The Whitechapel Girl

by The Whitechapel Girl (retail) (epub)

  ‘It ain’t been bad for business, mind,’ said Big Bella, philosophically. ‘Plenty of toffs coming down here to get a bit of a thrill, see, Ett. They’ve read about it in the papers so they wanna see it all for ’emselves.’

  ‘Even the bloody wax theatre up on the Mile End Waste’s got in on the act, yer know,’ said Ada to Sarah.

  But Sarah wasn’t listening to her old friend, she was too engrossed in the drink.

  ‘Go on, Ada,’ said Ettie, nodding her encouragement. ‘I’m listening to yer.’

  ‘They’ve got models made of the poor girls what’s copped it round these parts over the years. That’s fetching ’em in, all right.’

  Ettie shook her head in distaste.

  ‘Yer, I know, but it’s better than all them models they used to have of sailors with the pox,’ said Ada indignantly. ‘Now that was bad for business.’

  The women all joined in with Ada’s laughter, including Sarah, who by now didn’t have a clue where she was, never mind what was supposed to be amusing her.

  ‘You heard this bit?’ said Ivy, walking over to the table from the bar. She was younger than the other women, a fresh-faced newcomer to the streets of Whitechapel, up from the Essex marshes from where she’d fled after being exploited by a farmer’s wife who’d taken her on as a maid-of-all-work. She had a good brain and a bit of education, and she was keen to use them, to use anything, so that the regulars would accept her. She needed to earn some money, and without their cooperation she knew it would prove very difficult. She pointed to a newspaper she’d scrounged off one of the men standing at the bar. ‘They’re worried about riots breaking out again, it says. So what’s all that about then?’

  ‘We’ve had ’em all before,’ said Bella, waving her hand dismissively. ‘Didn’t help no one last time they rioted though, did it? Not one job or home for no one out of that lot. Plenty of broken heads: that’s all they got out of that.’

  ‘They say the riots are gonna be against the Jews this time,’ said Ivy, frowning as she tried to decipher the words. ‘Cor! They reckon it’s a Jew what done poor Polly in.’

  Ettie startled everyone by snatching the paper viciously from the astonished girl’s hands. ‘How can you listen to her reading that stuff?’ she snapped. ‘What’s the matter with all of you?’

  ‘You’re a bit touchy, ain’t yer, Ett?’ said Bella, mugging at the others.

  ‘I don’t think it’s right taking notice of all those stupid stories. All they do is cause more trouble. And, gawd knows, that’s something that you don’t need round here.’

  ‘So what d’yer want us to do then, Ett? Ignore it? Or wait around crying till it’s one of our turns to cop it?’ Milly’s voice was harsh. ‘Three gels been done in. Three. And that’s only the ones we know about. It’s gotta be a maniac, that’s what it is.’

  ‘No one even knows if it’s the same man.’ Ettie tried to keep calm, to reason with them, but she felt so angry that she couldn’t keep the fury from her voice. ‘You shouldn’t be listening to all these rumours. It’s wrong. It’s like it said in this book, about how crowds go mad. You’re all caught up in wanting to hear about it. It’s like the people who all wanted these tulips.’

  ‘Do what?’ Bella said. She wasn’t the only one looking at Ettie as though she had taken leave of the last of her senses.

  ‘A book I read. Well, no, someone read bits to me. About people going barmy over things.’

  ‘I dunno about the rest of ’em,’ said Ada, ‘but I ain’t got a clue what yer talking about, Ett, honest I ain’t.’

  ‘Nor did I once,’ said Ettie. ‘But I do now.’

  ‘All right, keep yer hair on,’ said Milly, stiffly.

  ‘Have another drink, girl, for gawd’s sake,’ said Bella, trying to restore a bit of order. ‘And get her one and all,’ she said, pointing to Ivy. ‘You’ve frightened the life out of the poor little mare.’

  ‘The way you’re all behaving, anyone’d think you didn’t care about the truth of what’s happened – that you just want to lap up all the scandal.’

  ‘Don’t be so stupid,’ said Ada, now as angry as Ettie. ‘Course we care, but some of us have to live here, Ettie Wilkins, so we have to make the best of it, don’t we? We ain’t all had your luck finding ourselves a fancy man.’

