“Miss Hattie!”

The squeal of a young girl rang through the second floor of the dingy tenant house on Plumtree Street.

Annie Mayford threw herself against Hattie’s skirts.

“You came back! You came back!”

Hattie wrapped her arms tightly around the youngster and let the tears fall. For weeks all she had thought of was the Mayfords, and how dire their situation would have become since her departure.

Mrs. Mayford, a middle -aged widow, struggled up from the rickety wooden bed where she spent most of her days and gave Hattie a hug.

“How are you?” asked Hattie.

Mrs. Mayford nodded slowly, the effort to speak beyond her. Her ongoing battle with the fatal disease of tuberculosis sapped her energy for all but the most vital aspects of life. She ate little; and in between violent bouts of coughing up blood, she slept.

“Are the boys here?”

Annie let go of Hattie’s skirts and stepped back. Her face changed from one of happiness to one of outright anger. She held her hands fisted on her hips.

“Joshua and Baylee have become wicked since you left and joined the Belton Street gang. They are off with them right now.”

Hattie and Mrs. Mayford exchanged a look of fear. The Belton Street gang were one of the most violent criminal gangs in the rookery of St. Giles. Joshua and Baylee were both terrified of the gang.

It made no sense. She could not comprehend why the two kind young lads would have joined up with such a bunch of cutthroats and villains.

The door to the small room which served as the Mayford family sitting room and kitchen opened and Joshua Mayford stepped across the threshold. He had a small sack in one hand and was dragging his brother Baylee behind him with the other.

At the sight of Hattie, Joshua stopped. Baylee crashed into his brother. The mute Baylee, made his displeasure known by lashing out at Joshua with his fist. Joshua in turn slapped his brother hard.

“Get off me you dolt!”

The uncharacteristic act of violence and harsh words took Hattie by surprise. The brothers Mayford were normally very close. It went without saying that Joshua was fiercely protective of his slow minded brother, who in turn worshipped Joshua.

“Baylee. I came back. I came to see you,” said Hattie.

In the time she had known the family, she had been the only outsider Baylee had ever allowed to come near him. He trusted her. Whenever she came to visit their meagre accommodation, he welcomed her with open arms. She in return had always had an apple or two in her satchel for him.

She held out a hand to Baylee, but he shook his head. His face was contorted with rage. Tears filled his eyes. He grunted angrily at her.

Annie came over and took her brother by the hand.

“Come take off your hat and sit with me Baylee. Let me wipe your tears. Don’t be mad at Miss Hattie. It’s not her fault she went away.”

Hattie looked back to Joshua, who was now busily emptying his sack of its contents. There were several apples, two scrawny carrots, and a lump of salted beef. It was the most food she had ever seen in the Mayford home.

“Welcome back Miss Hattie. Never thought to see you again,” said Joshua.

He slid his cap off his head. His beautiful dark brown locks which Hattie had so often admired, had been shaved close to his head. His rough hair cut gave him a dangerous air. He stuffed the cap into the pocket of his dirty black woolen coat and sniffed.

“Nor I,” she stammered.

Her heart was beating hard in her chest. This was not the reunion she had imagined. Life in London had not stood still in the time she was gone. She cleared her throat. She needed answers.

“Your sister tells me you and Baylee have become involved with the Belton Street gang. Is that correct? I thought you loathed them.”

Joshua fixed her with a hard stare and then threw the sack into the corner nearest the door. He kicked the door shut.

“Well it’s like this. Without the food you had been bringing us every day, we were going to starve. There wasn’t a lot of choice in the matter. It’s not as if there is a long line of fine ladies all wanting to hand over food to the likes of us. People like you are as rare as gold.”

She clasped her hands together. The food problem was now solved. She was back in London and would be able to supply them once more with the food they needed. The boys could withdraw from the gang. Baylee could go back to sitting with his mother, and Joshua could care for Annie.

He read her mind.

“Don’t bother telling me things can go back to the way they were. You know as well as I do that you don’t just up and leave the Belton Street boys.”

Hattie felt nauseous. Membership in the Belton Street gang was for life, death the only way out. She had prayed for the best, too frightened to think of the worst that could possibly greet her upon her return to the London slums. Losing two of her friends to the murderous crime gang was heartbreaking.

Joshua sighed. He put a comforting arm around Hattie’s shoulder.

“It’s good to see you again Hattie. Don’t blame yourself. This would probably have happened even if you hadn’t left. The gang has been trying to recruit us for some time now. I had to make some hard choices in order to feed my family. Joining the gang was the hardest of them all.”

“Why are you and Baylee fighting? I have never heard you speak to him like that before?”

Joshua looked away, refusing to meet her eyes.

“He has to toughen up. If he doesn’t he’s going to die,” he said.

Annie began to cry.

“They make Baylee fight. The crowd pays money to hear him grunt. The gang call him Bear, and everyone wants to fight the Bear,” said Annie.

Hattie felt like she had been punched in the stomach. Hitting the water after the fall from the ship in Gibraltar had not hurt as much as Annie’s shocking revelation. The Belton Street gang were using Baylee, a simpleton as a means of making money.

Joshua reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. He held them out in front of Hattie. The coins were few, but enough to cover the rent on their two squalid rooms for several weeks. No words passed between them, but he would know that she did not judge him for what he was doing. He was doing the best he could to help his family survive.

Hattie was also not foolish enough to think that her and Joshua’s situations were the same. While she had been forced to sell some of her mother’s precious small items since her return, she had options in her life. She could seek out her brother, or even Will Saunders to ask for their help if she so chose. Joshua Mayford had no such saviors on which to call.

“I think you should go,” he said.

He put the coins back in his pocket. Hattie opened her satchel, took out the loaf of bread and the apples she had brought with her and handed them to Annie.

Without a word she left.