Beyond the Sunset Page 34

  They stuffed a gag in her mouth, wrapped her whole body in a piece of musty cloth and began to carry her along. She tried to squirm and kick but someone clouted her on the head and the pain of that shut her up.

  ‘Keep still or I’ll knock you senseless.’

  She didn’t dare struggle any more. They laid her down and put a heavy weight on top of her so that she could hardly breathe. As they started to move, she guessed she was on a handcart, from the squeaking of a wheel and the way it bumped along the streets.

  Where were they taking her? What did they want?

  That evening Zachary and Pandora walked round to his mother’s house to tell her the news. He called out as he went inside, ‘I’ve brought a visitor, Mum.’

  His mother looked up as they went into the kitchen. ‘I thought you were Hallie coming back.’

  ‘Isn’t she here?’

  ‘She went round to the corner shop half an hour ago and I can’t think what’s keeping her.’ She looked beyond Zachary. Oh, I didn’t see you at first, Miss Blake.’

  Zachary hesitated. Should he go and look for Hallie? He saw his mother looking at Pandora as if puzzled. ‘We have something to tell you, Mum. Some really good news. Pandora and I were married in Australia. Mr Featherworth asked us to keep it quiet because we were trying to catch Harry Prebble out. He’s been stealing from the shop while I’ve been away. But now he’s been found out, we’ve no reason to keep our marriage secret, so I’ve brought my wife to meet you properly.’

  Pride rang in his voice and the look he gave Pandora spoke more than words ever could of his love for her.

  By the time they’d all hugged each other and given more detailed explanations, Pandora felt completely at ease with his mother.

  ‘Your son’s a wonderful man,’ she said to Mrs Carr. ‘I’m so lucky to have found him.’

  ‘I know.’ Then Mrs Carr looked at the clock again. ‘Could you just go and see what’s happened to Hallie, son? It’s not like her to take so long.’

  It wasn’t long before the cart stopped and the weight was removed from Hallie. The man lifted her up, slinging her over his shoulder so that her head was hanging down, bumping helplessly against his back because her hands were still tied.

  They went inside a building, she was sure of that, but he seemed to have to bend down to get inside. Then he went down some steps and his footsteps echoed as if it was an empty space. Was this a cellar?

  There were voices, then one set of footsteps moved back up the steps.

  Someone pulled the wrapping off her and dumped her roughly on a chair. As the person took the gag out of her mouth, she saw Harry Prebble standing in front of her and her stomach gave a lurch of fear.

  ‘What are you going to do with her, Harry?’ the woman asked, sounding nervous.

  ‘Exchange her for some money, so that I can get away.’

  ‘Shouldn’t you just run for it? After all, you’ve got some savings. You can always start again.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have to start again if it wasn’t for that damned Zachary Carr. He’s going to pay for what he’s done to me.’ He turned to study Hallie and smiled slowly. ‘Or rather, his sister is.’

  The woman opened her mouth, not looking happy, but caught his eye and closed it again.

  He fumbled in his pocket and held out a note. ‘Get young Ossie to give this to Zachary. Tell Ossie to shove it into his hand and run off straight away. Then stay away for a while. I want to be alone with her.’

  ‘Harry, please don’t—’

  ‘Do as you’re told!’

  The woman left them.

  Hallie remembered how Harry had hurt her before and terror filled her as he turned to study her.

  Zachary went out and was at the nearby corner shop in under two minutes.

  The owner looked at him in surprise. ‘I’ve not seen your sister at all today, Zachary. She’s not been in since yesterday.’

  As Zachary went out of the shop, a ragged lad thrust a note into his hand and tried to run off, but Zachary caught him by the collar. When the collar tore away in his hand, the urchin started running again but a man coming along the street caught him by the arm and swung him round, cuffing him when he tried to kick and scratch.

  ‘What’s this one done?’ he asked Zachary. ‘Picked your pocket?’

  ‘No. Look, could you hold tight to him while I read this note?’ Zachary scanned the two lines in shock, then read them again in disbelief.

  Bring £100 to the old sheds behind Thorpe’s Mill. Don’t tell the police or you’ll never see your sister alive again.

