The hour for Prep passed in a blink of an eye and then we were released for what remained of the day. Frank linked arms with me and we went outside. He kept looking at me out of the corner of his eye and shaking his head.
‘What’s the matter?’ I asked as we made our way up into his set.
‘It’s uncanny. I keep forgetting who you really are.’
‘I know. You’d never’ve gone through a door first when I was . . . well, before today.’
‘Did I? Oh, sorry.’
‘Don’t be sorry. That’s just how it should be.’
We arrived back at the set to find Charlie was toasting some bread for supper. The smell was delicious. He buttered a slice for me.
‘Ladies first,’ he said, chucking it in my direction.
‘Don’t. I was telling Frank, you’ve both got to forget all that. Something might slip out by mistake.’
‘You’re right.’ Charlie sat back on his haunches. ‘So half-starved Tom Cat’s first then. You look to me as if you’ve missed a few too many meals, brother.’
I didn’t know where to look. His observation was true but I wasn’t used to young gentlemen making personal remarks about my appearance. By changing clothes, I’d crossed a boundary and would have to become accustomed to being treated as an equal. Well, I’d better do the thing properly. I slumped in an old armchair with feet up on the fender and took a big bite. You know, girls, being a boy’s not half bad. You get to slouch around in comfortable clothes. No one tells you to sit up straight and act like a lady. There were compensations in this otherwise disastrous situation.
‘I think we’d better get a message to Syd and Pedro,’ I said when we’d demolished a stack of toast. ‘If I know Syd, he’ll be combing the streets for me. And Pedro will worry.’ It now came back to me that I had promised Mr Equiano to keep an eye on my friend. In the adventures of the day, I’d temporarily forgotten the peril he was facing. Hawkins had effectively rendered me useless by forcing me to go on the run. ‘And we’ll need to check Pedro’s safe.’
‘I’d given that some thought too. I sent Lizzie a note with the carriage this morning,’ said Frank. ‘And I forgot to mention that I got one back telling me on no account to proceed with the plan for you. Too late, hey?’ He grinned and chucked Lizzie’s note into the fire. ‘Syd’s easy. We already have an arrangement for passing messages.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I order sausages.’
‘Or chops,’ added Charlie.
‘Sometimes kidneys. The last lot went down a treat devilled for breakfast. Syd or one of the boys brings them. It’s getting late, but I’m sure he’ll make a special delivery for us.’
Frank disappeared downstairs to dispatch a messenger and I found myself alone with Charlie for the first time. It felt very awkward without Frank. I was suddenly very conscious that I was masquerading as a boy in a strange place with someone I hardly knew. I couldn’t stop it – a blush crept up my cheeks. I sat up straight and crossed my ankles.
‘You must think me very shocking, getting into trouble with the runners and the rest.’
Charlie stirred the fire. ‘Well, I must say you’re not a bit like my sister. Not that that’s a bad thing,’ he added hurriedly. ‘She’s very much a busybody – a great friend of Frank’s sister.’ He dropped the poker. ‘I hope she doesn’t take it into her head to visit me. She’s in London at the moment . . .’
‘This isn’t going to last, is it?’ I said, resigned to what I saw as the inevitable moment of revelation. ‘I’ll have to think what I’ll do when I’m found out. I don’t want them adding “impersonating a Westminster schoolboy” to the other charges.’
‘We’ll get you out, don’t worry,’ said Charlie. ‘I won’t let my little brother down.’
Syd’s arrival was signalled by a loud thumping on the door. Frank opened it and was almost knocked down in the rush of Syd unburdening himself.
‘Cat’s gone missin’.’ He thrust a packet of sausages into Frank’s arms. Syd’s cheeks were flushed, his eyes anxious. ‘The runners are after ’er. They’re watchin’ the shop – your place – the theatre – the ’ole bloody town. Word is Pedro’s old master is payin’ them well – and they’ve a score to settle with Cat, they say.’ He gave a distracted nod to Charlie, not noticing me by the fireside. ‘I’ve been lookin’ everywhere for ’er – all me boys are out – but she’s vanished. I’m that worried about ’er. What if someone got ’old of ’er last night? She’s only a little thing – can’t defend ’erself. If she spends another night out on the streets, I don’t know what I’ll do.’
‘Do, you great lump?’ I said, tears in my eyes at hearing his concern for me. ‘You’ll stop worrying yourself to death this instant, that’s what you’ll do.’
Syd did a double-take. ‘Cat? Cat! What the ’ell ’ave you done to yourself?’ He folded me in a rib-cracking hug and then pushed me to arm’s length to take in my transformation. ‘What you done with your ’air?’
‘Charlie cut it off.’
‘’E did what?’
Charlie took the sensible precaution of backing out of Syd’s reach behind an armchair.
‘I’m his little brother,’ I said, bowing. ‘Tom Hengrave. Can I join the gang now?’
‘No, you bleedin’ well can’t, Cat Royal! ’Ave you gone mad or somethink?’
‘Think about it, Syd.’ I was trying to be reasonable for the both of us but Syd looked more wild-eyed than ever. ‘It’s all for the best really. You can’t hide me – neither can the theatre. I had to go somewhere and here’s where I ended up. No one’s looking for Tom. They all think Cat’s on the street somewhere – and that’s where I’d be if it weren’t for Frank and Charlie.’
‘It won’t work,’ declared Syd. ‘You don’t know ’ow rough boys can be, Cat. What if one of them sets about you, eh?’