Page 35 of The Ambiguous Enigma of the Hunted Lady
The criminality of the block was openly displayed – a true terror of a place to anyone not of an unsavory character. Even those such as Nash, who had grown up between the Rookery and White Chapel, felt ill at ease when strolling through the Devil's Acre.
Keeping calm, Nash hummed the tune to his favorite lullaby beneath his breath.Two sticks and an apple, say the bells of White Chapel.
At the top of it all, in what could only be described as a dilapidated penthouse, Riphook made his home. It was one of several places that he called his, but if you were to call on him for business then the Almonry was where you would find him.
They waited beside the ash-blasted door, nervously dodging looks from the two massive doormen until they were let in to see the boss.
“What do you want, Nash?” Riphook barely looked up from his bowl of steaming soup.
How can he eat hot soup in the summer?
“I don't see that Benson brat with you.”
“No boss, I don't have her.” Nash gulped down his anxiety and fished out the note. “But I got this from one of my drops. A doctor fellow.”
“Bring it here.” Riphook leaned back from his bowl, plucking his napkin from his remarkably clean shirt. He pushed the bowl aside a bit and reached out his hand for the paper.
“Here you go, boss.” Nash dropped the note into Riphook's hand and took a quick step back beside Digby. Riphook studied the note with intensity for a moment, and then set it down.
“Do you know how The Devil's Acre came to be, you two?” Riphook gestured between the two of them with the folded piece of paper between his fingers.
“No boss.” Digby admitted with a shrug.
“Do you, Nash?”
“No, boss.” Nash and Digby exchanged a confused, nervous glance. Riphook was notoriously unpredictable.
“It's an old thing, old you see. Started back in Medieval times. The priests here,” he gestured behind him at the shadow of the Abby, “they offered sanctuary to criminals, such as us. To them, it didn't settle right that a man should be hung for trying to feed his family. I tend to agree with them. Would you?”
“Sure, boss.” Nash had no clue as to where this rant was headed.
“So, all these hog thieves and pickpockets got their families together, set up shacks on the churchyard. Called it sanctuary, like it was its own city, right beside the minster. If there is one thing those highborn lads couldn't do back then, it was step on the church, so for hundreds of years that sanctuary grew until it was all fenced in by bricks, and then it began building atop itself. It became its own entity, not a part of London, don't you see? It is its own creation.
“So, we can all live here because of the church?” Nash did not understand if there was supposed to be some sort of hidden meaning to the story.Perhaps it is beyond me.
“Well, at first, not anymore. It got to be so the King didn't care one way about the church. Look at all the burnt-out monasteries. Ha! No, the church don't offer no protection no more. We're still here because we became our own creation. Because after all these years, nobody on the outside can touch us.”
Nash decided to take a chance on a response. He said, “But people on the inside can?”
“Exactly!” Riphook pounded his fist on the desk, sending droplets of soup out across the pinewood. “I've always liked you, Nash, you've got a good head on your shoulders. Look at that, twice now I seen him.” Riphook gestured enthusiastically to Digby, standing by Nash's side. “You got your own crew and all.”
“A bit of one, at least.” Nash blushed a bit. The praise was well received; he had been in need of emotional support since his failing with Leah.
“You know a Doctor F?” Riphook inquired suddenly, snapping back to business.
“That'd be Doctor Fowler.” Nash pieced together. “He owes me off some gambling houses that he couldn't keep out of.”
“How the rich love to give away their money.” Riphook chuckled. “He says he treated the Benson girl, some place called Worthington. Have you heard of it?”
“No, boss.”
“Do you trust this Dr. Fowler?”
“Sure, I do. Knows he can't get away from the debt so he's paying it.”
“Fair enough.” Riphook bit at his lip. Nash knew this as a sign that he was thinking something serious over. “How much did she owe?”
“Few hundred pounds as far as I recall. But she stole another handful on her way out.”
