"It's just around this corner."
Mr. Hobbs led them through debris-laden alleys, finally stopping in front of a low archway. He waved them in first, and Tom darted around Wiggins only to freeze two steps inside the entrance.
"Woah!"
Wiggins moved around him then halted as well. A sprawling courtyard greeted his amazed stare. Uneven ceilings provided shelter while not blocking the day's bright sunlight, and smooth cobblestone created a floor much better than dirt.
"We get to live here?!" Speeding through the arch, the youngest of their group poked his head into a cubby, then climbed atop an oversized pot nearby. "I like this a lot more than an alley!"
Billy's pack landed against the wall, but he hopped down to disappear around the corner as Charlie dashed further into the space.
"This is bigger than it looked from the window!" Her surprise echoed off the brick. "There's a whole 'nother section over here!"
"Of course," Mr. Hobbs answered, smiling slightly from his place just to the right of the door. "Expanding my shop would have needed a storage area, work area, showroom, and office. I had planned to divide the courtyard into portions for each."
"Why didn't you?" Wiggins asked somewhat hesitantly. He had no wish to make Mr. Hobbs regret the "rent" he had outlined.
"No need. A larger shop needs more employees, more inventory, and more time to manage. Plus, making this courtyard a store introduces the problem of advertising. Unless I wanted to change quite a bit, I would have to either put a door in the back of my shop or draw customers through alleys dark enough to make any lady nervous. I think I prefer renting it to you."
Wiggins preferred that, too, but he made no reply, turning a slow circle in the middle of the space. When he had envisioned a place the six of them could live, he had expected a secluded back alley, a hidden room, or somewhere not intended for adult use. This sprawling, debris-covered courtyard presented much more than he could ever have imagined. This could be a home, not just a house. They could live here, safely, away from the cruel adults that owned the rest of the city. Even its location in the relatively dangerous East End would cause no problems if they were careful.
"Hey! These are cots! We have two beds!"
Beds?! Wiggins abandoned his staring, bolting around the corner to where Tom inspected the pile of scrap wood.
"Some of these are chairs and tables," Tom said when Wiggins came into sight, "but look!" He tugged a chair seat out of the way to reveal a small bedframe.
Jacob sat up on the other side of the pile. "Tha smith from tha other day might let us werk off a scrap hammer 'n some rusted nails," he suggested. "Find us a mattress or two, 'n we kin rotate on real beds! John! What'dya think about havin' a real bed?"
"Almost as good as having my own room."
His quiet voice echoed behind them, and Mr. Hobbs' booming laugh bounced off the brick when John peeked out of a nearby hole. Wiggins doubted the round adult would ever consider a cramped hole in the wall a suitable bedroom, but they held a different perspective.
"Grown-ups can't fit in some of these," John said, carefully squeezing back out. "No more attacks."
No more attacks. No more worrying that someone twice their size would try to steal everything they owned. Smaller holes meant they could sleep without worry of being mugged.
Mr. Hobbs' laughter died as both adults glanced between them, but Wiggins pretended not to notice. John's injury had resulted from the last mugging. The younger boy would have first pick of their new "rooms."
"Charlie, will you and Billy want rooms?" No answer, and two steps back found Billy exploring another section by himself. "Charlie?"
"Just a minute."
Her voice came from the wall next to him, but he saw no sign of an opening. Tom and Jacob started comparing ideas for hiding the entrance as Wiggins tried again.
"Where are you?"
"Can't understand you," her voice replied, now ten feet to his right. "Just a minute. I see light."
Small sounds carried from behind the brick, and he followed the noise until his sister crawled out of the next hole.
"There's tunnels," she said before he could ask. "I entered the cubby behind Billy."
He looked between her and the hole, wondering why a jewelry shop's courtyard would have a tunnel, but Mr. Hobbs spoke behind him.
"Faster than I gave you credit for." He wandered closer as they turned. "What made you look?"
Charlie shrugged. "Why would you have to 'change' it unless there were tunnels? How many are there?"
"Two," Mr. Hobbs replied. "The other goes from behind that pot—" A finger referenced the pot Billy had climbed earlier, "out the other end of the courtyard. It exits to the next street, but the tunnel is so low, I doubt I could make it useable for customers without damaging the other shops in the area."
Charlie's eyes widened with an idea. "Do you mind if we dig more?"
"Not a bit, provided the walls remain stable and the other shops cannot tell you did it. Why?"
