Avalon Revamped (18 page)

“Wait, please. I will believe you.” I rested a hand on her trembling shoulder. “I promise. You’re safe with me.”

“Well, me husband, ya see. He drinks too much sometimes and does finks to me, and I know he don’ mean it. I know he loves me an’ all, but this last time he went too far. It’s not just me anymore, you see. It’s our daughter now, too. An’ I can’t bear it, so I told the police. Just want my daughter safe, is all. Me is one fink, Miss. I’m his wife, after all. His property. But he won’t do that to me daughter. But them peelers…they…”

Silent sobs screamed in my ears, and her sorrow filled my heart. I caught my balance on the brick wall, weak from her pain. “It’s all right,” I breathed, strengthening the protective walls around me. “You’re safe now. It’s all right. Please, just tell me. What did the police do?”

“They laughed at me and told me I had better keep quiet. Me ‘usband’s the butcher round ‘ere, see? Respected, ‘e is. They told me to keep quiet or they’d make sure I stayed quiet, them peelers did. I wouldn’t stay quiet, though, Miss. I see how I was wrong now. I just need to do what I’m told is all. That’s all. Then everyfink will be all right again. Me daughter will be all right. Right, Miss? She’ll have to learn to take it, too. Just like all of us. We just have to take it, is all. Just take it and keep quiet. It’s not so bad, really. Just take it and keep quiet. That’s what I’ll do, Miss. She’ll learn to do it, too.”

“What’s your name?”

“Mary, Miss.”

“Mary, what did the peelers do?”

Mary wept again, and when I moved to comfort her, the light of the gaslamp fell on her face. She had bruises, and her dress was torn. “I see. They just did this to you, did they?”

“They did. Both of them together, Miss. You believe me, right, Miss? Please say you believe me!” She grabbed a fistful of sleeve in each hand, shaking me in her desperation.

“Of course I believe you. I passed a couple of coppers on the way down the street. Would you be able to have a look around the corner and tell me if those are the ones who hurt you?”

“No! Miss. I mean, I don’t want no more trouble. I’ve got to get ‘ome, ya see. But ‘e’ll know, won’t ‘e? My ‘usband, ‘e’ll know what they done, and then ‘e’ll punish me again. I’m scared, Miss! I don’t know what to do.”

“Look into my eyes,” I said, stooping down and facing the light so she could see. “Believe me when I say I will take care of those coppers, all right? Your husband, too.”

“Not my ‘usband, Miss. ‘e don’t mean it, and we can’t eat without ‘im. We’d be on the streets. Don’t hurt ‘im! Please don’t hurt ‘im!”

“I promise I won’t hurt him, Mary, but I will stop him from hurting you. All right? Those coppers, on the other hand, they’re meant to protect you, and they just hurt you again. They won’t get away so easily. Just have a look around the corner. They won’t see you. I promise. Are they the ones?”

Hiding under my arm, she peeked down the street, and then she whipped back around, flattening herself against the brick wall, sheltered by the darkness of the alley. Her breath heavy and deep, gasping for breath. Eyes wide.

“It’s all right, Mary. They can’t hurt you again. Give me a few minutes, and they’ll never hurt anyone again. All right?”

“All right.”

“And your husband’s butcher shop. Is it the one here in Southwark Street?”

“Yes, Miss. But don’t ‘urt ‘im!”

“I shan’t. I’ll just scare him, all right? He’ll be a kind as can be when he gets home. All right?”

“All right.”

“Now, you go home now and care for your daughter. You did the right thing to protect her. He won’t hurt either of you ever again, or he’ll have me to answer to.”

“Who are you, Miss?”

“I’m your protector, Mary. Yours, and all women’s.” As I spoke the words, I shifted form and visage right in front of her. She crossed herself, whispering to her god.

“Are you a witch?” she asked.

“No, Mary, I’m much more powerful than a witch, and much more dangerous. Go on home and care for yourself and your daughter. Be happy. I think you’ll find your husband all too willing to put your happiness first now, yours and your daughter’s, too. Take this,” I said, removing a white feather from my reticule. “I can hear you through this. Keep it safe. This way I will know if your husband is behaving as a husband should, or if I need to return. Just speak to the feather like you’re speaking to me. You’re safe now.”

“Thank you, Miss! Thank you!”

Mary went off behind me, and I stood in the street, shielding her from the police who smoked cigarettes and stood beneath a gaslamp on the corner, laughing. No doubt about their recent villainy.

“Help! Police!” I cried, gaining their attention. I had turned myself into a young barmaid, blonde hair a touch disheveled and rosy cheeks. I’d tell them of a true tale, something that happened all too recently, for even while spinning my web, I would never lie about something so important, so horrific and soul-destroying as rape.

The two men trotted down to where I stood, just on the edge of the alley, and I told them my tale.

