WRAITHS OF THE RIPPER

Chapter Twenty Five

After Jasper and Sally left them alone, John left with Ten and Eleven to go to the police station. Amy and Rani looked around at the dusty house.

"Right, this place needs to be cleaned," Amy said, slapping her hands together.

"Too bad that's woman's work then," Rory said, walking over to an old dusty sofa near a large window.

Rani giggled at the annoyed look on Amy's face while she eyed her smug husband.

"Up, now!" Amy said, walking over to him and pointing up to the ceiling.

Rory grinned and stretched out on the battered brown sofa, resting his head on the curved wooden arms while he smiled at his wife.

"Have at it," he said to her.

"No, this is a big house and you're helping," Amy said.

"But…I'm comfy," Rory protested.

"I don't know how to clean," Rani said.

"Well, there's no better time to learn than now, eh?" Rory said. "Go at it!"

"Up," Amy said sternly.

"But…" Rory said.

"Up, Williams, now!"

"And clean with what?" Rory said.

"I don't know, we'll make do. We'll find something in the cupboard but if we're gonna stay here, I don't wanna stay in a filthy house. Now up!"

Rory groaned and got up.

"I'll clean, you lot tend to the stove and start dinner so we can have something to eat," he said to them.

He headed off in search of cleaning supplies while Amy and Rani walked into the kitchen. The stove was cold, no fire was going and Rani ran her hand over the cast iron surface of it.

"So how do we do this? I've never seen a cooker like this," she said to Amy.

"No, neither have I but I believe you put wood in it and light the wood and Bob's your uncle," she said.

Rani watched while she knelt down and opened a grate in the front of the stove. Inside was a large hole for firewood. Amy examined it.

"I suppose we put a bit of wood in here and light the fire and that heats the food," Amy said to her.

"Or we could go get takeaway," Rani said.

"Somehow, I get the feeling you really can't do that in this century, love," Amy said. "Don't worry, we'll manage. If the boys can pretend to be inspectors, we can…"

She shut up when she heard Rory talking to someone. She went into the other room and smiled when she saw Sally stepping past Rory. She had a basket filled with food.

"Thought I'd help you out," she said to Amy. "I brought some food. Do you need anything else?"

"Well, could you help us light the stove?" Amy said to her.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"And you wish to work for the Metropolitan Police Force," Superintendant Randall Johnson said after inspecting the credentials and letters of the three newcomers.

John glanced at Ten and Eleven.

"Yes, sir. We moved here and want to join the police force," he said.

"Well…we could use a few more men," the man said, rubbing his chin while he leaned back in his oak chair. "But…the area where we need the most help is Whitechapel."

John brightened at that. He didn't have to mention to Randall that they wanted to work there. He could hear Ten and Eleven groaning under their breath but they didn't protest.

"I think that will do," John said.

"I must warn you, it's a rough area. Murders nearly every night and it's filled with the most depraved and degenerate people you can imagine. Most men go in pairs for safety," Randall said to them. "If you wish to start right away, I can issue you a uniform, a truncheon and a lantern. Your salary will be twenty pounds per annum. Is that agreeable?"

The three men nodded. Randall was in his early forties with a thin face and a bushy handlebar mustache that made him look like he belonged in a barbershop quartet. He was wearing a blue policeman's uniform. His greatcoat was slung over the back of his chair and his bobbie hat was sitting on the desk by a stack of papers. He smiled warmly at his new recruits.

"You should take Tim with ya tonight," he said to them. "He has some experience dealing with the people in Whitechapel. But report back here at 8 p.m. for a twelve hour shift. That'll be all, gentlemen."

As they left the station, John decided that he would go and check up on Jack and the women and let them know what was going on. "George" and "Jim" were walking ahead of him, going on about how they would have to go to Whitechapel and deal with the rabble there.

You wouldn't be thinking that if you remembered Rose and River were part of the rabble, he thought while he stared at their backs.

He cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Eh?" Eleven said, looking over his shoulder.

"I…think I'll ride into Whitechapel this morning to get a…feel for the place," John said.

"Have at it, mate, I'm really not excited about going in there," Ten said.

"Too right, all those whores and drunks and criminals," Eleven said, making a face.

"I thought you wanted to be a policeman," John said.

"Yes but…I was hoping for something easier than investigating decapitated bodies and telling tramps and drunks to hurry along," Eleven said.

John was a bit perplexed. He figured the Doctors would program in an eagerness to go to Whitechapel when they became human. But then again, most people wouldn't want a seedy slum like Whitechapel for their beat so he supposed it was a more realistic reaction. Still, he wondered if he was going to have to drag them both kicking and screaming into the slums.

After they returned to the house, John told everyone he was going to go to Whitechapel and he'd return in a few hours before heading out to find a hansom cab to hire.

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