  There was no signature, but he knew Harry’s handwriting only too well. He turned to the lad and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him away from the bystander. ‘Who gave you this note?’

  ‘A man. I don’t know who he was.’

  He looked at the lad, who was short with a weaselly face, a typical Prebble. ‘I know who you are and I can guess who gave it you. If you don’t tell me his name and where he is, I’ll beat the information out of you.’

  The lad looked up at him in terror, but still shook his head.

  Zachary looked at the passer-by. ‘They’ve captured my sister and want money to release her.’

  ‘Never! Eh, if there’s owt I can do to help, just you ask. I blame this Cotton Famine for such thievery. Folk are desperate. Not that that’s any excuse.’

  ‘Do you know Marshall Worth?’

  ‘Aye. Used to work in the same mill as him. He lives in the next street to us. He was in the next street a minute or two ago.’

  ‘Could you please fetch him to my mother’s house and tell him to bring a couple of strong friends who’re ready for a fight?’ He gave the man the address and set off for his mother’s house, dragging the still-silent lad with him, desperate to make sure she and Pandora were all right before he tried to find Hallie.

  To his relief, they were both sitting in the kitchen. Pandora looked up and smiled at him, but her the smile faded when she saw his expression and how he was holding the lad captive.

  He hated having to tell them such bad news.

  By the time he’d finished and had again stopped the squirming lad from trying to make a break for it, heavy footsteps were pounding along the street towards their house.

  ‘I’ll answer the door,’ Pandora said.

  ‘You won’t let them hurt our Hallie, will you, son?’ his mother faltered.

  ‘I’ll do my best, Mum. My very best.’

  ‘We’ve got to find him quickly before he hurts her,’ Zachary said when he’d finished telling his tale again. ‘Surely Harry won’t have been stupid enough to take my sister to his home?’

  ‘No. He’s not stupid, I’ll give him that. He’ll have her hidden away somewhere else, I reckon,’ Marshall replied.

  ‘Could you go and ask around the streets, see if anyone noticed her being taken, or saw Harry?’ Zachary asked. ‘I’ll have another go at shaking some information out of this one.’ He indicated the lad.

  ‘I live near here. I’ll ask my kids to help, too.’ One man slipped out.

  ‘I’ll go and visit a fellow I know down in the back slums,’ Marshall said. ‘You stay here, lad, then we can fetch you if you’re needed.’

  Zachary went over to the boy and shouted at him, but he wasn’t the sort to beat a child, so in the end they shut him in the coal house without finding anything out.

  After that Zachary paced to and fro while Pandora sat holding his mother’s hand. Suddenly an idea struck him and he stopped dead. ‘I wonder . . .’

  ‘Wonder what?’ she asked.

  ‘If anyone’s checking the back of Brewers Court.’

  ‘I’m sure the police will have looked there,’ Pandora said. ‘It’s the worst slum in town.’

  ‘Well, there’s a separate entrance at the back that goes down to an old cellar. I chased Harry and his cousin in there once when we were lads and he’d pinched my ball. You’d not know about that entrance if you hadn’t been shown.’


  ‘You won’t – go on your own?’ she asked.

  ‘I’ll find the other fellows on my way. They’re searching in that area.’

  ‘They said they’d come back here. Can’t you wait for them?’

  ‘No. I daren’t.’ He hesitated then came to grasp Pandora’s hand for a moment. ‘Will you stay with my mother?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’

  ‘Keep a rolling pin handy, Mum.’

  As she went to get it out, he lowered his voice and whispered to his wife, ‘He’ll hurt Hallie to pay me back, I know he will.’ Then he raised his voice again and said, ‘Don’t worry, Mum. I’m big enough to take care of myself.’ With a quick kiss on her cheek, he left.

  Pandora sat and worried, trying to reassure his mother and failing.

  Ten minutes later Marshall came back to report that no one had seen Harry – or Hallie – and she stared at him in dismay. ‘Zachary went out. He said he’d find you.’

  ‘Well, he didn’t. Where did he go?’

  Quickly Pandora told him.

  ‘I’ll follow him.’

