Whatever Happened to Dodger?

DISCLAIMER: Believe it or not, I am not Charles Dickens. Gasp! Sorry to disappoint all of you. I assure you that most of these characters and some of the plot belongs to him, wherever he may be buried.

SUMMARY: Did you ever wonder what happened to the Dodger? Charles Dickens gladly tells us what happened to Oliver, Fagin, Charley, Nancy, and Bill, but what happened to that funny boy with the top hat who disappeared from the text around chapter 43?

A/N: For all In the Beginning readers, I am putting that story to the side until I finish this one. I think this story will only last a few more chapters. I'd be surprised if it made it to fifteen chapters altogether. I was right when I began the other story in saying it was not wise to have two stories going at once. I can't handle it. So, until this one is over, I will not be updating In the Beginning. This will be my main focus. I promise that as soon as I finish this one I will start on that one again. Thanks for understanding!

Chapter 9: JustAnother Day

The two boys did not return to the pub. The very next day, Timmy had asked if they could, but Dodger had said no.

He had thought it would be a bad idea to go to the Cripples that one time, but he had been wary because of the fact that they could get caught. However, that was not why they should not have gone. Now, Timmy expected to be allowed out of the house every night. It was because of the child's pent up energy that Dodger made an important decision.

He had been toying with an idea for several days, but he had been unsure what to do about it. Finally, Timothy's restlessness helped him make up his mind.

He was fairly certain of what he was doing. He had seen Bill Sikes do the same thing countless times, but on a slightly grander scale.

He would send Timothy to a house on the outskirts of town where the boy would pretend to be lost. There, he would take any money or small items of value he could find. A day or two later, Dodger would come to the door of the same house and ask if they had seen his lost brother. Then, it being too late for the two of them to start the journey home, they would be invited to spend the night there. In the morning, Dodger and Timothy would leave the house slightly richer than they had been when they had first entered it.

It was a good plan in Dodger's eyes, but so much could go wrong. He knew what would happen if they were caught, but he was anxious to get out of the house and do something he had not done in years that he was willing to pay whatever consequences he was faced with. He would just have to try not to get caught.

-

"So what's my name?" Dodger asked for the tenth time.

"Charles," Timmy replied in an exasperated tone.

"And what's your name?"

"William."

"Good."

They had made-up names just in case something happened and they needed to protect their true identities. Dodger did not know why they would, but you could never be too careful.

"So, do what I say," he instructed. "I'll take you to the place where you will stay and then wait until tomorrow to come get you, understand? Just do everything I've told you."

Timmy nodded.

It was still dark outside. It would not be morning for another two hours. Dodger wanted to get an early start.

The two boys left their house and headed out of London. It was a long way to where they were going. They walked for several hours. Then, after the sun had been up for quite some time, they hopped onto a wagon and rode for a while.

"I'm getting bored," Timothy complained. "Are we almost there?"

"No," snapped Dodger. "Keep quiet." He checked to make sure the driver had not noticed them. He hadn't.

They traveled all day long, stopping shortly for food and to switch carts so as not to wear out their welcome. Dodger was surprised at how few questions Timothy asked. It was almost as if he was used to doing things like this. But then again, there was no telling what he had had to do to get money for his parents. They were thieves too, after all.

Timmy fell asleep after a while. Dodger soon grew tired also but did not dare fall asleep. So many things could happen while he was sleeping. They could pass their destination and end up somewhere on the other side of the country with no clue how to get back to London. The driver could stop and find them in his cart and have them arrested without their even noticing it. No, it was best at least one of them stayed awake.

Dodger fought off the fatigue as best he could. Just as he thought he would not be able to fight it any longer, he spotted a large house in the distance. That one would do.

"Timmy," he whispered, shaking the little boy. "Get up. We're here."

Timmy woke up and rubbed his eyes. He looked at Dodger and nodded as if to verify that he was ready.

The two boys jumped from the back of the cart and began to walk toward the house. The residents would be sleeping, but that was fine. It might catch them off guard.

They began reviewing the plan one last time.

"My name is William," Timothy repeated robotically. "I have been separated from my brother, Charles. I don't know where I am and have no place to stay. Please help me."

"Good," Dodger said, slightly worried Timmy would not be able to pull it off. "You might want to add some feeling when you do it for the people though. What is your real mission?"

"I am to make these people believe that I am a poor lost child. Then, I should take anything I possibly can and hide it in a pillowcase which I will slip out the window for you."

"Exactly." Dodger nodded. "And tomorrow night, I will come looking for my lost brother. You will act happy to see me. We will both spend the night there and in the morning, we will collect our pillowcases and be on our way."

"I understand," Timmy replied.

