Chapter 20

Alice had hurried back to the den, she had dried the last of her tears before entering the building but her eyes were still nevertheless a sore red sight from the sheer amount of crying she had done since leaving Highgate and reaching the den.

Charlie was the first to notice Alice's bloodshot eyes. He had been agitated all evening waiting for her to return and so had instinctively spun around at the sound of the door. As he watched Alice's distraught form walked through the door, every inch of him wanted to rush up and hug her, comfort her as best he could but somehow that didn't feel like the right thing to do. So instead he paced over to her asking gently but not forcefully if she was ok. In response Alice closed her eyes and nodded. Despite her reply it was obvious she was in fact pained by her visit to Jack. Charlie noted that Alice's feelings could for once be read all over her, usually she had a knack for keeping her true emotions deep inside her and control what people saw on the outside but nothing was hidden now, the whole world could read her like a book.

"Jack's ok, he'll be alright." Alice said although it sounded more as though she was convincing herself then informing Charlie.

Tentatively Charlie put his hand on Alice's shoulder.

"He'll get through this, and so will you." Charlie said softly hoping to comfort her a little by his words.

In a sudden moment Charlie found himself being squeezed to death by Alice. Alice was hugging him. She had hugged him. He felt a tiny smile creep across his face, a warm fuzzy feeling wind its way through his body. No. This was wrong. He shouldn't be happy when the only reason he was receiving this warm hug was because his best friend was in jail awaiting trial for a capital offence.

"I hope you're right Charlie, I really hope you're right!" Alice's words were muffled by Charlie's jacket but they were still clear enough in his ear. As Alice broke off the hug, Charlie could feel the warm tingly sensation as his body maintained the physical memory of the hug and the surrounding atmosphere brought his temperature back to his original level.

Turning to her brother, Alice moved towards him expecting to have to tear him away from the other boys but found he was already up and ready to go. His anxious face stared up at his sister as she announced that they had to be off otherwise they would never get to the milliners in time and their uncle would worry. Oliver wondered if he would ever hear the full story of what had truly happened today but for now he didn't want to pry, he could see Alice was distressed and he didn't want to trouble her further. Following her obediently, they exited the den, Oliver leaving behind a half played game of cards that he had abandoned on Alice's arrival. It didn't matter. The boys had been cheating anyway.

Silently they walked side by side on the pavement. They reached and entered the milliner's without so much as a sound towards each other. Alice told the milliner what she had come for, the necessary negotiations were made, the money handed over and then they were back out the shop, which doubled as a workshop, and back to their original side by side position. Oliver was holding the boxed top hat sensibly in both hands. He was all too happy to take the burden of Alice's hands, she looked shaky and he wasn't sure she would appreciate this unappealing trait being made obvious by the holding of a rather large object.

As they walked Oliver kept glancing up at Alice. He was deeply concerned for her and he knew Jack was behind her suffering. He just didn't know why. The tiny bits of information he had gathered from hearing Alice talk to Charlie were not enough to give him the whole picture of what was really going on.

"Alice, what's Dodger done?" He asked penetrating the absolute silence that they held between them.

Alice sighed. She had anticipated that Oliver would ask this question and thought it best that she should answer him now and not put it off as he was going to need a bit of time to digest the news to a maintainable level before they reached home.

"He's been arrested. Apparently for murder. You guessed I went to see him, didn't you? Well that was in one of the cells in Highgate prison."

Oliver's mouth dropped open. Alice was right, he had guessed she had visited Jack and he had known that it somehow involved a prison. Putting two and two together he had come to the horrible conclusion that Jack might have been arrested. But for murder?! That was a big stretch over the believability spectrum. The gentle, kind, fun loving Dodger could not have a single bone in his body that would provoke him to commit a crime so severe as that!

"But how? Dodger wouldn't kill anybody!" Oliver blurted out defensively.

"We all know that, but it's a matter of convincing the beak that it's true and to do that we need to prove that Jack is innocent." Alice said with a much more confident attitude then she had held only a few hours previous.

"But if he's not found innocent will he be…hanged…?" Oliver gulped at the thought of this terrible punishment, he was aware that murderers often saw their end by way of the noose but it had never become such an intimate reality until now. He couldn't imagine Jack standing in the place of all those other villains at the gallows. He didn't deserve it. He may be a criminal but he wasn't evil.

