Trapped in 1895

That afternoon Cheryl was just gently tidying the dining room when a voice behind her spoke. Cheryl jumped and said, “I’m getting tired of you sneaking up on me like that.”

“I’ve got another job for you,” said Dan.

“Why the hell should I do any more work for you?”

“Because you still owe me two hundred and eighty-five quid.”

“Bollocks. You paid me twenty-four the night and five for the black eye. That makes two hundred and seventy-five.”

“Plus ten quid interest.”

“Interest! You’re a bloody thief.”

“It’s called lending, and the law allows a person to charge interest. A very reasonable one, if you ask me.”

“Not what you bloody charge.”

“Do this job for me and I will give you thirty quid and wave the interest.”

“No more interest after that,” said Cheryl

“If you get me what I want.”

“Well what do you want?”

“I don’t know yet, but I will. I want you to take a job as a housemaid and keep your eyes and ears open, then tell me everything.”

“Like a spy.”

“Yeah, like a spy,” said Ugly Dan.

“What do you want to know this stuff for?”

Ugly Dan leaned forward to speak in a quiet tone.

“Some people rob others, others rob houses, banks or stagecoaches and others do bad things. Me, I steal information. No law against that and there’s other people that pay handsomely for that information or wants to keep it to themselves.”

“That’s called blackmailing.′

“Blackmailing, eh. I like that. No law against it, anyway.”

“There will be one day.”

Ugly Dan looked sharply at Cheryl.

“How do you know that, young miss?”

“Tell me more about this job.” Said Cheryl.

“An American family has taken a place I own. I charge a goodly rent but I’ll be blowed if I know how he pays it.”

“Getting it from America,” suggested Cheryl.

“I’ve got fingers everywhere, luv. He isn’t getting any money from the States.”

“What am I supposed to do then?”

“You start as a housemaid tomorrow. Do your job, but keep your eyes and ears open. Make notes of who comes and who goes. Where does the wife go? Who is the children’s governess?”

“What do you expect to get out of this?”

“Money, dearie, and more than that. Power.”

Cheryl approached Mrs. Hill to speak to her about getting the time off.

“Yes, yes, Mr. Morrison has already talked to me about it. I asked you before if you knew Mr. Morrison.”

“Only that time I told you about it.”

“Why is he so interested in you?”

“I owe him some money, I guess?”

“That’s a pity. Well, what Ugly Dan wants, Ugly Dan gets. The job will be here for you. Good luck.”

Cheryl stood outside the house, the butterflies churning up her stomach. She stepped forward, about to use the door knocker, when it sprang open and two children shot out. The smaller one went straight into Cheryl’s legs and became entangled in her dress. The larger child hopped around gleefully shouting, “Alicia is a clumsy clut.” while the younger one, entangled in Cheryl’s dress yelled, “I’m not”.

A harassed young woman came out.

“Oh dear, please excuse my children,” she said in a long, soft drawl.

“That’s all right,” Cheryl replied and extracted Alicia, who ran off giggling, “I’m Miss Brown. The housemaid.”

“Oh thank goodness you’re here. The place is in a state and my husband is bringing guests. Can you cook? My cook quit. She couldn’t take the children anymore.”

“Yes, I can cook well enough to get you out of trouble,” replied Cheryl, thanks to Mrs. Cole.

“Oh good. Look, just go in and make yourself at home. Your room is on the third floor. The only room on that floor. I’ve got to take these little devils to their tutor.”

“You don’t have a governess.”

“No. The last one lasted three days. Ok, talk to you later.”

Gripping the collars of the children, she marched them down the street.

Cheryl entered the house and was immediately impressed, it was difficult to think that Ugly Dan would own such a house. The front door opened into a hallway that ran through the house.

Cheryl stood at the foot of the stairs and listened. She was sure nobody else was in the house. Strange, she thought, if you had something to hide you wouldn’t leave a stranger alone in it. She trudged up the three flights of stairs. The third floor wasn’t really a floor but the attic. At the top of the stairs were only two doors. She tried the first one, which was locked, the other opened into a little bedroom. Cheryl was impressed. It was much nicer than the one at the professors. It was smaller but cosier and had a gas heater in the fireplace. It had a nice little bed, very soft, unlike the professors, which had lumps in the mattress she was constantly smoothing. A clothing cupboard and dressing table. She breathed a sigh of relief to find there was no wash basin or chamber pot.This house was furnished with water closets. A nice plus was her window that looked out over a lovely park, not like the professors, which was over a dirty courtyard with an outhouse whose smell sometimes reached her open window.