  Ettie looked round the table at the people who had once been her friends. She felt she hardly knew them any more. And, for the first time, she was aware of the jealous looks at her clothes and clean, styled hair that were being flashed from beneath their lowered lashes.

  ‘So, that’s how it is for us, Ett,’ said Bella, still trying to prevent an all-out row. ‘Make merry tonight, girl, cos tomorrow we might be on the slab. Dead.’

  ‘Better than the bleed’n workhouse, eh Bella?’ said Ada, smiling again.

  ‘Too bloody right it is,’ said Florrie, strolling over from the bar, having given up on the man she had been trying to entice out into the alley.

  The women were now all laughing, except Ettie who sat silently watching, and Sarah who snored loudly, her head on one side, her mouth slack.

  ‘Listen to this bit,’ said Ivy, picking up the newspaper again, her confidence in her audience renewed. “This bit where they reckon it’s a Jew. They are looking for an…’ She faltered over the word, and held it out to Ada for help.

  ‘No good asking me,’ grinned Ada. ‘Ettie’s the one round here with all the book-learning.’

  Ivy looked expectantly at Ettie.

  Ettie sighed and took the paper from her. ‘They are looking for an “intelligent man, with knowledge of rituals”,’ she said touchily, then folded the paper in half and handed it back to Ivy.

  Ivy grimaced. ‘Wonder what sort of horrible things he gets up to?’

  Florrie looked steadily at Ettie and smiled gently. ‘Take no notice of us mob, Ett. Yer know what we’re like round here. Yesterday they was all saying it was a slaughterman.’ She raised her glass in salutation. ‘Yer well out of it, girl,’ she said with a wink. ‘Nice and safe with yer fellah over there in Bow.’

  A weak smile was all the answer that Ettie could manage. Her eyes were drawn to the newspaper that Ivy was now eagerly showing to Milly. She thought about what Florrie had said to her – was she really better off with Jacob? Was she really safe with him? She drained her glass and looked over to the door. She could hardly admit it, even to herself, but she’d been wishing that Billy would come in, that he’d open the door and walk over to her with that big, shy grin of his.

  ‘Ett?’

  She looked round to find Bella tugging on her sleeve.

  ‘I thought yer’d nodded off,’ the big, smiling woman said to her.

  ‘Sorry, Bella,’ said Ettie. ‘I was miles away. What’s up?’

  Bella tipped her chin towards Sarah. ‘Yer mum, she’s out for the count. I’ve gotta be shifting meself soon, so I wondered if yer wanted me to help yer lift her up and get her home before I start work.’

  ‘Ta, Bell,’ said Ettie, pushing her chair back and standing up. ‘I’d appreciate that. And I’d better be getting off home as well.’ Home, she thought to herself as she helped the big, buxom woman get the unconscious Sarah to her feet. Where was that?

  Chapter 30

  ‘Have you read what they’re saying about the murders, Jacob?’ Ettie sat at the table, dressed ready to perform for Celia. She was pretending to study the newspaper, but she was really studying Jacob, watching him from under her lashes as he brushed at his already immaculately clean suit.

  ‘What nonsense are they spreading now?’ he asked, checking his sleeves for stray specks of dust. ‘More wildly sensational theories, I suppose.’

  There’s more talk that it’s a Jew who’s doing it,’ she said in a hushed voice.

  Jacob turned and glared at her. ‘It hardly astonishes me.’

  ‘Don’t look at me like that,’ she said uneasily. ‘I never meant anything.’

  Jacob put his hand to his throat, easing his collar. �
�I’d have thought you’d have known better,’ he snapped.

  ‘But I was only…’

  He slammed his hand down on the table, making Ettie start back in her seat. ‘Enough!’ he yelled. ‘Now, are you ready? Miss Tressing will be here any moment.’

  Ettie took a deep breath, determined that she wouldn’t let him speak to her like that, and said, ‘There’s all this stuff they’re talking about, rituals and blood and all sorts of horrible things.’

  Jacob repeated his words even more firmly. ‘I said, are you ready?’

  Ettie looked up at him. She opened her mouth as if to speak, then decided against it. Instead, she nodded.

  ‘Good,’ he said simply.

