1Jane and Edward: Zombie and Monster Hunters
Chapter 4
The Werewolf Bandit of London
NOTE: I don't own the characters; this is out of love for the story. Some of the places (e.g. cities and small towns) and people in this fanfic are fictional.
In the dead of night as stagecoaches carry money, goods, or food or even people, a masked bandit makes his move, his face obscured by a neck scarf except for his yellow, beady eyes and the tufts of fur peaking out of the scarf. Riding alongside a stagecoach on a black stallion, the creature points his gun and shoots the coachmen dead, leaving the goods inside for the taking. Once in human form, he uses his ill-gotten wealth for parties, clothes, women, and pretty much any vice known to man. London police have placed a reward on the bandit's head for his capture, dead or alive. As the werewolf continues to terrorize incoming stagecoaches, lives will be lost as well as valuable goods.
Meanwhile in Thornfield, lived Lady Jane and Sir Edward Rochester, also known as the "Creature Killers of Thornfield" because of their business of ridding the community (and sometimes the world) of undesirable monsters and demons that lurk about. After a grueling nine months, Jane had given birth to a son, Henry Edward Rochester. She had also taken leave for several months while Edward had to run the business with a temporary helper, a young, 20-year-old lad named Johnny Rungood, who detested the work (and sometimes fled at the mere sight of a zombie) but enjoyed the pay that came with it. When little Henry Rochester passed six months of age, he was found a suitable nanny while his mama and papa went to work, killing zombies and other undesirable creatures; much to the relief of Edward who hated working with Johnny and happily parted ways with him. Still, Jane and Edward spent a lot of time with their little one, playing with him, bathing him, dressing him, and reading the Bible to him at night.
"Good morning, my little man," said Jane, picking up Henry out of his crib. She kissed his forehead and he stared at his mama with a sweet, little smile. His little arms and hands waved about as Jane made funny faces at him and eventually laughed.
"Good morning, you two," said a smiling Edward. "I'm looking forward to a visit by the reverend and his wife today."
"It will also be the first time he'll meet St. John and his wife Cordelia," she cooed to her son. Henry turned his head and looked at his papa and waved his little arms with excitement.
"I think he wants me to hold him," said Edward. He took the little infant into his own arms with the help of Jane. "Good morning, young man," he said. Edward walked him to the window of his study and let Henry peer outside of the window, overlooking the huge property. "Someday this will be yours, little man." He gave his son a kiss on the cheek and walked him around his study, bouncing him in his arms. Both father and son smiled at each other during this activity but about five minutes later, Henry started to cry and Edward surrendered him back to Jane.
"Oh, come here, my little man," she said. She held him close to her shoulder and soothingly patted his back. "Don't worry Henry," she said. "We're going to have fun today!"
Reverend St. John and his wife Cordelia came to call about two hours later. They were thrilled with the newly rebuilt Thornfield as well as the new addition to the Rochester family. Cordelia was thrilled to hold little Henry in her arms.
"He seems so calm and content," she said as Henry looked at her wide-eyed and smiling. "St. John and I might consider children in the future. For now, we'd like to have some time to ourselves." She then passed Henry over to Edward.
"Time alone is always good," said Jane, taking a sip of tea. "A child is a great responsibility."
"Especially when they try to get into your valuables," said Edward, trying to keep his son from prying the pocket watch from his vest. "No, no, little man; that belongs to Papa. It may be yours someday, but not right now." Henry smiled at his father and giggled. "You're a little rascal, aren't you?" He gave his son a kiss on the lips and held him on his lap. "Nonetheless, children are truly a gift from God."
"Exactly," said Reverend Rivers. "No matter how much they seem like 'rascals,' as you put it, they are God's gift to us. Remember the passage in the Book of Mark where the disciples rebuked the children going to see Jesus but He welcomed them with open arms and told His disciples..."
"We know, we've read the story before," interrupted Edward with a polite smile on his face.
"Sorry. I'll save that for my sermons," Reverend Rivers said with a grin.
