By Andrew Armstrong and Twyla Armstrong
Blind Bay
Twyla and I are co-operating on a re-telling of Jack the Ripper. This is but one chapter — still in draft. The protagonist is actually a lovely creature, a young ginger haired Irish girl, making the best of her way in London’s east end and taking care of her family.
Of necessity, the actions of Saucy Jack must be portrayed. Also, unfortunately for some readers, but on the advice of Michael Slade, the physical parts of the narrative as well as the thought processes of “Jack” need to be more graphic.
A Murderer’s Diary – May 1887
EXCERPT
After turning her naked body face up, I clasped the ax in my trembling hand and took the first swing. Blood trickled into the hay. It shone in a small stream of crimson-black in the muted moonlight, puddling around her naked breast. I had severed the right arm at the shoulder. Electricity ran up and down my arms and into my chest, my heart pounded a tribal rhythm which echoed into my ears and head. After several deep breathes, I gathered my thoughts and continued with the task. Tendons, gristle and bone hung from the severed arm. Alone and apart from the torso, the severed arm lay there – small, insignificant, and childlike. Then, grasping the ax firmly, I pressed on with my task. The copper tang of blood brought back cravings, lust and excitement from long ago. I longed to pause my work and wallow in the hay and warm blood with the torso. Instead I needed to do something with the head and the alluring tattoo.
I slit the throat from ear to ear with my knife. Both mouths grinned at me in toothless glee, one drooling sweet crimson nectar of blood onto the tattooed Rose. I stooped down next to the bloated breast that swaddled the red Rose. Gratefully tracing the flower’s perfect outline with my tongue, I savored the salty, copper tang of blood. Shivers of blood intoxication rushed through me. My trembling body knelt for a short time in the hay, knees week, reveling in the waves of euphoria. My head cleared slowly as if recovering from a swoon. I realized that I had to take care of this business soon so as not to get captured in this reckless indiscretion. The sun would rise in a few short hours. Time was against me now.
A Murderer’s Diary,
Copyright © Andrew Armstrong and Twyla Armstrong, 2020
Just a note on this.
There is a diary entry for each one of the Jack the Ripper killings. They slot into the main story chronologically. However, the main story is about a young woman doing what she can for herself and her family to survive and prosper in London’s east end during the 1880s. The two stories eventually meet as we build around the theory that Jack was not a loner but a product of the East End gangs. So most of the book is more focused on the east end and life at that time rather than “Saucy Jack”. Although, as I am sure you realise, he remains a powerful figure to this very day!