by Sam Michaels
‘In, of course. Go on then, let’s hear it,’ Nobby replied, speaking for himself and his brother.
Johnny smiled. They hadn’t even heard his plans but had agreed to be a part of them. And he hoped that once he explained everything, they’d be impressed. After all, one of the things he’d learned from Miss Garrett was the importance of planning. She’d planned everything meticulously, never leaving room for error. And with this job that they were about to embark on, error would mean one or all of them could die.
5
Georgina carried her pail to the slopping-out area, holding her breath until her lungs ached. She hoped to avoid getting a whiff of the stomach-turning stench but it was inevitable, especially if there was a queue. Luckily, this morning, the disgusting job was finished quickly, though as she made her way back to her cell she saw Fleur gagging and trying her hardest not to vomit. Placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder, she told the girl, ‘You’ll be fine.’
Fleur looked at her with red-rimmed eyes. ‘I ain’t weak, Miss Garrett, but I can’t abide the slopping out.’
‘It’s all right,’ Georgina whispered and pulled a small tin pill box from the pocket of her grey prison-wear dress. ‘Take this,’ she whispered, ‘and rub a bit round your nostrils. It helps.’
Fleur discreetly accepted the tiny package and shoved it in her pocket. ‘Thank you, Miss Garrett, thanks so much,’ she gushed.
‘Go on, get on your way before Miss Kenny has you up for loitering,’ Georgina said and watched as Fleur hurried back to her cell.
The pill box had contained an ointment made from peppermint. Jinny had slipped it to her before she’d been released. Georgina had been grateful but she had no need for it now. Today was the last day she’d be slopping out. If all went according to plan, she’d be a free woman by this evening.
After breakfast, as the women went to work at their assigned jobs, Georgina and two others were escorted from the block. Door after door clanged behind them as they made their way through the oppressive building. The low ceilings and lack of natural daylight made the place feel claustrophobic. When they reached the outside, she breathed in deeply, enjoying the cold, fresh air. She peered up at the tall turrets of the impressive prison. Holloway had been aptly nicknamed Camden Castle, and from the outside she could see why. It looked like a medieval fortress but she inwardly smiled – it wasn’t going to keep her locked up for much longer.
They passed a huge pile of coal in the yard which was mostly used for the laundry. Ha, the mangle. She’d never miss that mangle. In fact, Georgina vowed right there and then that she’d never use one again, even if it meant her clothes were left dripping. She’d never eat margarine again either. Or use a pail for her ablutions.
As they left the soot-blackened walls of the yard, Georgina glanced to her right at another wing of the prison. She knew the wing contained the condemned cell – a holding area for women sentenced to death. It was positioned next to the double gallows where they were hanged. The thought of a rope around her neck, and dropping into the pit, had woken her with a start on many lonely nights. After all, if the authorities had been aware of half the things she’d done, she had no doubt that they would have convicted her to that terrifying fate. Luckily, she’d been spared the rope and was grateful for small mercies.
They were driven half a mile up the road and through the staff entrance into Pentonville prison for men. The place had an even worse reputation than Holloway, though Georgina couldn’t imagine how conditions could be any worse than those of the women’s gaol. But she’d never know. Her cleaning duties in the warden’s quarters was in the grounds of the prison, well away from the men.
She set to work, pretty much unsupervised. This role was a position of trust, and for the past four days she’d proved herself to be a good housekeeper, leaving each accommodation spick and span. There’d been no room for complaint from any of the female wardens. In fact, on the quiet, Miss Winter had told her that she’d been doing a good job and it had been noted. But unknown to anyone, alongside the cleaning, Georgina had also been checking how to put her plan into action.
Three hours later, Georgina heard the bells chime from a nearby church. It was one o’clock. Time to act. Her heart hammered and she felt quite giddy, yet it didn’t once cross her mind to back out. The thought of holding her children in her arms was worth the risk. She was more determined than ever to escape the rigid confinement of the prison.
