by Ruby Moone
“Oy.” The turnkey rattled the door and made Jeremy jump. He opened it and took the empty dish and cup and then hesitated. He looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice.
“Message from outside.”
Jeremy’s heart almost stopped.
“I’m coming for you.” He made the message sound menacing, but Jeremy’s heart sang. He was coming. David was coming. Jeremy sat on the cot and huddled against the damp wall. It was cool on his face.
* * * *
David sat in Charnley’s study again, drumming his fingers on the arm of the leather chair in which he sat. When the door opened to admit Charnley, he got to his feet. Charnley looked grim. David’s heart sank.
“What. What happened?” he asked.
Charnley gestured for him to be seated and then he took the chair opposite him. They flanked the splendid fireplace in which a fire roared comfortably. David sat, although he wanted to demand to know what happened. He had been planning on meeting Standish to make the exchange. The false document for the letter and for Jeremy. Was Jeremy somewhere in the house?
“I met Standish.”
“I know. What did he say? Is Jeremy free?”
Charnley looked guilty. Bastard. “What have you done?” David demanded, holding on to the last threads of his temper.
“He exchanged the letter for the documents but refused to free Naylor.”
David’s heart thudded steadily in his throat. He swallowed. “What?”
Charnley shook his head. “I tried everything. You have my word, but he was unmoving.”
Charnley took a letter from his pocket and turned it over in his hands. “I’m so sorry, but don’t despair, we will get him out. I give you my word. My word as a gentleman and your brother.”
David couldn’t speak. He got up and strode to the door. He had underestimated Standish. He should have known. He’d refused him, and this was his twisted notion of revenge.
“Where are you going? David. David!” Charnley was behind him. He caught him by the shoulder. David whirled around and grabbed him by the throat. “Let me go.”
“Where are you going?”
“To get him out of there.”
Charnley closed his eyes. “David, let me help.”
“I’m listening.”
“Let me arrange for him to be taken from the cells to the gentlemen’s wing. Let me get someone to see him, to tell him…”
“Already done.”
“I’m sorry,” Charnley said, taking hold of David’s wrist and squeezing. “I am truly sorry. I thought that Standish would give both the letter and Jeremy’s freedom, but…” He shook his head.
David looked at his half-brother and could see nothing but sadness and remorse.
“Don’t lie to me.”
Charnley surprised him by pulling him into an embrace, and then again by kissing his temple.
David pulled free, frowning and rubbing at the spot like an angry schoolboy. “If you really want to help, get yourself an invitation to the hanging. I’m going to break in and get him out whilst everyone’s attention is on the spectacle.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I’ll have men with me, but if you are one of the party you can distract them if the plan goes wrong.”
David watched him process what he had just said. He waited for the refusal he was sure would come.
“Very well. I’ll see what I can do.”
Chapter 21
The door opened and awoke Jeremy.
“Visitor,” the turnkey said, and Jeremy blinked in the darkness. His eyes hurt. A man stood in the doorway for a moment, before coming into the cell. The turnkey locked it behind him.
“I…who are you?” Jeremy said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. The shackles dragged across his ruined flesh, making him yelp.
The stranger sat on the cot beside him and took his hand. “Don’t you recognise me?”
Jeremy looked closer at the sound of such a familiar voice. Long fair hair tied in a queue, a face that was instantly recognisable in the weak light filtering in through the window.
“Jo?”
“The very same.”
Jeremy laughed weakly, almost overcome with emotion and threw himself into Jo’s arms and let himself be held as the laughter turned to wrenching sobs.
“There now,” she whispered into his hair as she held him tight. “There now.”
Jeremy pulled himself together as best he could and accepted a handkerchief to wipe his face and blow his nose. “Thank you for coming. Thank you for coming.”
“David wanted to come himself, but it is too dangerous. He is like a man demented trying to get you out.”
“He is?”
“Most definitely. I have never seen him like this before. I fear he may come and rip the building down stone by stone to get to you.”
Jeremy nodded. “I knew he would come.”
“Here.” Jo pulled a packet from her pocket with some thickly sliced ham and freshly buttered bread. Jeremy moaned and ate it as they talked.
“David is going to try and get in here on Monday when the hangings take place. Everyone will be distracted, so he hopes to be able to slip in unnoticed. Can you manage until then?”
“What should I do?” Jeremy said, around a mouthful of bread.
“Be ready. Be ready to run. Let me see your legs.” Jo knelt on the floor and took Jeremy’s leg. He saw her wince. “This must be hurting you.”
“I can’t bear it.”
Out of another pocket, she pulled a jar and proceeded to spread the contents onto his wounds. Jeremy jumped a few times and hissed, but when she had finished, the metal didn’t drag as badly.
“I’ll put this under your blanket. Keep putting it on.” She sat back up and laid a hand on Jeremy’s forehead. “You feel warm.”
Jeremy leaned into the coolness of her hand. “I know. I’m worried I’ll get the fever. I’ve heard about the fevers people get in here.”
“Don’t worry. We will get you out of here and you’ll be right as a trivet in no time.”
Jeremy tried to smile. “Thank you. Thank you for coming and…thank you for…”
“What?” She tilted her head.
