Ruth Axtell Morren - The Making Of A Gentleman

They climbed the short flight of steps onto the gallows. The hangman followed behind them. The ordinary—or prison chaplain—brought up the rear.

It was the first time Florence was seeing Jonah Quinn in the light of day, the small iron grille of his cell door having afforded her few details of his face in the dark condemned man’s cell.

Now, a white nightcap covered his shaggy black hair. His thick black beard was due no doubt to the six weeks he’d sat in his solitary cell since his sentencing. Weeks of deprivation in prison had not eroded his formidable build. The breadth of his shoulders reminded her of a prizefighter she’d once seen. As was customary, his wrists were bound in front of him and another rope was tied around his torso at his elbows, pinning his arms to his sides. The shackles had been removed from his ankles in the prison yard. The sheriff and the black-gowned ordinary looked puny beside him.

“A poor man gets no justice!” a second voice shouted from somewhere in the crowd. Others took up the chant, and soon there was a clamor of protests from the street. The guard beside Florence shifted his pike from one hand to the other, muttering curses under this breath.

The ordinary turned to the prisoner and indicated he could kneel to pray, but the prisoner shook his head, looking as unyielding as he had sounded at his trial. Lord, save him!

The sheriff signaled to the hangman, who took a step forward and pulled the nightcap down over the prisoner’s face. Then he placed the noose around his neck.

A second passed, then at the sheriff’s nod, the hangman stepped back and reached for the lever.

At that moment, a man plowed into Florence, throwing her against the wooden barrier and knocking the breath from her.

“For Jonah and for all the poor whose land has been stolen from ’em!” A sudden barrage of shouts came from all sides as men jumped the barrier and surged onto the platform like rats.

Time seemed to slow as Florence watched. Before the hangman could release the trapdoor beneath the prisoner’s feet, a rough-looking man jumped him from behind and wrestled him to the ground. Others swarmed around the prisoner and cut him free.

The soldiers rallied, but the erupting mob blocked their attempts to reach the platform.

“Down with the king! Give us bread! Liberty for the people!”

Florence clung to the wooden barrier, terrified she would be crushed by the mob pressing against her.

The prisoner leaped from the platform and in one fluid motion jumped the barricade and landed beside Florence.

The guard raised his pike.

Florence stared at its sharp point, poised above her. The next instant, an arm grabbed her from behind and a cold blade of steel pushed against her neck.

“Anyone comes near and I’ll slit ’er throat.”

She didn’t dare breathe. The guard’s eyes flickered to hers. That second’s hesitation saved her life. The pike was ripped from his arms by the mob.

Behind her, the crowd parted and the prisoner made his escape, dragging her along with him like a piece of flotsam, the press of bodies closing around them like the incoming tide.

“This way!” shouted a man.

They slipped down a narrow side alley, then along a wider road she recognized as Seacoal Lane. They came out onto Fleet Market, an area packed with vendors. Shouts and commotion followed them as stalls were overturned in their wake.

Quinn veered off the main thoroughfare, his hand clenching her arm in an unyielding grip. Through a covered courtyard and past derelict buildings, the area became grimmer and dirtier. They were going to the rookery of Saffron Hill north of Holborn. God help her.

“Come along!” the man—their guide—barked at them. Quinn yanked her forward and she stumbled in the pockmarked path. Here the roads were nothing but muddy tracks and the brick buildings full of boarded-up windows and decay. The stench of human waste was overwhelming.

Their guide seemed to know the area well. The two men leaped across the puddles and ditches while her smaller boots sank and skidded over the slimy ground. Quinn held her fast, giving her no option but to struggle to keep up.

Small secondhand stores and pawnshops lined the streets, fronts for stolen goods no doubt. Dirty children roamed the alleys, their ragged clothes offering little protection against the cold. Equally filthy adults squatted in doorways, often with a bottle in one hand, their stares dull and lifeless.

Though she was gasping for breath, the two men didn’t slow their pace, but dashed from twisted alley to alley that bisected the toppling buildings like a rabbit warren. She soon lost track of whether they were headed north, south, east or west. Perspiration trickled down her back, despite the cold air stinging her face.

“Why—why…don’t you…let me go…now,” she panted.

Quinn threw her a scornful glance. “What, give up my surety? They catch me, you’ll go down with me.” He waved the knife at her, his teeth flashing an instant before facing forward again, urging her on with another painful jerk to her arm.

Her side hurt and her chest screamed with each breath. Just when she couldn’t bear it anymore, he pulled her into a courtyard. She had only a glimpse before she was plunged into a dark stairwell. She stumbled down rickety steps riddled with gaps.

At the bottom, Quinn pushed her ahead of him into a low cellar. She leaned forward, her hands on her knees, panting like a hound after the hunt.

Only as her breathing slowed did she straighten and dare to look around. The two men conferred a few feet away from her. Relief trickled into her when they ignored her. Would she be able to escape them? Her glance went to the wooden door. It stood firmly bolted.

“Ye’ll be safe here for now,” the disreputable-looking guide told Quinn. “There’s some kindling and victuals in the corner. Stay low. After I leave, ye’re on yer own. The Boss doesn’t want any more involvement.” After a few more words, sprinkled liberally with oaths, and a slap on the back at their successful escape, the other man went to the door. He glanced back at Florence over his shoulder as Quinn unbolted it.

“Don’t know what ye’re going to do about ’er. Mayhap have some fun ’fore ye leave.” His coarse laughter rang through the room as he climbed back up the stairs.

The sound of the bolt falling into place made Florence jump. She was truly alone now. She dared a look at her captor, a man who feared nothing and no one, and remembered the other man’s words.

Lord, protect me. Show me what to do. Show me Your purpose in bringing me here. Only Scriptures could allay the terror that threatened to paralyze her.

She’d been face-to-face with many criminals since her work at Newgate, but always there had been a guard within calling distance, or an iron grating separating her.

She was not alone, she reminded herself. The Angel of the Lord encamped round about her. If the Lord had allowed the events of the past hour, it must mean He had heard her prayer for mercy for this man’s soul. The realization gave her courage.

Instead of approaching her, Quinn knelt down, his back to her. In the shadows, she heard him strike a flint and then saw a flash of light which soon grew into a flame as it caught the dry tinder.

Her glance strayed to the rest of the space. The cellar’s stone walls dripped with dampness. Light from the outside showed through a small, boarded-up window at street level. Above them, wooden planks, dark with age, formed a low ceiling, with gaps here and there where the wood had rotted through. The floor beneath her feet was hard-packed dirt with moldy straw piled along the edges and a few rumpled blankets heaped in a corner, as if it had served as sleeping quarters before now. A rough-looking table and a few wooden chairs were the only articles of furniture. How many undesirables, running from the law, had hidden here before?