The Lights of London (23 page)

‘There I was, up from the country with not a friend in the world, ready to end it all, and now look at me.’ She rolled over again, until she was facing Tibs.

Kitty’s contented smile vanished. She levered herself up on her elbows, staring down at Tibs in the pale light that filtered through from the gas lamp outside the half-open window.

She reached over and lit the candle they kept beside
the bed in a jam jar to protect it from the rats. ‘What’s wrong, Tibs?’ she asked, pinching out the match. ‘You look so sad.’

‘Do I?’ Her voice was light, but she couldn’t hide the pain.

‘Yes, you do. Right upset. I’ve seen you look like this before. When you think no one’s watching you.’ She hesitated for a moment, unsure how much she should say. ‘I never ask where you go off to, because it’s none of my business, but would you just tell me this – are you in trouble, Tibs?’

She shook her head against the pillow. ‘No.’

There was the sound of scuffling and Tibs reached down beside the bed, picked up her boot and aimed it at the skirting board. It sailed across the room and landed with a thud. The scuffling stopped. ‘Bloody rats.’ The emotion was blocking her throat, so that she could barely speak.

Kitty took Tibs’s little hand in hers. ‘Are you poorly?’

Tibs felt the tears brimming and the words forming in her mind. But was she really ready to say these things? Ready to do something that might be dangerously stupid?

But if she couldn’t trust Kitty she might just as well give up. ‘I’ve got something to tell you, Kit,’ she began. ‘Something I want you to know, but you’ve gotta keep it a secret.’

‘Of course. But you don’t have to tell me anything.’

‘I want to.’ She sniffed hard and blinked back the tears. ‘I’ve got a little girl, Kit. There, I’ve said it.’ She raked her fingers through her hair, pulling the loose blonde curls off her face.

Kitty said nothing, but she’d suspected for a while that Tibs was hiding something like this. She had said
there was this Polly she was caring for and then Kitty had heard her saying things to One-eyed Sal.

But Kitty hadn’t interfered. Tibs must have had her reasons to keep it private. Maybe she hadn’t married the father and had felt ashamed that her child was a … Well, was officially fatherless.

‘And where she’s staying,’ Tibs went on, throwing back the covers and swinging her legs round so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed, ‘it ain’t exactly what anyone’d want for their kid. There’s this woman, see, Mrs Bowdall.’

‘Does she mind your little girl?’

Tibs didn’t answer her question, but stared down at the floor, looking at a world that Kitty could neither see nor understand. ‘She used to take in mangling,’ she said instead. ‘That was when she only minded one or two little ones. Now she’s got a house full of nippers and babies, and she takes in washing and all.’ Tibs paused. ‘All them stories you hear about baby farms and babies being murdered, Kit. It frightens the life out of me. And I’m sure some of the kids there have got the croup. You ought to hear their little chests, love ’em. They sound like old men and women. I don’t want my Polly getting sick.’ Tibs began weeping softly.

‘Why don’t you keep her with you?’

‘I did at first,’ Tibs said, scrubbing roughly at her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘But Albert Symes, the no-good bastard …’ She shook her head angrily. ‘As Polly got older …’ Her words faded as she fought against the tears. ‘Some of the things he hinted at. I thought then I should be trying to get Polly out of the way, but I never got around to doing anything about it. I had this mad idea that I could work hard for a few more months and earn enough for us both to run away. Then things changed.’

‘You don’t have to tell me any more if it’s upsetting you.’

It was as though Tibs hadn’t heard her. ‘He threatened me. Said he’d heard how hard I’d been working and if I didn’t start bringing him more money he’d take it out on Polly. I always reckoned it was that bastard Lily what told him, you know. She was always jealous of me. I could kill her. If Albert don’t lose his temper and kill the dirty, stinking trouble-maker first. Everyone hates her, Kit, everyone.’

‘Tibs.’ Kitty folded her arms round her friend’s shoulders. ‘You poor little thing.’

‘And I’m sure that old hag, that Mrs Bowdall, drugs them tiny babies what she minds. So’s they don’t bother her.’

‘What did Albert think happened to Polly?’

‘I told him I sent her off to the countryside to stay with her dad.’

‘So why didn’t you?’

‘What?’

‘Send her to the country.’

Tibs smiled mirthlessly. ‘He couldn’t be a lot of help from Dartmoor, could he?’

Kitty’s eyes widened. ‘He’s in the prison you mean?’

