‘Not the girl, sir,’ he said. ‘You can’t ’ave Cat.’
‘But . . .!’ spluttered Hawkins in surprise.
‘Our agreement is for the boy only. The girl’s my business.’
I emerged out into the room and found Shepherd and Hawkins glaring at each other either side of the table. I didn’t know which one I hated most. I flew at Hawkins, hitting out with feet and hands in a fury.
‘You beast! I hope your own slaves chop you to pieces and feed you to your dogs. You evil pile of –’
I was pulled off him by a strong pair of arms, a blue handkerchief forced into my mouth to cut off my torrent of abuse.
‘Leave it, Cat,’ said Shepherd, increasing his grip on me as I struggled. ‘I can’t ’ave you abusin’ a client.’
‘So, Shepherd, this is how you repay my investment in you,’ said Hawkins coldly as he brushed himself down.
‘Wot I do ’ere is none of your business, Mr ’Awkins,’ said Shepherd. ‘As long as the boy’s delivered safe and sound, wot do you care? Anyway, why you come ’ere? I told you it’s not safe.’
‘I’m just checking on the merchandise.’
‘’E’s in top condition, ready to go whenever you say the word.’
‘But the brat knows where he is now.’
‘That’s no matter. I was thinkin’ of movin’ ’im somewhere else. Somewhere she’ll never find ’im.’
‘But I’ve a score to settle with her.’ Hawkins flexed his fist, which I was pleased to see was still bandaged. I shrank back closer to Shepherd, preferring the devil I knew to the one I didn’t.
‘Not till after I’ve delivered ’er back to her friends tonight. I’ve pledged me word not to ’arm ’er,’ said Shepherd. ‘After that, good luck to you, sir. But I should warn you: our Cat ’ere has the knack of gettin’ out of tight corners. I’d put my money on ’er rather than you.’
‘Then to hell with your word. I’ll do for her now!’ With a bone-chilling scrape, Hawkins drew a sword from his cane and brought it whistling down towards my throat. Shepherd thrust his hand into the pocket of my cloak and pulled out the blade Syd had given me, bringing it up still caught in the folds of cloth, to block the downstroke.
He’d known I had the knife all along.
‘Now, Mr ’Awkins,’ said Shepherd menacingly, ‘don’t get me angry. I’ve said no and I mean no.’
Hawkins took a step back and cut the air with his swordstick. ‘Remember who’s paying you, Shepherd.’
‘For the boy only.’
‘But what are you going to do against this?’ Hawkins flourished the evil-looking blade. ‘Your six inches of steel ain’t goin’ to stop this for long.’
‘This is wot I’ll do,’ said Shepherd. So quickly I missed the flick, he hurled the knife across the room. It struck the corner of Hawkins’ hat and clattered to the floor in the shadows.
‘That wasn’t very wise – you didn’t hurt me and now you’ve lost your weapon.’
‘I wasn’t tryin’ to ’it you, ’Awkins – if I ’ad, you wouldn’t still be talkin’. As for losing my blade, I’ve got plenty more where that beauty came from.’ With a strange movement of his wrist, a second knife appeared in front of me from up Shepherd’s sleeve. ‘Been throwin’ blades since I was a nipper. Do you still want to argue over the girl? Like I said, nobody kills Cat except me – and tonight she’s my guest.’
A small vein throbbed in Hawkins’ temple, beating out his fury. I could see a succession of thoughts pass across his face. He realized his chances were slim: he was in the centre of Shepherd’s empire and had just been given proof of the skills that brought his associate to be the cock on top of this particular dungheap. He decided to make light of it.
‘Have it your way, Shepherd.’ He replaced the sword in his cane with a clunk. ‘If it is you that has the pleasure of cutting short her miserable life, I just hope you make the end long and painful.’
‘I’ll see wot I can do, sir.’ Shepherd released his grip on me and vanished his knife up his sleeve again.
‘I s’pose you don’t have any objection to me inspecting my goods?’
Shepherd took off my gag. ‘’Elp yourself, sir.’ Hawkins moved to the head of the ladder. ‘Why don’t you ’ave a little friendly chat with ’im while you wait ’ere for me? I’ve got to take the girl back. We can discuss further arrangements when I return.’
I did not want to imagine Pedro’s feelings as he saw his old master descending into his cell. I couldn’t stop myself. ‘Please, don’t hurt him!’ I pleaded.
Hawkins paused, his head now level with the floor. He gave me a wicked grin. ‘I hadn’t been planning to, but now you’ve asked . . .’
I turned away so he wouldn’t see my expression. I hated him – every foul inch of his body. I wanted to stamp on him, crush him, but there was nothing I could do.
‘Let’s go, Billy,’ I said. ‘I can’t bear being in the same room as him any longer.’
ACT IV
SCENE 1 – ELECTRA-FYING
‘Wot’s the matter, Moggy? You’re very quiet. Cat got your tongue?’ Shepherd laughed as he steered me back through the alleyways.
I knew he wouldn’t understand what it was like to leave a friend in trouble. He wouldn’t be able to comprehend even a minute fraction of the torrent of emotion that was sweeping through me – none of my fear, anger and anxiety.
‘You won’t let him hurt Pedro, will you, Billy?’ I asked, knowing it was useless, but I had to try something.
‘None of my business wot ’e does with ’is boy, Moggy.’
‘But Pedro isn’t his boy. He’s his own master.’
‘There’s few of us can say that. Anyways, that’s all too deep for me. I’m doin’ a job – that’s all.’