Page 75 of Molly Boys

Henry cast a glance downward after the door closed, only to realise Lord Stanley had left his gloves sitting on the table beside the coat stand. Grabbing them up, he opened the door and headed down the steps onto the street.

He glanced in both directions and couldn’t see his lordship anywhere, which struck Henry as strange; he couldn’t have disappeared from view that quickly. Henry’s gaze fell on something laying on its side in the snowdrift at the edge of the street. Moving toward it, he leaned down and picked it up.

It was Lord Stanley’s hat. Panic seized Henry’s stomach as he spun around, searching his surroundings. He ran forward until he reached the corner, when his eyes widened in horror and disbelief.

Surely, no man could be that huge. The giant was ambling through the icy streets toward a horse and cart, and slung over his shoulder was a limp form Henry instantly recognised as Lord Stanley.

“STOP!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. “STOP!”

He took off running toward the creature, not thinking about the sheer size of the man, his only thought to get to his employer… his friend.

The giant startled at Henry’s frantic shouts. He turned and Henry almost stumbled. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but the huge man’s eyes appeared to be glowing in the darkness. Henry’s heart pounded, but he knew he couldn’t stop. Despite the fear churning in his belly, he continued his pursuit.

Seeing Henry running toward him, the giant quickened his pace, dumping Lord Stanley’s unconscious form in the bed of the cart and hurrying to the driver’s seat.

From the corner of his eye, Henry saw two policemen appear, summoned by his frightened and desperate shouting.

“HELP!” Henry called to them, pointing toward the cart. “He’s abducted Lord Stanley! Stop him!”

The giant yanked the reins and set the two horses into a startled run.

“POLICE, STOP!” One of the constables yelled, placing his whistle in his mouth and letting out several shrill blasts.

Both policemen ran after the cart, followed by Henry, but their efforts were futile. There was no way to keep up with the horse-drawn cart as it rounded the corner, cutting off their pursuit. One of them slid on the ice and crashed into the railings close by, falling to the ground as the other man slowed to avoid where he lay. They both knew they’d missed their chance to stop the assailant.

Henry skidded to a halt, and together he and the other constable helped the injured fellow to his feet.

“Are you alright, Mr Merritt, sir?” The younger of the two asked, his eyes wide.

The constable brushed the snow from his uniform and retrieved his helmet from the ground, wincing as he touched a nasty gash to his forehead.

“I’m fine, Kips.” The one called Merritt breathed heavily as he turned toward Henry. “What happened?”

“Please.” Henry wrung his hands in worry. “You have to get to Inspector Franklin, tell him Lord Stanley was taken. You have to hurry or I’m afraid Lord Stanley will end up like the others.”

“Are you sayin’ that giant man was the one who took them men and butchered them?” Kips clarified.

“That’s exactly what he’s saying,” Merritt replied, sharing a worried look with Henry, “and he probably isn’t wrong.” He turned to the young freckle-faced constable. “We have to get back to the inspector immediately.”

Henry watched, his stomach twisted in such knots he felt like he was going to be sick, as the two constables took off running once again.

21

Constable Merritt burst into Archie’s office, red-faced and puffing heavily, a nasty cut to his forehead and a trickle of dried blood along his cheek. Constable Kips appeared behind him, his breathing also laboured from exertion.

“What happened?” Archie was on his feet in an instant, his gut twisting in panic at the sight of the men assigned to watch Everett’s house. “Was it Rackstraw’s men? Did they find the house?”

Merritt shook his head, sucking in a breath. “Sir, it’s Lord Stanley. He’s been taken.”

“What?” The colour drained from Archie’s face.

“Giant fella took ‘im,” Kips interrupted.

“How did this happen?” Archie growled. “I sent you there to watch the house.”

“You said you wanted a night patrol to look out for Leland Rackstraw’s men.” Merritt frowned as he wiped a fresh trickle of blood from his head wound. “We were patrolling Bedford Square in case they were lying in wait somewhere. We had no idea the killer was going after Lord Stanley.”

Archie couldn’t fault the man. He’d said he wanted a patrol and in all honesty, his major worry had been that Rackstraw would somehow find out where Jack was. It had never occurred to Archie that the monster Jack feared so much would go after Everett, especially after his failed abduction attempt at The Lotus Flower. Archie had assumed he’d move on to another possible victim.