“I know. So does Merry. You will give it your best try and that is all you can do.”
“Not all, Thomas. I can also make certain that my mother can never do this again. I cannot see my own mother hanged but I can do many other things that will declaw her, steal all power and ability to continue her crimes.”
“No sight or word of them, m’lord,” said Abel as he and the other three boys joined them, “and we have been looking and listening round here for quite a while.”
For three whole days, Brant thought. They had discussed plans to search for Peter, Ned, Merry’s sister, and the maid’s brother Noah right after he had last kissed Olympia. Three days, fourteen hours, and ten minutes ago. Brant woke several times a night tasting the sweetness of her mouth on his, his body on fire with need. He wanted another kiss; he wanted far more than that.
“I could go inside there and have a look,” said Giles, cutting off Brant’s thoughts much to his relief.
“No,” Brant said sharply, the other boys echoing his command.
“Then how will we ever know for certain if Ned, Peter, or Noah are in there?” asked Thomas. “It is where all those who would talk to us think they are.”
“We will need someone to go in, someone who can pretend to be after some of the wares this place offers.” The very idea of stepping into such a place turned Brant’s stomach but he was certain it was the only way. “Then, once we are certain, if that person cannot free the boys, the fellows at Bow Street need to be called.”
“Bow Street,” muttered Abel. “Naught but a pack of brawn and no brain, always looking to grab some coin.”
“I met a man from there who is a clever, honest man,” said Brant. “A man named Obadiah Dobson. I met him two years ago and he was a good man then, helping us a lot, and doing nothing I found wrong or foolish. I have friends who have turned to him for help since then and they were impressed by him. I think he would find great joy in closing this place down.”
“I have heard of Dobson.”
“Oh? Because you had need of him or because you had to run from him?”
“A bit of both,” said Abel and all five boys grinned. “He does not beat a lad just to hear him squeal when he catches one doing a touch of thieving. He does not let them hang for it neither. I am done with all that though. Lady O thinks I will make a fine solicitor.”
“That be what I think I would like to be,” said Thomas.
“I think you would both do very well at it.” Brant took one long, last look at Dobbin House. “There must be a careful look around done first. I hate the thought of leaving any child in there for even one more minute but, if we are not very careful, and the ones running that foul place catch wind of our plans, the children could be hidden away or worse. That much I am certain of.”
“We best get back to Lady O to do some planning then,” said Abel.
Brant grimaced as he slipped through the shadowy back alleys of the city with the boys. The idea of even mentioning a place like Dobbin House to Olympia was enough to appall any gentleman. It was the dark side of men that no man wanted women to know about. She would not allow him to protect her from such ugliness, however. He both admired that and was dismayed by it. All he could do was hope that she would be so repulsed by the mere mention of such a house that she would leave all planning to him, but he suspected that was a very foolish hope indeed.
“Dobbin House should be burned to the very ground, preferably with every man and woman who profited from such evil tied securely to a bed as the flames consumed them. And then the ashes of them and that horrid place should be scattered to the four winds,” Olympia said, fury making her voice low and husky. “I do not understand how our officials can allow such a place to exist.”
“Olympia, you know full well that sympathy for the plight of poor children is lacking in London, in this whole country. Although, I believe poor children fare better in the countryside. But they also hang a starving child of ten for stealing a loaf of bread,” said Brant as he watched her angrily pace the parlor. “And, sad to say, some of those officials might not be doing anything simply because they avail themselves of the services offered there.”
She smothered the urge to scream and sat down beside him on the settee facing the fireplace. Staring into the flames slowly calmed her, her fury ebbing away, although her outrage remained. Olympia was not so na?ve that she did not know such places existed, that such perverse hungers were felt by some men and catered to by others. She was just so very weary of the venality of men, the evil that appeared to know no bounds. When such things reached out to hurt innocent children she was torn between wanting to weep and wanting to become some warrior woman who wielded her sword like a scythe, cutting all such vile people down.