"Good."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. The house grew steadily closer and closer until they were almost in front of it.

"Ready?" Dodger whispered. Timothy nodded. "Go."

Dodger hid around the corner of the house and listened so as to know whether or not it was safe to continue with the plan.

Timmy knocked on the door. After a little while, someone answered it.

"May I help you?" a man's voice asked.

"I-I'm lost," Timmy replied, sniffling slightly.

Dodger smiled to himself. If Timothy could fake tears, they were set. Nobody could turn away a crying child.

"Come in," the man said worriedly. "Come in and tell us everything. We'll help you. Don't cry."

"T-thank you, sir," Timmy was saying as the door shut behind the two.

Dodger turned from his hiding place and began to walk around the house. He could see several people sitting around the kitchen table. There was a man, a woman, and Timmy. The boy was still crying and he looked like he was explaining why he was there. The woman had her arm around him trying to calm him down.

Still smiling with satisfaction, Dodger turned and began to look for a place to stay until the following afternoon. He found an abandoned barn behind the house. There must have been a farm there at one time, but it was not there anymore. The barn would provide adequate shelter for a day.

He allowed himself to sleep late the next morning. There was nothing to do until later anyway. When he finally woke, Dodger assumed it was almost midday. Timmy would be setting his pillowcase outside of his window soon. He needed to be there to retrieve it.

He watched the house for signs of movement from behind a tree several meters away. Finally, a window slid open slowly. Dodger watched it. Timmy appeared at it and looked around. Assuming the coast was clear, he dropped a white bag to the ground and disappeared back inside, closing the window behind him.

Dodger imitated his motions and checked the area to make sure he was alone. Then, he crept along the back of the house below the windows until he reached Timmy's pillowcase. He picked it up and crept stealthily back to the barn with it.

There, he emptied it of its contents. There was pocket watch, some spare bed linens, and a candlestick among other items. It wasn't a bad collection of goods. They could probably find better things, which they would do later that night. But for now, he would wait until it was time.

When the sun was setting on the horizon, Dodger decided it was safe. He walked past the house through the trees and came out a good distance away. That way, if anyone were to look out the window, it would seem like he had been walking down the street.

He approached the house the same way Timmy had the day before and knocked on the front door. A man answered it.

"May I help you?" he asked.

"Yes," Dodger replied, doing his best to sound worried. "My name is Charles. I've lost my younger brother and I'm terribly worried. Have you seen a small boy around here by chance?"

Realization crossed the man's face. "Yes, actually," he said. "Come in. He showed up at our doorstep just last night. He was quite shaken up himself." He led Dodger down a narrow hallway. "He's eating his supper in the kitchen right now."

They entered a kitchen and Dodger took the opportunity to take a look around him. These people were certainly wealthy. Suddenly, he was hit by something small, which collided with his middle at full speed.

It took him by surprise and knocked the breath out of him for a second, but he quickly recovered. Looking down, he saw a small child. He instantly remembered why he was there and that he should be acting happy to see this boy.

"I knew you'd find me!" Timothy exclaimed. "I was so worried."

"It's alright," Dodger consoled. "Mother will be so happy to know you're safe."

A woman he had not noticed before made her presence known by pulling Timothy back to his seat.

"Finish your supper, William," she said. Then, she turned to Dodger. "Have a seat and I'll fix a plate of food for you."

"Thank you," Dodger muttered, not wanting to stay around these people for very long.

He took a seat across the table from Timothy who was very preoccupied with his food. Dodger didn't blame him. They never ate like this at home.

"William is such a well-behaved child," the woman was saying. The man nodded in agreement. "We were half hoping you would not find him here. That way, we could have adopted him."

Timmy's head snapped up instantly and he began to shake it urgently. When the woman looked at him he smiled and shoveled more food into his mouth. After she looked away again, he stared wide-eyed at Dodger in a 'please take me away from here' way.

The woman placed a plate of food in front of Dodger who thanked her and began to eat.

"Of course that's a terrible thing to say," she continued. "Your poor mother must be worried sick. We are glad you found him." The man nodded again. "How is it you two got separated?"

Dodger paused and pretended to be chewing a mouthful of food. When he had come up with a story, he swallowed the imaginary food and answered.

"We were on our way back from the market. Our mother is ill and she asked us to go out of our way a bit to get a few things for her. Of course, we agreed. But on the way home, it was getting late and Will was growing tired. So, I suggested he climb into the back of the wagon and sleep in the hay. He was asleep when we hit a rather large hole in the road and he fell out of the back of the wagon."

"You didn't hear him?" the man asked.

"No," Dodger said. "The horses were making quite a lot of noise. I did not hear him if he cried for me to stop."