"So, ya say, ya had
relations
 with the bloke in question, did ya?" Constable Davis, judging from his name plate, said. The enjoyment in his eyes turned my stomach.

"No! Constable, no! I didn't. He forced me. In me mouth as well, and he enjoyed it, he did. I tried to push him away, but he just came at me harder, sir."

"Ah! So ya gave him oral pleasure." The constables exchanged knowing looks and winked before the first copper wrote in his notebook, speaking as he did so: "She remembers giving oral sex at one point to the suspect." 

"No! No, I didn't
give
him anything, constable! Please, listen to me. Please. He was brutal, violent."

"Look, Miss. We wasn't there, alrigh'. We wasn't there, so we don' know wha'appened. You're talking about a very stand-up member of the community, whoever this bloke is. Y'understand this is a very serious accusation, Miss, don't ya?"

"It's a very serious offense, sir!" 

"Yes, well that might be, if it's true. Who are you? And look what yer wearin'. Can't blame the bloke, really. No. I fink you prolly jus' regret it. Ya didn't tell him to stop, after all, did ya?"

“I—I couldn't speak. I was gagging on his—he was choking me!"

"Maybe he was tryin' to send you a message, Miss. Keep your bleedin' mouth shut, or he'll shut it for ya. Good lesson for a woman to learn, nice an’ early, don’t ya fink, ‘owards?”

“Yes, indeed,” Constable Howards replied.

“In fact, I fink that's a fine idea. Marvin,” he indicated his partner with a nod, “help this fine lady learn that, would ya?” Marvin laughed as he grabbed me, and I shrieked as he pulled me down the alley.
 I put up a fight, and a few passersby looked momentarily, but didn't want to be involved in police business. After all, the police were there to protect the community. In the minds of passersby, I had obviously had done something wrong.

Marvin covered my mouth to ensure I didn’t scream and bent me over some crates, holding my head flat against the hard crates. I heard his belt buckle jingle. Up the alley, Constable Davis snuffed, laughed, and unfastened his trousers as he headed toward us.

“Busy night,” he said to himself, chuckling.

It certainly was, I mused.

This time I didn’t even let them get started before I finished it, finished them.

It had been a long day, after all.

ARTHUR

“M’Lord?” Thomas whispered through my chamber door. “Excuse me, M’Lord, but it’s just gone four. The captain is set to arrive within the hour, M’Lord. I thought you might fancy a cup of tea before that.”

“I’ll be out presently, Thomas. Thank you.”

“I could bring it in to you, M’Lord.”

“Yes. Thank you, Thomas. Bring some up with the newspaper.”

Still, I didn’t budge. Curled up in a tight ball, I stared at Avalon’s empty side. I had been like this for hours, unblinking. Couple of days, really. Since Christmas night. Alone after all. Just staring.

I had sent word to Blackwolf, but he couldn’t meet on Boxing Day, and Chastity was unavailable as well. Seemed my options waned. Perhaps I should return to something simpler, like Hazel. Sweet Hazel Hamilton would be a challenge, and likely not all that experienced, but she would do as she was told, no doubt. Be available when I needed her, and be properly thankful for the attention.

Bah! Needed. I didn’t need any woman.

I pulled Avalon’s pillow to my face and inhaled her scent. It had been an empty Christmas without her, devoid of love and warmth. Lonely Boxing Day, too. I couldn’t find the strength to sit up or to do anything, really. Tea would be good, indeed. Tea would help. Perhaps ten drops this morning, as I needed some sort of boost. I had company coming, after all. Must present myself properly, and all. Yes, a boost.

I could go back to keeping some living fruit in the cellar. Dangerous practice, that. For although they claimed to be willing at the beginning, they ended up wanting to leave. Then the shouts and screams did get ever so tiresome. No. Best to drink and run.

“C’mon, man!” I chided myself aloud, hoping hearing the words might stir me to action, and threw the pillow aside. “It’s only been a few days. She’ll be back. You know she will be back and she will bend to your will. They always do.”

I would do as I pleased. No one would control me. I would fuck Avalon when I wanted and Chastity when I wanted and whomever else caught my fancy. Hazel, perhaps. Yes. It was time. Whomever caught my fancy. That was just how things were. I was a Tudor, after all. How dared she expect exclusivity. Of one like me? Honestly. Absurd. All of me for one woman? Preposterous.

A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts again, but the indignation had done wonders already. Sitting up, I told Thomas to enter.

“Your tea, M’Lord,” he said as he entered. “May I draw the curtains? The sun is well hidden, M’Lord.”

“Very good, Thomas. I could use some light after all. Ten drops today.”

“Yes, M’Lord.” He raised his sleeve and administered the blood before going to open the curtains. The newspaper headlined the disappearance of McFerret, and now, it seemed, Doctor Nesbitt as well. Blackwolf and I would be discussing the case and more, no doubt. Perhaps he had been right about Avalon. She was a fine woman, after all, but then so was Chastity.

