Despite Hewlett’s feeling of satisfaction that he’d escaped unnoticed, Tommy Bowman had observed his departure. He sauntered into the street at a suitable distance behind the former Beadle. “Looks t’ be plannin’ a journey, ’e does,” he muttered to himself. “An’ good riddance.” Tommy had earned his pennies from Mick Howell.
Ned woke next to George in an unfamiliar but comfortable bed. Confused by being clad in a shirt with sheets on the bed and no chain around his ankle, he wondered where he was.
Then the memory of the previous night flooded back, especially the thrilling flight from the roof of the Pavilion to the roof of a house in the street behind it. He remembered being bundled down the stairs and into a wagon, then a bewildering ride with men who all seemed to know one another, and
