The storm had worsened overnight. Heavy sheets of thick rain pelted Nairo as she left the pub. With one arm shielding her eyes, Nairo sprinted for the back of the hansom cab. She leapt in and Barney pulled the door shut behind her.

“Ooof, ominous downpour. An inauspicious start to the day’s adventures,” Barney said, eyeing the dark storm clouds.

“Thanks Barn,” Jimmy said as he shook the rain from his hair. The cab pulled away from the shabby little pub and peeled left into the sodden morning traffic along the river’s edge. “We should only be five minutes crack of the whip from Thorny Street.”

“And we’re meeting who?” Ridley asked.

“Little Cripper,” Barney replied.

“Creepy little bastard,” Jimmy added. “We’ll grab the supplies and be off. This rain should help us get you two in.”

“No guard is going A and B the C of D today,” Barney agreed.

“What?” Ridley said.

“Above and Beyond the Call of Duty, keep up.”

“Yeah Ridley, everyone knows that,” Nairo needled.

“Listen up,” Jimmy interjected. “Once we’re in sight of the Houses you two are on your own. You need to join the delivery line and slip your way in through the kitchens. Once you’re inside make for the large servery cupboard. You can ditch the browns and get hold of a trolley. Get out of the kitchens as fast as you can and make your way to the third floor toilets.”

“Yeah yeah, we know,” Ridley said with a wave of his hand.

“Hopefully the whole place will be so nuts no one will notice you.”

“And if you are besieged by some black tops, tell them you’re bringing Purple Mabs his salmon and roe,” Barney said. “Heavens protect the man that holds up Old Mabs brekky.”

“Purple Mabs, understood,” Nairo said.

The cab lurched around another corner and began slowing.

“Here we are. Barney, pay the man.” Jimmy hopped out of the cab into the deluge with Ridley and Nairo close behind fighting their way through the rain and into a dim alley.

“Where is the little bastard?” Jimmy growled, looking left and right.

“The bastards ‘ere,” came a deep guttural voice from under the thin covering of a window sill.

Nairo snapped around to her left and peered at a round shape squatting on a bricked up window sill. He had a shock of fiery hair and a smattering of freckles plastered across his robust little cheeks. The boy had a squashed piggy nose with a permanent dribble of snot running down his top lip.

“Oh, Little Cripper, I didn’t see ya there,” Jimmy said nervously.

The little boy glared with open hostility, his eyes narrowed venomously.

“Have you found the nasty little bugger…” Barney called down the alley as he came upon them. “Oh… hullo Little Cripper.”

The boy turned his hateful gaze on Barney.

“Want a sweetie?”

“Gimme,” Little Cripper growled, sticking out his pudgy little hand.

Barney fished around his pocket desperately searching for a treat. He sighed with relief and pulled a striped candy from his pocket. Gingerly, he extended his arm like he was feeding a tiger and hastily dropped the sweet into Little Cripper’s awaiting hand. With verminous speed, Little Cripper snatched the sweet up and ripped through the wrapper with the three, sharp, yellow teeth, seemingly the only ones he had. He gnawed at the sweet but never took his eyes from them.

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“Cripper said you had something for us?” Jimmy asked after a respectful amount of time.

Little Cripper looked up from his sweet, clearly annoyed, and pointed to the bin next to him. Hesitantly, Jimmy lifted the lid and looked inside to find two burlap sacks. Ridley nudged Barney and pointed to the foot of the bin where there was a half eaten rat carcass with the head still attached.

“Did he eat that rat?” Ridley hissed.

Barney’s eyes grew wide and he shrugged. His eyes nervously flicked back to the feral youth who was watching them. Jimmy fished the two sacks out of the bin and nodded to Little Cripper.

“Thanks,” he spun on his heels and hustled away without another word.

“Bye bye little chum,” Barney said. He attempted to reach out and pat Little Cripper, only to have his hand snapped at. “Blimey!” Barney cried and he took off after the others.

“What the hell was that?” Ridley asked once he was sure they were safe.

“Little Cripper,” Jimmy answered quietly.