He shrugged and gestured to her masculine clothing. “You look terribly strange dressed like that.”
Her smile widened. “Thank you. Think nothing of it. Useful disguise is what I say.”
Jeremy laughed, and she laughed with him and pulled him into another huge hug. “Let me see the lock on the shackles. I need to let David know what he will have to deal with when he gets in.” She peered at the mechanism, poking and tilting it for a better view, and then went to the door and probed gently at the mechanism there. “They seem straightforward. Shouldn’t give a man of his skills any difficulty.” She sat on the cot beside him and squeezed his hand.
Jeremy leaned into her. “Thank you for being here.”
“Think nothing of it. It was all we could do to stop David from coming, but we needed to keep the two of you quite separate should you go to trial. We will be here tomorrow though, no point in waiting. David is convinced this is our best chance.” She pulled him back into a hug and kissed him on the temple.
“Be ready and have courage.”
* * * *
David watched the horses drag the gallows up Newgate Street. It was a hauntingly regular sight the day before the Monday hangings. The cold and rain kept a lot of people away, but there were still a considerable number of souls congregated on the streets to watch. People were coming and going out of the main gate of the prison and David knew that by the early morning the place would be filled with people fighting to get the best view of the spectacle. He watched them place the gallows in position and set about getting the barriers and platform in place. The taverns would be renting out spaces in upper rooms for a decent view, and if all went to plan, Charnley would be right there with the wealthy onlookers. Moving the hangings from Tyburn to Newgate had done little to quell the appetite f
or spectacle of the onlookers, there was just less space which meant all would be crammed in and getting through would be difficult, but all attention would be on the gallows leaving him free to do what was needed.
Satisfied, he headed back to the house to get some sleep.
* * * *
Three o’clock Monday morning and David was ready. The hanging would take place at eight, but people would begin arriving by five to get a good place. He wanted to be there and ready to move without being hampered by an enormous crowd. He wasn’t a praying man, had long since given up on the notion of a benevolent God, but the temptation was there to send up a few words.
He hadn’t shaved, so his jaw was stubbled and dark, and the clothes he wore were unwashed and crumpled. He rammed a cap on his head and pulled it down low over his eyes, then rubbed dirt gathered from the garden into his hands and onto his face. A tap at the door made him start.
Jo came in, similarly dressed in ordinary male clothing. “Kendrick is here,” she said. “Says the crowd for the hanging is gathering already. We need to get positioned.
“In disguise again?”
Jo shrugged. “Seemed most sensible.”
David patted her on the arm. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this.”
“No need. Let’s just get him home.”
David swallowed. Home. Would Jeremy ever think of his house as home? He somehow doubted it after this debacle.
He cast one last glance in the mirror at his reflection, checked his pockets for tools, pistol, knives, and rope, and then for salve and bandages just in case. He threw a bag over his shoulder that contained clothes for Jeremy.
“Let’s go.”
They drove to Newgate in Kendrick’s cart with Jo sitting up front with Kendrick, and David lolling in the back with Spencer and Bentham. They all kept a low profile but stayed observant as the cart rattled and swayed in time with the horses’ hooves. As they drew near, he saw Kendrick had been right. The street was teeming with people, enough so that they pulled into a tavern and tied up the horse and cart, paid the barman to keep the animal safe, and set out for the remainder of the journey on foot.
“How will you get in?” Spencer asked as they dodged a band of rowdy young men.
“Just after they walk them to the gallows, the main gate will be clear. Bill has seen to it.” David pulled his hat lower. “Pick the lock, get in, let as many people as we can in to create confusion if we need to, then grab him.”
Spencer nodded as they progressed. The noise was alarming. So much shouting, shrieking, and the low, excited murmur filled David with a sick dread. Dandies appeared to be everywhere, pressing themselves into the inns with the best views, even families. David had no idea what the condemned had done, but surely it wasn’t enough to deserve this.
The bell of the Holy Sepulchre tolled the hour at seven, and David was ready. Kendrick and Jo would enter the prison with him, Spencer and Bentham would be ready with the cart, Charnley would be in position inside the prison, ready to take part.
Everyone jostled for a place at the sound of the bell tolling, knowing the next time that sad echo sounded the spectacle would begin. All hangings took place at eight of the clock, and the crowd murmured as the moment approached. People were crammed into the space. Some pressed against the barriers looked fit to faint. David moved through the crowd with difficulty, heading for the gate. Pie sellers shouted their wares. The atmosphere was one of tense excitement. With children laughing and shrieking as they ran about, David wondered, not for the first time, about the nature of people who came to watch people being killed as entertainment. A lot of women were present, some with babes in arms, and as the crowd continued to grow and grow, the crush became worse.
The hangman’s ropes dangled ominously, moving very gently in the early morning breeze. Waiting. The crowd loved nothing more than something to go wrong. For the condemned to beg for clemency, for the contraption to falter. Gruesome. Those who had paid to sit in the windows where a better view could be afforded were crushed together, shouting and drinking as the weak February sun tried to break through the darkness.