She unpacked her clothes and toiletries, changed into her housemaids dress, and went downstairs. As she descended to the second floor, she listened again. Nothing. She looked around and noticed there were six doors and she hesitated entering the first. Maybe she should wait for the Mistress, but then again she was here to spy. She opened the door into the main bedroom, the Master and Mistress. A very nice bedroom but nothing suspicious, the second two doors were the children’s, the fourth a spare room, the fifth a water closet, which was a pleasant surprise and the last a sort of child’s playroom.

She descended to the ground floor and was about to enter the nearest door when the Mistress entered.

“Oh, thank goodness,” she drawled, “I love these little girls but am sure glad when they are with their tutor.”

She removed her coat to hang it on a coat rack near the door.

“She used to be a headmistress at a girls’ boarding school. She ruled with an iron fist and the girls are terrified of her,” she said, giggling to herself. “I’m sorry. I suppose I appear to be a cruel mother but, honestly, I am too soft on them. They run all over me and can get me to do anything they want.”

Then she gave Cheryl a heartbreaking look and said, “You’ll help me with them, won’t you please?”

Cheryl sighed.

“Yes, of course.”

“Oh good. Now I’ll show you the house and tell you what I need you to do.”

Her duties were quite light and easily accomplished after months of waitress and scullery maid training.

The house was laid out simply and logically. The hallway was set off to one side and all the doors on the left led into cupboards, storerooms or the stairs except at the very rear was the master’s Office with its own door to the outside of the house. They were also stairs leading downstairs to the cellar and the cesspit. The door nearest the entrance was the receiving room, followed by a lounge, then a dining room and then the kitchen.

They stood outside a door at the end of the hallway marked, ‘Office’.

“This is the Masters’ office. It is always kept locked unless he is in the house. No one is allowed in it unless invited and that includes me. Especially the children.”

Then she took a hushed tone, whispering.

“The master is a very good person, kind and gentle, but he does tend to be a bit exuberant around certain ladies. I beg you not to be upset and storm out on me.”

Cheryl almost burst out laughing.

“Don’t worry ma’am. I’m used to dealing with exuberant masters.”

The lady smiled broadly.

“Let’s go into the garden.”

Outside, in the garden area, was a laundry. The hallway ended at a door to the rear of the house, into the garden.

“Would you mind doing a bit of laundering? It’s just when we send clothes out to the laundry they always seem to ruin something.”

Memories of standing, sweating profusely, over a huge pot of boiling water, flashed through her mind.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am, but I have had no training in that and I’m likely to do more harm than good.”

The Mistress sighed.

“Well, feel free to come out here on your time off.”

Cheryl examined the garden closely. It consisted of a close cut lawn stretching to the rear gate. There were flower beds on either side and a large oak tree in the rear corner. She walked to the edge of the lawn, then noticed a pair of deep ruts running the length of the lawn from the gate to the house. They. stopped under a large boarded window above them. The grass had grown over slightly, but they still looked recent. At first she thought it might have been the cesspool wagon, but that entrance was on the side street.

“Where did these come from?” she asked.

“I don’t know. They were here when we moved in. Annoying, really. Spoils the look of the lawn ”

She made a mental note to examine this later.

“Now, this is the kitchen. The master will be home soon. Have a small meal of ham and cheese for him to have while he sips his port. When he arrives, he will go straight into his office, so take it there with him. Remember to knock and not enter until asked. Now I’ll leave you to do your duties.”

Cheryl thought she would risk a question.

“What business is the master in?”

“I don’t really know. Buying or selling, I think. He gets very irritated if I ask him about it. Why?”

Cheryl thought fast.

“It is better to know what subjects should be avoided, ma’am.”

“Very wise. Now I must go.”

Cheryl went back to the kitchen and laid out the ham and cheese on a tray, ready to serve. She added a piece of fresh bread then proceeded to clean the kitchen. She was relieved the pots and pans were not the huge cast iron ones in Mrs Cole’s kitchen. After an hour she heard the master enter and go to his office. Very soon after a little bell tinkled, summoning Cheryl. She grabbed the tray and headed to the office, knocked on the door and waited.

“Come in,” a voice said.

The office was quite a large room. The left half was arranged as a typical office. Desk, lots of papers, cupboard, filing cabinet and safe. On the other side, there were four luxurious chairs around a gas fire.

“So you are the housemaid?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I must congratulate my wife on her good taste. You are really quite beautiful.”

In the time it took to put the food down on the little table and leave, the master had complimented her eyes, lips, bosom and bottom. She left with her cheeks burning.

Cheryl went back to the kitchen and in a little time she heard the lady and the sound of two excited children enter.

“Now up the stairs with you, you little terrors, and into your playroom. Mummy will be up a little later.”

The kitchen door opened, and the lady entered.

“That tutor actually got them to sit quietly and read a little poem to me. Wonderful. Now, how is dinner going?”

Cheryl instructed her on the menu and the lady left happy.