Tibs nodded. ‘They ain’t too keen on letting their guests pop in and out to take their kids out for an afternoon stroll.’

‘How long is he going to be in there?’

‘A long time. They pulled him in after he got caught creeping this big house down Devon way. This bloke what worked there disturbed him and my feller hit him a right wallop over the head.’

When Tibs saw the colour drain from Kitty’s face she added hurriedly, ‘He never killed him or nothing. And, thank Gawd, it was only a footman what he clobbered,
so they wasn’t too hard on him. He got fifteen years, mind. Ten of ’em hard labour.’ She shook her head, remembering. ‘Still, should be grateful, I suppose, if it’d been the master of the house I reckon they’d have topped him. It was more’n fortunate they never tumbled all the other jobs he done.’

Tibs smiled and said with a fond lift in her voice, ‘He always was a lucky bugger, my Michael. And not a bad sort of a feller. Real skilled cracksman.’ She buried her face in her hands. ‘I bet his wife don’t half miss him. Just like I miss my little Polly.’

They sat there, with Tibs weeping pitifully and Kitty holding her.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Kitty said eventually, slapping her hand on the bedclothes and sending up a puff of dust. ‘We’ll just bring her back here with us. There’s plenty of room.’

Tibs dropped her hands from her face and shook her head urgently. ‘No, Kit. It’s not safe. I don’t even go to see her as often as I want to ’cos I don’t want Albert following me. If we brought her back here he’d find out in no time.’ She dried her eyes with the hem of her nightgown. ‘If only I had a bit more money.’

‘How would that help?’

‘I could at least get her somewhere a bit decent to stay.’ She blew her nose noisily on a ragged cotton handkerchief. ‘I was gonna ask you before, but I didn’t want to have to explain why I needed the money.’

‘Ask me what?’

‘What d’you think about us going round the bigger halls like some of the other turns? They reckon in the newspapers that some of them earn a bundle.’

Kitty was silent for a long, drawn-out moment, not wanting to hurt her friend. ‘If you’re honest, Tibs, do you really think we’d be good enough to start touring
those big places? We’re quite new to all this.’

Tibs shrugged. ‘I suppose.’ She sighed, resignation clouding her tear-stained face.

‘Yet, I mean,’ Kitty added hastily. ‘Soon we’ll be able to do shows all over the place. They’ll be fighting for us to appear.’

‘D’you reckon?’

‘Of course I do. Jack’ll be going mad to keep us exclusive to the Dog.’

‘Hark at you.
Exclusive
!’

Even if Kitty hadn’t known about Polly it would have been obvious that Tibs’s giggling trill was put on, an act.

‘You’re really worried about your little girl aren’t you?’

‘Course I am. There’s Albert hanging over me like the bad fairy at the bloody christening, then there’s Mrs Bowdall – aw, Kit, if you could see that place – and then, well, kids need their mums. Even if they are old whores like me.’ Her tears began to flow again. ‘And like I said, there’s all them stories you hear about baby farms …’

Kitty had to say something to try and pacify Tibs, to make things at least seem better. Although she actually had no idea what a baby farm was, had no inkling of the scandals and crimes that had been committed by the supposedly kindly women who were paid to look after people’s children for them, rather than treating them as cruelly as stray dogs, or even, in some terrible cases, even murdering them.

‘You don’t want to take any notice of what people say about them places, Tibs. You know what people are like. It’ll all be old wives’ tales.’

‘If only I could earn a bit more money.’

‘Would it really help?’

‘Doesn’t it always? It gives you freedom. Gets you protection. Buys you chances. Opportunities. I dream
about it, you know, being able to get Polly somewhere really nice to stay.’

‘How much more do you need?’

Tibs shrugged. ‘I’ll be honest with you, Kit, I know we’re raking in a fair whack here, but it’s not as much as I thought we’d be getting. On a good day I earned more on the street than I do in two nights on the stage. Admittedly, I had to risk diddling Albert out of most of his share, but it was a risk worth taking.’ She lifted her chin and looked Kit directly in the face. ‘If we don’t do the other halls, or a miracle don’t happen, I’m gonna have to give up this lark and go back on the game. Not round here though. Not near Albert.’

‘You’re honestly thinking about doing that?’

‘To tell you the truth, I haven’t thought about much else.’

Kitty took a deep breath and picked at the tatty lace on the petticoat that served as her nightie. ‘You know that posh gentleman? That Dr Tressing?’

‘What about him?’

