“Would you like a sister?”
This time, Tahlia’s laugh was smothered by the kisses of both men in her life, and she didn’t mind one bit.
EPILOGUE
“What’s that?” June asked with a frown.
“What?” Victor jerked when he received a sharp jab in the ribs. He scowled at the young girl opposite and waited for her to repeat herself.
“What’s that?” June demanded patiently.
She stopped in the middle of the road, and pointed to the thick strip of blue running across the horizon.
They had been walking for hours through long, winding country lanes. They were both exhausted, and in much need of rest, but that didn’t dampen June’s curiosity.
“It’s the sea, June,” Victor replied with relish. He eyed the blue haze of the ocean and knew then that they had made it. They had left London, and it sooty, grimy streets, far behind.
“I told you that we should have taken a carriage. We have enough money,” June protested when Victor nudged her onward.
“We can’t be travelling around in a carriage,” Victor protested. “People will look at us. This way, we can arrive on foot and nobody will notice.”
“They will notice strangers in a village like this. Why are the houses so small?” June asked with a frown as she studied the tiny doorway to the small fisherman’s cottage they passed.
“I dunno,” Victor shrugged. “But they ain’t the kind of people you are going to go beggin’ off so there ain’t no point sizin’ their doors up. We have left that kinda life behind us.”
“And mama,” June added without any hint of regret.
Victor grinned. His goal was to rid themselves of their problems in London, and they had – completely. That included abandoning the old harridan who used to pretend to be their mama, and leaving her to wend her own way in life. Neither Victor nor June had ever been able to earn money and keep it because of her. Neither of them had ever had the opportunity to decide how the money was spent, or what they should do with their day. Whatever the weather, their mother had always shoved them out of the door with orders not to return until their pockets were full. Come hail, rain, sleet, or shine, they had both been cast out into the streets, and would only be allowed back into the tiny, dirt-laden basement they called home, and shared with three other families, when they had money in their hand.
All that had changed now that Victor had successfully bartered a good price for the jewels he had stolen. He had pocketed the money and used some of it to purchase post chaise tickets out of London. His plan had all worked perfectly.
“We can’t go back now,” he muttered.
The broadsheet tucked into the waistband of his trousers held the headlines that had, by now, had warned Sayers of Victor’s duplicity. He couldn’t read it himself. He had asked an inn keeper to read the headline for him, and had heard all he needed to know.
“What? Back to that?” June asked with a nod behind them that Victor took as reference to London. “Not when we have places like this to stay in. Look at this.”
They both stopped to stare at the small, square cottage tucked away in a quiet corner of the sleepy little fishing village far removed from the hub of a grimy city.
“Aye, that’s home,” Victor whispered.
He couldn’t read the paper the man had given him when he had bought the house, but had marked his name with a ‘x’ where he had been told to, and had accepted the keys along with the note. He had managed to find his way to the village through asking people and heading in the direction they had pointed. Now, he was totally lost.
“’ere, mister,” June called when she spotted an elderly fisherman coming out of a cottage further down the road. “Can you please tell us where Ivy Cottage is?”
“Aye, it’s that one you further down the road a ways. It’s on the bluff o’er there.” The fisherman pointed to the far end of the village about half a mil
e away, to a small cottage situated on the hill-top.
“Come on,” June cried with a grin. “Race ya there.”
Victor stalled long enough to lift a hand of thanks to the fisherman before he took off after his sister.
His new life had begun, and it was one of hope, money, and the ability to make whatever decisions he wanted. He had been careful leaving London. Nobody knew where to find them. As long as they kept their heads down, didn’t contact anyone they had left behind, and looked only to the future, they had nothing to worry about.
“Come on,” June called impatiently when she realised he wasn’t running after her.
Victor looked up and studied the happiness on his sister’s face. He had never seen her smile at all now that he came to think about it. She had really only ever been a ghost of a child, sucked under by the raw need to survive the harsh streets that was city life.