Lord Day and Lady Night

33. Paper Explosion

Several hours later, a group of four tall and thirty-seven tiny, tired figures left the newspaper's building. One of the children stumbled as they moved towards their coach, and Amy jumped forward just in time to catch her.

Bloody 'ell! Poor thing. I should 'ave expected dis.

Not that she had a lot of experience with children, but still...

"What now?" she asked, cradling the little girl against her.

"Now," Patrick sighed, "we wait, and make our plans for the next attack on the—"

"Dat ain't what I'm talkin' about," Amy told the bloody thick-headed man, sending a glare at him as she gestured towards the snoring child in her arms. "I meant what now?"

"Oh. Ehem..." He tugged at his lapels, in a manner that made it clear he was an experienced man in full command of the situation, and that he would do anything with his hands as long as he didn't have to use them to change diapers. "I suppose we shall have to find another more permanent home for the infants and juveniles, won't we?"

"Ye don't say."

A moment passed—then all eyes slowly turned in a certain direction. Karim, a brave warrior who had faced countless dangers without flinching, suddenly took an abrupt step back, his hand flying to his sabre.

"No!"

"I haven't even asked ye—"

"No! No, and once again, no! I shall not allow the Sahib's home to be invaded!"

"'ow about his office instead?" Amy asked, sweetly.

Karim sent her a death glare. Could it possibly be that he didn't appreciate her friendly suggestion?

"Mr Karim." Reaching out, Patrick placed a solemn hand on the other man's shoulder. "They have to go somewhere safe."

Karim gave him a deadpan look. "And you wish for me to send them to the Sahib's office?"

The three others exchanged looks.

"He's got a point," Amy interjected. "And a bloody good one."

The children had only just escaped one kind of slavery. Sending them to Rikkard Ambrose's office would definitely not be a good idea.

"So...what to do now?"

The interior of the coach went quiet. Amy had to admit her brain was completely blank of ideas. The only place with lots of rooms she had accesss to was not exactly the place that came to mind when you thought "safe, happy home for children." For a long time, nobody said anything.

"Well," Patrick finally spoke up, "I suppose there is always one other person we could try..."

For a few moments, Amy was nonplussed—then, a wicked grin spread across her face. "Oh, aye. Let's do it! Please, let's do it!"

Around twenty minutes later, when the late afternoon sun was just beginning to touch the horizon, two coaches rolled to a stop in front of a certain small, neat bachelor pad. The pitter-patter of tiny feet on cobblestones sounded as they all approached the door. Reaching up, Patrick pulled at the doorbell.

Ding-dong...

A minute or two passed before footsteps resounded from the other side of the wall. The door swung open, revealing the smiling face of Titu Irvings, bathed in the light of the setting sun.

"Patrick! So you've finally learned to show up at a civilized time of day, have you? Did you come to have a chat and take a break? Well, I'm delighted you've finally grasped how to behave like a real friend. I thought the next time you'd drop by, you'd drag me off on some crazily dangerous outing again!"