‘He asked if he can …’ She faltered, looking for the right words. ‘
Hire
us to go to a ball.’

‘A ball?’

‘Yeah. In a few months’ time. With him and a party of friends.’

‘What did you say?’

‘Nothing. I was too frightened.’

‘I know I kid you about being scared, Kit, when you’re big enough to knock the block off most fellers’ shoulders if you put your mind to it, but I’ll agree with you on this one. That so-called gentleman is a bloke what really puts the willies up me.’

‘But if he’ll pay really well. Up front and everything. And as soon as we say ye …’

‘If we say yes.’

‘He’ll pay us some of the money right away, so we can get something to wear. And the rest he’ll give us on the actual evening.’ Kitty hesitated. ‘I was thinking – after what you said about money – if we did it and it goes all right we could offer to do it for other gentlemen.’

Suddenly, the window was shoved right open and a man’s leg appeared over the sill. A deep, snarling voice came out of the darkness. ‘Do
what
for other gentlemen?’

Tibs leapt to her feet, shoving Kitty, who had almost collapsed with shock, roughly to one side and placed herself firmly between her and Albert who was now standing in their room. The last thing she wanted was Albert seeing how scared Kitty was. He was the sort who thrived on people’s fear.

‘What the bloody hell d’you think you’re doing here?’ she demanded.

He took the few paces needed to cross the little room at a nonchalant stroll. ‘I said, do
what
for other gentlemen?’

Tibs was shaking deep inside her, but she’d be damned if she’d let the rotten bastard see he could rattle her. ‘Piss off out of it, Albert, or I’ll tell Fisher.’

Albert laughed nastily, as he wiped his hands on the bedspread, getting rid of the grime from where he’d shinned up the drain-pipe. ‘That northern idiot don’t worry me. I’ve got the measure of him now.’

‘And I’ve got the measure of you and I ain’t having nothing more to do with you, Albert Symes.’

‘I’ve been watching you, Tibs. Watching and waiting. Biding me time. I’ve seen how you’ve been coining it. Getting all the blokes so worked up with your singing and dancing up on that stage. Making ’em all wish they could have you. Well, I’m gonna give ’em all a treat, ain’t I? You’re back where you should be, working for me.’

Tibs tried a dismissive snort. ‘Do what?’

‘You heard. You’re back on the game. Her and all.’

‘You can’t talk to us like that,’ said Kitty in a low, calm voice.

Tibs spun round. Have you taken leave of your senses, her expression demanded.

Albert reached past her and grabbed Kitty by the wrist. He moved so quickly that Kitty hadn’t a chance of pulling away. ‘If you don’t fancy doing as you’re told, just think about what I did to Sal when she upset me.’

He let go of Kitty’s wrist, grasped the neck of her petticoat with one hand and pushed her hard, back on to the bed, with the other.

The thin, worn material ripped into a frayed zigzag, exposing her breasts and making Albert grin with delight.

As she tried to cover herself with the bed covers Albert wrenched them away. He leered down at her. ‘Don’t spoil the view, darling,’ he breathed, clearly enjoying not only the sight of her flesh, but also her obvious uneasiness. ‘And don’t even think about trying anything, Tibs, or I’ll have to ruin that pretty face o’ your’n.’ He reached in his pocket and pulled out a long thin blade.

Tibs gulped, hoping desperately that Kitty wouldn’t do anything stupid like starting to cry. He’d really enjoy that.

‘You might have ragged old underthings,’ he said, running the tip of his finger slowly around Kitty’s nipple, ‘but I’ve seen all that fancy new clobber the pair of you have been wearing. I’ll be able to pass you off as half-decent sorts. Go for the dearer end of the market.’ He bent forward and touched the tip of his tongue to Kitty’s breast, and laughed out loud as she cringed.
‘And what with the way you two act up on the stage I reckon we might get some specials and all. There’s those who’ll pay well for having the two of you together.’

‘How d’you mean the two of us together?’ Tibs asked, trying to distract him from Kitty. She was holding up well so far, amazingly well, but if he pushed her just a bit further she might burst into tears or get hysterical. Then who knew what he might do. Albert took great pleasure in the weakness of others, but especially in that of pretty young women.

‘What d’you think I mean, you silly whore? Now do me a favour and stop playing little Miss Innocent, eh, Tibs. I know you brides all wear queer drawers. And as for you …’ He leered at Kitty, who stared straight ahead at the wall, refusing to meet his gaze, ‘you wouldn’t like nothing happening to your new little friend, now would you?’