Young Sherlock Holmes_ Red Leech - Andrew Lane [68]
Crowe ambled back, smiling. ‘I’ve secured a suite of rooms for us,’ he said. A sittin’ room plus three bedrooms. When we get Matty back, he’ll have to double up with you, Sherlock.’
‘Of course.’ Sherlock took heart at the way Crowe said ‘when’ rather than ‘if they got Matty back.
They took the stairs to the third floor, where their room was located. Oddly, Sherlock noticed, it was on the second floor.
‘Ah,’ Crowe rumbled. ‘Good point. That’s one of the differences between England and America. In England you have a ground floor, a first floor, a second floor and so on. Here in America the ground floor is called the first floor, so we just have a first floor, a second floor and so on. No ground floor.’
‘What else do I need to know?’ Sherlock asked.
‘What you call a pavement, we call a sidewalk. Apart from that, it’s pretty much the same. The money is different, though. We have dollars, dimes and cents, not pounds, shillings and pence. I’ll give you both some money later on. Don’t flash it around.’
The rooms were good – the sitting room had two sofas and several comfortable chairs, along with a writing desk, and a window with a view over the street outside. Sherlock’s bedroom was smaller, but the bed was far softer than the one he had left behind at Holmes Manor. The hotel wasn’t exclusive, by any means, but it obviously catered to guests with money and expectations.
‘Can I go out for a walk?’ he asked Amyus Crowe.
Crowe thought for a moment. ‘You’re a smart kid. You think you can find your way back?’
‘I’m sure I can.’
‘The city’s laid out on a grid system: pretty logical to follow’ He crossed to the writing desk and picked up a sheet of headed paper. ‘If you get lost, ask for the Jellabee Hotel. The address is on here. Don’t get involved with any street corner card games, don’t flash any money around an’ don’t give anyone any cheek. If you find yourself in a location called “Five Points” then get out as quickly as you can. You’ll know you’re in Five Points because of the smell – the place is full of turpentine distilleries, glue factories and slaughterhouses. Follow those rules and you’ll be OK.’ He delved in his pocket and handed over a handful of notes and coins. ‘That should buy you somethin’ to eat, if you get hungry, or a cab to get you back.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I’m goin’ to find out when the SS Great Eastern docked. An’ if it hasn’t docked I’m goin’ to find out when it’s due in.’
Sherlock turned to see whether Virginia wanted to come with him, but she had already retreated into her room.
Crowe shook his head. ‘Leave her,’ he said. ‘There’s too many memories here for her. Let her come to terms with it herself
Outside, in the sunshine, the smell of sewage and rotting vegetables was much stronger. Sherlock wandered along the pavement – the sidewalk, he reminded himself – taking in the sights and the sounds of this new city in a new land.
He passed shops with signs outside offering ‘notions’, which seemed to be household items of various kinds, and bars serving everything from ‘gumption’ – which he guessed from the smell was a kind of cider – to something called ‘port wine negus’. Alleys led off the main street; narrow canyons between the buildings in which he was surprised to see not only cats and dogs but also wild pigs rooting through the piles of discarded rubbish for something they could eat. There were also restaurants on every corner, offering food from various nations. Sherlock was particularly struck by the sheer number and variety of oyster bars, usually serving beer and wine and the mysterious ‘gumption’ as well as oysters that had been fried, boiled, broiled, grilled or just served on ice. Oysters seemed to be the most common food around in New York.
As well as the bars, restaurants and shops, there were churches made of white stone, with white steps up to their front doors and sharply pointed steeples, and warehouses where all kinds of goods coming off the ships,