Chapter 7 – Confrontations, Revelations, and the Completion of The Adventures of the Masked Lady

Late June 1881

The Black Scorpion looked at Jenny closely. He wore a dark suit and a black mask. "You are correct; I am the Head of the Black Scorpions. How do you know who I am?"

Jenny gave him sour look, pulling slightly against the grip of her captors. "I'm in a room full of Chinese, and the only Chinese that are bothering me are the Black Scorpions. You've got a gold painted chair, doubt you're a hired thug like these two. On top of all that, you're the only one with a mask. Not that hard to work out. 'Sir.' "

Jenny realized that the cloying smoke she smelled when she was brought in was probably from opium. Likely she was above the Den in the East End. Well, at least she had an idea where she was; if she could get loose somehow then she might have a chance to make it back to the Gin Palace. If she could survive the East End of London after sundown.

To Jenny's surprise, the Scorpion simply nodded, returned to his chair, and watched her closely. The room was dimly lit; with only one coal-gas lamp near the main door, and several lanterns scattered about. Jenny suddenly realized that there was an Englishman standing just behind the chair, hiding in the shadows. There seemed to be a window and a door behind him, but it was full night outside now, and Jenny couldn't see very much. She hadn't seen the man before that she could recall; he was well-dressed, but more like Mr Thackeray than Mr Dawes. Jenny thought he might be a professional man, maybe?

Jenny took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, trying to keep calm. There would be no last minute rescue. Heroes only worried about maids in stories and Madame Vastra wouldn't even know she was gone until she returned to the flat later that evening. Pity Madame might never know that Jenny had followed her instructions to the letter. But even if Mrs Brown remembered to tell her that Jenny had been snatched within sight of the Gin Palace, Madame Vastra'd still likely think it was Jenny's fault somehow. Like Da blamed her for Ma bleeding to death birthing the baby. No, best not to think 'bout that. Not now. Not ever.

On t'other hand, her childhood hero Will Scarlett was no slouch at fighting. He was the best swordsman of the Merry Men and Madame Vastra had taught her pretty well the last few months; to hell with just lying down and dying. She still had her knife, hidden in the small of her back beneath her shirt; Jenny swore she'd go down swinging if it came to that. But maybe she could cause some trouble for the Scorpions first.

She was brought back to the danger she was in by a hard pull on her arm. "We seen you nattering with the Law," said the older thug. "What did they tell you, eh? Where are the ledgers? Who are the Bank Robbers?"

"Why you askin' me? The police say you're the bank robber, you and your boy here," exclaimed Jenny, scowling at him. An angry sound swept through the room.

"None of that nonsense..."

"What nonsense?" She looked forward to where the Head Scorpion sat. "The inspector said this man and his boy tried to nick the ledgers, and they're likely the bank robbers. Makes sense, don't it? They know about the Black Scorpions, but they're not Chinese so they don't have any reason to be loyal to you, and the robbers are a man and a boy. Who else would it be?"

"The robber is a woman..."

"Our Constable says he's a man wearing a skirt... YOWWW!"

The thug had pulled back hard on Jenny's arm, almost pulling it out of the socket. "You lying little bitch, who are you calling a skirt-wearing sod..."

"Enough! McPhillips, let her up! You may not like what you hear, but she is telling us what the police are saying. And doing a better job of it than you did."

"We're not the Bank Robbers, sir!"

"Release her. You will get your chance to speak when she is done."

The thugs reluctantly released Jenny's arms and shoulders. Jenny decided to stay low, though she shifted so that she was up on one knee, in case she needed to move quickly. Around her, several groups were arguing loudly in a mixture of languages.

The Head Scorpion surveyed the room, quelling the grumbling voices with a look, and then turned back to her. "What else have you heard?"

Jenny frowned a moment and cocked her head.

"Well?"

"Give me a tick, it's not like I'm writing all this stuff down, you know." Well, she was, but she wasn't about to tell him that either. She thought another moment, what was safe to say? "The police said they hadn't found any connection between the banks." That bit was true as well, the police hadn't known why those exact banks were being robbed until Madame had told them. Better not mention the notes they'd sent to the police or the ledgers. Maybe wait and see if the Scorpions knew about them, Jenny decided.

"Well that is fortunate for my colleagues, but the Bank Robbers certainly are aware of one. Or they are very, very lucky. Or rather, they will find they are very unlucky when we catch them. As well as very dead."

"Why do you care about a bunch o' bank robberies? They beat you to 'em? And why all the fuss about the ledgers?"

The Head Scorpion glanced at the older thug and nodded. Jenny fell over and bit her tongue when the thug dealt her a heavy smack on the back of her head.

"You will answer questions, you will not ask them," said the Head Scorpion.

Jenny glared up at him as she righted herself, being careful not to shake her head. Madame Vastra once warned her during training not to do so if she received a blow to the head. Jenny had listened even if she didn't understand everything Madame said; she didn't fancy ending up with her brains scrambled into mush.

The well-dressed Englishman spoke up. "McPhillips and son here said that they were unable to retrieve the ledgers due to your interference. Who were the men who helped you stop them? We suspect they may be the bank robbers who are now in possession of a considerable amount of Scorpion funds."

Jenny stared at him for a moment. "What are you talking about? There weren't no men with us, there was only…" She stopped, and then grinned wildly, despite her danger. She twisted around, staring at the two thugs, who suddenly looked very unhappy.

"You didn't tell 'em what really happened, did you?" Jenny crowed, "You're shamed to say you got beat up by a woman with an umbrella and a maid with a broom!"

Jenny turned back, "The Mistress and me caught 'em by surprise. There ain't no other men, never were. These two sneaky cowards made 'em up. They lied to you about their botched robbery." Jenny put on a thoughtful look. "The police might be right, you know, most likely your robbers are right in this room, 'sir'."

