Read Online Cat's Cradle by Julia Golding - Free Book Online Page A

cattle in an emergency – Father wouldn’t let me out in it until I’d proved I could drive it to his satisfaction.’
    I grinned. ‘In that case, I’d love to.’ As he handed me up to the front seat, I assumed a puzzled air. ‘And why did your father want to test you on cows in any case?’
    â€˜Cattle – Cat – are horses,’ Frank replied with an air of superiority as he inducted me into the mysteries of carriage-driving.
    â€˜Is your groom coming with us?’
    â€˜My tiger,’ he corrected, giving the man a nod to release the horses’ heads.
    â€˜What! You’ve brought one of those too? Won’t it eat the horses – sorry, cattle.’
    â€˜Tiger is the term for my groom.’
    â€˜Surely groom is the term for groom?’ I’d known that, of course, but it was fun to needle him.
    He gave an impatient flick of the whip and the horses pulled away, making slow progress down the congested street. As a cart surged out in our path, we narrowly missed a lamp post.
    â€˜This is novel,’ I gulped, no longer so convinced by his skill. ‘How many points for taking down a post? Three perhaps? What about running over a little old lady?’
    â€˜Little old ladies are safe from me,’ he huffed.
    â€˜I think one of the boys nicked your fancy brass lamp while you were inside.’ I tapped the empty bracket beside me.
    Frank’s face clouded. ‘Damn! I promised on my Great-Aunt Veronica’s honour that I’d return the curricle to Father without a scratch.’
    Catching sight of a familiar long-legged man in an oversized coat threading his way through the crowds, I gave a shrill whistle.
    â€˜Oi, Light-Fingers – give it back!’
    The man froze, debating whether or not to scarper.
    â€˜You know better than to pick on the Chimney Sweep Lord, * don’t you? Syd’ll have your gizzard made into sausages and fed to the Bow Street Runners for breakfast.’
    Light-Fingers sloped over to my side of the carriage and groped in his pocket.
    â€˜It fell off,’ he grunted, handing me the brass lamp. ‘So pleased to oblige ’is ’igh-and-mightiness by returnin’ it.’
    Frank, fists full of reins, nodded to his tiger. ‘Give the man a shilling, Jacobs.’
    The shilling spun in the air for a second before being snatched by Light-Fingers. The thief was gone before Frank could repent of his generosity.
    The Earl of Arden cocked an eyebrow. ‘And what exactly is a gizzard?’
    I laughed. ‘Not sure, but it sounded suitably grisly, didn’t it?’
    The tale of my recent adventures in Jamaica and San Domingo, even when told in brief, took the rest of the drive to Hyde Park and then some. We were bowling down the carriage drive parallel to Rotten Row before I’d finished. Frank was so absorbed in my news that he merely raised his whip in automatic reply to his acquaintances; I doubt he really saw anyone at that moment. I drew a carriage blanket over my knees, aware that my plain dress did not compare well to the beautifulgowns of the other ladies. He’d brought me to one of the parading places of the Ton; rich folk came here to see and be seen. Every detail of my appearance would doubtless be chewed over by the mamas and their debutante daughters. Jealous of any girl sitting near one of England’s most eligible young peers, they were more merciless than critics at a first night – and I certainly gave them plenty to complain about.
    â€˜You haven’t yet explained why you were considering highway robbery, Cat,’ said Frank as we eased round the turning circle and headed back the way we had come.
    I was beginning to relax now I realized that he could actually drive this vehicle without risking life and limb. My knuckles were no longer white on the rail. ‘Ah, that was yesterday’s surprise.’
    The news that I might not be quite as alone in