  The waiting began again. After a few moments, Pandora could stand it no longer. ‘Come on. We have to get help for them.’

  ‘Zachary said to wait here.’

  ‘Well, I’m not doing it. I’ll go mad sitting here worrying. I’m going to fetch the police.’

  ‘You do that, love. I’ll wait here in case he comes back.’

  ‘Get a neighbour in to sit with you, then.’

  ‘I will.’ Mrs Carr rapped on the wall three times. ‘She’ll come straight away. You get off.’

  Prebble moved across to where Hallie sat helpless in the chair. He flicked her cheek so hard it stung. ‘I might as well have a little fun to pass the time. It’ll be a while before your brother gets the money for me, I’m sure.’

  Her heart stuttered in her chest as his fingers trailed down her throat and stopped there. Suddenly he put his hand round it and squeezed, so that she couldn’t breathe properly. When he let go, she gulped in air.

  ‘Tsk, tsk! Did you have trouble breathing? You see what happens when you don’t do as I wish.’

  Then he grabbed the neck of her bodice and tore it down the front.

  She couldn’t help screaming in terror but he just laughed.

  ‘You can scream all you like. No one will come to help you. They all do as I tell them round here.’

  But the woman who’d been there before came back into the room and leaned against the wall, arms folded.

  ‘Go away, Nancy.’

  ‘No. I want to watch how you do it with other women.’

  He turned on her, fist raised and she pulled out a kitchen knife.

  ‘Oh, no, Harry! I can look after myself, unlike this poor bitch here. I’m not stirring from your side till you get the money and after you give me my share, which you’d better do—’ she gestured with the knife, ‘– I’m leaving town with you. She’s seen us both now. I’m not going to be here when she tells the police who I am.’

  He turned back to Hallie, stretched out his hand, then hesitated, scowling at Nancy again.

  Zachary ran towards the slums and when he passed Daniel in the street, called out to him to follow and kept running. He ran past the narrow streets and alleys of the worst part of town, moving towards the reservoir at the back of the biggest mill.

  Only when he got there did he slow down, looking round and gesturing to Daniel to move quietly now. Their caution paid off and they managed not to alert a man keeping watch behind a tumble-down shed.

  ‘I’ll get him,’ Daniel whispered. ‘Wait a minute then let him see you. I’ll creep up and thump him from behind while he’s looking at you.’ He picked up a chunk of broken brick.

  The man started to his feet at the sight of Zachary, but before he could call for help, Daniel thumped him and he crumpled to the ground.

  Zachary moved forward. ‘It’s years since I was here but I know the entrance is round here somewhere.’

  ‘You must be on the right track. Why would someone be keeping watch unless Harry is hiding nearby?’

  ‘Ah!’ Zachary said. ‘This is it.’ He bent nearly double to get into a low space that looked like the top of a former basement window, now not in use.

  ‘I’d never have thought that was a doorway,’ Daniel said.

  ‘Shh!’ Zachary pointed. ‘Follow me.’

  As quietly as they could, they went down some extremely narrow stone stairs.

  Before they got to the bottom they heard Harry’s voice. He was taunting Hallie, telling her how he was going to hurt her and her brother once he’d got the money.

  ‘He’ll be sorry he ever crossed me, that one will,’ Harry gloated.

  Just as he got to the bottom, Zachary’s foot twisted on a small piece of broken brick and he nearly fell. He made enough noise to warn those inside the small cellar, so burst in quickly, to stop short at the sight of Harry holding a knife to Hallie’s throat with one hand and holding her by the hair with the other.

  ‘Stop where you are or I’ll kill her!’ he yelled.

  Zachary froze, his eyes taking in Hallie’s torn clothes and the terror on her face as the knife blade pricked against the soft skin of her throat.

  ‘Get away from the door,’ yelled Harry. ‘Go on! Move round to that side.’

  Zachary did as he was told, wondering desperately how to get his sister free of that knife. As he moved, Harry watched him and Daniel seized his chance to move forward, but a woman stepped out from the other side of the doorway and tripped him up.

