BooksBarbecue
Back The Dazzle of the Light Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. Praise for Georgina Clarke
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. Historical Note
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. Also by Georgina Clarke
  54. About the Author
  55. Copyright

‘He’s probably hidden it too well,’ Maggs scoffs. ‘You know what he’s like. That place is like Aladdin’s cave.’

‘No, Maggs. Solly says that it stuck to Ruby’s fingers as she was helping him hide the goods. He says she didn’t want to give it up in the first place. And that she’s a thieving bloody magpie – his exact words to me.’ She is still staring at Ruby, waiting for her to respond.

Ruby shrugs. ‘He always says that. That’s what he calls me. Like Maggs says, he’ll have forgotten where he’s put it. I bet if I were to go home, I could find it in five minutes.’

Annie keeps staring. She says nothing for a moment. Then she sniffs and reaches into her handbag for her cigarettes. ‘Alright,’ she says, fiddling for a smoke. ‘Have it your way. You go home to Solly’s, and you go right now, and you find that brooch in five minutes, like you say, and give it to the old man. Or I swear, Ruby Mills, I’ll shake you so hard you’ll be shitting diamonds all week.’

Ruby does not blink. She does not move.

‘Go on, fuck off.’ Annie lights up and rests back in her chair. ‘And don’t ever forget who you work for – and what you owe to us.’

Ruby drains her glass, as slowly as she dares, before standing up and pulling on her coat. The crescent moon is weighing heavier on the inside of her dress, and she wonders briefly if any of the women will notice the altered line of her clothes or hear it, if it knocks against the table. She eases herself carefully away from them, the fury growing in her chest.

She doesn’t look at Billy as she walks across the saloon to the door. He will know, he will guess, what has happened. And he won’t be happy.

9

9

Thursday morning

In a back street near the Haymarket, early in the grey morning, Ruby scrapes dog shit from the underside of her shoe on the edge of the pavement. It’s only an ordinary shoe but it doesn’t deserve to stink. She finds a small puddle and taps the ball of her foot into the muddy water, shakes the shoe, then lifts her heel up to inspect the damage. The sticky mess is all gone, but she’ll smell it for the rest of the day unless she can distract herself.

She leans against a lamppost for a moment and watches a drayman rolling barrels into the cellar of a small public house. She has no desire to rush on with her errand. The iron hoops land hard against the cellar floor with a metallic clang and men’s shouts reverberate from below the ground. The noise fills the street.