Being as stealthy as possible, she left water running in a bathroom with the door ajar. If anyone passed, they’d assume she was in there cleaning, just as she should be. She then snuck into the warden’s bedroom and quickly undressed before throwing on a spare uniform. The skirt was a tad too short, the starched white shirt and jacket only just reached across her chest, but she managed to do the buttons up. Next, she squeezed her feet into a pair of black, low shoes. They too were on the small side, making her feet feel crushed, but with adrenaline pumping, she hardly noticed. She shoved her prison issue dress, long-legged knickers and stockings under the bed before grabbing a warden’s hat and tucking her hair under.
Georgina glanced quickly in the mirror. A coat would have been ideal but there wasn’t one. The warden probably had it with her at Holloway. She was lucky there’d been a spare pair of shoes. Several of the other accommodations in the block hadn’t had any. Satisfied that this was the best she could hope to achieve and with no time to spare, Georgina drew in a deep breath to steady herself and then strode confidently out of the door.
The accommodation was in the fourth block in a row of seven. As she marched past the other flats, she hoped she wouldn’t bump into anyone, especially a warden who might recognise her. She wanted to run but that would draw suspicion. Instead, she walked hurriedly, her head low but swinging her arms. She could feel her pulse racing and her mouth felt so dry that she could hardly swallow.
The gates were in sight now. Her legs were like jelly but she managed to keep going. She was almost there and prayed the guards wouldn’t stop her or ask for identification. Luckily, from what she’d seen from Miss Winter’s small bathroom window, the two male guards covering the lunchtime period were pretty lax in their duties. She’d spotted them wave several people through without checking for identification.
The skies had darkened and small spots of rain began to fall. This could work in her favour. She’d have good reason to be hurrying to avoid a downpour. But it could also work against her if the guards suspected something unusual in the fact she wasn’t wearing a long, dark coat that all the female wardens wore.
Georgina picked up her pace, scurrying now, with her hand holding on to her hat so it obscured her face. Without glancing at the guards, she dashed past them as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world. As she approached the staff gate, she braced herself, expecting them to call her back. She could barely believe she’d walked straight past them. And now the gatekeeper was doffing his hat and opening the exit for her.
‘Best get a move on, miss,’ he said, ‘or you’ll get wet through.’
‘Yes, thank you,’ she answered, trotting past him and out into freedom.
She daren’t look back and headed in the direction of Holloway Prison. Her heart pumped so hard that she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. The moment she was out of sight, Georgina dived down one of the alleyways and into the labyrinth of narrow streets around the outside of the prison.
Quickly chancing a glance over her shoulder, she was relieved to find she wasn’t being chased or followed and paused for a brief moment to catch her breath. She reckoned it would be about an hour before they’d discover her missing. It wasn’t long to get very far away and they’d soon work out she was in a prison warden’s uniform. She had to get rid of it and fast, or risk standing out.
After overcoming the challenge of absconding, now she faced her next test – the getaway. And with no money and little knowledge of the streets around Pentonville, it wasn’t going to be an easy task. But Georgin
a had always been resourceful and hoped she had luck on her side. ‘If you’re up there looking over me, Lash, help me out. I need to get back to our children,’ she whispered, her eyes skyward. ‘Or you, Gran, give me a hand here, or Dad, I could do with a bit of help. Any of you, just give me a sign… something… anything.’
Georgina wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Maybe a flash of lightening or a clap of thunder to prove her long-gone loved ones were listening. Or maybe some miracle… a feather falling from the sky and blowing down the street to show her the way. But nothing happened and she suddenly felt very foolish and alone.
‘Come on, girl, get a grip. You can do this,’ she told herself as she moved on. She’d done the hardest part and walked through the gates of the prison to her liberty and now all she had to do was evade capture.
She couldn’t go back to Holloway, not ever, and if they caught her, her sentence would likely be doubled. Georgina knew she’d do whatever it took to stay out of prison and if they found her, she wouldn’t go quietly. She’d go down fighting, even if that meant fighting to the death.
