“How’d we find you?” Iolanthe smiled. “It wasn’t too difficult. I have a special arrangement with the hotels in this city.”
“That don’t surprise me,” Mr. Punch grunted.
“All we had to do, really, was ask if anyone had seen two Englishmen, a colored woman and a baby.” Ulrika smirked.
“Did you really think that you could hide from me in my own city, Your Grace?” Iolanthe laughed.
“Aren’t you going to invite us in?” Ulrika chuckled. “It isn’t the first time Iolanthe’s been in a hotel room with two gentlemen.”
“Nor you, Ulrika.” Iolanthe growled.
“I really do hate both of you—so very much.” Mr. Punch shook his head. “I gotta say, I’d rather invite the Devil himself into me room than either of you.” He sighed. “And, ain’t it queer that the two of ya have become so chummy?”
“Anything is possible when two women are united in one cause.” Ulrika answered, pushing past Mr. Punch and entering the room.
“Here!” Punch moaned. “Get out!”
“Oh, isn’t it sweet, really?” Ulrika scowled at Robert and the child who lay asleep on the bed. “It’s like a painting. What would we call it, ‘The Abductor and Child’?”
“We ain’t abductin’ nobody.” Punch snorted. “The boy is ours.”
“He isn’t, actually.” Iolanthe clucked her tongue, entering the room as well.
“He sure as Hell ain’t Barbara’s.” Mr. Punch retorted.
“No.” Iolanthe shook her head. “He belongs to Mr. Edward Cage.”
“He ain’t no sack of dry goods nor some carriage what belongs to no one. Just because you sold him don’t mean that he has to stay where he was. What’s it to you anyway? Huh? Ain’t like Mr. Cage is gonna take you to court to get his money back! He don’t want nobody to know where he got the boy! Coo, he’s my kin, he is. Got me blood in his veins and he belongs with me.”
“And the doctor?” Ulrika chuckled.
“Where I go, so does the doctor.” Mr. Punch snarled.
“Touching.” Iolanthe replied, starting to walk toward the bed.
“No!” Mr. Punch grabbed her by the arm. “Now, listen to me, Ogress. I’ll kill both of ya before I let you put one of your grimy fingers on that child.”
“Like you did with Arthur?” Ulrika grinned. “The people you ‘kill’ don’t stay dead.”
“This time, they will. I learned how to do it proper from you, Ogress. You killed me master’s mum and you killed Naasir. And, isn’t that a damn pity because now he ain’t here to keep me from killin’ both of you right now like what he done with Arthur!”
“You wouldn’t hurt us.” Iolanthe laughed, wrenching her arm from Punch’s grasp. “You’re too much of a coward and you’re far too soft.”
“But, he’s no fool, is he, Iolanthe?” Ulrika winked. “He’s not the utter imbecile that he appears to be.”
“No,” Iolanthe smiled. “He’s no fool. He’s a right smart gentleman. And because he’s so smart, he’s going to make sure we get what we want.”
Meanwhile, in the creaking hull of some foreign-bound ship, Arthur huddled next to the very man with whom he’d previously been fighting.
“Now, Gerard, you know what we’re gonna do?” Arthur said, his eyes wild as he clutched the man’s’ hand in his own.
“I do, Artie, me boy.” Gerard beamed.
“Ain’t this is sight better than fightin’?” Arthur grinned broadly, his yellow teeth shining in the lamplight.
“A lot more profitable, yes.” Gerard nodded.
“We’ll dock soon. You get the rope. I’ll get the iron.”
Did you miss Chapters 1-212? If so, you can read them here.
4 comments:
Another great chapter, the action and the dialogue are so vivid.
Thank you, Darcy!
Those two "ladies" make anyone want to grab a stick and beat them to a pulp. How does Punch restrain himself???
Punch has developed something of a sense of circumstances. But, if anyone could push him back into his stick-hitting ways, it's Iolanthe and Ulrika. Thanks for reading, Dashwood!
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