ICAP 2 - The Hidden Gallery Read Online Free PDF

pillows.”
    The three children quickly drifted back to sleep. Penelope did not. She remained anxiously alert for the rest of the trip, holding tight to her Hixby’s Guide and ready, frankly, to pounce.
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    â€œL ONDON , E USTON S TAAAAAAAY SHUN !”
    â€œHold hands, children, hold hands!” The passengers stampeded out of the train like a herd of cows that were late for a very important milking appointment. Penelope clutched her carpetbag with one hand and Alexander’s sweaty fingers with the other. Alexander held tightly to Cassiopeia, and Cassiopeia held just as tightly to Beowulf. In this white-knuckled way, the three groggy children and their nervous governess snaked through the crowd, searching for an exit.
    Penelope could not help trying to catch a glimpse of the strange man who had tried to steal her Hixby’s Guide . She did not see him, but in such a large crowd it would have been nearly impossible to find anyone. The thought made her squeeze Alexander’s hand so tightly that he yelped.
    â€œIt was an unpleasant incident, nothing more,” she thought bravely. “I ought not to make too much of it, for pickpockets and rogues are a commonplace inLondon. We must stay on our toes, that is all.”
    With that settled, Penelope turned her attention to a more immediate concern: finding her way to Number Twelve Muffinshire Lane, which was the address of the house Lord Fredrick had rented. She knew that London was a large, bustling, and confusing city, and that one wrong turn might send them wandering down dark cobblestone streets that dead-ended at smelly slaughterhouses and riverfront establishments of ill repute. However, there was a foldout map in the back of her guidebook, and the children were skilled trackers—at least when in a forest.
    Once the foursome had elbowed their way out of the station, Penelope tried to get her bearings by holding the map open and spinning it ’round until it resembled the maze of streets that crisscrossed before her. The sidewalks outside Euston Station were even more crowded than the interior of the station had been. Passersby jostled Penelope this way and that, making it difficult to keep the book open to the correct page. Not only that, but the foldout map was so charmingly decorated with pretty alpine meadows, it was impossible to read the street names.
    â€œExcuse me,” Alexander said pointedly as people kept bumping into them and pushing past, often whilemaking rude remarks. “Pardon me. I beg your pardon.”
    â€œI quite agree, Alexander,” Penelope said, making a final, futile effort to read the map before putting it away. “There is a distinct lack of good manners on display—yet there is no need to growl quite so loudly, Beowulf. Someone might take it the wrong way.”
    Penelope was still not entirely sure in which direction they needed to go. Herding the Incorrigibles before her, she moved toward the nearest intersection. Omnibuses hurtled down the street at alarming speed, and a line of hansom cabs waited at the curb. The drivers prowled the sidewalk, angling for customers.
    â€œNeed a cab, miss?”
    â€œWhere ya going, miss?’
    â€œGive ya a lift, miss? Half fare for the children.”
    Penelope thought she might have enough money in her purse to pay for a cab, although she had no idea how much they charged, as she had never taken one before. But the drivers seemed somehow menacing to her, with their fake friendliness and huckstering offers of a ride. Perhaps it was some lingering disquiet from that unpleasant incident on the train; she found herself backing away from the line of hansom cabs and clutching the children even more tightly than before.
    â€œWe shall walk,” Penelope announced to the Incorrigibles. “I am sure it cannot be very far to Muffinshire Lane. And there will be so many interesting sights along the way.”
    At that moment a gusty wind kicked up and