Joe Harper whistled cheerfully as he walked along the narrow cobbled street. He was a harpooner on a whale-ship just returned from a highly successful voyage to the Davis Straits. He felt happy to be ashore again and looked forward to a few months at home. Home. The very word brought a smile to his lips.
Until the previous winter he had been of no fixed address, sleeping in any place he could find, often in a whore's room. He was a favourite with three or four. His money, so hard-earned, was usually spent on drink and women, leaving nothing in his pocket when he went back to sea. But now it was different.
Last winter he had met Ann Lubbock and the two of them had fallen in love. He couldn't believe it. Joe Harper in love. She had taken him into her house and heart when he was blind drunk and sadly in need of help. On board ship his thoughts frequently turned to Ann and her young son, Jim, who was 9 years old. The boy had willingly accepted him as a father. When Joe had reluctantly left for another voyage Ann was pregnant.
Now he was home. He opened the door and entered the house, abruptly stopping his whistling at the sight that greeted him. Sitting in the chair before the fire - his chair - was a powerfully built fellow with a brutish face made worse by a livid scar on his cheek. Two other men, of similar mien, were sitting at the table.
Ann was bending by the cooking pot and she straightened up as Joe entered. Her left eye was blackened and puffy; on her chin was the purple of a bruise. The baby, which Joe had yet to see, was crying in a rough cot hastily made by Joe before he left. Jim, looking miserable and afraid, cowered in a corner.
"What the devil....!" exclaimed Joe. "Who the bloody hell are you?"
The man rose up to his full and impressive height. "I might ask that of you, bursting into me house like that."
"Your house?" Joe, bewildered, looked at Ann. With her eyes cast down she nodded agreement.
"Emmanuel Lubbock, that's me name. This here's me wife, Annie, and that milksop over there is me son, Jim. 'course, you've already met, ain't you? As for the babby...." Lubbock rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "I don't rightly know where that little bastard come from."
Joe lunged forward.
"No!" cried Ann.
"Not me," Lubbock continued, "that's for sure. I bin away on business."
In fact, he had been transported for seven years for the crime of Assault. Joe knew all about him, but fully expected him to have disappeared to Australia for ever. Instead, as with most transportees, Lubbock had got no further than a Hulk moored on the Thames. After four years and three months he was released on licence. And now he was back home, completely unreformed and as vicious as before.
"Now then, sir," Lubbock said, with mock politeness. "May I enquire who you might be, walking into a man's home and castle, as you might say, without so much as a by your leave?"
"You know damned well," growled Joe. "What you been doing to her?" He indicated the bruises on Ann's face.
"What any wronged husband is entitled to do to his own wife. And I done summat else, too. A wife needs beating to keep her under control, but she needs pleasuring, as well. I makes sure she gets plenty o' both."
Joe took an uncertain step forward. "Annie...."
"You keep away from her," snarled Lubbock, picking up a fire iron. His two friends came to their feet.
"No, Mannie," pleaded Ann. "Please, Joe, get out before he does for you."
"I can't leave you to him."
"Then you can bloody stay and get what's coming to you." Lubbock advanced towards Joe, the iron bar raised above his head.
"Run, Joe! Run!" screamed Ann.
Joe hesitated. "Ann....."
"Run, Joe! Run!"
Another moment of hesitation then Joe gave a roar and rushed towards Lubbock, ducking low and avoiding the swing of the iron bar. The big man was nearly knocked off his feet as Joe thumped into him, but soon recovered, dropped the bar and wrapped his arms round his assailant. It was an uneven struggle. Even without the help of his friends Lubbock quickly ended the attack and Joe was laid out on the floor in a semi-conscious state.
It was five minutes before he roused and became aware of his situation. He was tied hand and foot to a chair with the three men grouped around him. He could see Ann and Jim over by the stove, terrified and clutching each other.
Lubbock bent forward, putting his face close to Joe's. "Thought you'd move in, did yer? Thought my dear Annie and loving son needed someone to protect them from this wicked world. An' you put a bun in the oven before you left just to make sure her bed would still be warm for you. Di'n't you?"
Lubbock thumped Joe in the stomach to emphasise the point.
"Let him go," Ann pleaded. "Please, Mannie. I'll do anything"
"Too right you bloody will." Lubbock crossed over to her, grabbed Jim by the arm and thrust him away into a corner. "Get down there and stay with your mouth shut. Get it?"
The boy dumbly nodded, his eyes wide with fright.
"Now you." Lubbock addressed his wife. "Bin having a fine old time while I've bin shut away, haven't yer? Bin entertaining our friend here." He indicated Joe. "Well, now you can entertain the three of us."
Ann gasped in horror. Joe squirmed and pulled against the ropes holding him down, but all to no avail. The knots were too tight.
"No, Mannie. I'll be nice to you when we're alone...nice as you like, but let Joe go and send the others away."
"You're not getting away with it that bloody easy, woman. Get them clothes off."
"Please..."
"Don't be shy. I've seen it all before - an' so has good old Joe. As for my two friends...well, let's face it, you've got nothing diff'rent from a thousand whores they've seen. Now be quick about it or I'll lay this about that cuckolding bastard's head." He held up the iron bar. "He won't be so pretty for yer then."
Ann tearfully began to unbutton her blouse. Underneath was a shift which completely covered her breasts, still somewhat enlarged after the birth of her second child. She took off the blouse, pausing only briefly before unfastening her skirt and dropping it to the ground. The shift reached below her knees. Beneath it were full length drawers. She stepped out of the skirt.
Lubbock was glaring at her whilst Joe was still struggling against his bonds. The two friends were licking their lips in anticipation of the delights to come. Despite having to work hard all her life and living close to poverty, Ann was a good-looking woman, with a neat and shapely figure almost devoid of excess fat. She was, in fact, a far tastier morsel than either man was used to and they were already sporting erections as they gazed at her.
Ann hesitated.
"Hurry it up," growled Lubbock.
"At least put Jim outside, Mannie. Don't let him see this. He's only a nipper."
"What d'you think, lads? Should we oblige the lady?"
"Aye," said the uglier of the two heavyweights. They were both ugly, but he took the prize.
"Truth to tell," enjoined the second. "I might be put off me stride having the kid watching."
Lubbock grinned. "Wouldn't want that, would we?" He turned to the boy still cowering in the corner. "All right. Get out."
"Go to Mrs Turney's," said Ann. "Just tell her I'm busy with your dad and need you from under me feet."