Lina at the Games by Sally Rippin

Grace could feel her eyes welling with tears. She wiped them away; if Uncle Ord saw her cry he would curse her and say she was a useless girl.
    â€˜A thief and a liar,’ he said. ‘Get out of my sight and give me some peace.’
    Grace went back out the front door and sat on the step.
    Uncle Ord isn’t proud of me for finding the hammer, she thought. He’s angry at me for bringing something so valuable home.
    For the first time, Grace realised that it didn’t matter what she brought her uncle – she could carry half a barge into the house – it wouldn’t make him happy. Nothing Grace found in the river could bring back his son, or fix his sore leg and make him a sailor again.
    Grace picked at the mud drying on her knees and ankles. She should have let Joe Bean take the hammer – what difference did it make? When it was time for her to get back in the mud tomorrow she knew she would have to face Joe Bean and he would be very angry. She wouldn’t have the hammer and she wouldn’t have any money for him either. And the other boys from the gang were sure to be with him this time.
    Grace sighed. She tore off a strip from the hem of her dress and, using it as a rag, she cleaned the dirt from her wound. She tied the rag tightly around her foot to make a bandage.
    â€˜There now,’ she said. ‘Let’s go to Fleet Street and see the horses.’ Just thinking about horses helped Grace forget her troubles.



Here’s a sneak peek at Meet Letty
    T HE coachman dumped the old chest in the street. Letty’s heart felt as if it was being jolted around too. The chest held all her sister’s things, and so many dreams. It was going to Australia.
    Letty’s sister Lavinia hopped down from the coach in a swirl of skirts. She had read in the newspapers that there weren’t enough young women in Australia. She often told Letty that she didn’t like their small, mouldy house, where she was always tripping over little brothers and sisters. So Lavinia had made up her mind to leave, and Letty and Papa had come to Gravesend to say goodbye.
    â€˜After today, I won’t be costing you another penny,’ Lavinia said. ‘I’m going where I’ll be wanted. And appreciated.’
    â€˜ I want you,’ said Letty. Letty could not imagine life without her sister. Lavinia was like a pink flower in their grey town. She took up lots of room in their family, with her wide, swishing dresses and definite opinions. She was Letty’s older sister, the one who had bossed her around and brought her up in the years after their mother died. Their baby stepbrother, Charlie, and their little sisters, Fanny and Florence, were adorable, but they weren’t the same.
    Now Lavinia ignored her. Letty hurt inside. Lavinia meant so much to Letty, but Letty was not enough to keep her here.
    Papa and the girls lifted the chest by its brass handles. They struggled in a lopsided triangle across the dock and into the Customs House.
    â€˜That’s it?’ said the Customs Officer, looking in the chest.
    Papa pretended not to hear. Letty knew he was still angry with Lavinia for spending all her money on what was in it.
    â€˜Yes!’ snapped Lavinia.
    The chest held a few pieces of good linen, and a new outfit, bought with the emigration payment from the government. The chest wasn’t exactly full, but Letty and Lavinia were very proud of it. It was a hope chest – where a girl stored things for when she would be married and have a home of her own.
    â€˜Here’s your tin, then.’ The Customs man pushed a metal plate, cup and spoons towards Lavinia. ‘Here’s your blanket and your pillow. And here’s a bag to keep them in. Your ship’s leaving with the tide.’ He pointed to the forest of masts out the window.
    Papa, Lavinia and Letty lumped the chest along the docks. A wooden ship loomed over the nearest jetty. Letty thought it was as long