Oliver Twisted
Part Two
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The Artful Dodger crept along in the street, clutching his arm. He sniffled and pushed his hat down farther onto his head. He tried to move his arm, but it made tears come to his eyes so he kept it buried deep inside his coat sleeve. Fagin had been horribly drunk and took it out on Dodger when the young boy had broken a teacup. His arm had been practically wrenched from the socket and it was still smarting violently. Dodger wished Fagin had some other kids to abuse for once. And it was all that Oliver Twist's fault. Little goody. Dodger began picturing Oliver committing dreadful crimes and he felt better about the whole business. He would like Oliver a whole lot more if he were mean like Dodger was, and not at all cute. Unfortunately Dodger was cute. Damn. But Dodger was also haughty and distinguished and Oliver was not. Take that, little punk!
A gravely voice cut through Dodger's thoughts of Oliver domination. "Deserted are you, Dodge?"
Dodger leapt back and struck his head against the stone wall. "Who's there! Stay back! I'm armed!" He reached into this pocked and produced a…noserag. He looked at it in humiliation, stamped his foot, and brandished it at the stranger. "Don't make me use this here…noserag!" His hand shook but he thrust the handkerchief at the stranger like a real champ.
The stranger's laugh rang out. "And what were you plannin' on doing with that, m'boy?"
A glint of steel cut through the air with a zing and the Dodger cried out in pain. His sore arm was pinned to the wall by a large knife and the tip had dug itself partially into his flesh. He howled. "Let me down from 'ere! Me father… 'e'll 'ave your 'ead. I'll see it roll in the gutter!"
A woman's high voice rang out from behind the man. "Let 'im be, Bill. 'E ain't done nothin' to you. Fagin ain't been treatin' 'im right an' 'e's scared to death." The woman turned out to be a young girl with a brown top hat perched precariously on the top of her head. Dodger grinned and fingered his own hat. The girl was older than he was, but yet she looked so much like him that he felt pleased as punch.
The man, however decked out in his own matching brown hat making the two of them look almost revolting adorable, was terrifying as all Hell. A shiver of cold fear ran through the Artful one as he realized who the man was. "Cor!" He dropped the noserage, wrenched his arm free from the knife, and took off in a dead run down the dark street. "Help, help! Bill Sik-!" He was tackled from behind and felt the cold sting of the knife blade piercing his neck.
A struggle took place above him then. The young girl had leapt upon Bill and pulled a knife out of her garter. She held it against Bill's neck. "Let 'im up, Bill. 'E's with us."
Bill tossed her off and she went rolling, but he laughed. "Lucy m'girl. Are you stealing my blades again? I told you that you can't 'ave a knife yet. Ain't you 'appy with your hat?"
She pouted but fought a grin. "Well, yeah."
Dodger quirked an eyebrow. This was…interesting. But what matter? All he knew is that he wanted to be a bandit as great as Bill Sikes. He got up off the ground and brushed off his little suit. "Say, if I joined your gang, could I get a knife too, like she 'as?"
Bill gave him a surly look for a moment. Children were not always his cup of tea. " 'Suppose so. If you do what me an' Miss Lucy 'ere say."
Dodger brightened and grinned at the girl. "Lucy! Ain't you one of Bet's friends?"
The girl lowered her eyes and tilted her head so that it was shaded by the top hat. "Yeah, she was my friend. But now I can't find 'er."
"I know where she is, poor girl!" Dodger chirped. "They took 'er away in a coach!"
"Don't that sound familiar," Bill grumbled.
"But she didn't go to a nice place like Oliver! They took Bet away in a jacket that bound 'er arms all up. She was screaming something 'orrible, crying over Nancy."
Bill winced at the sound of Nancy's name. "Don't speak that name to me, Boy!"
"Sorry! But it's true!"
Lucy sighed. "I shouldn't 'ave left 'er with that boy. I should'a dragged 'er 'ome, even if she was crazy."
Bill growled. "Don't worry about that little bit. She'll get us into more trouble than she's worth. She always was a little nice'un, just like HER."
At this point Dodger gave Bill a mighty tug on the back of one of his coattails. " 'Ey! Why ain't you dead, anyway?" Dodger couldn't stand not being the center of attention for very long.
Bill glowered down at him. "I lived. Which is more than I can say for you if you get cheeky."
Dodger nodded and thrust out his hand. "I'm at your service, Mr. Sikes!" He grinned. This was going to be so much more fun than working for Fagin. Maybe now he could actually cash in on some real goods and get some attention all for himself. Mr. Jack Dawkins thrived on praise.
"Good. Keep it that way." Bill took one of Dodger's small hands and pulled him along. He offered Lucy his arm and the three walked along the shadowed street towards the seedy riverbank. To innocent passersby, the three of them might appear to be something of a happy family. A rather filthy, scummy family, but happy no less. But the wheels in their heads were spinning. Bill was thinking about Oliver and Fagin and about how he would settle with them, but Lucy was thinking about her old friend Bet and what had become of her. She knew she had to find out where she had been taken and get her out. She would never leave an old friend out to dry even if her Bill wouldn't like it. She began to make plans immediately, but first she needed a good bottle of Gin.
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