The Great Trouble Read Online Free PDF

only chance I have left
, I thought.
    I was about to set off when Florrie Baker came storming toward me, buzzing like an angry fly. “Eel! Is this your doing?”
    “What are you talking about?” Then I saw.
    Behind Florrie were three dirty, wailing kids. Betsy and Bernie came first, sniffling and gulping. Bernie must have scraped his knee; trickles of blood ran down his leg. Annie Lewis, who’d tied bits of thread and ribbons around her wrist, tagged behind.
    Woof! Woof!
    Adding to the confusion was Dilly. She dashed in circles around the crying children. Every once in a while, she caught sight of her own tail and began to chase it. When she couldn’t catch it, she barked harder.
    “Dilly, shush!” Florrie scolded. She turned to me, hands on her hips. “Annie and I found these two cryin’ over by the Golden Square, all turned around. Bernie fell and nearly got trampled by a horse and cart.”
    “It was a giant horse,” Betsy reported. “I thought Bernie would get smashed flat.”
    “They said you sent them off,” Florrie continued. “Eel,they’re no more than babies! You know their pa likes to keep them close.”
    “The horse was giant! A black monster.” Bernie gave a huge hiccup, his face stained with dirty tears. Then he remembered the most important thing. “We couldn’t find the ice man. I want my ice. You promised.”
    “Me too,” Betsy begged, tugging at my shirt. “And I want to see the doctor’s animals. Florrie said you’d take us.”
    I glared at Florrie, who shrugged. “We may as well bring them all and give their mums a break.”
    “Aw, Florrie, think how it’ll look. It ain’t … businesslike,” I protested. “I got … I got something I need to discuss with Dr. Snow.”
    “Look at you, all puffed up just ’cause you take care of animals for some swell doctor.” Florrie sniffed. “It ain’t like you work for the queen herself. They won’t be any trouble.”
    I shook my head and grumbled, “You’re all trouble!”
    Florrie put her hands on her hips, waiting for me to give in. Florrie was stubborn. She was also the closest thing I had to a best friend. But still, I hadn’t told her about the blue death, or about Mr. Huggins accusing me of being a thief.
    They all watched me. Even Dilly stared up at me expectantly. I gave in at last. “All right, all right. But you’ve got to stay close and keep up.”
    “I’ll run in and let Mrs. Griggs know,” Florrie offered, moving toward the tailor’s shop.
    “No, I’ll go.” I put out a hand to stop her. “It ain’t good for my reputation if I’m left standing here on the road like a nursemaid.”
    I ran back inside and up a few steps. I yelled out to Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Griggs that their little ones were safe with Florrie and me. I didn’t wait for an answer. I didn’t want to go back into that room. Not unless I had to.
    “So, Bernie, tell me,” said Florrie as we walked along. “What’s your favorite ice? Mine’s raspberry.”
    “Lemon,” he said. “Pa likes strawberry.”
    “How about you, Betsy?” I asked.
    Betsy didn’t answer. Her face was pinched and white, almost as if she might be sick herself. She tripped and I grabbed her hand.
    Regent Street was a bustle of cabs, horses, hawkers calling out their wares, and crowds of people. I looked behind me. “Keep up, Annie Ribbons!”
    “I am. I just had to look at the pretty hats in that window,” she squeaked. Annie was nearly nine, but she was as scrawny as a six-year-old. That’s how it was in our neighborhood. Mr. Lewis might be a constable, but that didn’t mean it was easy to feed a family.
    Constable Lewis. I wondered if he would stand up for me with Mr. John Huggins. But that could be dangerous. If Constable Lewis knew the whole truth, there was a chanceI could be put in the St. James Workhouse. I was too much like Thumbless Jake for that: I wanted the sky overhead.
    “Watch out!” I pulled Betsy back from a cart that came so close the mare