Read Online The Butterfly in Amber by Kate Forsyth - Free Book Online

true.’
    â€˜Oh, that husband of mine is a fool!’ Fancy whispered. She opened the door, laid her hand against her forehead, and ran out calling in a fading voice, ‘Oh, Grace, I think I’m going toswoon! Those dreadful gypsy children. My heart’s all a-flutter!’
    Luka swung his pack on to his shoulder. ‘Right! Let’s get out of here.’
    â€˜I wish we could say goodbye to Beedee,’ Emilia said sadly. ‘She was nice.’
    â€˜And clever,’ Luka said approvingly. He glanced about, ensuring they had left nothing behind, then, on an impulse, snatched up the thick sheaf of parchment Obedience had shown them from the desk and stuffed it into his pack too. Then they bolted out the back door and across the small yard to fetch Sweetheart who, bored by her long, lonely wait, had made a great mess. As they hurried out of the shed, Sweetheart for once pushing ahead of them in her eagerness to be gone, they glanced up at the house and saw, with a leap of their hearts, Obedience leaning out one of the windows, waving madly.
    They grinned and waved back, then ran away down the street, their animals bounding after them.

Rough Justice

    T he two children ran till they were out of breath.
    â€˜We should try and get on a boat to Kingston,’ Luka panted, pausing in the shade of a tall house to wipe his face with his kerchief. ‘We’ll get along much faster that way. We’re really running out of time now. They go up before the magistrates the day after tomorrow, and after then it’ll be too late.’
    Emilia nodded, her face sombre. She knew that her family would all be hanged the same day as themagistrates passed sentence on them. This was so the magistrates could see justice done before they travelled on to the next town, and the next assizes. The faster they got through each assize, the sooner the magistrates could get home. It was a rough sort of justice, and left little room for a change of heart.
    â€˜We need to get my bracelet back first,’ she said.
    Luka looked troubled. ‘We can’t, Milly. We just don’t have the time. It’s a long way to Kingston from here, even if we get a boat.’
    â€˜We have to at least try,’ Emilia said. ‘Let’s just ask if anyone knows where we can find one of these fences. We may get lucky.’
    â€˜Fair enough,’ Luka sighed. He knew how much the charm bracelet meant to Emilia.
    But though the children trudged the back-alleys and laneways of London for almost two hours, they had no luck. They were shown numerous gold necklaces, bracelets, lockets, rings,earrings and jewelled combs, but no one they asked had ever seen a dainty gold chain hung with five mismatching charms. At last Luka said gently, ‘I’m sorry, Milly. We can’t wait any longer. If we want to catch a boat up the river, we need to go now, before the tide turns.’
    â€˜But my bracelet . . . all the charms . . . we went through so much to find them! Was it all for nothing?’ Her voice wobbled.
    Luka patted her arm. ‘None of it was for nothing. We’ve got powdered fish-berries to drug the guards, and a lock-pick to open the cell doors, and big, strong men coming to help us. And don’t forget those pardons I nicked! We’ll have no trouble saving our families now. Maybe it was the luck of the charms that helped us get all those things, I don’t know. We certainly do seem to have had Providence on our side.’
    â€˜Until now.’ Emilia wiped her eyes on her sleeve.
    â€˜Come on, let’s just get to Gallows Park now, and start laying some plans.’
    â€˜Shouldn’t we stop at Richmond first?’ Emilia said. ‘Isn’t that where the countess is, who bought the butterfly in amber?’
    Luka shrugged. ‘I don’t remember. Besides, it’s getting late, it’ll be dark soon. We don’t have time to stop now, Milly, we need to get to