The bookmaker, holding up a book, called out, "Place your bets, gents! Two to one for the Camden crusher to beat the Butcher with a knock out."

I looked at him longingly, "That doesn't sound too good for your friend, does it?" I said fingering the coins in my pocket, "Shall I place a bet on him winning?"

"No!" Cat said quickly pulling me back, "Just how do you think a chimney sweep could afford to bet gold? You'll be found out in one second flat."

"I suppose you are right," I said gloomily taking my hands out of my pockets, "And Father's always forbidden me to bet."

"He's a sensible man," said Pedro. He was gazing after the toffee-apple seller.

I pulled a few coins out of my pocket and handed them him. "I did take the precaution of putting a few pennies in among my guineas. Why don't you buy us all one?"

"Thank you, sir," he said.

A man turned to look at us curiously. "Not 'sir'—Frank," hissed Cat.

"Thanks Frank."

When he came back he was carrying four apples. "Four!" I asked, "Why four?"

"One for luck," he mumbled, then swallowed, "She'd seen me at the theater, she said, so gave me one for nothing."

Dryly Cat said, "Come on, let's find ourselves a spot before we get mobbed by Pedro's admirers," and pulled her hat down lower over her face.

We were pushed along with the crowd which was splitting up around the raised platform. The arena was surrounded by rails and benches holding several gentlemen. We squeezed between people and under arms until we finally pushed our way through to the front. The two young men sat in their corners. One having his back oiled the other listening intently to his second.

A boy about my own age appeared next to Cat, "'Ello, Prince, Cat. 'Oo's the soot?"

Pedro handed him the extra apple, "Frank. He's new."

"'E's a bit big for the chimneys, ain't 'e?" He asked looking at me curiously, "I thought they only liked nippers of eight 'n' under."

I said quickly, "My master specializes in big chimneys, big houses. My younger brother does the small ones." I hadn't thought of that before, but luckily I was able to come up with an excuse, though not a very good one, fast enough.

"Oh," he said losing interest, "Right you are."

"Who is he?" I whispered to Pedro.

"He's Nick. One of the Butcher's Boys." He replied.

Nick nudged Cat and nodded at one of the young men who I realized must be the Camden Crusher, "Looks bad, doesn't it, Cat? But Syd'll be glad you came. You're 'is lucky mascot. Oi, Syd!" He shouted, "Cat's 'ere!"

Syd, a tall, muscular, blonde haired boy, turned and looked down at us. He winked at Cat, "All right, Cat?" he called.

For a second Cat looked concerned but she quickly smiled at him and called back up loudly, "Yes, good luck!"

While she was distracted, Nick brought out a piece of paper and showed it to me and Pedro. It was a crude drawing of a member of the government squatting over a chamber pot marked 'The Oppressed Masses'.

Cat turned around and seeing us all sniggering over the cartoon asked, "What's that?"

Nick quickly hid it behind his back. "Nuffink."

"Don't give me that!" she said trying to wrestle it away from him, "Let me see!"

In a low voice I said to Cat, "Er, Cat. I don't think its suitable for a lady's eyes."

"Stuff that!" she said, she was now determined to see it, "Give it here."

She tickled him in the ribs, forcing him to surrender the cartoon. When she finally looked at it she blushed bright red.

"The word is, old Captain Sparkler's gone too far this time. The beak's after him." Said Nick.

"Beak?" I said confused.

"Gawd, Frank, wot country 'ave you been livin' in? Beak: ma-gi-strate. Got it?"

"Oh, of course," I replied quickly.

"'E's to be made han heg-sample of, they say. Government's got the wind up. 'E's to be done for treason—'anged or transported most like."

"No!" Cat suddenly exclaimed, "All because he pokes some fun at a few people? That's not fair!"

"Wot's fair got to with it? It's powerfull people 'e's takin' on Cat." Replied Nick, "They don't like to be made to look like fools. They 'ate 'im for makin' fun of 'em. 'E can draw as many bare bums as 'e likes but you watch, they'll get 'im for attackin' the king. 'Is last cartoon was plain treason, it was. Banned, I 'ear, so sales 'ave gone sky 'igh as you'd expect."

"So, have they caught him yet?" asked Pedro.