*
Charlotte smugly swaggered to the front door, looking forward to seeing the look on the Naylor brothers’ faces when they discovered who was living just feet from where they stood on the doorstep. She confidently pulled the door open and though the two men towered over her, she refused to be intimidated by them.
‘Yes, can I help you?’ she asked.
‘You know why we’re here,’ Len, the younger brother sneered.
‘Remind me,’ she said boldly.
‘We ain’t got time for games, Charlotte. Just pay up or face the consequences.’
‘I ain’t paying you a penny so do your worse. But a word of warning… watch out for PC Batten. That’s his room, just there,’ she said and barged past them to point at a ground floor window. ‘You know PC Batten, don’t you? Local bobby, rides his bike, that one there,’ she said, pointing to the constable’s bicycle leaning against the wall by the front door.
She saw the brothers exchange a confused look. ‘He’ll be a kip now. I heard him come home this morning off his night shift. He might or might not be a heavy sleeper, so you’d best lower your voice when you threaten me.’
‘We ain’t threatened you,’ Len quickly said.
‘But you’re gonna.’
‘No, we wouldn’t threaten you. Wherever did you get that silly idea from? You take care of yourself, Charlotte. We’ll see you around.’
Before she could say anything, the brothers spun on their heels and hurried off. Good, she thought. That had showed them that she wasn’t a pushover. Moving in PC Batten had had the desired effect and now she was free of the Naylor brothers. They wouldn’t dare visit her again, not now they knew that a police officer lived on the premises.
Charlotte brushed her hands together as she walked back in, satisfied that she’d outsmarted them. She was just about to close the door when she recognised the familiar sound of Johnny’s car hooter.
He pulled up against the kerb and climbed from his 1930s red Riley car, a cigar in his hand as he strutted towards her.
‘You got your car back then,’ she said, looking past him to the overly showy vehicle that was most impractical.
‘Yeah, and funnily enough, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.’
‘Come in, I’ll put the kettle on,’ she offered, pulling the door open wider.
‘Was that the Naylor brothers I saw walking off from here?’ he asked as he removed his fedora and sat on the sofa.
‘Yeah, probably.’
‘What were they doing here?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Bollocks. What were they doing here, Charlotte?’
‘I told you, nothing. Do you want a cuppa?’
‘No, I don’t want a bleedin’ cuppa. I want to know what business those wankers had coming here.’
Charlotte rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t worry about it, Johnny. I’ve sorted it.’
‘Sit down,’ he ordered.
‘I’m going to put the kettle on.’
‘I said, sit down,’ he barked and as she took a seat he asked again, ‘What did the Naylors want? And no bullshit, girl, I want the truth. ’Cos believe me, if that pair of slimy bastards are giving you any jip, I’ll rip their fucking heads off then shove them up their miserable backsides.’
Charlotte smiled warmly at Johnny. ‘Thanks, but that won’t be necessary. Like I said, I’ve sorted it.’
Johnny’s head tilted to one side, his eyes narrowing, and from that look Charlotte knew he was waiting for more information. She tapped the ends of her fingers together before continuing. ‘They’ve been getting money out of me but before you kick off, let me finish… Every week, they come round here and demand a quid from the rents. I’ve been paying up ’cos I didn’t want them damaging the property or upsetting the tenants. But I’ve put a stop to it and they won’t be back again.’
Charlotte could see the corner of Johnny’s top lip twitching up and down. She knew it did this when he was angry.
‘Why didn’t you come to me?’ he asked through gritted teeth.
‘’Cos I knew you’d go charging in with your fists flying and I didn’t want to see you get hurt. Anyway, like I said, they won’t be back so that’s an end to it.’
‘How have you stopped them?’
‘I used me brain, just like Georgina would have, that’s how.’
‘For fuck’s sake, Charlotte. Just tell me what you did,’ he demanded impatiently.
‘I let them know that a police officer is renting a flat here. They soon scarpered.’
Johnny leapt to his feet. ‘What? A copper is living here?’
‘Yeah, in Georgina’s flat. Clever, ain’t it? That’ll keep the Naylors from bothering me.’
‘Clever! Are you fucking kidding me? It’s about the stupidest thing I’ve heard in ages!’