"You little bitch, I"ll…"

"Enough!" The Head Scorpion turned to the well-dressed man. "Does that agree with what you were told by that damn Dawes?"

"Yes. He said his man… Thicket..?"

"Mr Thackeray," Jenny piped up without thinking, and then flinched away from McPhillips.

"Thackeray, yes, thank-you," replied the well-dressed man, nodding at her almost politely. "Dawes seemed amused that Thackeray was rescued by two 'guardian angels;' the rather unlikely duet of a mistress and maid. I didn't think he was serious, but this confirms what Dawes said. This girl and her Mistress rescued the ledgers, without realizing what was going on. They were simply stopping a man from being choked to death in front of them. Very surprising but quite commendable! Your men have a very ham-fisted way of going about things; I would have expected more finesse in handling such a matter."

"Agreed," said the Head, scowling at the thugs. "It was indeed badly handled."

"Since you have been so helpful," the Head continued to Jenny, "I will answer one of your questions. The ledgers are important because my business has certain… investors. However I suspect that they are cheating me, and the ledgers had entries that may verify their deceit. These two," he waved at the thugs, "where supposed to relieve your friend of the ledgers on the way back to Sherwin and Soames." He smiled coldly. "They claim they…'misunderstood' their instructions, and attacked early. I am actually pleased you interfered; Dawes was able to confirm that there were a number of suspicious entries."

"Mr Dawes is a Black Scorpion?" Jenny was shocked.

"I wish that was correct, but no. Director Dawes of the Bank of England is simply very astute at finding false entries, and I wanted him to take a look at the records. He has no idea of the implications of his findings."

Jenny doubted that the methodical Mr Dawes would see a problem and just leave it alone. She wondered what might be going on out of sight that she and Madame didn't know about. Well, Mr Dawes would have all the ledgers from the various banks tomorrow, and could have a good look. As long as the Scorpions didn't find Madame Vastra's instructions in Jenny's pocket, that was. If they did then the game was up, and Jenny and Madame were done for.

Not that Jenny's life was worth a farthing at the moment.

"Very well." The Head called out in Chinese, and four Scorpions grabbed the two thugs. "I will question them more closely. If they were not telling the truth about this, then perhaps they are not telling other truths as well."

The well-dressed man nodded, and made his way out the door Jenny had been brought in through, leaving the space behind the golden chair empty.

Jenny started to try and slip away herself, but was grabbed by the collar of her dress. She turned her head, and from the corner of her eye saw the leering face of the Scorpion who'd bought her from her Da. The Head Scorpion nodded at the man, saying something to him in Chinese. The man shook Jenny roughly, almost choking her for a moment, and replied in angry Chinese, then released her. The Head looked at her and said "You have been very useful to us. It is a shame that you are not a boy; you could most likely be trained to be a good lookout. Better than these two fools." He ignored the muffled protests of the thugs. "But since you are only a girl, you can never be a warrior, and will be of far more use paying off your debt to Chang here." He smiled coldly. "Unless perhaps you have three pounds to give him? Repayment of the money he paid to your father for you."

"That's too much! He only gave Da three bottles of Gin! That's twelve shillings at most! Three pounds is five times that!"

"Consider it interest on the money." He said something to Chang, who leered at her. "Well, do you have it?"

Jenny only had one sovereign with her, the one given to her by Mr Dawes, and a few shillings left over from her errands, in total less than half what was needed. "Three pounds is ten weeks wages for me. The only money I have is a few shillings of my mistress's and I'm not giving him that."

"Then your mistress will never see either her money or her maid again."

"Let's search her. See is she has some more coins hidden away, like. I'll be glad to help!" growled the older thug, struggling against his captors.

Jenny retreated a few steps as the man Chang grabbed for her again, twisting to try to reach her hidden knife. Suddenly, there was a scraping sound as something slid across the floor, and struck Jenny's foot. She glanced down and found a sturdy broom. Jenny snatched it up, and hit Chang in the face with the bristles. He stumbled back, but the bristles broke off, leaving a sharp point. Jenny's realized that the broom had been cut part way through. She had an ally somewhere near. Instantly she felt better. Her training kicked in, and she stepped back into a guard position. She just might get out of this bloodied but alive!

Suddenly there was muffled yelling and hammering beneath their feet, down in the opium den. A two-toned whistle sounded, followed by more whistles. The Police, Jenny realized. They must have followed the notes Madame had sent them. It was a raid!

Jenny fished out her new whistle from around her neck, holding her broomstick tucked between her arm and her body with the point levelled at the Scorpions, blew three blasts, then took a deep breath and blew three more. She hoped to rattle the Scorpions and maybe bring a bit of help.

There was the sound of pounding feet and more yelling; several Scorpions attempted to flee, but were shoved back into the room as the Police arrived. Half a dozen police constables rushed in, but the Black Scorpions regrouped and began to fight back. In the melee, Jenny brawled with the two thugs and any Scorpion who came within her range, and kept an eye out for the Scorpion who'd bought her as a whore. She wanted to give him a sound thrashing if she had the chance. She also tried to inch her way closer to the Constables, so she'd have more help, but the Thugs kept trying to herd her away from them.

There were more Black Scorpions than there were police, and the slowly the battle started to go against the Constables and Jenny.

Jenny bashed one man on the head, and caught another in the knee, but she was quickly tiring. A glancing blow from a cosh caught her shoulder, but she recovered in time to block another blow to her head. Just then, Jenny caught a flicker in the shadows behind the golden chair, rather like the swirl of a cloak. She had a sudden surge of hope; maybe Madame Vastra was here. Jenny doubted that she'd want to be seen by the police, as it would give them away as the robbers right quick, but maybe she could lend Jenny a hand!

