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“Oh God, brace yourself,” Mabel warned. The look of horror in the older woman’s eyes made Hetty’s own eyes widen in terror.
She scoured the area and didn’t have to look too far to realise what had caught her friend’s attention.
There, further down the road, was the very man they were trying to avoid: Cedric Meldrew.
“We can’t go that way. We will be done for,” Mabel whispered urgently.
She tugged the hood of her cloak higher over her head and ushered Hetty into a narrow alleyway beside them. They had no idea where it would lead them, but anywhere was better than the main street right now.
“Why isn’t he out searching with the jailers?” Hetty whispered. She lengthen
ed her stride to keep up with Mable’s half-run. “Slow down a bit. If we start running we will draw attention to ourselves.”
She glanced around the nearly empty streets and tugged on Mabel’s shawl until the woman slowed her pace to a fast walk.
“I can’t help it,” Mabel cried in a hushed whisper. “He isn’t searching with the jailers because the arrogant oaf won’t get off his idle backside and do it himself. He knows he has got half of the town on guard for him. That wastrel has everyone working for him, and will bully anyone who refuses to help him, you know that.”
Hetty sighed and nodded. “Do you think that we really stand a chance of proving he is the one responsible for Blagmire’s murder? I mean, he has so many people scared of him –” She almost careered into Mabel, who suddenly slammed to a stop, and turned to place herself directly in front of her.
“Now don’t you start that, Henrietta Jones. You and I both know that man is as guilty as sin. He has committed a crime here.” Mabel pierced Hetty with a hard stare. “If he has done the crime, there is evidence somewhere. Those men from the War Office will know what to do. They have done as they said they would so far. Right now, we have to stay away from Meldrew, and try to get out of this blasted place.”
Hetty studied the determination on her friend’s face and nodded. “So, what do we do?”
Mabel sighed and looked around them. She drew Hetty with her toward the shadows and lowered her voice. “We have to get off the streets, or we are going to be stopped and searched.”
As if to emphasise her point, the low murmur of voices in the distance suddenly began to grow louder. Another search party was on its way toward them. She didn’t know whether it was the darkness or not but, for some reason, she started to feel incredibly alone and frightened, in spite of the fact that Mabel was with her.
“I can’t do this, Mabel,” she whispered frantically as she listened to the voices grow louder.
“In here,” Mabel declared suddenly, and grabbed hold of Hetty’s elbow in a firm grip as she dragged her into an empty yard at the back of one of the terraced houses which lined the street.
They closed the gate and stood perfectly motionless while they waited, and listened to the sound of many boots on the cobbles on the other side of the wall. A couple of minutes later, a small group of jailers walked past, and the noise they made began to dim. Hetty slumped with relief and rested her forehead against the cold wood of the gate for a moment while she willed her nerves to settle.
“We need to rest, sweetheart,” Mabel sighed. “I am exhausted, and so are you by the looks of you. Once we are rested, we can leave just before dawn. Nobody will think anything of us moving around the tradesmen going about their business. We can move a bit more freely then. Especially once the place has been searched and the jailers have come up empty handed. They will have to expand their search, and will focus on other areas. By then, Meldrew is likely to have searched the surrounding villages, including Hemsley. You can come to my house. We can say that we have been there all along, and that you have come to stay with me overnight because of your brother’s hanging.”
Hetty couldn’t see any argument with her logic, and nodded. “Come on then. I have money with me so we can find somewhere to stay, if this damned place isn’t too over-run with people to be full.”
She linked arms with Mabel, for her own comfort more than Mabel’s and, together, they headed off in search of a bed for the night.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Charlie began to pace backward and forward in front of the fire; oblivious to the warmth emanating from the roaring flames.
He glared out of the window at the darkening sky, and shook his head in disgust as his frustration and fear grew. He was so focused on Hetty, and what had happened to her that he was oblivious to the splendour of his surroundings.
“They should be back by now,” Charlie declared to nobody in particular as he stalked toward the kitchen table and stared blankly down at the scarred surface.
“Aye,” Wally nodded. “Unfortunately, we don’t know what happened once we had left town. They were supposed to have met with the men from the tavern, and then go to Mabel’s house in the village. Because the men most probably got carried away by the crowd, the women will have to make their way back to the village by themselves. It shouldn’t take this long, even on foot. Something tells me that they have been forced to stay in town.”
“I don’t think I can stand another minute of waiting like this,” Charlie growled. “I hate it.”
The sudden rattle of the kitchen door drew everyone’s attention.
Wally shot to his feet and picked his gun off the table. Charlie and Simon were right beside him.
At first, when Joshua appeared in the doorway, everyone heaved a sigh of relief. The dark look on his face warned everyone that he was alone.
“Where are they?” Wally demanded querulously, and hurried to the door to peer outside, as though he expected them to materialise out of the darkness. He turned to look at Joshua almost accusingly only Luke to nudge him aside as he entered the house behind him.