David thought of Charnley sitting there and having to watch. It had seemed like an excellent idea to have someone inside the building, someone to smooth the path, but he hadn’t thought about just what his brother was going to have to witness. Three people hanged, one of them a woman? The thought turned David’s stomach and reinforced his view that the majority of the aristocracy were feckless bastards with no heart or conscience. Rumour had it that devilled kidneys were served for breakfast after the hanging. David’s stomach turned again at the thought.
He glanced backwards and spotted Jo and Kendrick trailing behind him, moving steadily forward. They came at the gaol from the side furthest away from the debtors’ door, which was where the gallows stood, as that was where most of the people were crowding. Pickpocketing was rife, but as David knew exactly what to look for he fended off a few brave attempts. He made his way to the main door of the prison as shouts went up from the Green Arbour Lane end, and the crowd surged, taking everyone with it. David scrambled to the edge to cling to the wall of the prison, dragging Jo and Kendrick with him. They managed to stay together, but as more and more people tried to squeeze into the lane everyone was caught up in the crush. Pie sellers were still shrieking their wares, standing on tables, waving their arms, and people were trying to buy food, get the best view, but gradually it became apparent that the screams were not of excitement. More screams sounded as David worked his way to the main prison door. If he was going to get in, it might as well be through the front. It was completely unguarded from the outside, and if Kendrick’s man inside had managed to achieve it, unguarded from the inside. As officials began moving onto the gallows, making final preparations for the victims, the crowd surged even more.
“Block me from sight,” David said, as he bent to look at the main lock on the door. For a prison door it had a simple mechanism and David made short work of it. He hesitated before opening it, hoping the vast sum of money disbursed to Kendrick’s contact on the inside had done the trick and the door wasn’t barred from the inside. He was painfully conscious he could walk into anything. As the crowd surged again, he found himself crushed against it. Jo shouted, and Kendrick stumbled to the floor, only to be pushed and stood on by the people around them. Between them, Jo and David pushed them away, and dragged Kendrick to his feet.
“This is ridiculous,” Jo shouted above the cacophony of sound that went up as the Ordinary set foot out on the gallows. The crowd surged again, and David found it hard to breathe. He turned and tried to open the gate, but too many bodies meant it was almost impossible.
“Next time there is a push, we all move together and get through the gate. If we stay here, we will be crushed. This is getting nasty,” he shouted, trying to maintain his balance as several bodies pinned him tight. There was a sudden commotion as a pie seller fell from his stool, throwing his wares over the crowd and as people tried to move they fell and the surging people simply washed over them. He could hear the screams, feel the panic in the crowd and as he dragged the door open he saw a woman throw a baby to a man before the crowd swallowed her. David stumbled over the threshold and pulled Jo and Kendrick with him.
They slammed the door behind them and stood, panting, looking, waiting.
No-one.
They were in the entranceway where the turnkeys had accommodations, but it seemed all the staff were occupied in preparing the prisoners for hanging or trying to stop the people outside from killing themselves getting a good look. All they could hear was the muffled roar of the crowd.
“We need to keep away from the salt boxes for now, they must be taking the prisoners through the passageway from the condemned cells,” Jo said in a low whisper. “Come this way. Unless they have moved him, Jeremy is in the wards to the left. They skirted the keeper’s house and dodged a couple of men who seemed to be half-heartedly patrolling the cells. There was a lot
of noise from the prisoners. Banging, shouting, and chanting as they prepared to walk the condemned men.
“One of the condemned is a woman,” Kendrick said. “Maybe that’s why there are so many?”
David shook his head. “No idea. Where is he?” he asked Jo. She explained how to get to the cell and pointed out the route.
David nodded, eyes darting around. “You and Kendrick stay around here and see if you can incapacitate anyone who is going to get in the way.”
“Incapacitate?” Kendrick said with a half-smile.
“There is enough killing going on, just give him a headache.”
Kendrick gave a low chuckle. “Soft sod,” he muttered.
David left them and made his way through the searing filth of the prison. The stench was almost overwhelming, and he was forced to clamp a handkerchief over his nose and mouth to stop him gagging. He followed Jo’s instructions and found the cell that supposedly held Jeremy. He paused outside, and then peered through the grill in the upper part of the door. Someone started shouting from over the other side of the courtyard, but David ignored it because there, laid on a filthy pallet, shackled, was Jeremy. David’s heart stopped in his chest for a moment, then exploded back into action. He pulled out the long thin instrument and bent to get a better view of the lock. It took some doing as the mechanism was old and worn, but eventually it sprang free and David dragged the door open. Jeremy raised his head and then went still.
“David?” his voice was a mere croak.
In seconds, David was through the door and pulling him into his arms holding him tight.
“I knew you’d come,” Jeremy whispered as he clung to him, shaking.
“I’m going to get the shackles off you,” he said. “We need to be fast.” A huge roar went up from the outside followed by shouts, screams, and cries.
“What’s going on?” Jeremy said as he moved so David could get to his legs.
“Hanging. Three of them and there are thousands out there wanting a look. Bloody ghouls.”
He felt Jeremy shiver. “Not my idea of entertainment, I have to say,” he muttered.