Then Edward decided to let his son play with his watch anyway. "Oh, why not." Edward took out his pocket watch and let Henry put his hands on it, making sure it didn't go into his son's mouth.
"He can be a handful sometimes," said Jane. "I can count on my hand the nights that we've been able to sleep through without being awakened by Henry's crying."
After the visit, the Rivers wished the new parents well and went on their way. After the nanny put Henry down for a nap, Edward found a letter on his desk. It was addressed to him and his wife Jane and again, it had the royal seal on it. He called Jane into his study to have a look at the letter. It was from the police commissioners, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne. The letter offered them slightly more money than the reward offered for the investigation of the zombie attack on the queen. They read with horror that a werewolf bandit was on the loose in London, killing innocent people and stealing goods from their stagecoaches.
Edward was furious at this heinous, criminal act. "Why that little bast..."
"Edward, watch your language," interrupted Jane.
"Thank you. Anyway, the police have their hands full with this clout and they want us to take care of the situation, again."
"We could do it, but what about Henry?"
"We could leave him here with the nanny and Mrs. Fairfax. I trust the both of them to take good care of him while we're gone."
"What if something happens..."
"Calm down, Jane. I have everything arranged in the case of our uneventful death. Remember, St. John and Cordelia are Henry's godparents and they have offered to take him in should something happen to us. Remember, we get ourselves in danger every day doing the work that we do."
"That's true. Might as well start packing for London," Jane said with a sigh.
Almost a year later, they found themselves in the same office of the police commissioners, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne. The two police commissioners were ready to brief the Creature Killers of Thornfield on their next major assignment. As the gentlemen gathered their paperwork, Edward fidgeted in his chair, trying to get comfortable.
"Jane, I can't remember the chair feeling this small," he whispered to his wife. "I think I may need to stop eating Mrs. Fairfax's apple pie in the evenings. But I still can't help the fact that she's an excellent cook."
Jane shushed Edward. "Now is not the time to discuss your dietary habits, dear."
"Ah, so we meet again," said Mr. Rowan.
"Hello Mr. Rowan and Mr. Mayne," said Jane, shaking hands with the two gentlemen.
"Hello Mr. Edward Rochester," said Mr. Rowan, shaking his hand.
"Hello to you too."
"Do you understand why we called you back?" asked Mr. Mayne.
"Yes," said Jane. "There has been some sort of werewolf that's been terrorizing the stagecoaches coming into England."
"They occur at night from our knowledge," said Mr. Rowan. "The fellow hides along the roadside and ambushes the coach drivers by shooting them dead at point blank range and then takes whatever loot is salvageable. He does transform back into a human in the day time and uses the stolen money and valuables for himself from what we've heard. We don't know who he is, though."
"It has gotten to the point where delivering and receiving the royal mail is considered risky," said Mr. Mayne. "We need your help."
"We will be glad to be of service," said Jane. "Can you tell us the roads that this individual frequents?"
Mr. Rowan gave Jane and Edward a map and pointed at various eras of London. "Mainly the roads leading out of the north of London, though he is known to attack elsewhere."
"How do people know that this man is a werewolf if none of them survive the ambush?" asked Edward.
"There are some folks who are lucky to make it out alive," said Mr. Rowan.
"Do you know of any way of bringing down this individual?" asked Jane.
"If we did, the fellow would've been caught by now," said Mr. Mayne. "That's your job as the professionals."
"We have our work cut out for us Jane," whispered Edward. "We'll just hide out at night and catch him."
"It's not going to be that easy," Jane whispered back. "But we've dealt with worse."
Mr. Rowan gave them a list of survivors who have seen the werewolf bandit. "One of them claims he knows the man who is the bandit but we don't have enough evidence beyond that claim."
"Thank you gentlemen for this information," said Edward taking the paperwork from the police commissioner.
