Young Sherlock Holmes_ Red Leech - Andrew Lane [76]
The train slowed down even more. They were passing a huge field of tall plants with bulbous tops. The only fence Sherlock could see stretched from the train line to the horizon. The sound of the train’s steam whistle suddenly cut through the air: a mournful hoot like the call of some mythical creature. A smattering of barns and houses passed by, then more houses, and then a whole town materialized as the train gradually heaved itself to a halt alongside a boardwalk that was barely raised above the ground.
‘Let’s get off,’ Sherlock said as the voice of the distant ticket collector bellowed: ‘This is Perseverance, New Jersey. Ten-minute stop, ladies and gentlemen; ten-minute stop. This is Perseverance.’
Sherlock pulled Virginia out of her seat and towards the door. Someone outside opened it, and the two of them jumped to the boardwalk.
‘You get food,’ he said. ‘You’ve got the money. I’ll check that they haven’t got off here.’
The boardwalk was crowded with people in dusty clothes made of denim, cord or some kind of patterned cotton that looked a bit like a summer tartan. Sherlock pushed his way through them and moved into the shade of a wall. Some people were leaving the train for good, some were just leaving for a few moments and some were getting on. The ticket collector was striding along making sure that everyone knew where they were going.
Ives – the burly man with the close-cropped blond hair – exited the train with Matty. Berle, the doctor, was probably looking after the half-mad John Wilkes Booth. Matty was looking pale, but Ives seemed to be treating him reasonably well. He wasn’t pushing him around or hitting him, at least, but his hand was resting on Matty’s shoulder. He pushed the boy towards a row of small wooden buildings, little bigger than a garden shed, that sat off to one side of the track. Toilets, Sherlock assumed. Probably just holes in the ground, shielded for privacy.
Ives pushed Matty into one of the outhouses and closed the door. He stood there for a moment, then walked away, grimacing and holding his hand across his face. The smell was obviously driving him away.
Sherlock ran around to the back of the outhouses and counted along to the one he thought Matty had gone into. The wood at the back was almost rotted away at the bottom. Ives had been right. The smell was nauseating.
‘Matty!’ he hissed through the cracks in the wood.
‘Sherlock!’ Matty’s voice shouted. ‘I saw you and Virginia on the train!’
‘Did they see us?’
‘No. They would have said.’
‘Right.’ Sherlock tested the wood at the base of the outhouse. ‘Help me make a hole.’
Together, with Sherlock pulling and Matty pushing, they snapped enough bits of wood off to make a hole big enough for Matty to scramble through. Sherlock grabbed his hand and pulled. Within moments the two boys were standing together.
‘Are you all right?’ Sherlock asked breathlessly.
‘Better now’ Matty frowned. ‘I was scared on the ship, but they treated me pretty well, and they fed me. And I knew you’d come for me.’
‘Let’s get out of here.’
Together they snuck along the back of the outhouses. Sherlock peered around the side. Ives was still standing off to one side, waiting.
‘Where’s Virginia?’ Matt asked.
‘She’s getting food.’
‘What about Mr Crowe?’
‘He’s back in New York,’ Sherlock admitted.
‘How did that happen?’
Sherlock shook his head. ‘A whole set of circumstances, all coming together at the same time. It wasn’t part of the plan.’
Ives wandered away, holding his nose. While his back was turned, Sherlock grabbed hold of Matty’s arm. ‘Come on!’
Together, the two of them ran across the open ground to the simple clapboard building that housed the ticket office and waiting room. Sherlock led Matty around the side, out of sight of Ives if he turned around. Virginia was there waiting for them. She handed Sherlock two twists of paper with something hot inside, then grabbed Matty and gave him a huge hug.
‘I’m so glad to see you again!’ she said.
Matty squeezed