Jenny carefully planned what she needed to do, and when a lone scorpion stepped close, trying again to smash her head with his cudgel, she blocked the blow, and then shoved him hard, sending him off balance and into the shadows. Normally, he would have recovered quickly, and attacked her again.

Instead, he didn't come back.

'Perfect!' thought Jenny. 'Let's get rid of some more of 'em!'

She tripped the older thug, kicked his arse, and sent him sprawling behind the chair as well. She heard a heavy thump, and could see the man's outstretched arm on the floor. Madame Vastra'd knocked him out cold.

"Excellent!" muttered Jenny.

The young thug was already sprawled at Jenny's feet, nursing a sore stomach and a sore head. The Head of the Scorpions, and Chang the whoremaster were nearby, Chang fighting with a constable who looked familiar, and The Head directing the other Scorpions in Chinese.

"Damn, the police can't understand what he's saying!"

Jenny wished that Madame Vastra could come out of the shadows; maybe she could tell from the way the man was pointing what commands he was giving, and help the police defeat the bastards. Madame's fighting sense was far better than Jenny's, and even better than the constables'.

Jenny tried shouting when the Head was, to try to distract the Scorpions, but that didn't work very well. She wished she had something to make him cough or sneeze. Like maybe some pepper! She glanced quickly around, to see if there was anything she could use. No, nothing. Blast!

Wait a tick! Jenny fished out her whistle again, and started giving it short blasts to try and interrupt the Head Scorpions commands. Blowing it randomly seemed to work, and allowed her to concentrate on defending herself.

One of the scorpions soon became annoyed with Jenny's tooting and, after delivering a sound blow to the constable he was struggling with, rushed over to attack Jenny. Jenny focused on not getting hit, waiting for the right moment, and when it came, she smacked the man hard across the face with her broomstick, then shoved the stick between his knees as he reeled back and sent him staggering into the shadows behind the chair. There Madame Vastra made short work of him.

Unfortunately this time the Head Scorpion saw the man fall.

The Head shouted angrily in Chinese and drew a pistol, levelling it at the shadows. Jenny, desperate to protect Madame, threw her hacked-off broomstick in a whirling arc, knocking his arm out of line as he fired. He rounded on Jenny, now levelling the pistol at her, and Jenny was suddenly staring straight down the barrel of the gun.

"Oh bloody, bloody hell!" raced through Jenny's mind.

There was a sound like the crack of a shot, or a whip, something whistled fast past Jenny's head and the pistol went flying from the Scorpion's hand. The Head Scorpions spared it a shocked glance and backed away quickly from the shadows.

"Very nice," muttered Jenny, glancing behind her.

"Not really," said the annoyed yet welcome voice of Madame Vastra. "I wanted to take his hand off, not knock away the pistol!"

The Head Scorpion was recovering from his surprise. He looked around quickly, assessing the battle.

Jenny dove for her broomstick, rolling so that the gun was behind her, and to her surprise, came up on one knee with the sharp end of her stick pointed directly at a very vulnerable bit of the Head Scorpions anatomy. He'd started for the gun even as Jenny was moving. Jenny blinked in disbelief, and then grinned wickedly. "Do you think it's worth three pounds for me not to prick 'em, dear?"

The Head Scorpion nimbly leapt backwards, and as he retreated, he quickly plunged his hand into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a short paper cylinder. As he held the tip to one of the gas lights, it suddenly began to spurt a thick, black smoke. He threw it hard at Jenny, but she dropped the butt-end of her broomstick, and batted it away at the Black Scorpions. Everyone including Jenny started to cough. Her eyes watering, Jenny remained guarding the pistol, but the Head Scorpion disappeared into the smoke, and was gone.

"Need to get me one of those!" Jenny was impressed; that was a good trick!

A man separated himself from the recovering police constables and staggered over to Jenny.

"Good One!. You should be on a cricket team. Pity you're not a boy."

Jenny thought she was getting a bit tired of hearing those words. Then she realized that she recognized the man's voice. She tried to see through the smoke.

"Inspector Abernathy?"

"Yes, Jenny," said Abernathy, winded and mussed, but clearly very happy. "Well done! That was very quick thinking!" Abernathy looked around at the police constables rounding up the Black Scorpions, and then turned back to Jenny with a frown and a question about the Head Scorpion:

"Who was that Masked Man, anyway?"

Jenny just rolled her eyes.

After the fighting finally stopped, and the Police managed to count heads and determine who they'd captured, they found that the Head Scorpion, Chang and the two Thugs had all managed to get away. Jenny was fairly sure Madame had gone after the Head Scorpion. She hated that Chang escaped. She was a bit surprised about the thugs, though. They just didn't seem bright enough to take advantage of the smoke. 'Guess they'd got lucky,' she decided.

Vastra considered herself fortunate; she'd been by the Shadwell police station when a hansom cab rushed up, and Abernathy and Palmer jumped out, gibbering to some nearby officers about a young girl kidnapped from Cheapside and the need to raid the Scorpions at once. 'A girl from Cheapside' meant that Jenny was in danger, and Vastra raced for the Head Scorpion's office above the Opium Den immediately. She was relieved to find Jenny staying calm despite the danger she was in. After the battle, as soon as the smoke began to clear and Vastra saw Abernathy bumbling towards Jenny, she slipped out in pursuit of the Head Scorpion.

Vastra made straight for the Head's simple flat. No ostentatious chairs here to impress his minions, the few furnishings here were simple, but very different from what she had seen in English homes. Vastra almost regretted tearing the place apart; ripping up flooring and the walls, finding as much as she could of the Ape's concealed wealth. By the time she was finished, she estimated that despite emptying the flat in the dark, she'd gathered about two thirds of the Ape's 'property'; enough to cripple it for now. The flat was not a bank by any means; though there was a great deal of cash, there were many jewels as well, for portable wealth, so Vastra was able to pack up everything and carry it out in one trip. The Head didn't return while she was there. While she was rather disappointed, Vastra was not surprised. The Ape almost certainly had another lair, somewhere secret to hide until the police finished looking for him. If the timing worked out, he might not even return until it was too late to warn the other senior Scorpions about had happened to his flat.

