BEYOND THE LOOKING-GLASS: Book One in the BEYOND Series Read Online Free PDF Page B

sir,” Heidi pleaded. “I was only doing what he told me to.”
    “Who?” Kellen asked.
    The little girl’s eyes widened with fear. And she was visibly trembling. “I’m not supposed to say if I’m caught. Not ever.”
    “That’s all right, Heidi,” Aleeta said. “We’ll keep your secret. We’d like to be your friend.”
    Heidi stared up with tear-filled eyes. “How do you know my name? Do you know my grandfather?”
    “In a way,” Kellen said. “We both heard about him when we were very young.”
    “I miss my grandfather. The mountains. And my goats. I am trying very hard to get back home. Mister Fagin says he’ll help me.” Heidi quickly put her pudgy little hand up to her mouth. She obviously realized she’d said far too much.
    “What did this Mister Fagin promise?” Kellen asked, as he knelt down in front of the frightened little mountain girl.
    Heidi spoke in a whisper. “He says if I become a good pickpocket, like his other children, he’ll take me back to grandfather. He’s keeping count of my money. And it won’t be much longer now.”
    A rough crowd of townspeople was gathering about them. It was a surly, dirty-faced mob and Kellen didn’t like their expressions.
    A thin young boy pushed through the onlookers to stand beside Heidi. He put his arm around her in a protective way. The youngster was a snub-nosed little kid with an arrogant manner. His clothing was on the bizarre side--- a tattered man’s coat reaching down to his dirt-caked ankles, floppy shoes with no laces, shirtsleeves rolled back on the arms, and a crumpled top hat cocked over to one side.
    It couldn’t be anyone else , Kellen thought. It’s Jack Hawkins. The Artful Dodger .
    “What’s the trouble here, Guv?” The Dodger asked.
    “This girl stole my wallet,” Kellen replied.
    “That be a serious charge, Guv. ‘Specially from a stranger the likes of you.”
    Dodger twitched and his cocked hat moved back onto the top of his head, just as it was about to fall off. “This little Miss look like a thief to you, Guv?”
    “We don’t want any trouble,” Aleeta said to The Dodger. “We just need some help.”
    “Clear the way, you riff-raff,” a hoarse voice shouted at the back of the crowd. The crowd parted to allow two men to claw their way through. One of the men was a bearded, grotesque little man in a rumpled frock coat. He kept rubbing his bony hands together as he eyed the scene nervously.
    This has to be Fagin , Kellen thought.
    The second man was a scowling hulk dressed in a black velvet frock coat, filthy breeches, gray stockings, and lace-up boots. Like Dodger, the man also wore a battered top hat. He was holding a dangerous-looking pit bull on a leash with one hand and a thick club in the other. As he stared at Kellen and Aleeta, he grabbed hold of a red bandana circling his neck and wiped some spittle off his scraggly beard.
    And this , Kellen surmised, is Bill Sikes and his pit bull, Bull’s-Eye.
    “Here, here,” Sikes barked, “unhand them two tykes.” Bull’s-Eye growled menacingly and showed its front fangs. The animal strained at the leash, but Sikes kept a tight grip on the tether.
    Fagin stepped up beside Sikes. He rubbed his hands. “What ye be after in our town, folks?” he asked.
    Aleeta spoke up before Kellen could reply.
    “We’re after our children,” she said. “We’ve temporarily lost track of them. We hoped someone here might have seen them.”
    Fagin pulled at his dirty, matted beard. “Old London Town is a dangerous place for young’uns, Missus. Terrible things oft befall them.”
    “I sez they lie,” The Dodger piped up. “They’s spies sent by The Magistrate. Rich folks always lie. And box yer ears, too.”
    “Is that so, you two?” Sikes growled in a raspy voice. “We don’t like no spies or bobbies down here. We make ‘em wish they never was born.” Bull’s-Eye began to leap up and bark. The pit bull twisted vigorously in its tight collar, throwing its