than a passing interest. Sheer panic overwhelmed her. When she had belived she was being accosted a few minutes ago she had screamed blue murder yet not one of the other inhabitants in this place had even looked in her direction to see what she was howling about, nor had they when she thought she had killed her suspected attacker, so if these men were taking an interest in her now it was for no good reason and she couldn’t expect anyone else to come to her aid, no matter how loud she screamed.
Her heart was pounding. She needed to get out of here . . . fast.
The only exit she was aware of was the way by which she around had come: past the men closely watching her now, standing around the blazing brazier; the same way that the tramp she was sure had been about to attack her had made his departure. Holding her handbag like a weapon, a determined look on her face, she took a deep breath before weaving her way towards the entrance. On nearing the men by the brazier, she skirted around them as far as was possible and in a meaningful tone addressed the ones taking an interest in her.
‘I’m warning you, don’t any of you make a move towards me or you’ll be on the receiving end of this.’ She waved the bag at them. ‘It’s got a . . . boulder in it. A huge one. Big enough to knock any of you into next Wednesday. If you think I’m bluffing then go and ask the man who’s just left. He tried it on with me, and he’s lucky to be alive.’
She was almost past them now, daring to think that her threat had worked. The men’s interest in her had waned and they seemed to have returned to carrying on with their drinking and rowdy gambling games. Then she noticed that one of them was still staring at her intently, a nasty glint in his beady eyes as he drained the dregs of his bottle of meths. If she had been able to see his mouth under his matted beard she would have seen a malicious smirk. There was no question what was on his mind.
Horror filled her. Without looking away from him, giving her handbag a threatening thrust in his direction, she hastened towards the entrance. It was only a few yards away but to Jan it seemed like miles. Then, to her absolute terror, she saw the leering man chuck away the empty bottle. It crashed against the wall behind him, smashing into smithereens, as with surprising agility he wormed round the back of the brazier and stood between her and the entrance, blocking her way.
Despite being aware that it would do her no good, Jan let out a terrified scream, which echoed around the cavernous walls. The light from the brazier flashed in the man’s eyes and she could see he was laughing at her, knowing he had her cornered. The next thing she knew he had lunged across and grabbed her wrist, holding her handbag to prevent her from attacking him with it while yanking her hard towards the back of the pitch-dark arches, where it was apparent he planned to have his way with her.
Screaming hysterically, she tried to dig her heels into the ground to counteract his fierce grip, but to no avail as the earth was too hard. She tried to kick out at him but her foot only contacted air. Then she tried to bite his wrist but the pair of filthy gloves and coat he had on left no bare patches for her to dig her teeth into. She was powerless to put a stop to his evil intentions. Her mind froze, her subconscious dreading to visualise what lay ahead.
He had dragged her almost as far as the light from the brazier reached. Ahead lay darkness where only the most fearless vagrants chose to sleep. Then, to her astonishment, he suddenly stopped dead and she heard a low voice say: ‘Let her go unless you want a taste of this.’ In the feeble light she could just make out the shape of a man standing in front of her assailant, pressing something into his side.
Jan held her breath, her heart thumping wildly, as the two men stared at each other for what seemed an age but was in truth a matter of a few seconds. Then her aggressor gave a grunt,