It was very late that night, or rather very early the next morning, when Jenny finished making her statements to the police and returned to the Gin Palace with Inspector Abernathy and Constable Palmer. They were accompanied by a very relieved Mr Thackeray. Madame Vastra slipped in just minutes after them, and was able to greet them as if she was a very worried ape woman when they returned.

It turned out that Mrs Brown and the grocer's boy were to thank for Jenny's rescue. At Mrs Brown's command, the boy had raced after the carriage to see which way it turned at the many-road intersection near the Bank of England, and then followed it along to the Bishop's Gate crossroad. Mrs Brown also sent one of the serving girls to the London Police station nearby, where Constable Palmer was filling out a minor report. He'd left at the run, meeting up with the grocer's boy, who pointed out the carriage heading east on Leadenhall. Palmer just saw the last of it in the distance.

Mrs. Brown herself had gone at once to the rear Area, where Abernathy and Thackeray were having a drink. Alerted to the trouble, Abernathy asked a willing Thackeray to collect search warrants issued earlier that day for the Scorpions' various dens from Scotland Yard. Abernathy then hailed a hansom cab and picked up Constable Palmer. The pair made haste to the police station nearest the Opium Den, and were able to get them to co-operate in staging an immediate raid, as Jenny's life was likely in danger.

Jenny thanked them all, and the next morning gave the boy a gold sovereign for his trouble, just as Mr Dawes had rewarded her. The boy, George, was delighted with his prize. When Mrs Brown asked her about it, Madame Vastra implied that she'd 'loaned' the money to Jenny, as she passed on thank-you gifts to Mrs Brown, Thackeray and the serving girl as well.

When Jenny reported the missing thugs to Madame Vastra later, Madame explained that she'd actually helped the Thugs escape by dragging them outside. She had bigger plans for them. "After all your work to let the Scorpions think those two might be responsible, I didn't think it wise for them to be locked up until we are done."

Madame Vastra made the final preparations during the day on Tuesday, and then her master plan was ready to implement. Jenny's carefully carried out list of instructions were only part of a greater scheme, as Madame Vastra prepared to create as much trouble and damage to the Black Scorpions over the next few nights as they could. She'd taken Jenny's worries seriously though; they'd managed not to kill anyone during the raids so far (Vastra didn't count the two meals she'd made out of her random attackers in the sewers) and she thought they could get to the end of the week without too much bloody mayhem if she planned things right.

On Tuesday night they broke their pattern of weekend robberies, and successfully raided the Trafalgar Bank. This time there was no one waiting for them in either the sewers or the vault. Madame Vastra even dealt almost gently with the lone, very surprised, watchman they encountered.

On Wednesday night they raided Wilmott' again, the first bank they'd robbed, and cleaned out the safe deposit boxes belonging to the Scorpions. Under Madame's direction, Jenny had carefully written down the names and numbers before the ledgers were 'returned' to Mr Dawes, so they knew exactly which ones to open. They didn't bother with the rest of the bank.

Vastra predicted that everyone would now expect them to rob the next mostly likely objective, The Tomes Bank. So it was time to break the pattern again, and make a final attack. She and Jenny spent the day on Thursday quietly watching various locations, and the amount of activity at the houses of the three remaining senior scorpions confirmed Vastra's suspicions. With the banks proven unsafe, the Scorpions were moving their remaining money into their dwellings, exactly as Madame Vastra anticipated. Madame left Jenny for a few hours late in the afternoon, saying that she just had one more spot of bother to deal with.

Jenny wasn't sure if she should be more excited or scared. Thursday night was the big night! If these powerful toffs had even the least idea of what was going to happen, there would be guards ready for them, and Jenny and Madame Vastra would likely be caught and jailed. If they were lucky. If not, the River Thames would carry an extra body or two come sunrise.

All three men lived in lavish houses with a kitchen and servant quarters in the basement for the men and in the attic for the female servants, and coal vaults under the street. Part of Vastra's preparations during the day on Monday and Tuesday included tunnelling into the coal vaults from the nearby Metropolitan Railway line, under the front Area of each house, and then up under the kitchen, and then putting in small, carefully blocked holes to the main basement. As a result even though the local sewers might be patrolled, Vastra and Jenny would be able to gain entry to the houses.

Madame Vastra now demonstrated to Jenny her abilities as a scientist. She brewed a sleeping potion (Jenny's words; Madame Vastra called it 'preparing a soporific.' Finally they agreed on 'sleeping gas.') Madame said that her people the used original formula against dinosaurs when they were pests! Even diluted for much smaller animals, such as humans, the 'sleeping gas' was still very powerful.

On Thursday night, they made their way to the house near Notting Hill Gate that Vastra had chosen as their most important target. Vastra used the sleeping gas to knock out the household staff, a process that didn't take very long. She modified the masks they wore during their raids, fitting them with goggles and an airtight bag with a special filter to keep out the gas while letting them breathe. Thus protected, Madame was able to go in and take out everything they were looking for. Jenny stayed in the Coal Vault, away from the gas and out of danger in case Vastra hadn't calculated the strength of the gas correctly. Due to careful planning, well-chose caches, and relatively short distances, they were able to extract their prizes quickly and safely.

Madame Vastra was making a final check of the house, right up to the top floor, when she discovered an unexpected problem. Hatchlings. Three little ones, with an older ape nearby, all asleep from the gas. She wasn't sure what to do; the gas could kill if too much was breathed too long, so she'd been careful to only use amounts calculated to rendered adults unconscious for a few hours and then dissipate. Vastra had never considered that there might be hatchlings in the houses when she formulated the gas. She headed for the stairs. She needed someone who understood human hatchlings better than she did. She needed Jenny.

