He hadn’t even been very worried when his mother became sick with fever. She stayed in bed for the day while he went to school. But when he’d come home that afternoon, she’d been barely coherent. And when he fetched the doctor, the man had demanded payment in advance. Aidan hadn’t been able to find more than a few shillings, and the doctor left without a backward look. Aidan had asked the neighbors for help, but they’d never liked him or his mother much. They said she put on airs. And so in the end, his mother had died, and he’d been the only one with her, the only one who cared. He didn’t have the funds for a burial, so the city had taken her away. And then the rent had come due, and he’d been out on the street.
He’d considered going to his father’s family, but they had refused to help his mother. Why would they care about him? He pushed thoughts of his mother away. It still hurt to think of her, and he’d cried enough tears to fill the Thames. He tried to cry late at night, when Jenny was asleep, but sometimes she reached over and held his hand, so he knew she heard him.
But they didn’t talk about it. Just like they weren’t going to talk about how she’d just tried to strangle him.
“Who were those boys?” he asked now.
“Part of a gang. The arch rogue is the leader. They steal for ‘im. In return, ‘e gives them safety. ‘E also beats them regularly and sells the girls as whores. Last thing I want is to be part of a gang.”
She’d talked about gangs before and taught Aidan to avoid them whenever possible. Once they’d hidden in a cellar for two hours to wait for a gang to move on. Aidan asked the question he’d wanted to ask then. “Why don’t the children go to the magistrate and report the arch rogue? It’s not legal to sell people or force them to steal.”
She gave him a look he was beginning to recognize. It was her are-you-completely-daft look. “Wot does the magistrate care? No one cares wot ‘appens to a child around ‘ere.”
Aidan was beginning to learn that.
“And them magistrates don’t want to deal with the arch rogues. Everyone stays out of their way.”
Aidan closed his eyes. Surviving was exhausting most of the time. “We’ll have to find another place to sleep.”
“Another month or so and we can sleep outside.”
“We also need something to eat.” His stomach was always reminding him of that fact.
“Wot we really need,” she said, looking about, “is blunt.”
Aidan straightened at what was, perhaps, his favorite word. She was right, of course. They did need coin. But he’d tried many times over the past couple of months to secure some form of employment, and at best he was ignored and at worst he was kicked or otherwise assaulted. “We’ve tried that.”
“It’s time I taught ye a new skill,” she said. “ ‘Ousebreaking.”
“I don’t like stealing.”
“ ‘Ow do ye like starving to death?”
Aidan had to admit, he liked that even less.
Jenny led him halfway around London until they stopped in a park across from several enormous houses. “Why are we in Mayfair?” he asked. His father had lived in this part of London. He didn’t know where precisely that house was, but his mother had pointed it out to him when he’d been younger. He scrutinized these houses, but none looked like the Earl of Cranbourne’s.
She stopped under a tree whose branches were heavy with green leaves and pulled him into the shade with her. “Before I met ye, I’d been watching this ‘ouse. The people who live ‘ere are so rich they ‘ave another ‘ouse in the country. Right now they’re still away and only a ‘andful of servants are ‘ere to keep this ‘ouse. And ye know wot that means.”
Aidan tried to think what it could mean.
“When the master is away, the servants play.”
“I think it’s when the cat is away, the mice—”
“I don’t care. When they’re out or asleep tonight, I’ll break in and take a few silver candlesticks or plates to sell. They won’t even know it’s gone.”
“What do I do?” Aidan said.
“Ye keep watch. Make sure no one sees me go in or out. Ye think ye can do that?”
“Yes, but what if they catch you inside?” Fear roiled in his belly. This was why he hadn’t wanted to become attached to Jenny. He could so easily lose her. He tried to tell himself it was just because he’d probably be dead without her. He reminded himself that most of the time she acted as though she could hardly stand him. But it was hard not to like her anyway. She was clever and resourceful and almost always shared with him.
“I can take care of myself,” she said, and Aidan believed it.
They went to the river to watch the ships pass while they waited for dark. “I don’t like you taking such a big risk,” Aidan said, dangling his legs over the bridge.
“I’ve done it a ‘undred times,” she said. “Ye do yer part, and we’ll be fine. The Watch will be out, and if they walk by when I’m going in or out, ye ‘ave to distract them. I’m trusting ye to do yer part.” She gave him a long look.
Aidan wanted to ask who had betrayed her and made her so suspicious, but he knew he wouldn’t get an answer. “Who taught you to break into houses?”
“My father. ‘E didn’t teach me so much as take me with ‘im. I could squeeze through small windows and little openings then go to the front door and let ‘im in. ‘E’s a big man and not so steady on ‘is feet when ‘e drinks. And ‘e always drinks.”
She’d mentioned her parents only once or twice before. “Where is your father now?”
“Who cares?” she said with a shrug. “Probably passed out on the floor of a gin ‘ouse. I stopped working with ‘im when I was six or seven after ‘e—”
Aidan waited, but she didn’t finish. “After he?”
“A woman came upon us one night when we were pilfering. My father wasn’t being very quiet, and the noise probably woke ‘er. I wanted to run, but my father, ‘e seemed to like being caught. ‘E took a candlestick and beat ‘er until it seemed like the whole room was spattered in red. ‘E said ‘e ‘ad to kill ‘er or she’d tell the magistrate. But it were dark, and she wouldn’t ‘ave recognized us.”
Aidan stared at her. “Then why did he kill her? Why did he do it?”
She looked at him, her eyes gray and hard, but her face was almost beautiful. He could see that with a bit more food and a bath, she’d be striking. “Because ‘e likes to ‘urt and ‘e likes to kill. I stay away from ‘im,” she said.
“Then we’ll both keep away from him, and I’ll watch your back.”
She gave him a look laced with doubt, but he knew he’d prove himself in time. His life was tied to Jenny’s now. He’d protect her with his life.
II
“I like it up here,” Aidan said. They’d climbed to the top of one of the roofs and his gaze roved over what he could see of London. This roof was higher than some others, and he could make out St. Paul’s in the distance as well as the trestles of London Bridge. Jenny sat beside him, and she gave him a grin.