“May I speak plainly, M’Lord?”

“Of course, Thomas. You’ve been with me quite some time now, always proper. Please, do.”

“Thank you, M’Lord." Thomas stammered once or twice before he continued and looked away from me, then at me again, and then away once more. He wrung his hands then wiped them on his trousers. At last, with a slight tremor in his voice, he said, "I have served you a long while, and, if I may say so, I’ve noticed some patterns, M’Lord. You seemed quite happy with Miss Bainbridge. Well, at first, M’Lord. Always at first. Although you don’t choose many women with whom to become so intricately involved, preferring to keep it casual. Well, M’Lord, perhaps that’s best for you and for them. Miss Bainbridge is a fine woman, as fine as I’ve ever had the honor of knowing, and she doesn’t deserve such treatment, M’Lord. No one does.” He bowed in submission when he saw the angry scowl appear on my face. “Forgive me, M’Lord. I’ve overstepped, my apologies.”

“That will be all, Thomas,” I said through clenched teeth.

“M’Lord,” he said, then turned on his heels and removed himself from my presence before I removed him from this earth. The insolence. So unlike Thomas, too. How dared he? First Blackwolf and now my own help. After placing my tea down, I collapsed back on the bed, reaching out to Avalon’s empty side. She was indeed a good woman who was worthy of a man such as myself, and I worthy of her. For who wasn’t worthy of a woman’s love, but I would not accept being shackled so.

“No. That’s that.”

I stood, forcing myself to get ready for my imminent guest. Although, I was altogether miffed I had to dress myself. Again. Inconceivable, really. Especially now that Avalon was gone, I needed to find a new butler.

§

“Captain Arron von Blackwolf,” Thomas announced the arrival of my guest, so I put the newspaper aside.

“Very good, Thomas. Show him in.”

“Lord York,” Blackwolf said as he entered my parlour, hat in hands.

“Good afternoon, Captain,” I said, reaching out to shake his hand. “I was just reading about our little mystery. Did the police say anything else after we left McFerret’s?” I motioned for him to join me, offering the seat closest to the fire, as I didn’t need it, and moved to the tapestried chair opposite, settling in.

“They didn’t. Baffled as you or me, I’m afraid. They took their samples and made their notes, but mostly they just stood around and scratched their heads.”

“No surprise. They are rather worthless. I went back to Ol’ Nick’s and picked up this.” I handed him the heavy statue, wrapped in a cloth to catch the blood and ooze still emanating from it. “Did you manage…?”

“No. That’s one thing they did take, as it was so outta place. I suppose it went unnoticed at Lord Stanton’s, but it was rather strange for it to be in the small cabin, especially when Gladys”—his voice faltered when he said her name—“didn’t recognize it.”

“Indeed.”

“What do you think this black stuff is? Rather rancid.”

“It is, and I’m sure I have no idea. Although, I no longer think Ol’ Nick is off cavorting any more. No. Indeed, this was foul play. But a titled gentleman, a newspaper reporter, and an Oxford professor. What do they have in common, besides these bizarre statues? They found one at the professor’s too, I read. Although the one there wasn’t even human, really. More animal, from the sketch in the paper. He was quite the collector of animals, so they believe it was just part of his collection from his travels, but the other two? Too much of a coincidence for me, I’m afraid. What else do they have in common? I mean, what could possibly be the motive behind their disappearance?”

“I have a few theories. Do you think these men have been killed? Perhaps, bludgeoned with the statues?”

“My good man, I think these statues are the key to figuring out this mystery. Indeed. Perhaps there is something supernatural going on here. Perhaps these men have been turned into these statues.”

The look on Blackwolf’s face changed from curious to affronted, as if the suggestion of the supernatural offended him. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He dismissed the notion with a scoff, turning his attention once again to the statue in his hands.

“There are more things in heaven and earth…”

“That may be so, Arthur, but what you suggest is beyond ludicrous. How would such a thing even be possible? This is not one of McFerret’s horrid novels, after all. This is real life.”

“Do you have a better theory? Why are there no bodies? Why does the statue bleed and ooze as if it were alive? What do these men have in common? And why are they all missing their John Thomases?”

“Murdered, I think. No bodies because there are ways of disposing of such things. McFerret, likely over the side of the ship. He’s somewhere at the bottom of the channel, if they was smart and weighted him. If not, he’ll be a’washing up on the coast before long. Lord Stanton, maybe dumped in the Thames. Maybe buried somewhere. It’s only been a few days, mind. Doctor, same.”

“And motive? The statues? The missing piece?”

“Scorned woman’d be my guess, or angry father. Justified, I’d say, too. Scoundrels is too good a word to use for men like these. Hell, I’d have done it on my own for Gladys’s sake, if I was that kind of man. I heard what Lord Stanton was like, what people say about him and the things he’s done. Monstrous.”

