TIME MACHINE CHAPTER NINETEEN
Meanwhile, Connie, who had taken her own advice and taken a hansom cab, sat at the lodging house becoming more uneasy, despite kindly Miss Seabrook's bringing her a hot toddy and stoking up the fire for her to sit by.
Things looked much better now they had lanterns.
"We needn't rush so much now, we know Connie and Rita are safely home."
"But Dylan, Jess here's really tired, I want to get her home as soon as I can."
Ethan proved that food wasn't always his main priority.
Jess did look exhausted.
"Okay, that makes sense, and Lucius should be in bed by now", Ben agreed.
They saw Jess, Ethan, Cal and Lucius into a Hansom Cab.
"Soon be home now, mate" Ben said kindly.
"Don't you two hang around too long" Cal warned them.
"I think we can walk back now" Dylan told them.
He turned a corner and was promptly accosted by a young man.
"Ivan! You were wonderful in the ballet tonight!" cried the stranger, and, to Dylan's horror, hugged him.
"I don't dance and I'm not Ivan" protested Dylan.
The young man looked again.
"No you're not… I cannot apologise enough, Sir."
"No apology needed. I – er – bat for the other side myself, but I'm romantically involved at the moment."
Dylan couldn't believe he'd just admitted he was romantically involved with Ben. But what else was it?
"Pity… well, look, here's my card. If you ever need my help, see me at this address."
Dylan bowed and took the card, intending to throw it away later. He'd memorised the name on it, however:
'Evelyn, Duke of Barnet'.
He raced back to where…
Ben was looking uneasy in another dark alley.
And then it happened. A man who walked like an ape, head down, arms swinging, cornered Ben.
"Filthy pervert! Roaming the streets for pleasure, were you? Well it's my job to rid the streets of scum like you!"
He knocked Ben unconscious with his cane.
"And now I'm going to smash your handsome face to a pulp so nobody will want you again."
The man poised the cane, and then dropped it, yelping.
Dylan was on him, kicking, biting, punching.
The two men fought until Dylan was overpowered. The man raised the cane once more…
… And his face changed. He stopped drooling, he stood upright, raised his hat and said in cultured tones:
"Oh my goodness, whatever was I thinking? I do apologise. Goodnight, Sir… here's money if your friend needs a doctor…"
He dropped several coins at Dylan's feet and walked off.
Dylan decided it would hardly be wrong to pocket the coins under the circumstances.
Then he knelt by Ben, who was slowly coming round. He examined him quickly; nothing too bad.
"Dylan… he hit me… should we go to the police? We don't have any name to give them though."
"Oh we do. I reckon if we gave the name Henry Jekyll or Edward Hyde to them we'd be pretty accurate."
"Was that really…?"
Dylan nodded.
"Best leave well alone. What a bloody night" Ben sighed.
"We're nearly home now and Lucius is safe."
"Thank goodness for that."
Just then they heard a blood-curdling shout:
"Murder! Jack's done another one!"
"This one isn't on my list" the man said to Netley, adding:
"In fact, you're not a whore at all, are you, my dear?"
"Of course I'm not a whore, I'm a nurse!" Rita yelled in his face.
Then she jabbed him hard in the face with her hatpin, leaped from the cab and ran off.
"You little bitch, you'll die like the others when I catch you!"
"What's the name of the girl who died?" Ben asked the woman.
"Mary Kelly. Awful, it was. Poor inspector Abberline was nearly sick when he went into that room, they say."
"Thank you" Ben said, pale-faced, sickened by the woman's love for gory detail.
Then he looked into the distance and gasped in shock.
Rita, bonnet askew, chest heaving in a way that Connie would have adored, was running towards Ben and Dylan.
"Rita! What the heck?"
Rita ran over and sobbed on the embarrassed Dylan's chest.
The next day kindly Miss Seabrook insisted that Jess and Rita stayed in bed a little longer.
"I'll look after Miss Freeman" Connie smiled.
Ethan didn't mention he would look after Miss Harrison – his mouth was full of breakfast anyway – but later on, he crept into her room. She looked ill.
"I keep being sick" she said dully.
"Try and eat a bit of toast and drink some tea."
Jess didn't feel like it, but tried it. Surprisingly she felt better.
She told Connie about it later, and Connie said quietly:
"Jess… I think you could be pregnant."
Connie wasn't well herself. She was sick with remorse. I left her to Jack the Ripper, she kept thinking all day. I thought she was safely in a cab and all the time….
"What are you snivelling for, Beauchamp?"
"I – I abandoned you and got a hansom cab and you could have been killed."
"It was the plan for everybody to get a cab, Connie. I still love you, you bossy fool."
It was time for more shopping. The group wanted to buy a treat for Rita, after her horrible experience and Ben wanted to buy Lucius his first toy.
They bought a pretty shawl for Rita, and then Ben saw a toy shop and beamed.
"Come in here, Lucius."
The little boy's eyes were wide.
"May I play in here?"
"You can't do that, but you can pick out a nice toy to take back to Mrs Seabrook's."
Lucius, whose leisure time had not been great, felt as if one of the Gods had come down from Olympus to reward hin.
Overfaced, and not wanting to be greedy, Lucius picked up a small toy horse.
"Please may I have this statue?"
"Statue! Ah, what a fine imagination your little boy has."
It was a chubby man with spectacles who had made the remark. He continued:
"Statue! Such a clever little boy! Isn't he, Sam?"
The younger man nodded.
"He certainly is, Mr Pickwick!"
Ben and Dylan got a few more simple toys for Lucius, and a couple of simple reading manuals so the little boy could learn to read.
"Is it lunch yet?" asked Ethan, to stop himself snivelling at Lucius's gratitude for the gifts.
For once, his wishes were fulfilled, as Ben and Dylan wanted to show Lucius the Thames.
"Pie shop!" yelled Ethan in triumph, as they walked, "Guys, we just have to go in there."
Cal looked and his complexion paled.
"We absolutely do not want to go in there."
"Why not?"
"Look up", Cal replied.
Ethan looked up and read:
"Mrs Lovett's Fine Pies."
Higher still:
"Sweeney Todd, Barber. The closest shave in Fleet Street."
"I'm not hungry any more" whimpered Ethan.
Cal fell on his knees.
"Hallelujah, it's a miracle!"
As Lucius was playing with his toys, he heard Jessica and Ethan coming down the stairs.
"I can't believe you're pregnant! Oh Jess, let's have a Victorian wedding with all the trimmings!"
"I thought you might not be pleased."
"Jess, I love you. I'm thrilled. A baby!"
Lucius made a show of playing, but his mind was on the new baby. A lot of money had been spent on him, Lucius, lately and supposing the money ran out and the poor baby had to be taken into the mountains to die?
He knew what he had to do.
That night as all the adults slept soundly, a small, sad boy crept out of Mrs Seabrook's. Lucius had this things together in a tiny bundle. He didn't think Ben would mind him keeping the horse. He wanted to go back and beg for a hug, but he knew he'd have to be strong.
The small boy vanished into the fog of London.
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