ICAP 2 - The Hidden Gallery Read Online Free PDF Page A

were out cold, nestled in a heap on the seat, and Penelope was readyto follow their example. As the train wheels clickity-clack ed along, Penelope’s head slowly leaned back against the seat. Her eyelids grew heavy until finally they fluttered closed.
    The copy of Hixby’s Guide began to slip from her loosening grasp. Now it lay in her lap, jostled back and forth with every lurch of the train. From there it would soon fall to the floor with a thud —
    Grrrrrrrrrrr!
    Penelope startled awake to behold a most unexpected scene, in which all three Incorrigibles played prominent roles. Alexander’s teeth were bared to the molars. Beowulf was growling like a mad thing, and Cassiopeia’s jaws were locked on to the sleeve of a man in a long black coat, who was trying unsuccessfully to shake her off.
    â€œI beeg yer pardon!” the man said heatedly. “Miss, could you call uff your cheeldren? The gurl is aboot to draw blood.” His accent was hard to place.
    â€œChildren, whatever is going on?” Penelope cried.
    â€œMan steal book,” Alexander said in a fierce, low voice. His eyes were fixed on the intruder. The fellow was tall and rotund, with a misshapen nose and a hat pulled low over his eyes.
    Penelope glanced down at her lap. Her Hixby’s Guide was gone. Frantically she looked around the seat and floor. Then her eyes traveled upward to the man’s arm, still held fast by Cassiopeia’s teeth buried in the coat sleeve. The book dangled between his fingers.
    â€œI will take that back, thank you,” she said curtly, snatching the book away.
    â€œIt was falling to the floor, miss. I only mint to kitch it and put it on the zeet next to you while you sleeped,” he said in his inscrutable accent. “The flur is so dirty and demp, it would be have been rooned.”
    â€œThank you kindly for your trouble.” Out of the corner of her eye Penelope noted that the children were still on high alert. What animal instincts did they have, she wondered, that made them know when danger was present?
    â€œIs ridikalus book in any case,” the man pressed on. “Full of mistikes and out of deet. If you like, I will geev you my copy of Parson’s Pictorial Pamphlet Depicting the City of London and Environs, Second Edition, and tek this worthless tome off your hends.”
    â€œA moment ago you were afraid it would be ruined. Now you say it is worthless. I find your arguments somewhat contradictory.” Penelope smiled in a way that was not at all friendly; it was a trick she had learned from Lady Constance but had never before had reasonto use. “I thank you again for your trouble. Good day.”

    â€œMan steal book!”

    â€œGood day,” Alexander repeated through bared teeth; as a result the phrase, while socially useful, was not very well pronounced.
    â€œ Grrrrrrr day,” said Beowulf, most unpleasantly.
    â€œLet go of the man’s sleeve, dear,” Penelope instructed. Cassiopeia obeyed with reluctance. There was a small rip and a half-moon-shaped wet spot in the fabric where her mouth had been. Under different, friendlier circumstances Penelope might have offered to have the coat mended, but these circumstances were not those. Penelope drew the children close to her and regarded the man with what she hoped was a stern and fearless gaze.
    The man lingered briefly, as if he would say more. With a parting glance at the Hixby’s Guide —did Penelope imagine it, or was it a longing, greedy, covetous sort of glance?—he left.
    Cassiopeia wiped her mouth on the hem of her dress. A tiny, bright green feather came unstuck from her lips. She held it between two fingers, then blew it into the air. They all watched as the downy tuft wafted hypnotically back and forth, back and forth, until it disappeared under the seat.
    â€œYukawoo,” Cassiopeia remarked before curling upnext to her brothers once more. “Taste like