Read Online Cogling by Jordan Elizabeth - Free Book Online

She tried to yank away, but he tightened his grip. “See these pretty little fingers, just right for some fancy stitches.”
    An image flashed through her mind, in which she bent over a table, hand-sewing gloves like the pair she wore.
    “You know the boss don’t care how tiny the fingers are so long as the stitches are neat.” A man threw two shillings onto the gambling pile.
    “Where are your parents, girl?” The man holding her turned her hand to inspect her palm and tugged on the glove’s frilly cuff.
    A squeak emerged from her mouth. She coughed as the smoke tickled her throat. How dare he touch her?
    “She’s an orphan,” another man at the table said. “Anyone can see that.”
    “My parents are just down the aisle and my father’s on his way here. There he is.” She waved at a table farther away, hoping one of the players would look menacing enough to make her captor release.
    The man holding her wrist tugged her toward him. She stumbled into his chest, the thick stench of tobacco rising from his shirt. “I’ll find you a real nice home.”
    Metal clamped onto her wrist. Edna craned her neck to see the brass cuff he’d slid over her skin. “You put a prison cuff on me?” It would link him to her with an invisible wave until he released the cuff at a workhouse, a brass cuff with a chain no one could see.
    “Just a pretty bauble for a pretty girl.”
    “I’ve seen these before! Take it off..”
    Ike leapt off a bench at a table down the car and jogged toward her. He grabbed her free hand to yank her away from the man. A cry of relief burst from her throat and she almost hugged him before catching herself.
    “There you are, sis. Why didn’t you stay back at the seat with Pa?” Leaning close to her ear, he whispered, “Walk. Now.” Sweat beaded his brow, his pupils the size of newspaper periods.
    “Look what he did to me!” She held up the prison cuff while the criminal swore.
    The darkness danced through her veins and the cuff snapped before it clattered to the floor in two pieces. It couldn’t have been her; had to be the man realizing his mistake.
    Ike reached for her and three playing cards fell from his sleeve to drift like feathers.
    “By the seven Saints,” Ike swore.
    “Hey,” a man yelled from Ike’s table. “He cheated us!”
    “
Go
.” Ike grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers as he bolted. Behind them, men pounded to their feet, shouts bouncing off the walls.
    Ike kicked open the door and pulled her through. He shoved his shoulder against the next door, dragging her down the hallway. People looked up, gasping. Doors banged behind them. Footsteps followed.
    “They’re coming,” Edna pressed her prayer beads to her lips.
Seven Saints, save us.
    Ike was supposed to help her rescue Harrison, not get them thrown into prison. There had to be a way to convince the men they were harmless.
    As he ran, weaving between bodies and satchels left in the aisle, Ike grabbed a top hat off a man’s head and a shawl from a woman, tossing the mess of gray wool at Edna. The owners yelped.
    Edna caught the tasseled end before he propelled her through the next set of doors to their car. He shoved her into the seats and yanked the shawl over her head.
    Edna let him press her face into his chest, covering her more with the shawl. Her nose fit between his biceps; she hadn’t guessed hm to be that muscled. He shoved the top hat over his head and slumped forward.
    “Pretend to be asleep,” he hissed.
    “But…” Edna’s voice trailed off as their pursuers ran through the car. How did one pretend to sleep? She closed her eyes, drawing deep breaths through her nose, forcing her stiff body to relax.
    “Where’s that cracksman?” one of the men chasing them demanded.
    “I don’t see him, keep looking,” another said. Ike stiffened. She held her breath.
    As the door opened to the next car, the woman with the crying baby poked Edna’s back. “You want to tell me what that’s all