The police commissioners finished speaking with Jane and Edward and offered them an official invitation to a royal ball the next evening with the Queen and her consort in attendance. The two decided to go since Edward hadn't been to a ball in ages and Jane had never even set foot inside a ballroom. This prompted Edward to give Jane some quick dancing lessons that involved his foot getting stepped on a number of times. Still, they looked forward to it and Edward decided to go out and buy Jane a beautiful dress for the occasion as well as some beautiful jewelry.
That evening, they were introduced as Sir Edward and Lady Jane Rochester, the Creature Killers of Thornfield and were treated to a rousing applause, especially by Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert. Jane had never seen anything so ornate aside from traveling to Paris and Rome. She had also never met so many distinguished individuals in her life, especially the Queen.
"Her Majesty takes pleasure in meeting you again," the Queen said. "Your service to us is much appreciated."
"Thank you, your Majesty," said Jane dropping a small curtsey. "It is truly an honor."
"It is truly an honor," said Edward. "Now where's the food?"
Jane said nothing but gently elbowed him in the stomach.
"I retract my last statement," Edward said, holding his stomach.
"As my wife said, we are truly appreciative of your efforts to rid London of these monsters," said Prince Albert, shaking their hands. "We should make both of you police commissioners," he said with a smile.
They all shared a laugh and then everyone was seated for dinner. The Rochesters found themselves seated to Sir Nathaniel "Nathan" Maxwell, a land owner whose wealth rivaled that of Edward's (and about ten years younger than Edward). He was somewhat handsome with brown hair and strikingly blue eyes. He was friends with the son of a member of Parliament and enjoying the atmosphere and scouting the area for lovely women to flirt with. He happened upon Jane and stared at her lustfully as she ate her dinner.
"Pardon me, Miss," he said. "I couldn't help but notice you have an empty glass. Would you like for me to fill it with champagne?"
"I'm fine but thank you anyway, Sir," Jane said.
"I'm curious to know," said Sir Maxwell. "I'd like to invite you to be my first dance partner this evening."
"No thank you. Besides, I'm eating at the moment."
"But you won't be eating soon as you'd be finished with your meal and ready to dance with me," he said with a lecherous smile.
"Please leave me alone," Jane said.
Sir Maxwell ignored her plea. "I'm sure your husband the creature killer wouldn't mind."
"Pardon me, Sir Maxwell," said Edward calmly but firmly. "My wife is vexed by your flirtations. I ask that you cease your seductive advances on her immediately." He did not wish to start a physical altercation with this man, especially in front of the Queen.
"Very well," said Sir Maxwell with a smile. "I will leave your wife alone. Besides, there's a great deal of women far prettier than her that are here at the ball this evening." He finished his meal and left the table. This left Edward seething with anger.
"How dare he compare you to those primped up peacocks in diamonds!" he muttered under his breath. "He has a great deal of nerve to attempt to seduce you in my presence!"
"Edward, calm down," said Jane, putting her gloved hand on his arm. "Let us enjoy this evening and not let this man spoil it."
"Yes dear," he said. "Besides, I need to be in good spirits if we are to dance."
When they were dancing, they noticed that Sir Maxwell's eyes were locked onto them. Jane and Edward simply ignored his stares and continued to grace the ballroom floor with their dancing. For Jane, it was a surreal experience; she was moving in time with several other wealthy people, especially the Queen and Prince Albert. Never in her life would she imagine dancing at a royal ball much less dancing at all. While she and Edward were having a grand time mingling with the upper class on the dance floor, Jane did the unthinkable.
"Ow! My foot!" Edward exclaimed, quickly retracting his foot in pain. "Jane, please be careful where you're stepping!"
"Edward, I'm so sorry."
The two of them vacated the dance floor in embarrassment as several people watched, especially Sir Nathan Maxwell. He smiled and delighted in their shame. "They call these two the 'Creature Killers of Thornfield?'" he said to a couple of women who danced with him previously. "Perhaps, if the creatures they killed were cockroaches." They all laughed and then Sir Maxwell looked at his pocket watch. "Well ladies, it was a pleasure dancing with you ladies this evening. Perhaps we could meet again sometime for lunch or dinner or something else entirely," he said with a sly smile and a wink. The women giggled and bid him farewell as he left the ballroom in a haste. As he was making his way down the outside corridor, he ran into the Jane and Edward conversing with each other. He hid in a doorway as to obscure himself from their view while listening to their conversation.
