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Toby quickly came to realize that he was standing in just the place Mr. Todd was throwing the body parts. Deciding to do his own body a favor, he moved around the muttering barber towards the other wall. Taking a calming breath from his gin-cloth, the boy took in the sight of a pile of bones. His stomach twisted, but he ignored it as he bent down to pick up a piece of cloth. It was ripped, and had a great deal of blood on it.

His mum dealt with this every day?

He dropped the cloth and turned his attention back to Mr. Todd. The barber had just finished throwing a large chunk of calf meat when he caught sight of the bones by Toby. The boy began to quiver at the intense look the barber had on his face.

Marching around the grinder and even forgetting to hold his bruised side, Sweeney went straight for the cloth scrap that Toby had dropped. Stepping hurriedly back from the man, the boy watched with interest as he bent to pick up the cloth.

Painfully standing back up, Sweeney grimaced briefly before eagerly turning his attention back to the scrap.

Mrs. Lovett had attempted to sweeten his tea with honey that day, but only succeeded in leaving a foul taste in Sweeney's mouth for the rest of it. He had been in a slightly worse than normal mood because of it, and had been having a hard time keeping the glower off his face. A particular man had come in, prattling on about someone's generosity and the good in the world.

If Sweeney recalled correctly, his razor nearly got stuck in the man's throat from how deep he had forced it into his flesh.

Pushing aside the bloody technicality he tried to remember exactly who the man had said was being generous.

Toby wanted to flee as he witnessed the barber's face contort into an expression of maddened rage and unmistakable bloodlust. The syllable he growled out sent shivers crawling down the boy's spine.

"Judge."


"Do you.. do you know what he did? To get.. sent away?"

Forcing herself to listen to the girl, Mrs. Lovett debated on what to tell her. 'Yes' could lead down the long and tiresome road of exactly how she knew. After all, when one said 'he was falsely accused' a 'how do you know' would be sure to follow. Saying no could very well send the girl's mind off in a million different directions, making her think badly on a man who was really quite fine.

"He was a good man." She insisted, deciding to go with a third option.

Johanna frowned at the baker's insistence, but didn't question it. "How long did you know them?" She asked instead.

"They were looking for a place to stay, two weeks after they got married." She refrained from mentioning she had spoken to them occasionally before. There was no point, people tended to run into one another at the market. Not that Mrs. Lovett would find herself following the very handsome Mr. Baker around, or anything.

"Were you good friends?"

"As much as we could be.. Wot with me Albert who 'e was an 'im enamored ta Lucy.." Mrs. Lovett hurriedly stopped herself. Johanna was obviously inquiring about both her parents, not just her father. Looking at the girl nervously, she hoped her fatal error would go unnoticed. Expressing a desire for an affair with her father was perhaps not the best way to go about being friends. If their relationship was anything close to friendship.

Johanna, fortunately for Mrs. Lovett, was not too observant a character, and had been distracted by learning her mother's name. "Lucy?" She whispered, almost completely forgetting what else had been said. "My father is.. Albert?'

The baker forced herself to laugh, relieved her proclamation was overlooked. "No. 'E was my husband. Your father's name was Benjamin."

Old and forgotten memories suddenly flooded back to her the moment his name left her tongue. It had never even occurred to her to think on them after Sweeney had shown up. For a man so obsessed with his past, he rather didn't like it when someone else brought it up.

"Benjamin and Lucy." The girl played with the names, enjoying the sound.

"Barker." Mrs. Lovett concluded for her. "Turpin ne'er…?"

Her expression went sour. "No."

"Sounds 'bout right for someone like 'em."

Johanna took a quick breath before letting her questions spill out. "How did I end up with him? What happened to my mother after my father was sent away?"

Mrs. Lovett noted her shyness was about as fickle as her ability to pay attention. "I really shouldn't be tellin' ya these things luv."

"Who will?" She pressed.

The child's logic was impressive, but it still granted no response from the woman across from her.


A/N There's going to be fire in the next chapter. Lots and lots of fire. On another note, how many of you actually like it when an author replies to your review? I'm just curious, because I don't do it. As I'm sure you've noticed.. though it's a different story if you ask a question.