A few minutes later, Jenny was in the nursery, checking the little ones. They seemed to be fine; listening with an ear to their chests in turn she could hear good strong heartbeats. She opened the windows wide to let fresh air in, and put a blanket over each of the children, and one over the nurse as well. Luckily, there was a slight breeze which would soon blow the gas away.

On the way downstairs, Jenny kept fiddling with her mask. She didn't like it, it felt odd and heavy, and smelled strange. She wasn't sure that it fit quite right either, and was very glad when they were back in the coal vault and she could take it off.

"What if they wake up too soon?" asked Madame Vastra.

"The children will just think they fell asleep early. The nurse will likely be more worried 'bout the children than anything else. 'Sides, if the master's not home, they won't think to tell anyone but the Police until it's too late."

And with that they hurried off to their second target of the night, a townhouse just two blocks away.

The second house was staffed with more servants than their first target. Vastra was very careful, she needed more gas here, and she wanted to ensure that they reserved a sufficient quantity for their other work. After the sleeping gas was introduced into the building, she waited until enough time had elapsed and then entered.

To her surprise, although the apes on basement and ground floor were asleep, she found a female lying half in and half out of the open back door on the ground floor, likely attempting to escape the vapour. The gentle breeze through the doorway was quickly dissipating the gas. They needed to move fast, as the servants were likely to wake up too soon.

Vastra fetched Jenny from the coal vault, and together they quickly ransacked the house. Jenny possessed a good instinct for where things were likely to be hidden; so much so that Vastra was torn between admiration for the girl's talent, and worry for her own funds. She chided herself for her foolishness; Jenny was always very honest with her about how much she'd spent, though she could be shrewd in dealing with anyone else; and besides, between the two of them they now possessed a considerable sum of Ape treasure. Vastra herself had no idea of the full extent of what it all meant, but Jenny seemed to be convinced that as the 'adult' of the pair, the funds belonged to Vastra. At least for now, it seemed wise to Vastra to simply trust that her human wouldn't rob her.

For her part, Jenny was more bothered by her mask than anything else. Guessing where silly rich folks hid their stuff was easy. They had locks, didn't they? They chose the obvious places. Behind paintings. in 'secret' spots in their desks. Hidden panels in the carved columns. Didn't need to worry 'bout the folks next door wandering in at all hours, and 'borrowing' things. Only good thing was that her family's old neighbours in the rundown building had been fair dealers in their own way; what was borrowed was almost always returned, usually in as good or better shape.

When they were finished at the second house, Vastra secured the cache near the University College. She noticed that Jenny stumbled a bit as they walked, and kept yawning. The girl was tiring quickly. Vastra resolved to leave her on watch at the next house to save her strength.

A fine townhouse in Belgravia, Number Eighty-Two Ebury Street, was their final target of the night. Again, the early stages of the robbery were perfect: Vastra introduced the gas through the small spyholes, and after a suitable amount of time passed, she entered the house and started plundering it methodically. She ignored the fine silver plate, the beautiful paintings, and even a truly stunning cut crystal vase, but helped herself to the contents of a large desk including bits and pieces in two concealed drawers, one of which contained a small but fully loaded firearm. There was also a vault concealed behind a portrait of the Queen, which yielded several small gold bricks, securities, bearer notes and a bag with a number of small gems. Vastra took them all.

Suddenly she heard shouting from above. She cautiously ran up the stairs, and found a room filled with smoke and fire! A coughing young ape, wearing trousers, was trying to drag another small ape from the room. The curtains were on fire, Vastra saw a candlestick near them. The small ape wore clothes like Jenny wore for her maid disguise. Vastra darted forward, grabbing the coughing ape by the waist and the other by the collar. She dragged them both into the hallway. Suddenly she heard someone running up the stairs, and turned to find Jenny, mask in place, making the final turn up the stairs from the landing below. "Saw the flames from the coal cellar door below," she panted out, the sound muffled by her mask.

Jenny sprinted up the stairs, paused at the doorway, and then ran into the smoke-filled room. Vastra swore several of her people's most colourful curses, and followed the determined little dragon. Jenny was pulling at the curtains, using the bedspread to protect her hands. Vastra reached past her, and with one good heave, dragged them to the floor. Jenny promptly pulled them over to the hearth, balling them up with the bedspread. Vastra suddenly understood: Jenny was trying to smother the flames!

Vastra helped her, pouring water from a nearby pitcher onto the base of the flames, and then stomping on the bedclothes. Just then they heard shouts from outside. Vastra risked a glance out the window, and saw a strange wagon outside, surrounded by shouting men, all looking and pointing at the townhouse. "Who are those men?" she asked Jenny. "They aren't police."

"Fire Brigade. Blast! We need to go right now!"

Vastra glanced back at the hearth, where the curtains were still smoking slightly. There was a thunk outside, and Vastra could now see a ladder through the window.

"Fire Brigade'll take care of the rest. C'mon!"

Jenny took a moment in the hallway to check the two young servants, both about her own age. At a guess they were the bootblack and a chamber maid. The boy had collapsed, still holding the girl. Jenny shut the door of the room, to cut off the smoke, and then opened a small window nearby to clear the air. Jenny herself was coughing more and more, and as they ran down the stairs to the cellar, Jenny suddenly stumbled, and pitched head first down the stairs! Luckily she was near the bottom of the flight, and only fell a short distance before Vastra was able to catch her.

"Can't run anymore. Too sleepy. Can't breathe…" Jenny's head rolled forward and then back as she tried to stay awake. "Leave me, the Fire Brigade'll think I'm a servant here. I'll slip away later."

"No. Inspector Abernathy will show up investigating the robberies. Then you'll be jailed."

