Read Online Lady Rogue by Kathryn Kramer - Free Book Online Page B

fortitude in surviving his unfortunate experience with the underworld.  The rookeries , were for a fact, the topic of many a conversation in ale houses and taverns, or so Robbie and the other men declared.
    From out of the fog a mournful voice keened a song .  A ragged woman with an infant in her arms was attempting to earn a penny or two.  A pitiable sight, thin, pale, her eyes dark and sunken, she tried to cover her child’s nakedness with a remnant of her own scanty shawl as she whimpered her tune.  Brutal laughter was all she received for her efforts.  Reaching in her pocket, Dawn took her last penny and placed it in the woman's hand.
    "God bl ess ye."  The woman's eyes shone with gratitude.
    "She'll soon be goods fer the body snatchers," Black John grumbled.  "Why waste yer coins on 'her?"
    "Somethin' 'bout 'er reminded me of me mum, it did," Dawn replied, taking a last look at the wretched sight over her shoulder.  "Wish I could 'elp 'er more, I do.  Somedaiy I will.  I swear 'at somedaiy when I'm a grand laidy I'll not pass 'er kind by wi' out being generous."  Rolli cking laughter was her answer.
    "Dawnie a laidy.  'At's a good one." Black John slapped his thigh.
    "Somedaiy I will be.  Ye'll see."  Lifting her chin  proudly , Dawn affected a graceful walk as they trudged over the cobblestones.  It was a dream not even the London streets could take away.  In truth it was all that kept her going from day to day.  Someday the life she was living now would be just a memory.  Someday....
    The stench of the river told Dawn that they had almost reached the docks. The garbage and refuse that was dumped into the waters gave forth a terrible smell.  It was even said that those who made their living rowing boats on the Thames grew ill if once they  fell into its rancid depths.  Strange, Dawn thought, for on those nights when the moon illuminated the waters they looked deceptively inviting, even magical.
    "Oars!  Oars!  Will you have any oars?"  Mistaking Dawn for one of the gentry a small group of watermen came running towards her, only to shrink back and erupt in ribald laughter.
    "Oars.  Ha. Ha.  It's an oar she be all right.  Well, take ye along with yer lass unless ye've a mind to give us a free sample"  Raising a dirty lantern he tried to get a look at Dawn's face.  "This one don't look so bad.  Maybe even could be called pretty."  They spouted off a long list of vulgarities, greeting passengers in all the passing boats with outlandish and fanciful insults and derision as was their custom.  It was custom to respond in kind, a good natured bantering which all but the shy or inarticulate returned.  Raising her fist, Dawn uttered a stream of swearwords she had learned from the streets.  Call her a whore, would they.  And yet that was what she was pretending to be.  The notion pricked her.  This time when Black John took her to task for loitering, she hurried along, anxious to get this bit of business over so she could return to the security of the Dials.
    The Thames was at high tide, the waters lapping loudly over the quay.  Even with the fog Dawn could see the sails of the ships that lay at anchor in the open river.  As thick as flies, the ships were forced to stay there, sometimes for weeks at a time because movement was restricted.  London had become the largest trading center in the world, yet there were no proper docks.  The quays had not been enlarged for more than a hundred years, Black John Dunn had said.  It was not unusual for ships' crews to be discharged before cargo could be unloaded.  So much the better, John proclaimed, for it enabled his mudlarks to, as he said, "have an easier time o' it."
    Even at such a late hour there were m en walking along the wharf side with ropes swung over their shoulders.  At first glance they looked respectable, but Dawn knew differently.  River pirate was their real profession.  It was a known fact only to those of the underworld that