Page 31 of The Secret of the Dashing Detective
The dog had been scared off – and seemed to be nowhere else in sight.
“We’ll return later.”
Matthew had somehow found his footing and risen onto his haunches, for he was now kneeling next to her, his warm, low voice in her ear.
“She likely won’t be here,” Juliana said, unable to help the melancholy in her tone. “She only comes here mid-morning, and now we might have scared her off forever.”
“I doubt that,” Matthew said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “She knows that you’ll be here for her, and we didn’t do anything that harmed her in any way. She’ll be back.”
He patted her shoulder one more time as though he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with his hand, before he rose to his feet.
“Come now,” he said, holding out a hand, “we have the dogs of Cheapside to save.”
* * *
They were such an odd gathering,standing around in a grouping together. All were of varying ages, economics, and completely different walks of life.
Yet, in some ways, Matthew was aware that they had more in common than many groups of people who gathered together for more social of situations.
They were armed with plenty of scraps of food as well as a few ropes to capture the dogs if necessary. None of them actually held a weapon of any sort, as far as Matthew could tell.
“Did anyone bring a knife? Or a pistol?”
They all stared at him as though he had suggested that they should use the weapons to shoot him on the spot.
“Matthew,” Juliana exclaimed, stepping forward and speaking for them all, “why would we ever bring weapons? We are here tohelpthe animals, not to hurt them!”
“I was actually more considering how you might protect yourselves from anyone who might try to stop you – although it is also likely a good idea to have some protection against a dog who considers you a threat – or lunch.”
“Matthew!” Juliana protested, and he nearly had to roll his eyes at her naivety.
He supposed that was why he was here.
“Not to worry,” he said, double checking that he had his knife in his belt, his pistol at his back, and a dagger in his boot.
Matthew sighed in resignation as the group before him began to spread out, looking down side alleys and in the corners between buildings – everywhere that he would have told them to avoid.
He should have brought more of his men.
But, he told himself, besides Juliana, none of the rest of them were any of his concern. Except that he couldn’t help that he had started to feel a great deal of admiration for each of the people he had watched in meetings over the past few weeks. He would keep his eyes on Juliana, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do all he could to ensure the safety of the entirety of the group.
Juliana had paired with Miss Polley, who followed Juliana much more timidly down the street. Juliana took her arm exuberantly and led her down to a small square.
“We should find a butcher shop.”
“Why a butcher shop?” Miss Polley asked, obviously horrified. “Those are the very places we should beavoiding.”
“But if you were a hungry dog, where would you go?”
Miss Polley’s face fell in chagrined acceptance, and she pushed her glasses back up her nose. Matthew had a hard time picturing her wrangling a stray dog. “I suppose you are right. But where are we going to find a butcher?”
“I can help with that,” Matthew said, stepping forward. “Follow me.”
He could only hope that they could take care of this discreetly enough that no one would notice what they were doing – and that Juliana and Miss Polley could avoid telling the butcher shop exactly what they thought of its practices.
For that had the potential to send this entire plan down a path that would be detrimental for all of them.
Matthew couldn’t help but admire Juliana’s bravery. Here was the daughter – now sister – of a duke, walking into a situation where she had no idea what to expect. The least he could do was to make sure that no one, be it human or canine, took advantage of her.