"Can't carry me an' th' loot very far. Too heavy."

"I'm not leaving you," growled Madame. "You are of far more worth than mere gold and jewels."

Jenny felt Madame Vastra picking her up and tossing her over a shoulder. That was the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep.

Vastra was elated. They'd done it! Despite the challenges that they'd faced, they'd raided the senior Scorpions, the men the Head Scorpion referred to as his 'investors.' They'd robbed all three of them, one after another, in the same night!

Still, Vastra knew that Jenny had paid a high price. The soporific was formulated for adult apes, and Jenny had been exposed to it several times tonight. Even now, she was deeply asleep, and Vastra kept checking her breathing to make sure that nothing was amiss.

Worse, Vastra knew that she couldn't let Jenny sleep late in the morning. Mrs Brown expected the Gin Palace to be cleaned every Friday before noon, so she could let poor Jenny have only a few hours sleep tonight in order to maintain their cover. Vastra resolved to make sure Jenny was up and ready, and to help her with the cleaning, as her human had once again proven herself to be a steadfast little dragon, despite Vastra's own errors.

Those two young apes could easily have died tonight; Vastra hadn't realized that candles were sometimes in the big houses as secondary lighting. The girl was fully dressed, so no doubt she was waiting for the family to come home from some entertainment. She most likely had been in the room relighting the coal gas lamp from the candle, when she'd fallen asleep from Vastra's sleeping gas. If the young male hadn't found her and called out, Vastra and Jenny would have caused a death during a robbery. Exactly what Jenny had been trying to avoid.

Well, they were almost done. She knew that Dawes was planning something to deal with the Scorpions and the banks. After that, she'd round up the thugs and deliver them to the police. It was time to call a halt to the war.

Friday morning was very busy; several senior bank managers and directors from around London responded to an imperious summons from Mr Dawes and gathered deep within the Bank of England for a very discreet meeting. Unknown to them, also in attendance were a number of plainclothes police officers, disguised as Bank Clerks.

Dawes was blunt with the assembled men. He revealed the reason that each of their banks had been robbed over the last few months: they'd been targeted solely because the robbers were convinced that those institutions were connected with illegal activity, specifically each bank had ties to the notorious Black Scorpion Tong.

Amid cries of "Rot" and "Nonsense," someone bellowed out, "Do I look Chinese to you?" to which a confused manager was heard to say "well your complexion is a trifle yel…" followed by the sound of a heavy smack.

"Enough!" roared the manager of Wilmott's Bank. "What are we going to do about catching these thieves? They are waltzing in and out of our vaults as if they were made of paper! Without our ledgers and day books, we're skating on very thin ice. We're been able to keep this hushed up, but our customers are starting to ask questions. If there is a run on any of our banks…"

"The ledgers and day books are in my office," stated Dawes. "The robbers apparently decided that the Bank of England is an honest institution, and that its officers could be trusted with the task of returning the ledgers to you. You'll receive them at the end of this meeting." Dawes smiled fiercely. "Our clerks, of course, have made excellent copies of your records for the police."

"I resent you implication that our institutions are engaged in financial impropriety. Never mind harassing us, have you learned anything that will help the police catch these criminals?" asked one of the men.

Dawes shook his head. "I'm not sure if you need to catch them or hire them! Their sole focus seems to be on shutting down the Black Scorpion Tong. Your banks were targeted solely because some of your customers are even worse criminals than men who only take money and securities." Dawes smiled grimly, "You deal with devils, 'gentlemen', and you have been properly burned.'

"You're accusing us of harbouring criminals! I should sue for slander!" exclaimed the Manager of Sherwin and Soames.

"Sue who?" Dawes asked, brutally. He eyed the gathered men, ignoring the police behind them. "Even if you could find them, are you suggesting that you could sue men who not only ran rings around your watchmen, but who have also provided a sheaf of papers to the police documenting WHY you are being targeted? The Papers would have a field day! Besides which, any money they have is most likely stolen from you! Don't be fools."

At the mention of evidence on paper, and of the newspapers getting involved, the men quickly fell silent. Of course, no one was so idiotic as to threaten to sue the Bank of England!

"The answer is simple," Dawes continued. "Your banks are being used by a criminal gang to hide their illicit gains. If you clear them off your books, the robberies will cease. Fail to clear them off… and your investors and customers will no doubt look elsewhere for better security, and you will join the New Glasgow Bank as a lesson in bank fraud in the nineteenth century!"

"When I mention this to the Home Secretary at lunch at our club, I suspect you will not be a director at this Bank for long, Dawes!" bellowed a portly man in the back of the room.

Dawes smiled grimly; there was always one fool in every group. "Both Sir William and Mr Gladstone have been consulted, and are agreed that it would be preferable to avoid a run on your banks. It would create havoc in the City. I am empowered to avoid that. I would rather do it with your cooperation. But it will be done. By the end of today, each of you will have your instructions, and the members of the London Police behind you will be happy to 'assist' you in carrying them out. Strangely, those instructions focus on ridding yourself of the vermin that have infested your 'fine institutions.' We will leave the hunting of the bank robbers to the police."

The man that some people knew as the Head of the Black Scorpion Tong tugged at the too short sleeves of his jacket. Now dressed as a common Chinese seaman, he blended in with the cooks and labourers that journeyed around the globe filling the most menial of trades, and gathering information, knowledge and funds as they went. His people built railways and subways, fed the high and low aboard the modern steamships and the swift clipper ships; yet still they were despised and belittled by the English barbarians. Yet sometimes the blindness of the 'Masters of the Seas' was useful, no one would look twice at 'just another Chinese.'

"Do you have any news?" he asked the elderly messenger who approached him.

"Yes. Chang showed up." The Head Scorpions sighed in relief, until the messenger continued, "He was found in the yard of a slaughterhouse near the river. Most of him. The strange thing was that he had several coins in his mouth."