  As the two of them went down in a flurry of petticoats and kicking feet, Harry dragged Hallie to the doorway, yelling, ‘I’ll kill her if you don’t stay back.’

  ‘Well, I’ve got your friend, so let’s do a swap,’ Daniel panted, bleeding from a cut on the arm and struggling to hold the woman still.

  ‘What do I care about her? You can do what you like with her. I’ve got your sister, Zachary, and if you want her to stay alive, you’ll let us go.’

  ‘The police are looking for you. You’ll never get out of town.’

  ‘I know this part of town better than they do. There are people who’ll shelter me and see me safely on my way. She’ll not be freed till I’m clear and you’ve coughed up the money. Now damned well stay back.’

  Helpless, Zachary watched as Harry edged up the stairs, still holding the knife to Hallie’s throat.

  As they disappeared from view, Zachary moved quietly forward but yells from outside had him abandoning caution to leap up the stairs. He hesitated at the low doorway, groaning in relief.

  Harry was on the ground, struggling against two men and Marshall was holding a weeping Hallie against him, murmuring, ‘You’re safe now, lass. You’re safe.’ He bent to pick up the knife and cut her bonds, still talking soothingly.

  Daniel crawled out from the low opening, dragging the woman who’d been with Harry, cursing her as she tried to bite him.

  Zachary moved to his sister and took her from Marshall, holding her closely against him as Marshall turned to help with the wriggling, screeching woman.

  At that moment two policemen came running round the corner, with Pandora behind them.

  She stopped at the sight of her husband, her face lighting up in relief, then came across to join him.

  Zachary left Marshall and Daniel to explain to the policemen what had happened and pulled off his jacket, wrapping it round Hallie to hide her torn bodice.

  He could hear Harry cursing and ranting, but he didn’t care what they did to him now. He put one arm round his wife, the other round his still trembling sister.

  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been as scared in my life,’ he told them.

  ‘You got to her in time?’ Pandora asked.

  He nodded. ‘In time to prevent the worst. Shh, Hallie, love. You’re all right now. I’ve got you safe.’

  She gulped and tried to stop weeping, but couldn’t.

  Pandora found a handkerchief
and passed it to her, wishing she could do more to help.

  One of the policemen came up to them. ‘If you want to take the young ladies home, Mr Carr, we’ll get your side of the story later. It’s not good to take the law into your own hands, but in this case, I think your sister might have been in serious trouble if you hadn’t got here so quickly.’

  Slowly the three of them walked home, ignoring the stares of people they passed. Hallie gradually calmed down a bit, but she clung to both Zachary and Pandora as if they were her only comfort in a dangerous world.

  They found the neighbour sitting with Mrs Carr, who first wept in relief, then pulled herself together and got everyone a hot drink. ‘And after that, you’ll all need a good wash.’

  Pandora looked at the mirror and saw their reflections. She couldn’t help smiling at the picture they presented. No wonder people had stared. Her face was still red from running through the streets – yet again – and her hair was streaming down her back. Hallie had torn clothing and equally untidy hair. Zachary’s shirt was ripped and his face bruised. All three of them were covered in dust from the rubble in and around the hidden cellar.

  ‘We look like three beggars,’ she said.

  An hour after they got back there was a knock on the door. Hallie stiffened and Pandora patted her hand as Zachary went to answer it.

  They heard a short conversation then he came back. ‘They want me at the police station, to give my part of the story.’ He looked at Hallie. ‘You as well, if you’re not too upset.’

  She stood up. ‘It’ll be a pleasure to help put that horrible creature behind bars.’

  ‘I always disliked him,’ Zachary said. ‘But even working closely with him, I never realised how bad he really was.’

  ‘Dot’s afraid of him,’ Pandora said. ‘I understand why now.’ Then she stood up. ‘We’re all going to the police station together. I’m not letting you out of my sight again, Zachary Carr. You’re coming too, aren’t you, Mrs Carr?’

  ‘I certainly am. I’m too old to run round town chasing people, but not too old to stand beside my daughter while she talks to the police.’

  It was over an hour before they were able to leave the police station.

  Zachary stopped just outside it. ‘Just look at that. It’s a beautiful evening.’