"Edward, I was confused on that last step and that's how I ended up stepping on your foot."
"It's quite all right dear," he said. "I guess dancing takes more than just a day's worth of lessons." He gave her a hug and a kiss. "Besides, there are things that are much worse than being embarrassed in front of a bunch of stuffy royalty."
"That's true," Jane said. "I'm tired anyway. I ate too much food and danced too long. Let's go to bed. In the morning, I would like to see if the police commissioners know any of the surviving witnesses who have seen this dreaded werewolf bandit; I would like to speak with them, especially the man who claims he knows the bandit's identity."
Sir Nathan Maxwell heard enough. He withdrew from the area and secretly left the ballroom to a waiting carriage nearby. "To Gideon's home, now!" His coachmen complied and they whisked their master off to a nearby neighborhood. They stopped in front of a small home near a busy London street. A hooded figure emerged from Sir Maxwell's carriage, carrying a large knife. The figure's black, gloved fist firmly but gently rapped the front door, awaiting the person that was about to answer it.
The next morning, bright and early, Jane and Edward took a carriage over to the home of a physician, Dr. Gideon Maxwell, the older brother of Sir Nathan Maxwell. According to police reports, he is the only one who claims to know the human identity of the werewolf bandit. The man, three and thirty years old, had just married a young woman of one and twenty, Anne Crawford, the daughter of a business owner. The creature killing duo looked over their notes as their carriage stopped at Gideon Maxwell's place of residence. They approached the door, knocked a few times and didn't hear anything or anyone. Edward then noticed that the front door was unlocked so they both entered the home and found a trail of blood leading to the bedroom. What they found there was disturbing.
"My goodness!" gasped Edward. "You don't see this every day, Jane." He heard a mild 'thump' but no voice. "Jane? Jane, darling?" He turned to his left side to find that Jane had fainted at the horrific sight. "Jane!" he exclaimed, shaking her back to consciousness.
"Edward, we need to get out of here, NOW!" she screamed. "We need to contact the authorities!"
Apparently, the grisly sight the Rochesters had seen were the bodies of Dr. Maxwell and his wife, Anne, in a bloody heap on the floor, their throats slit. Tears welled in Jane's eyes. They will never come back, she thought. They will never have a future nor a family. Whoever had done this horrible deed apparently did not want Dr. Maxwell saying anything. The Rochesters left the scene and went straight to the police commissioner's office. While Mr. Mayne was out of the office at the moment, Mr. Rowan was ready to receive them immediately.
"Did you find anything from Dr. Maxwell?" he asked them.
"More than we would like to see," Edward said. "The poor fellow and his wife have been murdered!"
"Murdered? What do you mean?"
"We knocked on the door and there was no answer," said a still-shaken Jane. "There was a trail of blood leading to their bedroom and we found them both dead. Someone had come into their home and apparently slit their throats."
"I'll send some men and Mr. Mayne down there immediately," said Mr. Rowan. "I guess the bandit doesn't want his identity to be found."
"As much as I don't like Sir Nathan Maxwell, I feel incredibly sorry for him," said Edward.
Just as Edward finished his statement, he found Sir Maxwell in the police commissioner's office, obviously there to report the murder of his brother and his sister-in-law. His demeanor was quite calm and he even made a joke or two with the authorities. Then he caught the eye of Jane and Edward and immediately tensed up.
"Sir Maxwell," said Edward. "I want to tell you how sorry I am about your brother and his wife."
"Yes, both of us are sorry about what happened," Jane said.
Sir Maxwell became even more tense. "That's quite nice of you to say those things," he said stiffly. "I'll see you later." He immediately walked out of the commissioner's office.
"That's strange," whispered Jane. "I would've expected him to be incredibly distraught."