Charlotte, feeling hurt, looked up at Johnny. She’d been hoping for a pat on the back for using her initiative but instead he was insulting her.
‘Don’t look at me like that, Charlotte. You should have known better. He’ll have to go.’
‘But why?’
‘Why? Do I really need to explain it to you… there’s bodies in the cellar. Bodies that me and Miss Garrett put there.’
‘Yeah, but the Old Bill never found them when they searched the place before.’
‘Only ’cos we was lucky. If they do a bit of digging, that’ll be it. I’ll be swinging.’
‘PC Batten ain’t gonna go down in the cellar and he certainly won’t be going down there with a shovel.’
‘You can be sure of that, can you? A young copper, keen to get on with his career and impress his bosses. Work it out, Charlotte… He couldn’t be better placed. I’m surprised at you. I would have thought you’d have seen straight through him. Didn’t it seem a bit odd that a copper would come knocking on your door and want to live here?’
Charlotte lowered her head and gulped. ‘He didn’t come knocking. I saw PC Batten in the newsagent looking at the board for somewhere to rent.’
Johnny flopped back onto the chair and ran his hands through his thick, brown hair. ‘You invited him here?’ he asked, sounding exasperated.
Without meeting his eyes, Charlotte nodded.
‘Then you’d best un-in-fucking-vite him!’
‘But Georgina used to work with the police,’ she protested.
‘No, Charlotte. The police worked for Miss Garrett. She never worked with them. She hates the Old Bill.’
‘But what about the Naylor brothers? I don’t want you fighting with them. There’s two of them and only one of you.’
‘Oh, sweetheart. Just ’cos they ain’t likely to smash the windows in now, having the Old Bill under your roof won’t protect you. The Naylors will be out of sight, waiting for you to go out and then they’ll get you. They’ll hurt you, then frighten the living daylights out of you so you’ll be too scared to grass ’em up. Trust
me, I’ve been in this game a long time and I know every trick in the book. In fact, I wrote the fucking book.’
Charlotte felt stupid and could feel her bottom lip beginning to quiver but fought back tears.
‘Don’t upset yourself. We all make mistakes but it’s how we rectify them that makes the difference. You get rid of Batten and I’ll sort the Naylors. Deal?’
‘Deal,’ she agreed, nodding her head.
‘And don’t worry yourself about two of them and one of me. I’ve got my best mate in my pocket. They won’t be arguing with this,’ Johnny said, patting his chest over his fur-lined lapel coat where his gun was tucked away. ‘You can put the kettle on now,’ he added.
While the water warmed, Charlotte went back into the lounge and asked, ‘What was it you wanted to talk to me about? Something about the car?’
‘Yeah, that’s right. I need to use your car for a while. Mine stands out a bit too much.’
‘Are you doing a job?’
‘I might have something in the pipeline,’ he answered, smiling wickedly. ‘And you’ll get a handsome cut. But don’t ask me any questions about it ’cos I’m telling you nothing.’
‘Fine,’ Charlotte replied and swanned back out of the room, returning shortly with two cups of tea. ‘But just one question… Are you doing it alone?’
‘I told you, no questions. But I’ll pass your regards to Max, Ned and the Barker twins,’ he said and winked.
It warmed Charlotte to think of some of the old gang back together and it gave her a feeling of safety. Now she felt even more foolish for not having turned to Johnny about the Naylor brothers. She realised Johnny was right. She hadn’t really thought it through properly and hadn’t considered that the brothers would get to her when she was away from the house and the protection of PC Batten.
‘I want that copper gone by the morning,’ he said gravely.
‘He will be,’ she answered, though she had no idea how she was going to evict him. After all, he had a legally binding contract that Benjamin Harel had drawn up.
‘I’ll be back in a couple of days when he’s cleared orf. We can swap cars when there’s no Old Bill watching what we’re up to,’ Johnny said, and placed his cup and saucer on a side table before standing up and putting on his hat. ‘In future, if you get any more problems with anyone, you come to me. All right?’