When dinner arrived and the guests had taken their places around the table, Cheryl studied them. Six men and one woman. There were two men who spoke in a strange accent, almost like Duch, an African man and two men who appeared to come from Midland, England, Liverpool or Manchester. The banter around the table was mainly among the men, talking about London, the upcoming soccer match or business ‌. At one point, the talk revolved around wives, since none of them were there, leaving the lady biting her lip in irritation. At a lull in the conversation, one man pulled out a huge cigar and was about to light it but the look from the lady was so ferocious that the master said, “Gentlemen, let’s continue this in the smoking room.”

This was the master’s name for his office.They all moved out into the hallway and Cheryl commenced cleaning up.

Cheryl was ready for bed by nine in the evening. She sat at the window in her nightgown, looking out over the garden, into the park. Gas light poles lit the road behind dimly. She was deep in thought when a little light blinked on and off. ‘Damn,’ she thought and grabbed a coat and slippers. She crept downstairs carefully so as not to disturb anybody. The master was in his office, but the doors and blinds closed. She ran down the garden to the gate and slipped through.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Ugly Dan.

“Getting an update.”

“Blimey. I’ve only been here one day.”

“You must have seen something?”

She related the five men at the dinner but instinct told her not to mention the ruts.

“Good, good. Any idea where the men come from?”

“Africa would be my guess, but it’s only a guess. Now go away. When I’m ready, I’ll leave you a note under this rock.”

Ugly Dan, grudgingly agreed and left. Cheryl crept back to her bed.

Cheryl performed her duties but could not find anything to report. She was washing the hallway with a mop; she was damned if she was going to scrub it, and listening to the children, laughing or screaming, when the lady came down the stairs.

“Wouldn’t the children like to play outdoors?” Cheryl asked.

The lady sighed once more.

“That would have been the governesses job and I don’t have the patience to watch two children run around.”

As if a light was switched on the lady said, “You could take them.”

“Well no, I mean I would, but I have no experience with children.”

“Just take them into the garden and do something with them or perhaps you enjoy washing floors.”

She did not. The lady brought the children downstairs.

“This nice lady is going to play with you in the garden.”

The two children raced to her side, wrapping their arms around each leg. Cheryl’s heart dissolved.

After ten minutes Cheryl became “it” and leant against the big oak tree in the corner, at the rear, counting to one hundred while the children hid in obvious places. When she reached twenty, she heard footsteps and looked up to see the two foreign looking men enter the Masters’ office using the rear door. One-hour later, when she was having a little picnic under the oak tree with the children, they came out and left.

After that moment she was determined to put the garden under surveillance and she spotted how to do that. She came across the lady, crying.

“Look what they’ve done to my sheet.”

She held up a fine Egyptian cotton sheet with a huge tear in it.

“When we were in New York, I had the most exquisite Chinese laundry. Everything was sparkling white, neatly folded and undamaged but in London.”

Cheryl volunteered to do the laundry.

“I thought you said you were no good at it.”

“I mean, I’m not fast and I can’t do huge bundles.”

“You don’t know how much this means to me,” she said and hugged her.

She found out it was not as arduous as Mrs Cole. The boiler was a fraction of the size, filled directly from a tap and heated by gas. The laundry was also well ventilated, allowing steam to escape and not collect in clouds and condensing everywhere.

She had a tub with a built-in scrubbing board and a modern roller. Just outside the laundry house were several lengths of rope to hang the clothes. She almost enjoyed it. The clothes hanging to dry gave her an excuse to go out in the garden almost every hour.

On one of these trips, she spotted the office door open, highly unusual. She crept up beside it. The African man was there with the master.

“Those cases have to be on board by Friday morning before daylight. The ship sails on the first tide.”

He said this with such force he banged the desk.

“Damn,” the master uttered, and when the door slammed shut, she went back to her laundry and the African man left.

She got a surprise summons just before she was going to retire to bed. She knocked.

“Come in,” he said. He was standing beside the fire with a port in his hand.

“Please come in, Miss Brown, and have a seat.”

Cheryl entered nervously. He had never done this before.

“Would you like a sherry or brandy, perhaps?”

“A brandy would be nice, thanks.”

He served her a brandy, then sat down, leaning forward to her.

“Miss Brown, may I call you Cheryl?”

“I would be pleased if you would, sir.”

She noted he didn’t return the favour.

“I will have to return to the states in a few months. My wife has given you a glowing recommendation so much I would like you to come back to the states with us.”

If Cheryl hadn’t finished the brandy, she would have spluttered it all over him.

“I... I would have to think about it, sir.′

“You do that. You would begin as you are now, but I intend to expand my household and you would become chief of staff with a substantial salary and benefits.”

Then his tone changed.

“Now I have a favour to ask. At midnight, when you should be in bed fast asleep, you might hear some strange noises outside, in the garden. Please stay in bed till dawn. There is an extra day’s pay if you do.”

