December 5, 1828
… The next morning, I awoke to the sound of voices. I opened my eyes and was surprised to find that I was at home. Then I remembered and it all made sense. Bill had brought ne here to live in this rat hole. But now what?
I got up, yawned, and made for the door. Opening it, I realized that the noise I had heard was the sound of breakfast. Fagin was stooped over the fire toasting bread with a long fork and the rest of the room was filled with boys. There were boys everywhere! Some sitting on the ground, some eating already-toasted bread, some calling for more, some sitting in chairs, some leaning against walls, some joking, laughing, yawning – all acting just like boys! I did not know what to think and I did not have time to.
Fagin looked up from his work and saw me.
"Come in, my dear… breakfast is almost ready… Peter, give Master Tom your seat, please. Yes, there's a good lad."
Peter moved inot the corner and I sat down. He gave me a hurtful stare and all I could do was whisper, "Sorry."
"Boys…," said Fagin. Everyone went quiet. "If any of you are finished, you can go to work now." About three-fourths of the group left the room; the rest stayed behind waiting for their bread. I noted that one of the boys was The Artful Dodger whom I had met briefly the night before.
"My dear," the old gentleman addressed the Dodger, "Where is Charlie this morning? Ailing? Too bad. We'll just have to keep an eye on him, then. I'll send up some milk and brandy shortly. Here's your toast. Might as well take it with you, my dear, and go to work. Charlie may be out of it for a couple of days – we need the money!" He handed the Dodger some toast and the Dodger went out into the passage.
"Illness, my dear," he addressed me, "is the one complaint of this line of work, but there are benefits." He went back to his cooking and fed and shooed away the rest of the boys.
At last, he offered me some breakfast and them started heating up and stirring some milk and brandy. He seemed to be in a thoughtful mood and he would periodically stop and taste the mixture. After about five minutes he seemed satisfied and poured some of it into a glass.
"My dear, would you mind taking this up to Charlie for me?"
I said that I didn't mind and left the room. I found Charlie in bed, looking fairly miserable.
"Hello," I ventured.
"Who are you?"
"Thomas."
"Oh, right! Yer the feller who set a house on fire!" Charlie grinned and seemed to brighten up tremendously. "The Dodge told me about it!" He began to laugh.
"Here," I handed him the drink, "Fagin wanted me to give you this."
"Oh, course he did. He's always perfectly nice!" He downed the drink and leaned back with a big smile.
"Are you going to be alright?"
"Sure."
I made my way back to the kitchen. Fagin was sitting at the table flipping through a notebook with a quill in one hand.
"Ah, did he drink it, my dear? Right down? Good, good…"
He resumed his work and then, after a couple of calculations, made aloud his findings.
"We, that is Bill and I owe you fifteen pounds for your work."
"About that, I didn't like the work at all." It took a lot of courage to say that!
"You didn't find it rewarding enough, my dear?"
"No, I didn't. Could I do something else? What do the boys do?" This was a sudden inspiration on my part. I figured that if I joined the boys, I might find a lead and the whole mess would be worth something.
The elderly gentleman eyed me for a few seconds before speaking, "They pick pocket. A fairly easy job if you're small enough, fast enough, and patient enough. Those like yourself don't usually get into it, but if you want to try it, well, then, by all means do."
"Who is your best worker?"
"That would be the Dodger, my dear." Fagin said this with deep pride and gave his hat a slight tap, "Brains, my dear, concentration – The Dodger has those in abundance!"
"Could he show me the ropes then?" I tried to look eager and Fagin gave me an approving nod.
"You'll find him somewhere on fourth street, if I'm not mistaken. Tell him I gave it the go and he'll teach you. Charlie isn't helping him today, so he could use a partner, my dear."
With that, I left and headed back down the dark passage and out to fulfill my duty as a new apprentice…
Thanks for reading!!!! Please leave your thoughts! – Elaine DawkinsI would like to add that I think (being an aerobics person) that there should be an exercise tape designed for people who would like to sweat with Fagin & the boys! Weird huh?