"Coins?"

"Yes. As far as we can tell, he choked on these coins, sir." The man held out three sovereigns.

The Head Scorpion shivered. The powerful Englishmen he'd encountered were little more than thieves, willing to cheat the Chinese of their earnings, but unwilling to bear the risks. The English 'enforcers' were so dim-witted that a child could beat them. And most shockingly, the females of this land were so un-natural that they were thought nothing of fighting and defeating men!

Now it also seemed that the rumours among his men of a shadowy demon who protected the spirited young girl might be true, even if the demon was really a man. Three gold sovereigns. Three pounds. It was a blunt message. The Head had set the young girl's price. And now it was paid. The girl was off-limits, and her protector would kill anyone else who threatened her. As if they were nothing more than an animal. Likely the bastard would keep watch on the girl's Mistress as well.

"Keep them as a reward for your service. Chang won't need them," and the Head was certainly not going to touch something so cursed.

Enough was enough. He missed real food, and intelligent and civilized people. Despite his losses, he still had far more money than he did when he left his parent's farm in China. Perhaps it was time to go home. There he could rest. Perhaps some days he'd return to London. The English were fools. Most couldn't tell one Asian from another, never mind telling Chinese men apart.

When he returned, no one would remember him. Until it was much too late.

On Friday afternoon, there was a surprising development.

"Hsst! You there! Miss!"

Jenny, now mostly recovered from the night before, looked up from the pump. Her eyes swept the small rear Area, trying to find who was calling her. A young man, his cap pulled down almost over his eyes, his head half-hidden between his hunched shoulders, and hiding as much as possible in the meagre shelter of the back fence, waved at her.

"Are any of your police friends nearby? Or some other copper, maybe? Me and me old man, we'd like to surrender into 'er Majesty's custody, you see."

Jenny blinked in surprise, as she realized that it was the young thug!

"Are you daft? What are you doin' here?"

"Just like I said, we want to turn ourselves in. But there's an awful lot of strange people around the police station up the street. Not sure it's safe for us. Would you go get your constable and maybe some more coppers to arrest us and take us in? Please?"

Jenny looked at him for a long moment, then said. "Wait here while I take the water in." She did so, and then pelted up the inside stairs to tell Madame Vastra what was up. Madame grabbed her cutlass and belt, wrapped it around her waist, then put on her hooded cloak, took up a sturdy old umbrella for show, and followed Jenny downstairs.

Some sharp questions from Madame to the thugs soon revealed the problem. Apparently Jenny's rumour making had paid off, and many of the Black Scorpions were convinced that the men had betrayed them. The two males were in desperate fear of what the Scorpions would likely do if they caught them and wanted to turn themselves in to Constable Palmer at London Police Headquarters, where they'd be safer. Walking all the way west to Scotland Yard was out of the question; they were convinced that they wouldn't survive the trip. Jenny almost felt sorry for the pair.

Madame Vastra lined them up, Jenny leading the way, then the young man, his father and Madame bringing up the rear. Jenny grabbed a broom, tossed the bristles over her shoulder, and led them up Lawrence Lane, keeping a sharp eye out. The little band then followed Trump Street over to Ironmonger Lane, turned north and after a minute or so cut through a yard to the rear of the police station. It was a rabbit warren of a walk, but took less the ten minutes. They were almost at the station when the young man behind Jenny finally spoke.

"T'aint right, you always threatening men with a broom like you do."

"What do you know about it?" growled Jenny. She gripped the broom, ready for trouble.

"T'aint right." The young man repeated. "Need a proper staff, you do, or maybe a shillelagh would be better. You can't march around London with a great big stick. And everybody's staring at the broom. It looks daft."

"I'll give you 'daft', you…!"

"Both of you, enough! Jenny, you're on duty!" Although Vastra noted to herself that young ape had a point; Jenny really should have a more suitable means of defence.

"Right Ma'am!"

"Blessed Lady, we've joined the petticoat army!" muttered the older thug.

Eventually, the two Bully Boys agreed to plead guilty to assault (against Mr Thackeray) and kidnapping (of Jenny) but always maintained their innocence about the bank robberies. Thackeray and Madame Vastra counselled Inspector Abernathy to go with what he had. The two even identified the Englishman that Jenny saw at the Black Scorpion meeting; he was a Director of Sherwin and Soames Bank. He'd alerted the Head Scorpion to the trouble with the ledgers, but had set up the 'theft' to explain to the other senior scorpions why the ledgers were missing for a few days.

Madame Vastra shook her head when she heard; that over-elaborate nonsense had brought the Black Scorpions down by giving Vastra the opportunity to learn about Ape banking, and to realize that she could attack the Scorpions through their finances. She'd even been able to hunt one ape, through to make the message clear she wasn't able to eat him. Well, other than a few small bites.

To no one's surprise (except the two thugs,) the Masked Lady robberies stopped after the men surrendered to the police.

Vastra and Jenny took the short route back from the police station, with Jenny yawning several times as they did so. On their return to the flat, Jenny curled up on the bed. Vastra removed her hat and netting, seated herself at the table, and observed. "You must be pleased that those two are off the street. You've had a busy week! Given the shock of being kidnapped on Monday, I'm amazed you've held up so well."

"That was pretty scary. Wasn't sure I'd get out of that in one piece." Suddenly, Jenny grinned and sat up. "Mind you, it did have one good point."

"How could you being kidnapped have any benefit?"

"Well, as I said, it was very scary, but all I could think about was the time that I was snatched when I was little."

"What! Who? When was that? I'll kill..."

Jenny turned to her, a slight smile on her face, reached across the small table and gently touched a finger to Vastra's lips. Vastra was so surprised she immediately fell silent.

