her gloved hand and resting her forehead against Jenny's.
"Sometimes…I do not wish for the world to make sense."
The admission made Jenny's heart sink and she stared after Vastra as the Silurian dressed in her nightgown and slid into bed, back towards Jenny.
Jenny glanced around the room, feeling guilty at her outburst. She'd spent an uncomfortable three months in prison, when she'd been arrested for thieving from the house where she worked as a skiv. The hotel room was more comfortable than her cell and slightly larger but in London they not only had a large house to move around in and train in but there were also people who knew Vastra; the Irregulars, George, even Jess, whom she could be herself around. And she knew all too well the frustrations, the longings to be openly acknowledged, to not have to hide away.
"I'll talk to Matthew again tomorrow." Jenny said eventually, the only answer she could come up with to the dilemma being to solve the case as swiftly as possible so that they could return to London. When Vastra didn't answer, Jenny sat down on the bed and began to undress. "'e took it well." She remarked, pulling her dress over her head.
Vastra snorted.
"Din't scream or nuffin'." Jenny shot a glance out the corner of her eyes, unclipping her corset. The Silurian seemed to have relaxed. Jenny, now dressed only in her chemise and drawers, slid under the covers. She draped an arm over Vastra's waist, propping herself up on her elbow so she could lean over to see Vastra's face. ""In fact, I'd say he…"
She was prevented from saying what she would have said about him by the gentleman in question bursting back through their hotel room door, which Jenny had forgotten to lock, his agitation disproving his earlier claim of having nothing more to say. Whatever it was he'd returned to tell them died on his lips as he saw them, curled up in bed together, Jenny hastily grabbing at the covers as she sat upright. Matthew's previous astonishment at Vastra's scales was nothing to what his face told of now.
An: Jenny's habit of forgetting to lock doors begins…
The Swindon Mechanic's Institute was acutally the first lending library apparently. It's completely trashed these days and there seems to be no move to restore it. As far as I can tell women were allowed into public libraries and mechanics institutes (after a while at any rate). The Mechanics Institute was also used as a place of entertainment and would put on shows and concerts and the like.
I also found this photo of the County Constabulary on Eastcott Road and find it hilarious that they made policemen sit like school children had to sit for their photos. photos/swindonlocal/3833555328/ a thing of beauty.