  ‘I don’t like doing this, you know.’ Ettie spoke the words as calmly as she could, not wanting to let him see that his outburst had alarmed her. ‘There’s something wrong about leading the poor girl on. Being up the duff makes her an easy target. It’s not right. The way she rushed off like that the other day. I don’t know, she seems like a poor cow. I feel sorry for her.’

  Jacob’s temper seemed to have calmed. ‘Don’t get sentimental, Ettie,’ he said flatly. ‘And she’s hardly poor.’

  ‘I’m not talking about money,’ she said wearily.

  ‘Well I am, and we stand to earn plenty from the lovely Miss Tressing. And think of all the rich friends she can send to us.’

  ‘Is that all you think of?’ Ettie tossed the paper to one side.

  ‘No, of course not,’ he said, examining his fingernails for any sign of dirt. ‘As you said yourself, your messages are of help to her.’

  ‘Does that mean we have to con her?’

  ‘It’s yourself you’re conning, as you put it, if you think you can start working for charity. If we don’t earn money from the likes of her, would you really be prepared to go back to doing six shows a night in the gaffs for a handful of pennies?’

  Ettie shrugged.

  ‘I thought not.’ Jacob’s face relaxed and he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. ‘Now perhaps you should keep that thought in mind when you’re working. And also keep in mind that Miss Tressing needs you. Remember, you’re doing the young lady in question a service, a kindness of a very special kind. People only come to you when they are troubled, and your gift is to tell them what they want to hear. She needs you, Ettie.’

  ‘I know what the poor cow really needs, and it isn’t me. She needs a different sort of help. But I bet she doesn’t even know how babies are made, let alone how you get rid of one you don’t want to have.’

  ‘Come in, Miss Tressing,’ Jacob welcomed her as he ushered her into the hallway. ‘It is very good to see you again. I trust you had an easy journey?’

  ‘Yes, thank you,’ she said flatly. ‘Though I would have travelled much further to see Miss Wilkins.’

  Celia kept her eyes averted as she walked along the corridor, but when she entered the sitting room she raised her head and looked imploringly at Ettie who was seated at the table, her hands spread out flat on its shiny surface.

  ‘Miss Wilkins,’ said Celia in murmured greeting.

  Ettie smiled at her reassuringly and, as she did so, she could not help but admire Celia’s apparently effortless elegance. She was dressed far more plainly than usual, in a simple grey silk bodice and skirt, both edged with narrow apricot ribbons, but she looked as lovely as ever. There was something about the manner in which she carried herself, Ettie thought, and her pale, blond colouring – so different from her own, dark-brown curls – which couldn’t be imitated no matter how much someone spent on their clothes and grooming. What a shame, Ettie thought: so beautiful, but such a sad, lonely young woman.

  ‘It was very kind of you to agree to see me for a private reading this evening, Miss Wilkins.’ It was as though Jacob did not exist. Celia addressed Ettie as if only the two of them were present. ‘Particularly after I left so hurriedly last time. I hope I am forgiven.’

  ‘Of course,’ said Jacob from behind her.

  Celia didn’t turn to look at him. She kept her eyes and her attention on Ettie. ‘I particularly wanted to ask Miss Wilkins some questions, you see.’ She nibbled nervously at her lip as she considered how to frame her thoughts into words. ‘I wonder, Professor Protsky,’ she said, looking over her shoulder. ‘I have had quite a journey across town. I wonder if you might ring for a cup of tea.’

  ‘I’m afraid we don’t keep a full-time staff – it disturbs the spirits, you see,’ said Jacob. ‘But I’m sure that Ettie…’

  Celia stopped him. ‘I realise I’m overstepping the bounds of politeness, Professor,’ she said, lowering her chin. ‘But I was hoping for an opportunity to speak privately with Miss Wilkins. I’m afraid that the tea was something of a pretence.’

  Jacob widened his eyes and nodded curtly. ‘I shall take the opportunity to look over our engagement book,’ he said, and then flashed a warning look at Ettie before he swept into the bedroom.

  When she was sure that the door was safely closed, Celia smiled poignantly at Ettie. ‘It is a pleasure to see you again, Miss Wilkins.’

  Ettie returned her smile and indicated that Celia should sit opposite her at the table.

  * * *

  ‘Jacob, would you like to join us?’

  As Ettie held open the bedroom door for him, Jacob felt as though he was being summoned into his own sitting room. It was a feeling for which he did not much care.

