me, too?â he asked them.
Out of the corner of her eye she could see Dutch shrugging. âNope.â
âReally?â
âAinât much worse for us than itâs always been,â Owney said. Heâd pulled a corner of one of his trouser patches loose, and he fiddled with it idly.
âMatter of fact, my brother and I were probably going to sleep in here anyway,â Chicks said. âSince itâs got some straw and all.â
âRight . . . and when you consider that we got to eat our fill of oranges,â Finn added, âI have to say our lot in life has actually improved somewhat.â
âYep,â Dutch agreed.
âOh . . . okay,â Alexander said, sounding relieved. âThatâs good.â
Frances couldnât pretend to ignore all this anymore, and she turned to face Finn and the other older boys. âAre you just saying that to be nice?â she asked. âBecause you donât have to be nice to Alexander.â
Finn shook his head. âItâs all the same to us, I tell you. We were being sent off to work in some wretched factory before we met you. And now weâre still being sent off to work in some wretched factory. Only difference is, we got oranges now.â He smiled a thin, sad smile.
âToo bad none of us are going to Wanderville,â Chicks said. âIt sounded real nice.â
âBut we can still goââ Alexander started to tell him, but Chicks just shook his head.
âOur mama still needs us to work to pay off her debts. Same with Dutchâs pa, and Owneyâs folks.â
Frances had nearly forgotten that the boysâ families owed money to Edwin Adolphiusâor someone who worked for him.
That must be an awful feeling,
she thought. They were all quiet for a moment, and Frances wondered if Alexander was thinking the same thing she was. These boys didnât mind sleeping in filthy straw in a livestock pen. They were a lot worse off than she and Harold and her friends.
Finally Alexander spoke up.
âWhat if you could just pay those debts?â he asked the older boys. âInstead of having to work them off.â
âHow?â Dutch muttered. âWith what money?â
âReward money,â Alexander said. âLike the money weâre going to get at the Worldâs Fair. If we can all escape from this boat, that is.â
Frances caught her breath in surprise and saw Jack and Eli turn around, intrigued. It was an interesting ideaâall of them working together to escape the steamboat! And if they split the money, it would help these boys. Maybe she was wrong to think Alexander was so selfish.
âHmm,â Finn said, looking at Alexander. âTell us more.â
Jack took out the medallion to show everyone, and Alexander told them all about meeting Zogby and how heâd given them instructions to find a person named Mr. McGee at the Worldâs Fair and deliver it to him for a reward.
Owney grinned. âSounds easy enough.â
âI donât know,â Dutch said. âIt seems a little fishy. Why do you trust this Zogby fellow? Youâd only just met him. What if heâs lying?â
Even though Frances hoped the older boys were willing to help them escape, she had to admit sheâd had similar worries about Zogby. She still did, in fact.
âLook, if the fellowâs lying, we still have the medallion,â Jack pointed out. âWhich we can sell.â
The older boys appeared to think about this for a moment and exchanged looks with one another. Finally Finn said, âOkay, weâll escape with you. But weâre still all going to Wanderville, too, right?â
âOf course!â Alexander exclaimed.
âDo you think we could go there first?â Owney asked.
âWeâre always there!â Harold said.
Owney dismissed him with a wave of his hand and turned back to Alexander. âI know youâve
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley