Outside the hut they heard the sound of raucous singing and shouting. Poppy went to the door and opened it. A crowd of navvies had gathered in the centre of the encampment, and the women who had been earlier hanging around had evidently joined them. Among them was Minnie. Poppy could see the tall, muscular frame of Jericho, unmistakable in the gloaming. Just then he looked up and saw Poppy silhouetted in the door frame by the feeble light of the oil lamp. He strode over to her intently.
‘Poppy, I could’ve killed the swine.’ Jericho’s eyes were ablaze with the after-effects of his fight. ‘To think as he could pull a trick like that to get his dirty maulers on you.’
‘I suppose you mean Tweedle Beak.’
‘Aye, Tweedle Beak. You’ll not see him again. Nor would you want to, I fancy. I paid six quid for lottery tickets to win you and the bastard tried to fix it so as he’d win himself. If Buttercup hadn’t noticed the rogue ticket lying on the floor …’
‘We heard,’ she answered. ‘Buttercup told us.’
‘Aye, well, I got my money back. I knocked it out of him. He’ll not pull a trick like that again.’
‘Where is he? Tweedle, I mean.’
‘Gone. He skulked off with a black eye and a fat lip.’
‘Gone already? Good … I’m glad …’
‘Poppy …’ His look was intent, hungry, and typical of the way he always was after a fight.
‘What?’
‘Fancy coming a walk with me? There’s things I want to say to you. Things I thought I’d never have the chance to say after tonight’s episode.’
‘No, Jericho,’ she said quietly. ‘I’ve had enough excitement for one night. And I’ve decided, I’m leaving here in the morning.’
‘Leaving? Where will you go?’
She shrugged, aware that for such a big solid man he seemed emotionally tormented, childishly unstable. ‘I don’t know yet. I can read and write a bit now. I might try my luck applying for a position in service in Dudley somewhere. I’d make a good maid, I reckon.’
‘Aye, you would at that. But I want to look after you, Poppy.’ He scratched his head under his hat. ‘I had such grand plans for me and you, if I’d won you in that lottery.’
She smiled sympathetically. ‘It wouldn’t have worked, Jericho. I have my own dreams …’
‘Here …’ He felt in his pocket and pulled out a handful of sovereigns that glinted in the half-light. ‘Have this money. It’s what I took off Tweedle. Keep it … or give it your mother.’
Poppy shook her head. ‘No, give it back to the men who paid Tweedle. Give it to Dog Meat, if you like – you cheated him out of money, by all accounts …’
‘Dog Meat? You heard about that?’
‘Yes, I heard.’
‘Is that why you won’t come with me now? Because of me and Minnie?’
She giggled at the thought. ‘No. It’s got nothing to do with that. I’ve told you why.’
‘I should’ve known from the first time that I’d never do any good with you, Poppy. You only ever turn me down.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘No more than I am.’ He took a step backwards. ‘I’ll leave you in peace then. I might never see you again. I wish you health and happiness.’
‘Thank you, Jericho. I wish you the same.’
He turned and went.
Jericho went straight to Minnie. She was gossiping with the women about what had happened that night and speculating over the likely consequences. He drew her aside, at which the other women flashed knowing glances at each other.
‘Come into the tunnel with me, Minnie,’ he said in a whisper.
‘You’ve got a cheek,’ Minnie responded acidly. ‘First you give money to Dog Meat for me, and I was daft enough to believe you took me ’cause you liked me. Then you cheat on him by not paying him what you agreed. You’m a rat, Jericho.’
‘I ain’t no rat, Minnie. I really like you. I like doing it with you. I always intended to pay him, but then I thought it might put you in Queer Street with him. I was trying to protect you. He’d have known something was going on if I’d paid him money out of the blue.’
Minnie smiled too easily, forgiving him. ‘Shall I get me rug then?’
‘Yes,’ he grinned. ‘I’ll go first. I’ll make me way there now. You come as soon as you can.’
‘There’s just one thing, Jericho …’
‘What?’
‘You was prepared to pay Dog Meat to have me. Well, I resent him selling me. I work for nobody but meself. From now on, you’ll have to pay me.’
‘Pay you?’
‘If you want me, you’ll have to pay me.’
‘How much?’
‘Well … you was prepared to pay a pound a ticket for Poppy, I suppose. I reckon I must be worth ten shillings.’
‘That’s ridiculous,’ said Jericho. ‘I’ll give you a shilling.’
She turned to go.
‘One and a tanner then?’
‘Five shillings,’ she said.
‘Two.’
‘Three.’
‘Two and a tanner.’
‘All right,’ agreed Minnie, with a sparkle in her eye. ‘Two and a tanner. But I want the money now. Afore we start.’
Poppy Silk woke up frowsy-eyed and blinked at the soft, hazy light encroaching into the spartan bedroom through grimy panes. In a flutter of anxiety, she turned her head to see who was lying beside her, having experienced a vivid, disturbing dream. She sighed with relief. Only her mother was at her side. Well, thank the Lord. It had been just a dream and she was safe. Poppy had decided to share her mother’s bed after Tweedle Beak had sloped off; Buttercup, although he had promised to protect Sheba and her children, had chosen to remain in the lodgers’ dormitory … for the time being, at any rate.
Sheba opened her eyes, roused by Poppy’s nervous fidgeting.
‘You’re awake, our Poppy. Are you getting up?’
Poppy stretched, her slender arms poking out of flannelette sleeves and thrust out over the bedclothes. ‘I’ll light the fire.’ She pushed back the blankets and swung her pale legs out, but remained sitting on the edge of the bed.
‘I had a vile dream, Mom.’
‘Oh?’ She sat up and puffed up the lumpy pillow behind her.
‘I’d jumped the broomstick with Dog Meat, and Minnie came chasing after me with the same broom I’d jumped over, except that it had grown to twice the size. Then we was bundled into bed by everybody … with Minnie and Jericho laughing their heads off and watching. Dog Meat was horrible as well. I couldn’t stand him kissing me. His breath stunk horrible.’
Sheba chuckled. ‘Well, you don’t have to kiss him. It was only a dream.’
‘But it could have been real – if Buttercup hadn’t stepped in …’
‘Thank God for Buttercup …’ Sheba mused.
They