Artful: A Novel (28 page)

“’Nother street, sir. They’re beggin’ too, sir.”

The Artful let out a long sigh. Then he reached into his pocket and held the weighted purse. He jiggled it slightly, then opened it and extracted a few gold coins from it.

Then he dropped the rest of the purse into the box.

The children’s faces registered their astonishment. “Have a good meal,” said Dodger, knowing that the money within the purse would be more than enough for quite a few good meals to come.

He turned on his heel and walked away, dropping the few coins he had extracted into his pocket.

“My, my.”

He looked up in surprise. Wiggins was standing a few feet away. He seemed impressed. “Givin’ money away. What’s happened to you?”

Dodger shrugged. “I was never much for travelin’ with much in me pockets anyway.”

Wiggins nodded and then said, “Here’s somethin’, then. Message for you.”

“For me?” Dodger took the folded paper. “From who?”

“That lad you were with.”

“Bram?!”

“That’s him. He found me on Baker Street, gave me this note t’give to you should I find you. Which, obviously, I did.”

Dodger ripped it open, stared at it blankly, and frowned. The cursive handwriting was flowing and impossible for him to
decipher
.

Immediately figuring out the problem, Wiggins took the letter back from Dodger.

Dodger . . . by the time you read this, I will be back on a boat with my father heading home. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to do more to help, but despite what my father thinks, I believe you found a way to beat the vampyres and save England. I firmly believe the fate of England could not be in braver hands. Yours sincerely, Abraham Van Helsing.

Wiggins looked at Dodger questioningly. “Should I read it again?”

“No, no, that’s . . . fine. Thank ye, Wiggins.” He stuck out a hand, and Wiggins shook it firmly.

“No. Thank you, Dodger.” He paused and then said, “Ya know . . . there’s a place for you on the Irregulars, if you’re interested.”

“I’ll think about it,” said the Dodger, and tipped his hat.

Wiggins went on his way, then, and Dodger on his.

The Artful ran the events of recent days through his head.
Mr. Fang
was dead. Check. Bram would be attended to. Check. Mr. Brownlow’s carriage would be returned. Check.

The only item on his mental slate remaining unchecked was Fagin, and it disturbed Dodger greatly. There was no denying that Fagin had done him a great service by saving his life.
However
, there was far too much anger in the lad toward Fagin than would permit him to forgive his old mentor. And so he vowed at that moment that he would never rest until he had managed to drag Fagin from the shadows and expose him to the scathing light
of day.

Unfortunately, as strong as the vow was in his heart, actually enforcing that vow would have to wait for a great many years. By the time the Artful Dodger would once again come face to face with Fagin, Princess Alexandrina Victoria would have long been Queen Victoria.

The Artful Dodger would have grown from a young street thug to a man in his fifties.

And Fagin, otherwise known as Spring-Heeled Jack, would have changed his name yet again, to Jack the Ripper.

THE END

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book would obviously not be possible without the works of the esteemed Mr. Dickens. This book had its genesis in the fact that I happened to be reading
Oliver Twist
one day for no particular reason, and I began noticing some oddities in the personage of Fagin. That prompted me to realize that Fagin was likely a vampyre, and the story just sort of flowed from there.

I wish to thank Andy Zack for selling this novel and
editor
David Pomerico and the fine folks at Amazon Books for presenting it to you. Thanks also to cover artist Douglas Smith whose outstanding work has graced such novels as the
Wicked
books.

Finally, my greatest thanks go to my wife, Kathleen, without whom I literally would not be able to function.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter David, writer of stuff, is a
New York Times
best-selling author of over one
hundred
novels. These include
Fearless,
Tigerheart
, various novels published
under
the imprint of
www.crazy8press.com
, and many Star Trek novels for Pocket Books. He has also written over a thousand comics, including
The Incredible Hulk, Fallen Angel, X-Factor,
and
Stephen King’s Dark Tower.
He co-created the TV series
Space Cases
with Bill Mumy for Nickelodeon. Peter lives in Long Island with his wife, Kathleen, and has four
daughters
: Shana, Gwen, Ariel, and Caroline.