“Yes, sir. ”

Like hell, she thought.

“Good. Back to work now.”

He stood up and Cheryl scurried out.

The sound of a horse neighing woke Cheryl. She leapt out of bed to her window and peered out. In the moonlight, she could see the big Clydesdale horses below her. She crept to her door, opening it carefully. The landing was empty, but the door opposite was open.

She slipped across the landing to the door and peered into the attic room. Two men were working in silence, carrying gigantic boxes across to the door. At the door, two more men were attaching hooks and lowering the boxes below, presumably to a cart.

She slipped in and hid behind a stack of boxes. Painted on the side was the word ‘Ammunition’ and the other was ‘Guns’. She was about to creep back to her room when an arm slipped around her neck. Before it could tighten, she drove an elbow into a stomach and dropped, slipping out of the grip. On all fours, she crawled through a gap into a clearing and ran for the door but a man with a knife appeared, blocking her way. Luck was on her side as a revolver lay on top of one of the boxes. She grabbed it as four men advanced on her.

“Stop. Put your hands up or I will fire.”

One man laughed.

“You don’t have the guts.”

She pulled the trigger followed by a loud bang and a red slash appeared on his shoulder, but the recoil from the large gun knocked it upwards, giving the wounded man the chance to grab her wrist, forcing her to drop the gun. She swung her leg and her foot thudded into his groin. He doubled over in agony and Cheryl ran for the hoist with a rope hanging down. She leapt out and grabbed the rope, burning her hands as she slipped to the ground. When her feet hit the ground, she started running and tripped, sprawling onto the grass. Someone put a cloth over her mouth, then she blacked out.

She awoke in her bed to the sound of birds singing and sunlight flooding in through her window. That was a horrible dream, she thought, then she looked at her hand. Across each palm were burn marks. In a daze, she got up and went onto the landing. The other door was open, and the room was empty. No sign anyone or anything was ever there.

She went downstairs and met the lady of the house.

“Oh well, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” she asked, smiling sweetly.

“O... Ok. Had a funny dream last night.”

“They are frightening. Those dreams aren’t they, but they are only dreams. Why don’t you get dressed and take the Master his breakfast in his office?”

Her mind, still foggy for some reason, followed the direction and Cheryl returned to her room and dressed. She came down and collected the breakfast tray and carried it to the office. She knocked as required.

“Come in, come in,” he said, “have you thought about last night?”

She jumped, startled.

“L... Last night?”

’Yes, my offer to take you to the states.”

“I’m sorry sir but people need me here.”

“Quite all right, Miss Brown, and here’s your extra money for staying in bed all night.”

He put down a purse full of money. She picked it up, bewildered. Had she dreamt it.

After this, the master’s behaviour changed. No longer did he lock himself in the office, but played with the children and flirted with Cheryl, shamelessly, much to her enjoyment. He was seen about the house and joined the lady for meals. As soon as Cheryl was able she left a note for Ugly Dan.

Right on time, Ugly Dan signalled, and Cheryl left to meet him. She related all that had happened.

“Quite clever that. Convincing you it was a dream.”

“It would have worked if I hadn’t burnt my hands. Why didn’t they kill me?”

“Too messy. Coppers don’t like dead bodies, they ask too many questions. Anyway,” said ugly Dan, “you have earned your money. You can leave whenever you want.”

Cheryl decided she was in no hurry.

Next morning Cheryl picked up the Masters newspaper and had a quick read. It was her way of keeping up with the news. She got a shock when she read the following article:-

The Admiralty wishes to announce that a royal Navy frigate intercepted a merchant ship off the coast of Africa. It was found to contain several holds of contraband including a shipment of machine guns to the boers in South Africa. As such shipments are forbidden two men were taken into custody.

Cheryl reread it again. She searched the newspaper. There was no news of the master, the men from the Midlands or the African. That afternoon the mistress, in great distress, summonsed Cheryl.

“Miss Brown... Cheryl, I have to dismiss you with a month’s pay as my husband has been urgently called back to the states. We have to leave before dawn tomorrow and the ship leaves then. People will be here to pack our belongings and forward them. Would you stay here to supervise? The house is yours till then.”

When she arose the next morning, they were gone.

She was in the middle of directing huge men who were packing up furniture when Ugly Dan appeared.

“I wondered when you would show up.”

“Just protecting my house.”

“Tell me, did you put the government on to the ship?”

’I’ve got to do my duty as a loyal English man.”

“What about the American?”

“Too messy. Too many political problems if he was arrested. Besides, I have no interest in him.”

“And the African.”

“No idea where he is.”

“The other two.”

Here a broad smile spread over ugly Dan’s face.

“Ah, I now find I have substantial holdings in the weapons industry.”