Nick, sounding pleased, said, "Not likely. 'E's too clever for 'em, is Captain Sparkler. 'E loves to drive 'em wild by flauntin' these pictures in front of 'em as 'e dances out of their reach. The word is 'e's stowed away on a ship for France."

I thought about that for a moment. It just didn't make sense. "So how is the pertinacious captain able to draw a cartoon referring to a political scandal that broke last week?"

"Lawd, Frankie boy. You swallered a dictionary or somethink?" said Nick marveling at me. I realized how I had probably sounded and started to stammer an excuse. "No, don't you apologize. Nuffink wrong with a bit of learnin'. You be proud of it, mate! Look at our Cat 'ere: 'oo'd think she 'ad all that stuff packed away in 'er pretty little 'ead? Syd's always 'olding 'er up as a model to the rest of us 'alfwits!" He laughed.

I looked at Cat but she wasn't paying any attention. She looked like she was thinking hard about something. Suddenly she smiled, she looked at Pedro eagerly like she was going to say something but then stopped herself. Just then the referee called out, raising his hand for silence, "Gentlemen! I present our fighters to you: the reigning champion—the Camden Crusher!"

The Crusher raised his arms as his supporters whistled and cheered.

"And our challenger: the Bow Street Butcher!"

Syd jumped to his feet and bowed to acknowledge the applause.

One man shouted, "Go for him, Crusher!"

Another yelled, "Let's hear it for the brave butcher!" and again the crowd cheered proudly.

"You can do it, Syd!" cried Cat above the noise. Syd smiled and nodded at her.

"Now, you know the rules, gents." Continued the referee, "Nothing below the belt. If you're down you have half a minute to return to set-to at the scratch. If you fail to come up to scratch, then your opponent wins. Are you ready, gents?"

Syd grunted and the crusher nodded, smiling mockingly at him. "You're dead." He mouthed.

"Then… set to!" said the referee as he stepped back.

The fight began and I was quickly caught up in the excitement. At first it didn't look to good for Syd. But when it finally looked like he could win, he was knocked down by a punch to the jaw. The crowd began to chant, "One! Two! Three…!"

Syd's second ran up to him, "Come on, son! Get up!"

"Fifteen! Sixteen! Seventeen…!"

"Come on, Syd! Keep going!" screamed Cat.

He slowly got up to his feet and his second lead him to the scratch just in time. "Set to!" shouted the referee. They continued their fight but now they were moving much more slowly. I jumped up and down yelling along with everybody else. Syd knocked the Crusher down with a powerful blow and the crowd again began to chant, "One! Two! Three!"

"Get up, you lazy oaf!" screamed the Crusher's second kicking him, "Get up, you good-for-nothing girl!"

"Twenty-eight! Twenty-nine! Thirty!" shouted the crow.

We all jumped up and down cheering and Syd bowed to each corner, giving a two handed victory signal when he faced us. "Gents, we have a new champion. I give you the Bow Street Butcher!" said the referee raising Syd's fist in the air.

"Come on, let's go congratulate Syd!" said Pedro eagerly. Nick and I followed after him, pushing against the tide of people. When we finally reached him he was surrounded by a group of boys who were shaking his hand and clapping him on the back. I stood back, not sure what to do or say. Pedro saw me and pulled me in front of him.

"This is Frank. He's a friend of me and Cat." He said.

Syd smiled and shook my hand. "Syd." He said. Then looking a little concerned. "By the way, where is Cat?"

We all looked around but couldn't see her. "I am sure she was right behind us." I said, "I will go look for her." Immediately I ran off. I didn't want to feel responsible for her getting lost. I could hear Syd asking Pedro and Nick where they were last time they saw her as I wove my way through the crowds. Finally I saw a patch of red hair and pushed past a few boys who were standing near her.

"There you are, Cat!" I exclaimed as I stumbled into the middle of a clearing around Cat. "We wondered what had happened to you! I was perturbed to find that you had not followed us."

"Per-what?" laughed a tall boy who seemed to be the leader of what I now realized must be one of the gangs. "'Oo do you think you are, sootie? A dook or somethink?"

I stared at him and opened my mouth but made no sound. Was it really that easy to guess what I was?

