in mutton broth and bread, and the young ones were bedded down and sleeping, so she had taken the opportunity to slip away and pray, just as she had done for the last seventy-something years.
The Watchers were not part of any church; they did not have the Papal seal of approval or the blessing of the Anglican synod. However, there were many good church men and women across the denominations that supported them in secret. Some gave food for the orphans they cared for; others prayed for them; others still opened their doors in the dead of night, allowing Mother Shepherd and her flock to find refuge until morning.
It scared her to think that it all might change. If the Legion had their way, she and all her children would be hunted down like dogs.
And if Benjamin Kingdom chose the left-hand path over the right, it might happen very soon.
Jago Moon was pacing back and forth in his agitation, and the tapping of his cane was becoming restless.
“Come and sit beside me and tell me what is troubling you,” she said, patting the wooden pew as she settled herself upon it. She made an occasional gasp as she sought the position of least discomfort. When did I get so old? she wondered.
“I’m not worthy,” said Moon.
“Nonsense,” Mother Shepherd replied. “I’m a foolish old woman taking the weight off her legs. Who better to rest beside me than a stubborn old man? Now sit down and tell me what we’re facing.”
“I believe that the last Coin of Judas has surfaced,” said Moon, and Mother Shepherd winced as fear grabbed her stomach and twisted hard.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“I’m only surmising,” said Moon, “but if it is the final Coin then we will all know soon enough.”
“I need to know everything,” said Mother Shepherd, her voice showing more calm than she felt. “Go back to the beginning.”
“Lucy has just brought Nathaniel Kingdom to the eyrie,” Moon explained.
“Benjamin’s brother?”
“The same,” Moon confirmed. “Apparently, Nathaniel and his father were returning from the docks when they spotted that they were being followed. They took shelter in one of the warehouses and hid there until they were sure that they were safe. When they finally returned to their lodgings they discovered that it had been ransacked and Ben was nowhere to be found.”
“And where does the Coin fit in?”
“Nathaniel was in a desperate state when Lucy found him, he’d been searching for Ben all day. He told her that it was his fault Ben was missing. He said that if he hadn’t spotted the Egyptian at the docks, then his father would never have gone over to speak with him and they would never have fallen into the grip of the Coin.”
“I’m still not following.”
“It seems that an Egyptian man gave Jonas a silver coin which they hid under the floorboards in their room. Since their room had been torn apart Nathaniel assumes that the real owner came looking for it.”
“That might be true,” said Mother Shepherd, “but what makes you think that it’s the Judas Coin?”
“Because of the way Nathaniel described it to Lucy. He told her that it was the most beautiful thing in the world and that since he had clapped eyes on it, he had been consumed with greed for it. Nathaniel said that he could hardly think of anything else, that he wanted it so much that it frightened him.”
“It frightens me too,” she said. She had hoped that she would not live to see the day that a Judas Coin was at large in London. One of those bloodstained pieces of silver was enough to turn a man from saint to sinner. How would a poor red-headed boy cope if it came within his grasp? “And do we know where Benjamin is?” she asked.
Moon shook his grizzled head. “We saw him go into the Under but no one has seen him emerge. We’ve got scouts watching the entrances that we are aware of, but you know as well as I do that there are hundreds of secret ways into that cesspit.”
Mother Shepherd could hear the anger and fear churning together in her old friend’s voice. “Have faith in Benjamin,” she said. “He’s young and foolish, but you told me yourself that he has a good heart. Just because he is with the Legion at the moment, it doesn’t mean that he has joined them.”
Moon made a scornful noise at the back of his throat and she chose to ignore it.
“If