“Yes. Quite. Lady Bainbridge suggested the same, but I thought the idea absurd. Honestly. Because of a romp or two? How comical, indeed.”

“A romp or two? Lord York, even as young as you are, you must understand the great significance of love, do ya not? The profound sacrilege of promising and behaving in love just to exploit a woman’s affections? The staggering devastation of the broken heart and shattered soul that comes from betrayal.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, man. It’s part of the game.”

“Arthur. Hearts and souls are not toys to be trifled with. No, sir. They are sacred. They are gifts that are freely given, and to abuse and spit on such a gift is deserving of the greatest punishment. When abuse includes violence, sir, especially sexual in nature, then these men got what they deserved. Rather, they didn’t suffer near enough.”

“Are you speaking of the rumors that Nick ravished that girl now in Bedlam? Look here, Captain. I knew Nicholas Stanton, and he was many things, sir. A rapist, sir, he was not.”

“How can you be so sure?”

With this investigation going on, I must keep my head about me. Although, what would one more disappearance do, indeed? No. I took a deep breath and changed the subject, or else Thomas would be scrubbing blood out of my carpet. “Beside the point, Captain. What of the statues? Can you explain those? Why do they ooze and bleed as if alive?”

“That I can’t explain. A trick, maybe. Something inside the statue? Why someone would do such a thing is beyond me, sir. But I have seen men and women do inexplicable things for much less of a slight than these men were rumored to have done. Have you tried cracking the thing open to see what’s inside?”

“I haven’t. Good idea. Let’s get to the heart of the matter, as it were. Follow me.”

I led him down into my cellar, although I hadn’t used it for nefarious purposes since the last mystery with Avalon. It had been rather splendid, hadn’t it? Working together with that woman, and poor Victor. Down here was where I took Lady Haldenby, or what had become of her, for interrogation. What would Blackwolf think when he saw the table and shackles?

He was a man, after all. Certainly he understood the darker side of desire well enough. No mind. What did I care about his thoughts anyway? I didn’t owe him or anyone an explanation.

“Interesting,” he said, looking sideways at me.

“Yes. Well. Taboo tastes and all. My own little Chamber of Horrors. Surely you’ve heard of the place, haven’t you?”

The Captain’s hand went to his sidearm, and he took a step back from me. Of all the wicked men in this world, I had to team up with a good one. I most certainly did not desire to be judged by the likes of him, nor anyone.

“No. I have not. Who are you? What do you know of these men?”

“Captain,” I said, smirking. “Don’t be foolish. What reason do I have to hurt an unknown, or barely known, writer, a buffoon doctor, and certainly not my best friend?”

“You don’t seem all that broken up that your best friend, as you call him, is missing and presumed dead.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s because we haven’t been all that close of late, if you must know. Besides, it just seems all too preposterous somehow. I suppose I just don’t accept it yet. I shall grieve when I know for sure.”

“This looks like a torture chamber.”

“Indeed it does”—and it rather is—“but it is not what you’re thinking. The Chamber of Horrors. You know. The brothel? It’s all perfectly acceptable, I assure you. It’s…just a place for those with discerning tastes.”

“Uh-huh,” he grunted, disbelieving.

“Quite consensual, I assure you. Some ladies like it this way. What do you think of me? I am a gentleman, after all.” Indignation often worked when reason did not, but he did not relent. Next, embrace him into the fold. Include him in the fun, as it were. “Madam Jeffries owns it over in Gray’s Inn Road. It’s all on the up and up. I’ll take you there sometime,” I said winking. “Matter of fact, I met Madam Jeffries’ cousin the other day. Snake Oil Salesman seemed to be a man who understood such things. We’ll make it a man’s night out. What do you say?”

“Let’s get on with examining that thing, but I’m keepin’ an eye on ya, Arthur York. Know that. I ain’t one to be trifled with, mind. Mark my word.”

“Of course,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Quite. Now, if you would be so kind as to hand me that hammer. That one there, the big one.” On the wall hung implements of torture, all used for fun. Most of the time.

Blackwolf pulled his gun and aimed it at me. The thing, of course, wouldn’t hurt me, but there was no time for any of it.

“Fine. I will get it myself. Honestly, Blackwolf, I thought you a more worldly man. Never heard of the Chamber of Horrors. How absurd.” Mocking him, shaming him might get him to let down his guard, but no luck there. I placed the statue on the heavy table and, aiming the heavy hammer, came down on its head with greater strength than a man, but the thing didn’t even crack. I did it again, with all my considerable strength, and this time when the hammer struck its head, a shock emerged from it, knocking both me and Blackwolf back to the wall. We each dropped our weapons in the blast and found ourselves on the floor.