“Creepy little bastard,” Barney and Nairo intoned at the same time.

“Yeah…” Ridley agreed.

They stomped through the rain in silence until they left the cluster of narrow alleys and entered back onto the main causeway to the Houses. Before they left the gloom of the alleyway, Jimmy held up his arm to stop them. He tried to whisper to them but the thunderous rain drowned him out to the point that he was shouting at them before he was done.

“Take these sacks. Show them to the guards and tell ‘em you're delivering for lunch. The delivery entrance is round the back on the dock. We’ll see you soon!” He looked left and right and then vanished into the throng of morning commuters.

“Good luck Master Ridley! Good luck Miss Sally! Our parting will surely be short!” Barney strode out of the alley with a beaming smile. Ridley and Nairo waited a few seconds.

“You ready?” Ridley asked.

Nairo felt her stomach go cold. She looked down at her chest where her badge should have been. Then she glanced into the dark alley, the faint smell of copper wafted past her nose. She clenched her jaw grimly and nodded.

“Let’s do this.”

Ridley nodded and stepped out of the alley with Nairo close behind him. They fought through the teeming traffic and Nairo was glad for the pelting rain: everyone had their eyes glued to the cobbles in front of them as they begrudgingly navigated the downpour. Ridley’s uncanny sense of direction proved true as he led them out of the throng and down the slimy steps to the Houses’ private docks. The Houses were a monstrosity that required an enormous amount of daily produce and deliveries to keep it lurching along. Already, there were lines of ships docking or waiting to dock. The pier was teeming with dockers and thankfully the rain was keeping fist fights to a minimum. Ridley slipped through the burly workers with the confidence of a lifelong stevedore. Occasionally he would pop his head up against the rain and look around like a meerkat. After a few minutes, they had danced and shoved their way to the back of a line of similarly brown clad men clutching or pushing various sacks and boxes. They were lined up in what resembled an orderly fashion as the rain lashed across the pier. Nairo peeked up from under her hat, rain streaming down her neck and back.

“This looks like the right place,” she said to Ridley.

“Yeah, now all we gotta do is wait.”

And wait they did. The rain never ceased. The men became increasingly sodden, their bodies lilting like cardboard under the ferocity of the deluge. Some complained, but their miserable words were snatched by the wind. Others forlornly struggled to get smokes lit, only to give up and throw away their ruined dog ends with muttered curses. The line inexorably stomped forward. As the rain worsened and the thunder came in, the line picked up speed.

“Looks like the guards have had enough,” Ridley said miserably.

As they came closer, Nairo shouldered the heavy sack of fish she had been dragging and bent her head down trying to hide under the brim of her cap.

“Stop! Wot you got there?” The guard was of a thick oafish disposition, perfect for mindless guard duty. He was wearing a heavy poncho that made him look like a circus tent with a head.

“Fish mate, fer lunch,” Ridley said.

He swung the sack down and opened it up. The guard peered inside and waved his hand in front of his face.

“They smells rotten. You ain't bringing no rotten fish in ‘ere. Sling yer hook.”

Nairo’s eyes widened and she looked at Ridley.

“Mate they’re fresh caught this morning!”

“If they’re fresh this morning my granny’s a goat. Get lost before I give yer a clip.”

“They’re liver sea bream,” Nairo blurted out.

“Wot?”

“Liver sea bream,” Ridley continued hastily. “These are a delicacy, fella. They go for two gold a kilo!”

“Two gold!”

“Aye. Our Guv’nor said yore lot ‘ave put in a special order for these.”

“Who?”

“Don't know,” Nairo said. “Something about a special lunch for some purple guy.”

“Mabs?” The guard exchanged a worried glance with his partner and then he nodded. “You get along then and sharpish. Move!”

Ridley thanked the guard and they shuffled through the service door as quickly as possible. Ridley’s eyes went wide and he looked at Nairo with relief.

“Very clever,” he said.

Nairo nodded. Her heart was pounding in her throat. The heavy gate slammed shut behind them. There was no going back now.