Rookery ~ Assassin's Creed Syndicate

Chapter Sixteen

Jacob and I had taken to the training ring behind Henry's curio shop with our brass knuckles. We weren't hitting each other, as the knuckles could do a great amount of damage to the both of us, so we had brought out Jacob's enemy - the dummy. It stood in the centre of the yard on its little stand, cloaked in a new outfit. We had taken the uniform from a dead Blighter and adorned the dummy with it.
As training, Jacob would hit the dummy in a sequence, and then I would copy. Each time, he re-enacted his previous sequence, then added another move. I had to remember them and repeat it. It was quite the test for me, since I was never any good with my memory, but I had a lot of fun performing all of the moves. After an hour of repeating him, he stopped.
"Our warm up is over."
"That was just the warm up?" He nodded and I replied with a loud groan.
"No complaints. You wanted training. This is training." He strutted around so that he was behind me. "I won't tell you what to do just yet. Show me something."
"Show you what?"
"Show me anything."
I sprinted towards the dummy, leaping into the air and brought my fist down to connect with its shoulder. It rocked but didn't fall, so I kicked the back of its knee. It fell. My finishing blow was a swift punch to the side of its skull. I stood the dummy back up and readied to perform another take down. I climbed the shop wall and positioned myself on the roof. Jacob leaned against a wall, observing. I jumped, landed on the dummy's stomach and pulled it down. I placed one foot to its neck and, with one quick twist, pulled the head clean off.
"So very violent." He chuckled, clapping. I breathed heavily from doing so much work but a grin remained painted on my lips. "I want you to try something." He placed the head back on the dummy and stood it up. "Try punching right at the top of the spine." He demonstrated. "Here. It can very seriously injure the brain, giving a quick death to your enemy." He stepped back so that I could try it. I did just as he had, with a little more force. The head flew off but Jacob caught it with a smirk. "Your enemies will not do that. Hopefully." He stuck it back on again. "I liked the way you immobilised the enemy before killing him. Could you try that again but in a way that will make less noise?" I kicked its knee again, but caught it to help it to the floor. I laid it down and struck its throat, then its head. "Do you think there would be a way to prevent the other enemies around you from spotting the body?"
"Yes. I can hide the body in a hay bale, cart, carriage or a tool shed. Water would be a good way too, but the body would be spotted quite quickly."
"The best option?"
"A moving carriage or a carriage which is about to depart. No one would suspect a thing until the carriage reached its destination." He nodded. "Or, if someone is killed on a train, it would be easy enough to throw the body from the moving train. It would either fall to the tracks or off of a bridge, should the train be going over a bridge. Or a storage cupboard would work."
"Good thinking." He gave a little smile. "I think we should be done for today. We should head to the station. If we don't get there soon, the train will not be there for us."
"Alright. We should take the carriage."
~~
The train was waiting at the station when we got there. We sprinted on board, confronted by Henry and Evie looking rather tired and dishevelled. Evie looked up and frowned at me with sympathy. She waltzed over, grabbed my shoulders then hugged me tightly.
"What ever is the matter, Miss Frye?" I asked, laughing lightly.
"It's Jonah. He left a few hours ago and one of the urchins came to the train to tell us that a man in a red uniform shoved him into a carriage and took him away." I shook my head.
"No. This cannot have happened."
"I'm afraid so. She described the man as being six foot tall, bald with brown eyes and had a curly moustache. Of course, that is not much of a description, but it is a start." She paced over the door. "You and Jacob should go and look for him. Ask the urchins in the area. He went missing quite close to the station. One of them must have seen what happened." Her eyes filled with tears. "I wish you the best of luck in finding him." I smiled thankfully.
"Thank you, Evie. We will try our hardest." Jacob and I jumped back out onto the platform. Then, the brakes hissed and the train moved out at a crawl. Evie waved at us from the open door, screaming words of encouragement down the track.
"Carina, we will find him. I promise you."
"I know we will. I am keeping my hopes up." I hugged my arms around myself and carefully shut my eyes as we walked. "I don't want to lose anyone else. I can't."
"Evie, Henry and I are all still here for you. And Jonah will be coming back with us." I sniffed, tears rushing to my eyes. "Come here." He held out his arms. I didn't hesitate to rush into them. I needed a friendly gesture at that moment, and Jacob was offering it. I sobbed quietly into his shoulder. "This is silly. He will be fine and he will walk back with us to the train later on today." His hand pet my hair gently and I clung to any bit of fabric on his chest that I could find.
"You'll look after me if anything happens?" He chuckled.
"Of course I will, Carina." He kissed the parting in my hair. "Come on. I can see a few young children over there." He lead me over to where a group of four children were talking to one another. They fell silent when we reached them, the braver of the four stepping forward.
"Good afternoon Miss and Sir. What can we do for you?" She held her hands behind her back, her chin held high and spoke with a posh manner, as if addressing royalty. "Perhaps me and these children can offer our services to you. What is it you need? Goods? Information? A distraction? All comes at a price, however." She dug into her pockets and pulled the inside out. "Seems we are out of funds. We are starving. If we do not get any food soon, I fear for our fate."
"Cut the act." Jacob grumbled. The girl dropped from her tip toes.
"Look here, you. Just because we are children does not mean we should be treated like dirt. Pay us some money or we will look for work elsewhere." She prodded Jacob in the leg with a pointy twig.
"We need to know about a kidnapping." I dropped four coins into her palm - one for each child. "A bald man with brown eyes wearing a red uniform passed by here, yes?" The girl nodded. "Was he with anyone else?"
"Yeah. He was." The youngest boy of them walked a few paces over. "Hello. Name's Olly." He held a hand out for me to shake. I did so with a little smile. "Who might you both be?"
"I am Carina Faraday, and this is my associate, Jacob Frye."
"Oh. You are Miss Frye's brother?" The first girl began.
"Yes. As it so happens, I am."
"Well then. Let us give them all they need. The bald man was with someone, Olly?" She faced her friend. "Describe him to our guests."
"Yes, Tess." He took off his hat. "He was about as tall as the bald one. This one had brown hair and these really bright eyes. He looked in pain when the bald one grabbed his arm, twisted it and then threw him in the carriage. I heard the word 'hideout' used. Don't know where it is, mind. I hope that's of a bit of help." I smiled.
"That sounds like Jonah."
"I heard something about a train, I think. Possibly a train hideout." Another little girl said.
"Thank you all very much. How long ago did they leave?"
"Not long before you showed up, Miss. You both might be able to catch them, if you hurry." I gave them a few extra coins.
"Thank you so much for your help. We should be off now." I turned to face Jacob, only to realise that he was gone. "Jacob?" I called. "Jacob!"
"He isn't coming back, Miss Faraday." A deep voice sent a chill down my spine. I swivelled to meet the owner of the voice with my blade drawn. "Oh no. I wouldn't use that if I were you. The train leaves in twenty minutes. A scuffle will mean you won't get there in time." Brown eyes, bald, a curly moustache and a devious grin adorned his round face. He clicked a pistol beside him which was clearly empty. In his other hand, he twisted a throwing knife between his fingers menacingly.
"What are you doing to Jonah?"
"Personally? Nothing. My boys, however, might be torturing him right this second." He raised the pistol so that the butt of it was to me. "Let's take you there, shall we?" He struck me with the gun and I fell. My vision began to blur before I completely passed out and I could see nothing but a sheet of black.