Always: You'll Never Walk Alone Read Free Page B

that I stepped back involuntarily. He turned on his heel and hissed over his shoulder. “I’ll be back at noon. If he knows what’s good for him he better be here.” And he stormed out the door, slamming it behind him.
    I sat down my heart racing. Who could this be? Was this the same person who’d been asking after Sarah yesterday? And why would a gentleman be asking after Sarah? Was she in some sort of trouble? I hadn’t had a chance to ask her yesterday, and it was too early to wake her now.
    I stoked the embers to bring some warmth back to the cold room and sat by the fire. What sort of trouble could she be in? She’d never said much about her former life, but we’d hardly had a chance to talk and I really knew very little of her past. But surely Sarah couldn’t have ever done anything wrong. Whatever this gentleman wanted, and I’m sure it could be nothing good, I’d have to find a way to protect her. But how? Surely John and Sylvie would help. But they hardly knew her either and if she were in trouble would they be prepared to do anything? With these thoughts running through my head, I felt myself drifting back to sleep.
    Suddenly the door was flung open and the gentleman and two constables stormed in. “Where is Sarah Todman?” one of the constables demanded.
    Before I could reply, they started up the stairs. “You can’t go up there”, I shouted
    “Stay out of the way if you don’t want to be arrested as well”, the gentleman barked.
    I ran after them as they banged on doors and called for Sarah. She opened her door as they reached the top floor. She was dressed in her nightclothes and her hair hung in tangles around her face. “What is it?” she asked.
    The gentleman, who was standing just behind the first constable reached around, grabbed her by the arm and said, “This is the little harlot. Arrest her, constable.”
    “Wh… What is it?” She stammered.
    “Are you Sarah Todman?” The constable asked
    “Ye… Yes, sir.”
    “Then I have a warrant for your arrest. Come along with us now.” And he grabbed her other arm.
    “No, No please I…”
    “Don’t make it difficult miss: you’re in enough trouble already.”
    They turned for the stairs, the gentleman on one side, a constable on the other, and Sarah in the middle. Unfortunately, the stairs were only wide enough for one person to go down at a time. After some initial confusion, the gentleman went first followed by the first constable, then Sarah, and finally the second constable. Just as the gentleman reached the second floor, John came out of his room. “What’s the meaning of this?” he demanded.
    “Who are you?” the gentleman replied.
    “John Cooper, the owner of this establishment, and who are you to break into a man’s house like this?”
    “Who I am is of no consequence to a man such as you. We are here to arrest Sarah Todman, and you better stay out of our way if you don’t want to have this hovel closed and be arrested along with her.”
    John Cooper was an even-tempered man, very slow to anger, but when he did lose his temper, it was best not to be too close. Although he only stood five foot eight, he weighed close to thirteen stones, and thought nothing of hoisting full beer kegs over his head. I saw the blood start to rise from his neck and up to his ears. “Now look here, I may be nothing more than the proprietor of this tavern, and you may be a gentleman in all of your finery, but this is my house and no one comes in here without my permission. Now get out.”
    The gentleman ignored him and tried to push past. That was his second mistake. John, seemingly without effort, grabbed him by his coat and flung him against the wall. The gentleman stood there, the air knocked out of his body, too stunned to move. John and the gentleman glared at each other. The first constable came between them before the fight could escalate. “Now sir, we have a job to do here. Let’s not make this difficult.”
    John transferred