Read Online Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton - Free Book Online Page B

made up for it by striking twice for every blow they threw at him.
    Jersey didn't get behind Finn until Lennie was half a block away. He jumped in as Finn was punching and caught his left arm.
    Teagan looked around wildly, hoping to see someone peering out of a window or standing in a doorway, anyone she could call to for help, could ask to call the police. There was no one.
    Jersey Boy and Baseball Cap held Finn while Goatee used him for a punching bag.
    When they let go, Finn collapsed. Goatee aimed a kick at Finn's broken arm, but Finn twisted and took the boot in his side instead. It lifted him off the ground, and Ball Cap and Jersey laughed.
    "This leprechaun's done," Ball Cap said.
    Please
let it be over.
Teagan rocked Aiden.
Let Finn stay down until they leave. If he gets up again
...
    Finn shook his head like he was trying to clear the sweat and blood from his eyes and turned to look the way Lennie had gone. Lennie was shuffling as fast as he could, one hand holding his wet pants up, his tail dragging in the dirt behind him. He was almost at the end of the alley. If he made it out onto the street there would be people to help him. Everyone in the neighborhood knew Lennie.
    "So if the leprechaun's done," Goatee said, "let's go get the retard."
    Nausea washed over Teagan. It
wasn't
over. They were going to hurt Lennie the way they'd hurt Finn.
    "Hey, asshole." Finn had pushed himself up.
    Goatee turned back as he struggled to his feet.
    "What did you call me?"
    Finn spat blood against the wall.
    "Asshole," he said. "And you answered."
    "You Irish shit," Jersey said. "We're going to kill you."
    Finn got in a couple of good swings before Ball Cap and Jersey caught his arms again.
    "Aiden." Teagan pulled his hands away from his eyes. "Stay here. I mean it." He nodded, then covered his eyes again.
    Teagan grabbed the first thing she could find from the pile of trash—a flat bicycle tube—and ran at the bullies swinging it as hard as she could. The tube made a loud
twok
when it hit Baseball Cap on the side of the face.
    He let go of Finn and jumped back. "What the hell?"
    "Hey! It's Spikes' friend Ko-Ko-Bop." Jersey let go, too, and Finn slumped against the brick wall. "What's she doing here? Show us some shimmy, babe."
    Teagan swung the inner tube backhand, slapping him across the face. "Shut up!"
    "The little bitch wants to play." Jersey started to circle around behind her, but Finn came off the wall and stepped between them.
    "Don't you know when you're beat?" Goatee asked.
    Finn wiped his mouth with the back of his good hand. "I'll let you know when I am. Go on, Tea. I told you to go home."
    A horn blared, and everybody jumped. Lennie must have made it out of the alley, because a rusted old pickup truck had turned in from the street and was almost on top of them. The driver was leaning forward, peering at them over the steering wheel through John Lennon glasses. "American Pie" blared from the radio. He leaned on his horn again.
    "Let's get outta here," Jersey said. He shoved Teagan's shoulder on his way past.
    Teagan and Finn pressed up against the wall. The driver stared disapprovingly at the blood on Finn's shirt as he went past. The pickup stopped and the driver got out. He pulled the red wagon from behind the Dumpster, then reached behind it again and pulled Aiden out as well. He held him up and examined him.
    "Hey!" Teagan yelled. "Put my brother down!"
    The man looked at the inner tube in Teagan's hand, then dropped Aiden beside the wagon, climbed up into the Dumpster, and started rooting through the contents. Aiden grabbed the wagon's handle and ran toward them as fast as he could over the bumpy alley ground.
    "That freegan almost recycled me," he said, and started to cry.
    Teagan picked him up and hugged him. She was still shaking inside and out.
    "I'm not a baby." Aiden sobbed.
    "I was wrong to say it," Finn said. "I might cry, too, if that freegan had caught me. He was scary."
    "Really?" Aiden gulped.