Only the Thunder Knows_East End Girls (7 page)

“Well
that’s a wonderful little arrangement you and Billy have worked out for
yourselves. Easy pickings by the sound of it.” To the man she’d referred to as
Angus earlier, she turned and said, “See, I told you, I knew he was a smart
one, I did. Get him untied and help the gentleman to his feet.”

“Certainly,
my lady,” the muscular man said, and quickly came over and cut the knot on the
rope that bound William’s hands. Angus pulled him to his feet and dragged him over
to sit down in one of the desk chairs.

“Sorry
about the confusion, William,” Magenta said, taking one of the other seats
across the desk from him. “A bit of a mix-up is all. I was thinking you might
be…well, let’s just say I thought you were doing something else in the
graveyards. I like the way you and your mate operate though. I like it a
lot
.”

William
said nothing. He couldn’t think of anything that seemed appropriate and wasn’t
about to say something stupid to make her mad now that she seemed to be about
to let them walk away.

“I’ve
got a grand idea,” she said, a touch of that feral animal gaze creeping into
her eyes again. “How about from now on you and Billy work for me?”

The
way she said it, it didn’t exactly sound like a question.

“Doing
what?”

“That’s
the easy part. Doing exactly what you’re already doing.”

Now
it was William’s turn to look confused.

“You
want us to look for dead bodies for you?”

“No,
not quite. I want you to look for something else. Something
special!
”

Chapter

11

 “You’re
kidding me, right?”

It
was 10:00 a.m. the next day and it was Billy speaking. Even though William had
already explained the entire chain of events to him twice already, he still
couldn’t wrap his simple mind around things. They were back in the common room
at the Lodging House, resting by the fire after their long and strange night.

“The
strumpet from the theatre wants to hire us to search in the graveyards too,
same as old man Black?”

“That’s
what she said, yeah. You’d have heard her yourself if you didn’t hold your
booze like a wee girlie.”

“But
none of this makes sense,” Billy said, ignoring the jab his mate had thrown at
him. “She didn’t tell you what we’re supposed to be looking for either?”

“Nope.
Same as Black. Just told me she was after something
special
, whatever
the bloomin’ hell that means?”

“Think
they’re both after the same thing?”

“Almost
for sure, mate. Has to be.”

“And
they don’t know we’re being paid twice for the same dig?”

“Neither
knows the other person even exists. Black just thinks we’re greedy buggers,
which we
are
…and the woman thinks we’re working for Dr. Knox. ‘Tis a
thing of beauty, huh?”

“Sure
is, William. Unless of course they find out what we’re up to. That might no’ go
so well for us…hear?”

The
thought had occurred to Hare already, but it was a risk he was more than
willing to take. They’d made more money in the last month than in the entire
last year – and there was a lot more to be made where that had come from. Besides,
he wasn’t convinced they’d
ever
find anything other than dust and bones
in the old graves so what did it matter?

“That
won’t happen as long as you keep your big gob shut from here on out. We also
need to stop tossing around money at the pubs, hear? Some folks are already
starting to ask questions about where we suddenly struck it rich and if the
right people start looking our way we might be—”

A
loud banging noise echoed down the hall, cutting off William’s speech midsentence.
The noise had come from the sculptor’s room and seconds later they heard the
old man’s door swing open and the approach of his footsteps.

In
a whisper, William said, “Quiet…he’s coming. Not a word now, hear?”

Billy
nodded his head, his lips sealed.

Ambrosious
Black entered the common room dressed to the nines in a brand new black suit,
wool overcoat, and a matching top hat that made him look incredibly tall. He
wore a huge smile on his face and seemed to be in a wonderful mood, especially
for this early in the day. He removed his hat and bowed to the men sitting in
front of the fire.

“Morning,
gents…so glad you both could make it on time. Today’s an important day for us
and there’s no time to waste.”

“What’s
so bloody important about today?” Burke asked. “Why you dressed up so fancy
like?”

“I’m
dressed this way, Billy, because today’s the day we unveil my statue to the
city council. The Right Honorable Mr. Walter Brown, the Lord Provost of
Edinburgh himself will be there for the reveal.”