"It was five years ago. I'd just turned eight. Ma and Da took us to a fair here in London as a birthday present. Anne was an infant, and Johnny was awful young. The fair had a juggler, and several people singing, telling stories and reading poetry, and a magician too. They even had a couple of lions. And Da said that there was a really scary monster..."

Madame Vastra flinched. She had an idea that she knew who the "scary monster" was. She recognized the description of her old fair troupe, 'Jago's Monstre Gathering.'

"Was looking at the lions, wondering if they purred when sleepin' in the sunlight like housecats. Ma and Da sort of wandered off, the way adults sometimes do. Next thing I knew a man sidled up to me and offered me a bit of candy if I came with him. Never seen him before, and he was slippery looking, so I said 'no'. But he grabbed my arm, laid a blade on my neck under my collar so folks couldn't see it, and said if I screamed, he'd slit my throat. Didn't have a much choice. Went with him, but I dragged my heels as much as I could. Didn't want to get away from other people. Seemed like forever, but suddenly there was a hullabaloo and the man was cursing a blue streak. He tried to hurry me along, but he kept looking away, and finally when he did I gave him a good kick in the shin, and got free. Then another man grabbed me, and tossed me to a nearby lady, and went after the bastard. The man who saved me was pretty handy with his fives, I remember that. Gave the bloke a good thrashing, but I don't think he punched him more than once. Tossed him alot around instead."

"The lady sat me down and gave me some sweet tea. I was crying a bit, though trying hard not to, so all I remember was that she had pretty eyes and her head was covered by a green scarf. After a bit the man brought my parents to the tent, and told me I was very brave. Turned to thank the lady, but she'd vanished."

'Wait a moment,' thought Vastra. So far as she knew, only once was a little monkey taken from the troupe's fairground. On her first day there...

"Finally figured out this morning that it wasn't a scarf that I couldn't quite see, now was it? It was green skin," said Jenny. She grinned. "I finally remembered where we met before. That lady was you. Told you the morning after we met that your eyes looked familiar. And awfully pretty."

Vastra realized that the little monkey she and The Doctor had rescued all those years ago was Jenny! Jenny had recognized her on some level as someone 'safe,' so she'd never been afraid of the often dangerous lizard woman.

Now all Vastra, lone survivor of her honoured clan of the noble species of Reptilia Sapiens, scientist, warrior, hunter of apes and slayer of the worst criminals in Victorian London could do was make a lost little squeak as the gentle hand of a brave and clever young human girl moved to gently cup her cheek.

"Thank-you, Madame Vastra. For saving me life. All the times you have, and all the times you might yet."

The gentle warmth of Jenny's hand was the best thing Vastra had felt since she'd woken up in this living nightmare called London, with her family murdered and her people lost to her forever. From the look in Jenny's eyes, she could almost believe that there was one person in this time and place who cared for her a little bit and might even defend her.

Even if that person was only a very young ape.

"Going to grab a nap now, I think. Tomorrow's another day, and Mrs Brown'll want the Gin Palace cleaned again. Need some food too so I'll pop over to Billingsgate market for nice fresh fish now that I can safely go past…" Jenny stopped; a strange look on her face.

At the same moment, an alarming thought finally occurred to both Vastra and Jenny: The Black Scorpions were broken. Their leader had fled after being identified to the police, the other senior Scorpions were under the watchful eyes of the police, the middle managers would likely be deported, and few remaining members had retreated to the Limehouse district in East London. It would most likely take years for the Tong to recover. They had much bigger worries than bothering about a young girl who refused to be a whore.

Jenny didn't need Madame Vastra's protection anymore. There were friends in her old neighbourhood that could safely take her in.

There was no longer a reason for Jenny to stay.

END

Author's notes:

In the first story of "The Dragon's Heart" series, "Blood on her Hands" (posted March 2, 2013) Jenny says "I'm trying to remember if we've met before. Your eyes look familiar somehow." Jenny was far more intrigued by Vastra than scared. In this chapter where Jenny realizes where she met Vastra finally explains why. The idea was inspired by a romance novel called "Sweet Vixen" by Maggie McIver. In it the heroine, lamed in a carriage accident when she was young, is rescued from robbery by a rogue with familiar eyes. They have several adventures together, and she eventually recognizes his eyes: as a teenager, he'd rescued the injured and crying child and returned her to her family. I thought that having Vastra help rescue Jenny when Jenny was very young and Vastra was a Victorian Silurian Thespian (blame Neil Gaiman for that one) was a fun bit of homage to a little book I'd enjoyed.

Most of the sub-plot was written (as notes) when I started drafting the series in December 2012. So you can imagine my cursing when the preview for "The Bells of St. John" appeared on March 23, 2013 with the potential of a similar plot. But the Doctor was looking for Clara, and Vastra was never looking for Jenny. She just got lucky. In the end, I decided to keep sub-plot in the series, as I still liked the idea.

The Black Scorpion Tong will regroup and re-appear in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" a fourth Doctor Who serial first broadcast in 1977. The story refers to "The Palace Theatre" (Built in 1891) and "Little Tich" (active in theatre from 1879 (12) until 1927 (60)) so I would place that story in the early 1890's, about ten or more years after this story.

'Coal Vaults' – Many townhouses built between 1800 and 1900 in Britain had a 'coal vault', often under the street pavement. A collier unloaded coal from a cart directly into the coal vault. Coal was dumped down a chute through a 'coal hole'. This prevented dirty coal sacks from being carried through the house. The coal would then be used for the household fires and stoves.

Next Story: Jenny confronts a terrifying truth, cleanliness and confession are good for the body and the spirit, and Vastra embarks on a new career.

And finally:

If you recognized the reference to Mr. Dawes, Director of the Bank, give yourself tuppence. Although Vastra would probably encourage you to feed the birds instead. She'd like the extra meat.