‘Amen,’ went the response.
‘Cat, call ’em off,’ said Billy. He looked worried. Perhaps the Miss Millers had tapped into a hitherto unsuspected strain of religious belief in Shepherd? The sight gave me great pleasure.
I gave him an angelic smile and closed my eyes, placing my hand on his sleeve. ‘Though his soul is now as ugly as his outer person, create in him a new heart so that he may lead us in the right way,’ I prayed.
‘Nah, Cat, not you. You’re not allowed to get religion!’ he protested, trying to prise my fingers from his jacket.
‘Yea, even though he is but a worm in Thy sight, Thou carest for the unrighteous as much as the righteous,’ said Miss Fortitude, getting into the swing of our impromptu prayer meeting.
But my kind friends were not to know that Shepherd had a temper to match mine or perhaps they would not have drawn so close to him. It now boiled over.
‘Get off me, you old witches!’ he shouted, shaking himself free.
‘Oh Lord . . .!’ began Miss Miller, about to take hold again but I saw it just in time. Billy flicked his wrist. A knife appeared in his hand. I pulled Miss Miller back by the skirt. His swipe missed us both.
‘He tried to knife Patience!’ exclaimed Miss Fortitude in a shocked voice.
‘Of course he did,’ I said bitterly. ‘He’s Billy Shepherd, not the Good Shepherd. Look, Billy, leave my friends alone. You’ve got no quarrel with them.’
Shepherd smoothed down his rumpled jacket, annoyed that he had lost his composure in front of us. ‘You’re right, Cat. When I ’eard from Old Jean they’d taken you in, I knew they must be daft cows. Now I’ve seen it for meself.’
‘You knew where I was?’
‘Course, Moggy. Someone ’as to keep an eye on you. You’re too dangerous to let out of sight for long.’
The reach of his influence unnerved me. He was a formidable person to have as an enemy.
‘I could say the same about you,’ I conceded.
‘And you’d be right. Sounds to me as if we’re made for each other.’ He gave me a strange smile.
‘Made to torment each other, you mean.’
He just shrugged at that.
Miss Miller had now recovered from almost being skewered by one of the London underworld’s most infamous characters. ‘Sister Catherine, can this man help us or not? We have no time to waste,’ she asked sharply, casting a less than charitable look at her assailant.
I gazed straight at him, wondering the same thing. ‘Why were you waiting for me, Billy?
He took another chestnut. ‘That’s better, Cat – back to business. You tell me why I’m here.’
‘I can think of many reasons.’
‘Go on.’
‘To laugh at me as I lose my friend thanks to you?’ He said nothing. ‘Or perhaps you’ve a deal with Hawkins now and you plan to hand me over?’ He spat a piece of shell into the brazier. ‘Or maybe, now you’ve delivered your cargo, you’re free to help me without ruining your reputation with the canting crew?’
He smiled. ‘Now what makes you think I’d do that for you?’
He was right: why would he? ‘Selfless’ and ‘Billy Shepherd’ were three words that would never be used in the same sentence.
‘There has to be something in it for you. You want something from . . . from me?’
‘Very good, Cat. Now what would that be, do you think?’
He’d once wanted a diamond from me – but he knew I had no money now. I couldn’t think of anything I had that he could possibly want.
‘I don’t know,’ I admitted.
This answer pleased him immensely. ‘I’m glad I’m not so predictable that even your mind-readin’ powers are stumped. I’ll tell you: I want you to be in me debt. I want you to leave ’ere tonight knowin’ that you owe me somethink. Between you and me, Cat, there’ll be an invisible chain which I can tug any time I want to call in my favour. ’Ow does that sound to you?’
It sounded terrifying. But did that matter? He was our only way to Pedro – so what if I had to bargain with the devil?
‘All right – so long as –’
‘No conditions, Moggy,’ he interrupted.
How I hated his rotten grin! He had me – and he knew it.
‘Sister Catherine, don’t give your word. It’s not wise,’ whispered Miss Prudence.
‘I know it’s not – that’s why he’s doing it.’ I crossed my fingers behind my back. ‘All right, we have an agreement. Now, tell me where Pedro is.’
Shepherd’s smile grew so broad, it looked as though he would crack his pimply face in two.
‘I’ll do better than that – I’ll take you there meself.’ He nodded down at the steps where a little vessel was tied up. ‘You don’t ’alf give value for money, Cat. Watchin’ you work is an eddycation on its own. I wouldn’t miss seein’ you try and stop the captain and forty tars settin’ sail when they want. Get in, ladies. We’re bound for the Phoenix.’
I shook my head. ‘Not all of us. Miss Fortitude and Miss Prudence, stay here and let the others know where we are. Your sister and I will do our best to delay the ship.’
‘Aw, Cat, don’t you think you’re up to the job on your own?’ he mocked.
Billy offered his hand to help Miss Miller into the boat, but I was pleased to see her refuse it with a sniff of disgust as she got in unaided. With her sisters watching us nervously from the quayside, we set off on to the river.
SCENE 2 – AM I NOT A MAN AND A BROTHER?
Billy rowed us out to the Phoenix, whistling tunelessly between his teeth. The ship lay just downstream of London Bridge in the middle of the river. From the lights and activity on deck it looked suspiciously as if the captain was preparing to weigh anchor.
‘Hurry, Billy,’ I urged.
‘Don’t fret, Cat: they won’t go just yet.’