Prologue
Daddy coughed, and stopped running, even with the coppers behind us. Me and Annie stopped to wait for him, and the coppers' torches burned brighter behind us, getting closer, closer. Daddy's eyes water and a hacking cough racked through his whole body. He shuddered, tripping, and fell onto his chest. Annie and I looked at each other quickly, doubling back to help Daddy up and get him to come with us. He waved us off, shooing us toward the other end of the alley.
"Girls, go, I'll be fine. Go!" he ordered, giving me a shove to get us going. I snatched onto Annie's hand and dashed toward the other end. The coppers slowed down when they got to Daddy, picking him up and taking him away. Annie and I hid in the scraps piled up against the wall of another grey brick building, and watched them beat him down, until he fell subserviently into a crumpled heap in their carriage. Annie and I exchanged another look, of fear, maybe despair, and she bit down hard on her lip.
"What are we gonna do now?" she whispered, her dreading eyes flickering around at our surroundings, as though she'd just woke up from a very long dream. The coppers were turning around, and the sound of their harsh shouts started to dissipate. Annie shivered; them brutish bulls hadn't given us enough notice to get a coat before they straight chased us from our home. In fact, we didn't have nothin' anymore.
"I dunno, Annie," I whispered back, sitting up against the wall and huddling close to my sister, wrapping my arms tight around her. My eyelids started to droop heavily, my head all nodding to the side. "We gotta just make the best of what we got, which is nothin'. We just gotta make it tru' da night and we'll be alright for now." Annie whimpered and tears flooded down her white cheeks, shinin' in the moonlight. Before I knowed it, I was cryin' too.
"It's okay," she chanted, holding me and rocking back 'n forth. "We gonna be okay. I promise. We gonna be okay." Suddenly, the tables all turned. It was her comforting me, the strong one comfortin' the weak one, and we lay there in our misery until somebody, someone who'd heard our cryin', came out and found us.
Heavy footsteps dropped through the alleyway, and me and Annie tried to hide in the scraps again. An older man with a funny-lookin' dusty grey bowler hat came out to greet us. He looked so warm, wearin' his big black coat and shiny black shoes. He stopped in front of us, sad-lookin' eyes givin' us the one-over, tryin' to see if we was dangerous or not.
"Why, aren't you two little ladies cold out here?" he rasped, genuine concern on his wrinkled old face. We huddled closer, shaking from both fear and the cold. "Come along, now, I won't hurt you two. Do you need a place to sleep?" I ducked my head. Daddy said never trust no strangers–if we could, try to shack up wit somebody like Medda Larkson, an old friend of Daddy's. "Come along, girls, I've got a nice warm lodging house with a bunch of nice boys there who can help you get settled in. My name's Kloppman." He bent down a little, leaning on a thick wooden cane, and offered his hand out to the two of us. Annie acted before I did.
"I'm Annie Walters," she told him, putting her little, young hand in his big, old hand and shaking. He smiled kindly, and turned to me.
"N-N-Nancy-May Walters," I stuttered. Annie blushed a little, and I looked down. Going to school, a lot of kids made fun of my stutter, so much that I did it even more than I would've ordinarily, especially when I was nervous. But Kloppman put on a sympathetic smile and I shook his hand.
"Have you girls had anything to eat yet tonight?" We shook our heads in unison. "Come along, then, I do believe I have some warm bread still in the oven. If you'd like, of course." We nodded in unison, and followed him through the alleyway into a doorway full of light. The sign above the door read "Newsboys Lodging House." It was a stranger's house, I learned, full of newsboys of all ages and my sister and me. It was a strange house, I learned, but it was now my home.