An Enigma in Silver by Haynes Simon

Author:Haynes, Simon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gaslamp, fantasy, ghosts, horror, steampunk
Publisher: Bowman Press
Published: 2020-11-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

Alfie and Ted, Mrs Green's sons, arrived just after five as promised. They were stout, barrel-chested young men of few words, tanned by long hours in the sun, their muscles forged by lives of hard labour. Each carried a shovel over one shoulder, and they followed Roberta and me without comment as we led the way into the woods. Even the sight of the old shotgun which Roberta carried, and the coil of rope slung over my own shoulder, and the bulging satchels at our sides, did not elicit any queries as to the nature of our little expedition. They did, however, maintain a respectable distance, not out of social propriety but because of the leg of mutton. The joint had ripened further since I'd stored it in the wood bin, and despite being wrapped in two layers of cotton there was an unpleasant aroma which assaulted the senses in a most distasteful fashion.

As we strolled up the hill beyond the village, Roberta leaned closer to me, speaking in a low voice. "We shall set our trap near the scene of Cox's victim. Beasts will often return to the scene of prior killings, and it's as good a place as any."

"Do you know where that is?" I asked her.

She nodded. "I discussed the case with Miss Emily, in a roundabout fashion, and she gave me directions. She was less willing to talk about her father, poor dear, but I gather his murder also took place in the same general area."

I heard a murmur behind me, and looked round. Alfie and Ted were also walking close together, and they seemed concerned at the direction in which we were walking. "It's gettin' on a bit," said Alfie, the older of the two brothers. He had a mop of dark hair and a narrow face, and that face now bore a look of concern. "Sun's going down, and twilight is no time to be out. Why don't me and Ted dig this hole of your'n tomorrow?"

"Come, gentlemen!" I said, adopting a jolly, chiding tone. "It's just a hole in the ground and you'll be done in no time! A shilling each for half an hour's work."

The two men exchanged a glance. Ted, fair-haired and slightly shorter than his brother, muttered something, and then the two of them turned to me. "Two shillings each. Digging is one thing, but this is danger money, like."

I was about to explain that Roberta and I would be guarding the trap ourselves, all night if necessary, and if the pair of us weren't afraid of a little darkness, then the two powerfully-built labourers had nothing to fear. Then I saw Alfie eying the shotgun, and I realised my argument would carry little weight.

"Two shillings it is," agreed Roberta, with all the ease of one spending another person's money.

It seemed to me that the birds grew quieter the deeper we progressed into the woods. We saw evidence of rabbit tracks, criss-crossing our path in every direction, but no sign of the ubiquitous creatures themselves.

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