"Hiding places!" A glance noted Wiggins' confusion. "Think about it! Why have rooms alone when they can connect where the creepers can't fit? You mentioned just the other day how thick these walls were and how much space we find between shops. If John had been able to get to one of us last week, that man might not have beat him up like that. Even two of you boys could have scared him off."
Wiggins looked again towards the back of the cubby. "How big is the tunnel?"
"Not big enough to stand," she answered immediately, "and definitely not big enough for a grown-up. I had to feel my way so I wouldn't run into anything. We could connect most of them through the walls and maybe even a few under the courtyard, if we dig deep enough. Wouldn't it be nice to have a place to hide if some grown-up decides to mug us again?"
More than nice. The years since their parents' deaths had presented multiple dangers in the form of the "street-adults," as Jacob called them, and he would much prefer Charlie and Billy hide while the rest of them fought off the intruder. Wiggins crawled partway into the hole to view the tunnel entrance.
The cubby formed an irregularly shaped hole in the wall. Dirt thickly covered whatever bricks might have once served as the floor, and one corner opened where he expected a wall. He confirmed a low ceiling in both the cubby and the tunnel before carefully turning around.
"What did you plan to do with them?" he asked when he found Mr. Hobbs still next to Charlie.
The older man shrugged. "Nothing specific. I did not make them, and if the previous owner knew about them, he saw no reason to tell me. You could turn them into more storage, or you could dig them into tight rooms. Just be careful not to damage the nearby shops."
No fear of that. He would check to be sure, but this neighborhood's layout matched the one in Holborn. If everything proved identical, the original builders had closed off potential alleys. They could have three or four feet of empty space between the true walls of the shops.
"Do you care how we set up the courtyard? Do you want us to avoid your window or anything?"
"No. I use that room for storage, so you don't need to worry about anyone watching you from there, either. You could sleep along one wall and use the middle space for lessons, play, or anything else you needed. There is a small library not far from here."
Charlie nearly waved away the reference, still scanning the large courtyard. "What would we do with a library?"
Wiggins felt heat gather in his cheeks as both adults glanced between them again. He had just started reading the beginner books when their parents died, and finding food had always been more important than teaching her. Charlie barely knew her letters, much less how to read even a primer.
"Learn how to read, of course," he said before either adult could find a reply. "We'll start when I have a break between helping Mr. Holmes."
"You will start in a day or two," Mr. Holmes corrected from several feet behind them. "I should have realized you would need to learn letters and numbers. I will start teaching you six, then you will teach the others."
"Others?" Wiggins repeated in surprise, spinning toward Mr. Holmes.
"I told you some cases would need more than six," was his stoic answer. He moved closer. "Some cases might need only one, but if I have five cases going at a time, that is work for at least five of you. Every case requires a certain amount of time-consuming information gathering."
"So…" He trailed off, glancing around the truly enormous courtyard. "You want us to grow?" he finally asked.
"Never turn anyone away," Mr. Holmes said firmly. "You were planning a cooperation of other children, were you not?"
How could he possibly—
Mr. Holmes' mouth twitched in what might have been a faint grin. "Build it," he ordered. "You can turn this courtyard into a home, Wiggins, if you are willing to work for it. That goal is why I started watching you a week ago. I overheard you and Charlie discussing it in an alley. Such a cooperation not only benefits you, but it would be of great use to me. I hope to grow my detective agency large enough to employ far more than six of you."
The hidden space gained a new light. More than just a place for the six of them to stay now, this could be a home for many more. He could draw them with the promise of shelter, safety, and the occasional work. Mr. Holmes' wages would provide food at least a few times a week, and the courtyard would stay warmer than the alleys.
They could live in a courtyard. His mum would have called it "highly irregular," and Father would have laughed before diving in to help, but this could work.
He had a home again.
And so ends Wiggins' story. Or begins? Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review :)
Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter!
Shout-out to Jean-Moddalle for catching that Mr. Hobbs is the unnamed jewelry shop owner in Choices :D
JannerWingfeather: they need them, yes, but if you can convince one to come with you, I don't think anyone would protest much. We don't know how many children they reunited with family as they did Henry :)
Cc: yes, I know the feeling quite well. you're not, though. I promise. Even on the darkest days, someone notices. People just aren't very good about noticing aloud.
MHC1987: amazing how that works, isn't it? and oh so fun to explore