"He doesn't appear to be distressed or upset in any way," Edward whispered back. "It's as if someone had caught him lying about something."
The creature killing duo brushed off Sir Maxwell's mannerisms and went back to looking through reports of eye witnesses who saw the werewolf bandit. Every one of them had the exact description; black hat, black cape, a black scarf over the mouth, black boots, black trousers, etc. Edward figured the only way to catch him was to dress in black as well and hide beside a road and wait for him to attack a random stagecoach. Since mobility was an important issue, Edward would also have Jane dressed in similar attire, which was discussed after they reached their lodgings.
"You want me to wear WHAT!" exclaimed Jane.
"Darling, it's for your own good," said Edward. "Your dress will only hinder you from your work so I feel it's best that you wear something similar to my clothing; black trousers, black coat, black..."
"Edward, I'd feel..."
"Calm down Jane, my love, my light of my life," said Edward soothingly. "It's only for tonight. It isn't as if I'm asking you to replace your daily attire with men's clothing."
"Fine," she said sternly.
"Good. I already had everything made for you." He laid out Jane's garments for her on the bed. Jane had a puzzled look on her face. "Try them on, Jane," Edward said.
"All right." She changed out of her dress and stays and put on the trousers, shirt, vest, cravat, coat, hat, cape, gloves, and boots and posed in the mirror for her husband.
"You don't look half bad," he said. "I think you need to retie your cravat but otherwise everything looks all right."
"I agree except that I feel that I should be in a gambling parlor," said Jane. She then tied a black scarf around her mouth and took out two pistols from the attached holsters and pointed them at the mirror.
"You look quite menacing, my dear," said Edward with a smile. "I would be afraid to pick a fight with you in a dark alley at night."
"You're just saying that because you're my husband," chuckled Jane. "This isn't as bad as I thought. As long as the wardrobe is temporary."
"Now we're ready to personally escort that blasted werewolf to Hell!" thundered Edward with a smile. Both of them cocked and loaded their firearms with silver bullets and prepared to do battle with the menace that was the werewolf bandit.
It was ten o'clock in the evening and many folks were just settling down for the night. There was no need for anyone to be out on the streets at this hour, however, two black-clad individuals were lying in wait on the side of a nearby road to town. Jane was laying on her stomach in some tall grass, her face obscured by a black scarf and eye-mask, her eyes staring down the sight of a shotgun. A fly buzzed and landed on her nose but she could not swat the irritating insect away. The fly eventually flew off and Jane continued to be on the lookout. Across from her was Edward, hiding in some nearby bushes, his spyglass just barely peaking out of the leaves. If the werewolf bandit were to come by, Edward would signal to Jane by pulling the spyglass out of view. The both of them had no idea on how long they would have to wait or even if there was a stagecoach and a bandit coming at all. The two agreed that they would lie in wait all night if they had to. A drop of sweat had made its way into Jane's eye and it mildly irritated her but she never once wiped it away. The trousers she wore were feeling a little itchy but she didn't do anything about it. Her total concentration was on the road and any creature passing by with intent to do harm would not make it out alive.
About an hour later, Jane and Edward both heard the sound of multiple hoof beats. At first, the noise was quite faint but then increased as the noise drew nearer to our heroine and hero. It was a stagecoach all right and right next to it was a cloaked and masked individual with tufts of fur peaking out. Apparently, one of the coachmen was trying to drive the horse while the other one engaged in gunfire with the rider - the werewolf bandit. Edward pulled in his spyglass into the bushes and Jane opened fire - just missing the bandit's head and knocking off his hat. Edward slapped his face and shook his head. "No, Jane, no! Bad shot!" he whispered to himself. While the coachmen drove their vehicle down the road to safety, the werewolf bandit was startled by the shot but couldn't find where it came from. Jane took a deep breath, aimed again and pulled the trigger, this time hitting the bandit's horse in the right hind leg, causing him to rear up in pain and dump his rider to the ground and promptly fall to the ground himself. The bandit then got back on his feet and stumbled a bit; apparently, he had broken his leg after unceremoniously being "bucked off" by his horse. He unconcealed his face by pulling off the mask and scarf - revealing his furry complexion and screamed, "where the deuce are you, bloody cowards! Show yourselves!" He produced his pistol and started to shoot randomly into the grass, bushes, and trees. Jane had to do something before she or her husband were shot to death. She took one last aim, stared down the sight, and her finger pulled the trigger, sending the bullet crashing into the werewolf's cranium. The werewolf dropped his sidearm, stumbled a few steps, and promptly fell dead in the middle of the road. Jane and Edward emerged from their hiding places and stared at the dead werewolf.