“You
mean it’s finished?” Hare asked, partly happy to be nearly done dealing with the
frightening Mr. Black and his beastly bird but equally sad that one of their
deep-pocketed benefactors might soon be leaving.

“Certainly
is, William, and I think you boys are going to love it as much as the people of
Edinburgh surely will. Come…we have to get moving.”

“Where
we going?” Burke asked.

“To
the cemetery, of course. We can’t build it here, dolt! The council paid handsomely
for a statue of Robert the Bruce to stand guard over Calton Burial Grounds and by
sundown tonight they’ll damn well have one. I’ve rented a block and tackle and
some scaffolding that should already be there waiting for us but I hope you
lads got yourselves a good night’s sleep. You’re in for a long day.”

William
was remembering how heavy the stones were when they’d first moved them from the
docks to the back room and wasn’t exactly looking forward to that kind of
strenuous activity today, not after everything he’d been through last night.

“Well,
at least the stones should be lighter than last time, now that you’ve chipped
away at them and such.”

“Very
true, William. Only some of them will be much more fragile now and I pray to
all that’s holy you and Billy Boy understand how important it is to me that you
get those stones there without any damage.”

“You
mean we won’t get any bonus wages if we break something?” Billy said, only half
joking, trying to be funny. Black’s mood instantly went darker than his name,
the smile vanishing from his pallid face. He bent down close to the men before
speaking in a quiet voice.

“I
mean I’ll rip the hearts out of your bone cages if you so much as chip one of
the stones. Understand?”

Both
burly men gulped down a healthy mouthful of fear.

“Yes
sir,” they answered together.

“Excellent!
Now let’s get to work.”

*  
*   *

The
day crawled by agonizingly slow for Burke and Hare, the physical labor of
moving and positioning the intricately sculpted stones not nearly as taxing on
the exhausted men as the prolonged mental stress of not dropping or damaging
the statue was. The pressure of having not only Black supervising their every
move, but also half the city council who were slowly gathering as the sculpture
got closer to completion, was intense and at times nearly overwhelming. Any
other day, on any other job, William and Billy would have walked away and quit
without a second look back but both men knew leaving wasn’t an option so they
kept their mouths shut and worked harder than either lazy man had worked in his
life.

At
least they’d had help.

The
scaffolding Black rented had indeed been waiting for them, fully assembled and
miraculously built in the proper place for them to get straight to work. William
still hadn’t held out much hope they could construct a large statue in one day
but waiting beside the scaffolding, block and tackle equipment in hand, had
been a tall muscular man in a wool pea coat and white captain’s hat. Something
had been familiar about him but neither Billy nor he had been able to place him
until Black introduced the man as Nicholas Garfield, the friend of his from
America who’d unloaded the original crates of stone from his Yankee Clipper
steamship onto the docks for them.

Mr.
Garfield hadn’t been much of a conversationalist. In fact, he barely said a
word other than muttering obscenities to urge Burke and Hare to hurry up
several times; but what he lacked in small talk he’d more than made up for in
sheer brute strength. Blocks of stone that Billy could barely push an inch
along the grass, Garfield moved with one huge calloused hand as if it were a
child’s play toy. William could remember wondering how one man could have
possibly unloaded Black’s crates that fog-shrouded night they’d first met, but
after watching the strongman work throughout the day he would never doubt him
again; and nor would he ever want to cross paths with the American in a less
agreeable situation. The man was a walking monstrosity, a physical freak of
nature and William wondered who some of Black’s other friends might be, but
quickly decided he’d rather not know – and definitely didn’t want to meet any
of them.

The
less he knew about his employer and his social circle, the better.

The
hours passed. By hook or by crook, by brute strength or incredible skill, by
stubborn hard work or perhaps simply good luck the statue slowly took shape. Black
himself took charge near the end for the finishing touches; disappearing with a
wire brush and a bucket of some awful smelling liquid beneath the massive tarp
he’d had them conceal the sculpture within to hide the finished product from
the gathering crowd’s eyes. He was out of sight for over half an hour, but just
as the last of the sun’s rays were fading in the coal-polluted western sky
Black appeared with an empty bucket and a huge smile on his sweaty face.

His
statue was finished.

