Chapter 1
"Charley?! You seen my other shoe?!" Samantha asked the lad who was sat nearest to her, puffing away on his pipe and dealing out cards to his two fellow opponents who were sat facing him on the wooden floor.
"No, why should i 'ave seen it?!" Charely replied, whilst throwing her a funny look.
"Cuz you're the one that usually hides the bleedin' things, that's why!!" Samantha retorted, throwing him a disapproving look back.
Charley smirked slightly, before shrugging and returning to the card game.
Sighing in frustration, Samantha placed her hands on her hips, as her blue eyes scanned the room curiously, in hope of spotting the shoe lying dormant somewhere.
That's when her eyes lay on the sleeping form of another young lad, lying on his back with one arm dangling over the side of his so-called bed, whilst the other held onto a distressed looking top hat.
Furrowing her brows slightly, Samantha walked over to where the lad lay and her eyes once again, began to travel over his resting place to see if there was any sign of the missing shoe.
Unsatisfied, she leaned over him slightly and decided to get to the bottom of it in a different manner.
"DODGERRR!!" she yelled as loud as she could in his ear, causing the young lads eyes to shoot open and and his body to jolt up in a panic, which resulted in him slamming his head into the beam above him.
Crying out in pain, the lad clutched at his head and screwed his face up in agony.
"What the 'ell did yer do that for?!" he yelled, whilst squinting up at Samantha through his watering eyes.
"Where's my other shoe dodger?!" she replied, whilst trying to keep a serious tone and not to laugh at the look on his face.
"How the bloody 'ell should i know?!" he groaned, as he glared back at her through his hazel eyes.
"I know yer too well dodge! You're always hidin' somethin' of mine! If it's not you, it's flippin' Bates over there!" she retorted, whilst jabbing her finger over in Charely Bates' direction.
"Oi, don't drag me into it! I've told yer, i don't know where yer shoe is!!" Charley called over.
"And i don't know where it is either!" Dodger added, as he got out of bed reluctantly, and gathered his clothes from the end of his bed, before walking off to get changed.
"Great! I'll just walk 'round with one shoe on now shall i?!" Samantha said, more to herself than anyone else.
Sighing again, her eyes wandered over to where Fagin, the old man stood, turning sausages over the small fire within the small cubby hole, which he liked to refer to as his office.
She was about to walk over there when she suddenly spotted a familiar item of hers, at the other side of the room, hidden under one of the beds.
"My shoe!!" she called out to nobody in particular and stormed across to the other side of the room to pick up her footwear.
Usually, she would have demanded to know who was resonsible for hiding her posessions, but this morning, she just couldn't be bothered.
Putting her shoe on, she went and sat at the wooden rickety old table and watched Fagin turning the sausages absent-mindedly and humming to himself.
"You're quiet this morning Fagin." she wondered aloud, as the old man looked over to her.
"Am i my dear?" he replied.
Samantha nodded. "Somethin' the matter?"
Fagin looked like he was about to speak when the back door suddenly burst open.
"Ello kids!" a womans voice drifted from the door, announcing her arrival.
"Alright Nancy!" some of the lads chirped, as they stopped what they were doing and went to greet her.
Samantha however, continued to watch Fagin, who wasn't as lively as he usually was, when Nancy stopped by.
"Ello Nance!" Dodgers' voice spoke from the other side of the room where he emerged fully dressed, complete with his top hat and his usual charming smile.
As the others preocuppied themselves with Nancy, Samantha took the opportunity to have a quiet word with Fagin.
Leaving the table, she wandered over and casually leaned against the wall of his 'office'.
"What's the matter my dear?" Fagin asked, sensing her presence next to him.
"Nothin's wrong with me Fagin, what's up with you?" she replied, whilst studying his vacant expression.
"What makes you think there's somethin' wrong with me?" he asked, whilst staring into the small fire.
"I can jus' tell! You're very..."
Once again, Samantha was interrupted as Nancy strolled over with some of the lads still following her.
"Morning Fagin!"
"Morning Nancy" he replied, in a half-hearted tone.
"I believe you've got somethin' for me!" she said, still smiling, but Samantha noticed that she cast a strange glare at him.
"Ah...yes...right, well...think it's time you lot were off!" Fagin piped up, as he glanced around the room, referring to the rest of the room. "Go on! Be off wi' yer! I've got some private business to tend to! An' don't come back til yer pockets are heavier than you are!!"
Samantha groaned to herself and began to slope off with the others.
"Aha!! Found yer shoe 'ave yer?!" Dodger grinned at her, looking rather smug with himself.
"Would yer like another lump on yer head to match the one i gave yer this morning?" Samantha smiled back, equally smug.
Dodger's grin faded slightly. "That bloody hurt that did. Why couldn' yer jus' wake me up normally?!"
"I like to see yer in pain now an' then." she replied with a wink.
Dodger scowled at her, as they continued to walk beside each other in silence to the outside world.
The gang began to disperse in different directions now, and Dodger and Samantha decided to take the long alleyway route today into the city centre.
It took them only five minutes to get into the centre where the usual hustle and bustle of city life was taking place.
Samantha and Dodger walked along the cobbled streets, their eyes discreetly flashing in all directions to see who their next victim could be.