"It took you three shots, darling, but you got him," said Edward.
"I'm sorry, I got nervous," his wife replied. "Also, my facial disguise was uncomfortable, which added to my accuracy problem."
"I understand. We'll need to work on that once we get home. We can't have you shooting like this when we're facing greater danger. However, the werewolf bandit is dead and stagecoach drivers can continue doing their job without fear."
Soon, they heard more hoof beats. The local constable came with a few officers at his side to see what happened. When they learned that Jane and Edward had eliminated the werewolf bandit, they were incredibly pleased. They escorted the creature killing duo and the body down to the constable's office. There, the body began to morph from werewolf to human form and the bandit's identity was surprising. The individual behind it all was none other than Sir Nathan Maxwell. Apparently, Sir Maxwell was bitten by a rabid wolf and subsequently "treated" by his older brother, Gideon Maxwell. The disease hadn't healed but enabled Sir Maxwell to turn into a werewolf at night where he used both animal and human cunning to rob stagecoaches of their goods, thus making more money than he did with his investment properties. Dr. Gideon Maxwell recently learned about the symptoms of his brother's illness and would've told authorities if he hadn't been murdered by his own brother - the knife found on Nathan's person was stained with blood, pinning him as the murderer of Gideon and his wife Anne, leaving their older sister Rachael Carwood, aged five and thirty, as the only surviving sibling. The Rochesters collected their reward and donated half of it to Mrs. Carwood and her husband to help pay for the funeral costs as well as to pay for the education of their five children.
Jane and Edward eventually made it home to a smiling Mrs. Fairfax holding little Henry Edward Rochester in her arms. The baby smiled and clapped his hands with glee as he saw his parents enter their home.
"He was such a good boy during your trip," said Mrs. Fairfax. "Of course there were times that he cried for his mama and papa but he was incredibly well-behaved."
"Like any Rochester should be," said Edward smiling as he took his son into his arms and lifted little Henry into the air. "Hello little man," he said. "Mama and Papa are home!" He gave his son a kiss on the cheek and held him close. "We missed you terribly." He then passed Henry on to Jane who then cuddled him even more.
"Mama's home, love," she said, kissing him. "I missed you so much, Henry."
"You two must be tired after your trip home," said Mrs. Rochester. "Let me prepare some tea."
As Mrs. Fairfax left for the kitchen, Jane and Edward sat next to each other on the sofa, facing the fireplace with Henry in Jane's arms. Henry then made his intent to put his mouth on his mother's necklace.
"No, no love," she said, prying her necklace out of Henry's hands. "Putting Mama's jewelry in your mouth can make you very, very sick." When Mrs. Fairfax brought them their tea, she removed the necklace from Jane and offered to put it in her jewelry box.
"Wonderful tea, Mrs. Fairfax," said Edward.
"Would you like some apple pie to go with it?"
"Well, yes," Edward started. "You know, on second thought, I'll pass."
"Pass? On my apple pie? Mr. Rochester, are you ill?" She immediately put the palm of her hand to Edward's forehead.
"No, I'm not ill," Edward said. "I think I may need to eat my sweets and pastries in moderation as to keep my figure."
"Round or an hourglass, Mr. Rochester?" Everyone started to laugh.
"Either one, as long as I'm healthy," he replied with a chuckle.