  ‘I have conducted a most interesting reading with Miss Tressing,’ Ettie said to Jacob, her face set in a look of determined challenge. ‘But something unexpected has happened.’

  Celia fiddled with her lace-trimmed handkerchief and sniffed loudly. ‘It was wonderful to begin with,’ she snivelled, trying to hold back her tears. ‘But then, nothing. The spirits left us. Left us quite alone. Oh, dear, I’m sorry, please excuse me. I always seem to behave so badly when I come here.’

  ‘It’s I who am sorry,’ said Ettie, apparently addressing Celia, but actually speaking for Jacob’s benefit. ‘You see, it’s my fault. I have developed an affection for you. I would like to say a friendship.’

  Celia took the handkerchief away from her face. Her eyes sparkled in anticipation.

  ‘It’s because of that, you see, that my attempts to communicate with the beyond won’t work any more.’ Ettie stood up from the table and glowered at Jacob over Celia’s shoulder. ‘The spirits refuse to come, our bonding is too strong for them.’

  ‘But we can be friends instead?’ asked Celia hopefully.

  ‘Yes, we can be friends,’ said Ettie, her voice tender as she looked down at Celia.

  Jacob spoke in a harsh whisper. ‘If the reading is over, I’ll see you to the door, Miss Tressing. We do have other appointments.’

  ‘Please,’ said Ettie. ‘Let me.’ She moved round the table and took Celia by the elbow, helping her to her feet.

  Jacob stood there, rooted to the spot and saying nothing, as the two young women brushed past him and walked out of the room.

  At the end of the hall, as Celia stood back to let Ettie open the front door for her, she said, ‘Miss Wilkins, did you mean what you said about friendship?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Ettie, her voice warm. ‘Of course.’

  ‘I certainly need a friend,’ she said, her voice hoarse from crying.

  ‘We all do,’ said Ettie.

  ‘Will you meet me, Miss Wilkins?’ Celia bowed her head and added shyly. ‘So we can talk again.’

  ‘When would you like to meet?’

  Celia’s face glowed with anticipation. ‘I know you have other appointments this evening…’

  ‘No, I don’t,’ said Ettie, smiling to cover her irritation with Jacob. ‘The Professor was mistaken.’

  ‘Would tonight be too soon?’

  ‘I’d need to go back in first,’ said Ettie, looking back along the corridor towards the stairs. ‘I might be a little while.’

  ‘I don’t mind.’

  Celia seemed so full of trust, it made Ett
ie blush.

  ‘Well…’ said Ettie, and looked over her shoulder again.

  ‘I could wait across the road,’ Celia said quickly. ‘Over there. Near the park gates. Under the lamp-post.’

  ‘But won’t someone be expecting you home?’

  Celia shook her head.

  ‘Ettie?’ Jacob’s now obviously impatient voice came from the sitting room.

  ‘Listen,’ Ettie whispered. ‘Give me a couple of minutes or so. Go on. I’ll be as quick as I can.’ Then she closed the door, took a deep breath, and turned round. She started back in alarm when she saw that Jacob was walking along the hallway towards her.

  ‘And what exactly was that little performance all about?’ Jacob demanded.

  He was still walking towards her and she kept backing away until she was pressed tight against the closed front door.

  ‘It wasn’t anything.’

  ‘No?’

  ‘Like you said, she needs help.’

  ‘In that case, why did you send her away? Why didn’t you help her?’

  ‘She needs proper help.’ Ettie swallowed hard. ‘You didn’t hear the things she was saying to me when I was doing the reading.

  She was rambling on about babies and revenge and diseases. All sorts of weird things. Even her dead mother. I couldn’t make head nor tail of half of it.’ She hesitated. ‘To be honest, I think all the worry’s driving her a bit mad. But what can I do? I’m not a bloody doctor, am I? I’m a fraud, remember? A trickster.’

  ‘You’re a fool, you mean, letting such a rich prize get away.’

  As Jacob loomed over her, Ettie could feel his hot breath on her cheek.

  ‘You used to be so kind,’ she said, searching his face for some remnant of what she once had seen in him. ‘Now you’re like a stranger. I really don’t know you any more.’

  ‘And you know so much about your precious Miss Tressing, do you?’

  ‘I know enough. I know she needs a friend. At least I can be that to her.’