"Yes that is a risk but try not to think about it, I'm not taking that option as an answer until I can no longer think up some way of helping him out of that place. So you shouldn't think on either, we should remain positive."

Oliver nodded and agreed with Alice that thinking positive was the way to handle the situation. He honestly couldn't think of any other way to handle it apart from breaking down and not being able to help anyone out and that, he figured, was no way to go about it.

They reached the Brownlow residence in the same silence that they had begun their walk from the den to here. Ascending the steps Alice stopped Oliver before they entered the house.

"Not a word of what happened this afternoon to anyone, ok, and if Uncle asks we got some sweets with the change and ate them all while we were coming home, I'm sorry you didn't get any but I'll make it up to you somehow." Alice said rubbing Oliver's shoulder affectionately.

Oliver gave her an encouraging smile and agreed to her terms. He had been prepared to keep the events of the day hushed for it was obvious that anything to do with Jack was strictly unspeakable to Mr Brownlow. As for not getting sweets, well that hardly was worth mentioning now he knew the truth, it was such a trivial matter that he didn't give two hoots whether he would get them or not. Although the mention of food reminded him how hungry he was feeling, surely it must be nearing dinner time.

Alice opened the door and Oliver hurried in out of the cold air, Alice followed calmly behind him. Removing her shawl Alice placed it on the peg she had found it on. She halted Oliver in his tracks and made him remove his coat before further entering the house. Oliver duly took it off and handed it to Alice who was placing it on the peg next to her shawl when...

"There you two are, I was getting worried, its nearly six o'clock." Mrs Bedwin had heard them arrive and consequently had come to make sure they were alright.

"Now let me do that…" Mrs Bedwin added see what Alice was doing and attempting to take the task off her hands. But Alice was quick and she had the coat on the peg before Mrs Bedwin could even lay a finger on it. She wasn't incapable of hanging a coat on a peg!

Now that Mrs Bedwin's attention was no longer needed in the direction of coats it turned to Alice's attire. Her pale mint green dress that had been pristine clean when she had left the house now had stains and marks of all kinds disguising the true colour of the dress. Until now Alice had forgotten that she had ruined her dress, Mrs Bedwin's shocked expression as she saw the state she was in reminded her that she had knelt in that filthy cell, tripped over in the muddy grass as she made a dash back to the den and not exactly paid much attention as she brushed passed the rotten, protruding walls of the den's stairwell. Her appearance had never needed to matter before.

"My Gosh, Look at you Alice! That dress! That lovely dress, what have you been doing to yourself. Anyone would think you were an unkempt, unruly street urchin!" Mrs Bedwin cried.

Oliver could tell from his sister's glare she had strongly disapproved of Mrs Bedwin's remark. Even he could see how easily it became an offence to her, until Mr Brownlow had come into their lives they had both been unkempt, unruly street urchins. This had obviously escaped Mrs Bedwin's mind for she continued to fuss over Alice's dress, drawing it out carefully to see what damage there was. Although Alice was in no frame of mood to be tolerating such remarks, luckily for Mrs Bedwin, she was neither in the frame of mind to argue with her. Alice tugged back her dress and brushed past Mrs Bedwin before she could attempt to pull it out again.

"Mrs Bedwin! Stop fussing. A cart splashed a muddy puddle over me, nothing more. And it is no business of yours to go prying into our private goings on. I've spent my life without the need of a keeper and intent to spend the rest of it the same way. I'm going upstairs to change and I'll be down for dinner." Alice stated and with a huff ascended the staircase.

Mrs Bedwin stood dumbfounded in the doorway, never in her life had she been spoken to in such a way. A word would have to be said to Mr Brownlow. He couldn't let this sort of behaviour continue. She couldn't understand how Alice could conduct herself in such a way that allowed her to disregard her belongings so much. Of course if Mrs Bedwin knew what was going on in Alice's head, her troubles and worries, she might have understood how Alice could make such a mess of her appearance, then again perhaps not. For Mrs Bedwin had concluded it would take a lifetime to understand that girl.

Another chapter up yay! Hopefully now exams are over with I can get up chapters more regularly but we'll see! Hope you enjoyed this chapter though!