Without warning, Dodger stopped abruptly, nudged Samantha and nodded his head in the direction of a tall man who was inspecting some books outside an old bookshop. He was fully engrossed in searching through the books and his pockets were in full view.
A perfect victim.
Samantha nodded in agreement at Dodgers silent suggestion, as they both innocently strolled across the street, her with her hands deep within her pockets, looking casual, whilst Dodger was discreetly rolling up his sleeves and cracking is knuckles slightly, ready to make the move.
The pair of them must have only been a couple of metres away from their intended victim, when out of nowhere a brown-haired kid, about the same height as them, went and stood beside the tall man and pretended to look among the books with interest.
The pair watched in astonishment, as the brown-haired kid slyly placed his hand ever so gently into the mans pocket and pulled out a dark red wallet. The kid slipped the wallet into his own back pocket, before casually walking off again.
"Who the 'ell was that?! That wasn't one of our gang dodge." Samantha whispered, biting her lip nervously.
Dodger narrowed his eyes and watched the kid walk off. "Lets find out."
Grabbing Samantha's arm, he pulled her down the next alleyway, in which there was another narrow alley halfway down, that brought them out onto the next street, where the brown-haired kid was most likely to be now.
Cautiously, Dodger crept to the end of the alleyway and peered his head around the corner.
"See 'im?!" Samantha asked.
A few seconds later Dodger nodded and beckoned her forward.
"When he walks past 'ere, we'll quickly grab 'im alright?!"
Samantha nodded in understanding.
Two minutes later, as expected, the kid walked past the alleyway and Dodger and Samantha took their chance by grabbing him quickly and covering his mouth, so he couldn't yell.
Pulling him into the alleyway, without any apparent witnesses, Dodger pushed him against the wall and pinned him there, keeping his hand over the kids' mouth.
"If i remove me hand, promise yer won't scream! Alright?!" Dodger whispered to him.
The kid slowly nodded his head and so Dodger slowly removed his hand.
"Right...i'll get straight to the point. Who are yer?! What's yer name?! Who d'yer work for?!" Dodger asked, still pinning him against the wall, as Samantha stood beside him.
"I...i'm Emma." the kid replied in a higher voice than expected.
Dodger frowned in confusion. "Emma?"
The kid supposedly named Emma, removed his cap to reveal a head full of tumbling brown locks, which fell past his shoulders.
Dodgers eyes widenened slightly, whilst Samantha looked on aghast. "You're a girl!" she added stupidly.
Emma just nodded in response and smiled a little. "I like to disguise myself well."
"You can say that again!" Dodger spoke, still staring at Emma.
"You...you're not gonna peach on me are you?!" she asked wide eyed.
Samantha waited for Dodger to say something else, but he didn't.
"No, of course we ain't gonna peach on yer!" she reassured Emma, whilst looking at Dodger who seemed somewhat mesmerised by their new friend.
Clearing her throat, Samantha nudged him sharply, bringing him to his senses. "Aren't you gonna introduce yourself?!"
"Hmm?! Oh...yeah, sure...sorry...umm, i'm Jack Dawkins" Dodger spoke, blushing a little as he outstretched his hand for her to shake.
"But known among his more intimate friends as the artful dodger." Samantha finished for him, as she grinned at Dodgers' uneasiness around this new girl.
"Oh right...well, pleased to meet you..ummm, which should i call you?!" she asked.
"Oh, you can just call me Dodger or Dodge. Whichever suits." he smiled, not realising he still had one hand pinning her shoulder to the wall. However, Emma noticed this and looked at his hand unsurely.
In sudden realisation that he was still touching her, he looked at his hand too and quickly whipped it away and mumbled his apologies for grabbing her off the street so aggressively.
"It's okay, don't worry about it." she replied, giving him a reassuring smile, which seem to turn his cheeks just a little pinker.
Never had Samantha seen Jack act like this around a girl before.
Well except for Nancy, but then again all the lads were like that around her.
"And i'm Samantha. But you can call me Sam. Everyone else does." Samantha told Emma, whilst shaking her hand too.
"Nice to meet you both." Emma grinned. "So umm...why exactly did you drag me off the street like that?"
"We're pickpockets like yerself." Samantha said. "We knew you weren't one of our gang, so we jus' wanted to know who you were and whether you work alone or if there is another gang out there."
"Oh i see, well i work alone. I escaped a workhouse up north and i travelled down here to London to make a new life. I've been here for a fortnight now. Sleeping rough down alleyways. Stealing anything i can."
"Well thank god we found yer then! There'll be no more o' that! Well...no more sleeping down alleyways anyway" Samantha told her with a wink. "Come with us and we'll give yer lodgings for nuffin'. Ain't that right dodge?"
Dodger nodded and smiled. He was still watching Emma intently and she too seemed aware of his gaze, as she was turning a nice shade of pink as well.
"Really?! You sure?! You don't mind?!" Emma hesitantly
"Positive." Dodger replied a little too enthusiastically.
"Well...okay then! Thankyou so much!!" she said, grinning broadly.
"No problem! But before we can go back, we actually do need to pick a pocket or two. Can't go back empty 'anded now can we?!" Samantha laughed.
Comments will be greatly appreciated, thankyou! D xXx