"I didn't," Timmy spoke up. "By the time I realized what was going on, you were too far away for me to stop you. Luckily, this house was not far off and I was welcomed."

The woman scooped the child up in a hug. Timmy made a small choking sound but stopped quickly at a sharp look from Dodger.

"It's getting rather late," the man said. "Do you think you can start your journey home at this hour?"

"No, I'd rather not," Dodger replied. "We don't want a repeat of what happened last time, but I don't want to be in your way."

"Of course not!" the woman exclaimed. "You can spend the night here and get an early start in the morning."

"Thank you. That would be excellent."

So, Dodger was put up in a spare room next to Timothy's. The two of them waited until they were certain that the older couple were asleep before creeping cautiously from their respective rooms.

Holding a pillowcase, Dodger led Timmy into the kitchen. There, they took several expensive dishes and pieces of silverware. They took the more expensive looking things that would not be discovered missing before they left the following morning.

At one point, Timothy dropped a few spoons on the floor. They fell with a crash. Dodger held his breath in hopes that nobody had heard. Luckily, they had not.

After searching the house for anything else of value that they could risk stealing, Dodger took the sack back to his room and deposited it under the window just as Timmy had done earlier.

The next morning, they woke up early, anxious to get out before the residents noticed that anything was gone. They ate breakfast quickly, saying that they needed to get home to attend to their ill mother who would be delighted to know that they were both safe.

Timothy thanked the couple for being so kind and Dodger thanked them for taking care of his brother and allowing them both to stay the night there. Then, they left and headed in the direction they had led their hosts to believe they lived in.

After Dodger was sure they were out of sight, they headed back into the trees. They remained hidden until they were back behind the house. From there, Dodger instructed Timmy to stay while he went to retrieve the pillowcase under the window and the one in the barn.

Soon, they were back on the road, safely returning home with two sacks full of stolen goods. Timmy ran ahead, laughing hysterically.

"Wasn't that fun, Dodger?" he cried. "You should have seen the look on that old lady's face when I told her how my mother was dying and I could not find my brother. She looked like she was going to cry."

Dodger could not help but laugh. This boy was definitely meant to by a thief. Nobody else could take such pleasure in something so wrong.

"Why did you look so appalled at the thought of being adopted by those people?" Dodger asked. "I don't know anyone who doesn't want to be rich."

"They were so boring," he said, stressing the last word. "It was no fun. They would never let me play outside or go to the pub whenever I wanted. They would make me learn how to read and write or something awful." He pulled a face of disgust.

Dodger snorted. "You did good, kid," he said, ruffling Timmy's hair and stopping the oncoming cart at the same time.

The driver surveyed them with interest. "Need a ride?" he asked.

"Yes," Dodger replied. "My brother and I need to get back to London. Can you take us there?"

"What's in the bags?" the driver asked suspiciously.

"A few things our ill mother requested we get for her," he said without hesitation.

"You can ride in the back."

Dodger almost tipped his hat to the man before he remembered he did not have one. He would have to find one soon.


A/N: I am sorry it took me a while to get this chapter up. I was slightly distracted by life. Fortunately, this story will not take as long to update as usual from now on. I will be focusing on this one until it is finished. (See the above author's note for details.) I have outlined the rest of this story and there will be fifteen chapters altogether. That means there are only six chapters left. It makes me sad to think that this is finally coming to an end, but I'm happy at the same time because it means I can move on to bigger and better things.

I definitely won't be updating for a while because I am going to England for a few weeks. As soon as I get back, I hope to be able to post chapter 10. I can't believe I actually made it to 10 chapters. I never knew I had that much stamina.

Thanks for reading!

Forever Tainted: Yes, Dodger is the best of Fagin's gang and I will never forgive Oliver for getting them in trouble. No, I've never seen the Australian TV show, but I've heard all about it. It doesn't sound good. Dodger doesn't need to redeem himself. Everybody likes him just like he is. I added the hat part at the end of this chapter just to let you know I haven't forgotten about it. He will definitely get one in just a few more chapters. Thanks for reading!

Lksdnjgoairesslkdfj: Nice name. I'm glad you like this story and that you're starting to like Timmy. He's a good kid. I'll forgive you for not reviewing for so long. I know how annoying your computer can be. Enjoy chapter 9.

And for those of you who like the Artful Dodger's partner in crime, my friend Kelly (Pickpockets Anonymous) has started a story about Charley Bates (the second best character in Oliver Twist). It's an extremely funny story about Charley, and though I'm not quite sure about the plot yet, I think it's about him adjusting to farm life. It's called "It's All Dark", and you should go read it in the Musicals/Plays section.

Thanks for reading! Review!