Chapter 9

Threatened by the pistol, Lewis got up from his spot while still holding Garrett's coat and was told to walk in the port. He asked the men, "How did you see me?"

The other thug answered, "Boss told us to patrol outside the port. Knew you were here."

While walking, Lewis turned around again, this time, to look at the gun pointing at him. "I see you hold the Tranter."

The man holding the gun ignored and yelled, "Move it, will ya!"

Lewis faced forward and muttered, "Alright, fine."

He and the two thugs reached the port and the boss welcomed him.

"He must be the other one," the boss said to his men.

"Yes, boss."

"I wonder how we got caught like this," said Lewis.

The boss spoke to Lewis, "You must be here for Beatrice. Well, you are ruining the performance. Why can't you give us privacy?"

Lewis looked around and replied, "You do have an... unusual kind of privacy. I mean, isn't this supposed to be public since it's a performance?"

The boss was not pleased with the response so he bashed Lewis on the face with his cane.

"Oi, you bugger off!" Garrett shouted at the boss after seeing his mate hurt. Because of that, his face was planted on the ground with his eyes facing to the right.

Lewis started moving his jaws after taking the hit, seemingly annoyed by that. "It's fine," he told Garrett.

He asked the boss, "Who are you anyway? What's your name?"

"Alfred Lewis is my name."

"I'm not convinced of that. Even one of your men told me you go by a lot of names. It was apparent in your letters. Letters full of scent."

It was intensely emotional for the boss to hear the response from Lewis. "You have the letters, I see."

He clutched at his cane and questioned Lewis, "Where are the letters? Where are they?"

Lewis seemed to notice a form of behavior from the man in front of him, but he was not sure of it. He then thought he could perhaps draw out his true nature.

He covered his hands with Garrett's coat and started to ask questions "Are the letters really important to you? You are quite sensitive about it."

The boss approached Lewis by a foot and responded, "Have you stolen their scents?"

"Their scents? Whose scents? Amelia's? Lucy's? Kennedy's?"

Lewis turned his gaze on Beatrice. "Hers?"

The boss started to grind his teeth and gripped his cane more tightly.

"I'm curious," said Lewis. "Where are they? What did you do to those women you formed relationships with? What will happen to Beatrice?"

The boss could not take it anymore, so much that he told Lewis, "Stop! Stop at this instant!"

Lewis ignored the boss's order. "Wait, I think I should reword my questions. How did the previous performances end? What's the ending to tonight's performance?"

Once again, the boss bashed Lewis with his cane on his face. Afterwards, he angrily whispered to him, "No one knows how they ended, how tonight's show will end."

Lewis whispered back, "Then how much will we see for tonight?"

The boss looked at Lewis while the latter raised his eyebrows, waiting for the answer. "Up until the climax," the former answered. "I shall begin the performance now."

The boss went away from Lewis to go to Beatrice. Lewis loudly spoke, "What are you hiding?"

The boss stopped from walking. Lewis continued to annoyingly ask, "Why can't we see the ending?"

The boss simply ignored the questions and continued to walk towards Batrice. He faced the woman's front and introduced tonight's event with an opening remark.

"Gentlemen, 'The Lost Swan.'"

The thugs cheered for the opening speech. Lewis muttered, "So this is their boss. What a pity. Poor men."

He suddenly thought of the long-haired beautiful man's position as the boss of these Untamed thugs.

He speculated one thing: if his house was located at Whitechapel, then he must have been the gang leader of that borough. If that would be the case and he and Garrett would be able to bring him to authorities tonight, then the Untamed would be crippled by a gang leader.

The man alongside the gun holder and another one held Lewis's arms to restrain him. He was surprised by it left and right. "I'm not going anywhere."

He mumbled, "Ruffians."

The thug on his right heard him but not clearly. "What'd ya say?"

"Nothing."

The event started with the boss's monologues and self-dialogues. All cheered for those lines, much to Lewis and Garrett's distress.

The event had reached its climax. Lewis made eye contact with Garrett and signaled him with a nod. Apparently they had a plan in that situation.

For the climax, the boss approached Beatrice who was still sitting down on the ground after a series of actions by himself.

He touched her shoulders and whispered to her ear, "Oh no. It looks like he won't be here. He cannot save you."

He pulled down Beatrice's top of her clothes, causing it to tear. She got terrified with cries and covered her chest with her tied hands and her lowered head.

Sounds of the tear were heard and the thugs, who had been the audience of the night, were pleasurably delighted with cheers and shouts.

Lewis was displeased by the display. Garrett, though he only heard the cloth tear sound, felt the same way.

The boss shouted to the heavens. "How magnificent you are, woman!" he followed with an insane laugh.

Lewis mumbled, "I'll have to interrupt the climax a little bit."

Underneath the coat covering Lewis's hands, he secretly pulled the howdah pistol from the coat pocket with his right hand, pointed at the gun holder behind him through the left side of the hip.

And from there he pulled the trigger shooting the gun holder at the stomach.

All hell would then start to break loose.

Everyone in the port was shocked by the gunshot. It served as the window for Lewis and Garrett to break free.

The holder let go of his pistol after getting shot while the two thugs holding Lewis were shocked, loosening their grips. His arms escaped from them and he bumped their heads with each other resulting in their concussions.

While the other thugs were holding down Garrett, their eyes were on Lewis leaving their guard down and allowing Garrett to turn his head to the left. He used his left arm to free itself and punch the thug to the cheek. The eyes were then set to him.

He left his left palm wide open and Lewis tossed the pistol to it. Garrett caught the throw and shot the man holding his head to the stomach too.

The last thug holding Garrett was diverted from the action. Lewis saw the chance to knock him down with a kick. Garrett was finally free and he got up.

The boss was furious because the performance was interrupted by the pandemonium happening in front of him. He loudly commanded his men, "Get them!"

The thugs pulled out their knives and pistols while the boss carried Beatrice to a boat waiting at the river. Beatrice was wailing for help even with her mouth covered.

Lewis and Garrett saw all of the thugs in the port with their weapons and the boss's escape. They hid behind the nearest barrels while getting shot.

"That's heavier than I thought," Lewis loudly told Garrett about the pistol. "We could have gone for a lighter one!"

"Consider it a shot test!"

"Well, I think it's a very powerful gun considering there are two barrels, high velocity too! It's perfect for hunting!"

While exchanging loud responses, the barrels for their cover began to break leaving them no choice but to fight back. Garrett gave Lewis a spare revolver with a slide.

"The Beaumont–Adams... Brilliant!"

Their cover shattered and started shooting the thugs to at least scare them off.

Some continued firing at them and the two quickly behind the nearest boxes for more cover. Their cover distanced them farther.

Lewis told Garrett, again loudly due to the gunshots. "Throw away that red coat! The police will be on their way here, you might get caught!"

Garrett took off the now-ineffective disguise and threw it aside.

"There's no way they will ignore all these gunshots," Lewis added while giving the coat back to his mate.

The police finally arrived at the port full of ruckus with several carriages and nearby patrols. Whistles were blown and batons were pulled out in an attempt to stop the gunshots. The thugs stopped shooting at the two men and began running in scattered groups.

Lewis and Garrett took a peek when they saw the thugs running away from the policemen. Garrett temporarily celebrated, "Hah! Cowards!"

They waited for the port to be cleared out by the police. Garrett used the time to put on his coat.

They got out of their cover and then ran further where they saw the boss getting away with a boat.

"Oi, they're gettin' away!"