Burke
and Hare were grinning nearly as much as the sculptor, never being more
thankful that a day’s work was finally over. They moved off to the side and happily
stayed out of the way as Black quickly cleaned himself up and then launched
into a brief but passionate speech about his sculpture.

“History
remembers how King Robert made his last stand against the English hordes
outside the nearby town of Bannockburn, June the twenty-fourth, in the year of
our Lord thirteen hundred and fourteen, but what many Scots don’t recall was
that many of those brave souls who died defending the flag that day came from
Edinburgh and their bodies were brought back and buried right here in Calton
Cemetery.”

There
was a smattering of applause, and then Black continued.

“It’s
my fervent hope that this statue remain in this hallowed place for hundreds of
years, reminding all who stand in the Bruce’s mighty shadow exactly how high a
price this nation paid for its independence and the brave men and women of this
great city paid for the freedom you enjoy today.”

When
he was done, the small gathering of city officials and onlookers politely
applauded and Black stepped to the side to allow Mr. Brown, the Lord Provost to
begin his own speech about how excited the city council was to bring this statue
to fruition after years of planning and how he hoped the people of Edinburgh
would appreciate this tribute to the great man every proud Scotsman owed a massive
debt to.

There
was more applause followed by a round of handshaking; none of which interested
Burke or Hare in the least. As Irishmen, it was all just useless political talk;
they didn’t give the slightest damn about Robert the Bruce or any of these
fancy toffs’ boring history lessons. They just wanted to get this ceremony over
with, get paid, and make their way to the nearest pub for a stiff drink or two.
As far as they were concerned, they’d earned it.

The
chairman of the council thanked Black for all his efforts (naturally failing to
make mention of all the back-breaking work William and Billy had just done) and
signaled for the tarp to be removed. With great fanfare, several members of the
crowd grabbed hold of the edge of the canvas and began to pull. Inch by inch
the cover slid off the wooden scaffolding and soon dropped to their feet on the
grass. Even William gasped when he saw what was revealed.

“Look
at
that
, Billy!” he said.

Both
men stood to their feet, suddenly just as interested in the statue as the rest
of the excited crowd obviously was. Everyone was clapping and yelling and slapping
Black on the back, congratulating him for his incredible work. The statue of
King Robert stood close to twelve feet tall to the tips of his crown, the
details in his handsome face, intricate armor, and the huge sword strapped to
his hip all so realistic it nearly took the uncultured workers’ (along with everyone
else’s) breaths away. Burke and Hare had known the sculptor’s skill was top-notch
and without equal as they’d watched the statue slowly take shape today, but the
stones had still been covered in dust and grime and even they’d been unprepared
for the beauty of this final product.

“How’d
he get it so shiny?” Billy asked, but William wasn’t much help.

“Don’t
know, mate. Had to be whatever that stinky liquid was in the bucket. Looks like
he’s been polishing it for months. That’s no’ possible…is it?”

Billy
could only shrug.

They
had to wait around for another half an hour, waiting for the crowd to disperse
but eventually the excitement died down and the members of the city council took
their leave, more than pleased with the magnificent statue they’d commissioned.
Black eventually came over to speak with them, handing William a heavy stack of
coins.

“You
lads did good work today. Better than expected, truth be told.”

“Are
we getting that bonus, then?” Billy said, always the clown.

Black
looked at him sternly for a moment but then burst into laughter. “Why in blazes
not, huh? You’ve caught me in a rare mood, Billy. Here you go.” The sculptor
dropped another few coins in Burke’s outstretched filthy hand. “Now get out of
my sight. I want to have a few moments of peace with King Robert if you don’t
mind.”

“Of
course not, sir,” William said. “Just one question, gov’nor. What was in the
bucket that made the stone polish up like that?”

The
smile on Ambrosious Black’s face faltered a little at the question but he
recovered quickly and said, “Just soap and warm water and some good ol’
fashioned elbow grease.”

“Soap
and water? That’s it? Impossible!”

“Nothing’s
impossible, William. You’d be surprised what can be accomplished with hard
work. And speaking of which…you lads need to get crackin’ on your
other
job
for me. Time is short and I’m expecting results, not excuses, hear?”