"Queer fellas you're making friends with, Cat." He said as he pushed me into another boy. The boy, who was nearly the same size as Syd, shoved me to the ground. "That'll 'ave to stop, you understand? Can't 'ave a girl in my gang mixin' with the wrong sort."

Cat was looking at me as I lay crumpled on the ground. "Er, Billy." She said.

"Yeah, Pussycat?"

"I haven't actually given you my answer yet."

I tried to get up but he just kicked me back to the ground and placed his foot on my neck. "Wat was that you were sayin'?"

"Can I think about your offer?"

"Sadly not. For a number of pressin' reasons." He pushed down on my neck and I gasped. "I need an immediate acceptance."

"Billy, really its very decent of you," said Cat lowering her head, "But no!" She ran at him as fast as she could, knocking him to the ground.

As soon as I was free I jumped up and ran. I shoved past people, ducking under arms, until I found Syd. "I found Cat! She's in trouble!" I breathed. Pointing in the direction I had come. Immediately Syd took off. Pedro and I close behind. As we approached them I could hear them laughing and see Cat being hung upside down by the ankle. When the saw Syd they stopped laughing and Cat was dropped to the ground. Syd picked her up and brushed her off. "What you doing to Cat?" He asked menacingly.

"We were just playin', weren't we, Cat?" said the boy, Billy, "'Avin' a laugh."

"I didn't see her laughing," said Pedro as he pushed forward to stand next to her.

"It was nothing Syd. Let's go." Cat muttered, turning around.

Syd looked at her then said, "Ive 'ad enough fightin' fer one day, Boil, but I'll take you all on if I find you touchin' Cat again. Understand this: no one, but no one, messes with my Cat and gets away with it."

Billy raised his hands, palms open, and Syd turned around, marching Cat away. When we were with the rest of Syd's gang he sat her down. "Let's see that ankle, Cat." He said as he pulled off her woolen stocking. I hovered over Syd's shoulder, I was embarrassed to be looking at a ladies ankle but I was too anxious to look away. There were large red marks that were turning into bruises. "I should've punched his stupid face in 'ad I known 'e'd done this." He said.

"It's nothing Syd." Said Cat quickly, "As he said, he was just teasing."

"Teasing!" exploded Pedro, "He had you upside down! That's torture, not teasing. You shouldn't play his game, Cat!"

"I didn't exactly ask to be treated like that!" Cat answered angrily. "If you hadn't all ran off so quick, I wouldn't have been left alone and he wouldn't've dared pick on me." She stood up as if to leave but then collapsed again from the pain in her ankle.

"Cat is right," I said abjectly, "we were most remiss to leave a lady on her own."

"We were what?" asked Nick.

"You shouldn't've run off, leaving me with that dung-ball Billy Shepard." Said Cat.

"So that was Billy 'Boil' Shepard." I asked eagerly. I had heard of the infamous Billy Shepard many times before and I remembered hearing about him when Cat read from her book. I couldn't believe I had actually met him. Well been stepped on by him at least. "Let me make some amends for our lamentable neglect by paying for a chair to carry you home." I said pulling a guinea out of my purse.

Nick and Syd stared at me in amazement.

"Where'd you get that?" asked Syd, then he turned to Cat. "I'll not 'ave you friends with no thief, Cat."

"Nothing to worry about, Syd. It's his." Said Pedro. "He's not what he seems."

Syd stared hard at me. "You a gent?"

I glanced anxiously at Pedro. "He is." He said.

Angrily, Syd said to Cat. "What d'you mean bringin' 'im along, Cat? Didn't you stop to think what might 'appen to 'im if 'e was found out?"

"It was my idea." Pedro said.

"So why didn't you stop it? You know Pedro's green—'e don't know nuffink yet about the streets, but you do, Cat! I thought you were clever!"

Looking defeated, Cat said. "You're right, Syd, I should've stopped him. If you don't mind, I'd like to accept Lord Francis's offer and go home." She stood up and I offered her my arm. We slowly started walking towards the gate.

"You can't walk like that all the way to Oxford street, you daft kitten. I'll carry you." Syd said. Picking her up he said grudgingly over his shoulder, "Come on, your lordship, if you must. I ain't got the gold for a chair—you'll 'ave to foot that bill."