Read Online The Magnificent Lizzie Brown and the Devil's Hound by Vicki Lockwood - Free Book Online Page A

shook the doctor’s hand so hard he nearly rattled the little man’s glasses off. Then he clicked his heels together. “Anyone who hasn’t had the smallpox yet, meet here tomorrow at ten to sort out your immunizations. No excuses!”
    * * *
    The Penny Gaff Gang — Lizzie, Dru, Hari, Malachy, Nora, and Erin — lingered in the show tent after everyone else had left.
    â€œYou looked très belle up there on your horse tonight,” Dru teased Lizzie. “I think your new career suits you. But oh, how I miss your brown hair.”
    â€œI’ll do it in my mystic veil next time, so they can’t see my face!” Lizzie squirmed, still feeling the sting of humiliation. “I don’t know how you can stand it, having all those people staring at you.”
    Erin laughed. “That’s the fun of it! Being in the glare of the lights, the crowd eating out of the palm of your hand . . .”
    â€œBetter you than me,” Lizzie said. “Give me my nice quiet tent any day of the week.”
    Malachy banged his walking stick on the ground. “Silence! I hereby call this meeting of the Penny Gaff Gang to order. Lizzie Brown, prophet of things to come, you have something to tell us, don’t you?”
    â€œYes, I do, actually.” Lizzie stood up. “I’ve had a vision. It was a cemetery . . . Kensal Green, I’m sure of it. There was digging after dark, an open grave, a dog howling, and then a girl screaming.”
    â€œWho were you reading for?” Malachy asked.
    â€œNobody,” Lizzie said. “It just came to me. I think my powers are sending me a warning.”
    The twins’ eyes went very wide. They looked terrified. Lizzie could guess what they were worried about, but it wasn’t going to stop her.
    â€œSomething’s going on up at the cemetery,” she said boldly, “and I want to go and investigate. Who’s with me?”

CHAPTER 7
    â€œLizzie, you can’t mean it!” spluttered Nora. Her voice fell to a whisper. “Go to the cemetery?”
    â€œDon’t you think we’ve had enough bad luck here already?” Erin said, glancing fearfully around the ring. “What in the world’s gotten into you?”
    â€œYou’re sure it was one of your visions?” Hari said reluctantly. “You weren’t . . . maybe . . . imagining things?”
    Lizzie gave him a withering look. “You think I want to go up there? Of course I don’t! But we all know I don’t see these visions without a reason. Come on, have I led you wrong yet?”
    â€œNot so far,” said Dru, giving his trademark shrug. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your visions.”
    The Penny Gaff Gang were silent for a moment, remembering when Dru had been falsely accused of being the Phantom. If it hadn’t been for Lizzie’s visions unmasking the real culprit, Dru would still be in prison.
    â€œSo there’s something wrong, and it needs putting right. Who’s coming?” Lizzie looked around at Erin and Nora’s frightened faces. “Are we the Penny Gaff Gang or aren’t we?”
    â€œLizzie, it could be dangerous,” Nora insisted.
    â€œWhatever’s going on, it can’t be more dangerous than the Phantom, can it?” Lizzie said. “And we beat him!”
    Nora played with her hair nervously. “The Phantom was only a man. He could only ever hurt your body. But the beast that’s supposed to dwell in Kensal Green Cemetery can devour your very soul.”
    â€œDevour your very soul,” Lizzie said cynically. “Did your ma tell you that?”
    â€œDon’t you say nothing against our ma!” Erin said, leaping to her feet.
    â€œI’m not!” Lizzie quickly assured her. “I just don’t believe in the, you know . . . oh, forget it! I don’t believe in the Devil’s Hound! There. I’ve said it.”
    Nora and