Free Tiger Thief by Michaela Clarke Page B

scrawny children clustered around him. They were on a stone ledge thatjutted out into a narrow channel filled with slow-moving sludge. A fire burned behind them, lighting the space, and the nasty smell he’d caught a whiff of earlier was almost overpowering. Just then a pair of rats scampered past and plopped into the fetid waste below. With a shudder he realised that they were in the sewers.
    He turned to face the children. Some of them were so tiny that they were almost babies. He examined their grimy faces in the firelight.
    “You’re all girls,” he said in surprise. “What are you doing down
here
?”
    “We live here,” said a little girl with a cleft lip.
    Sharat looked at her in disbelief. “But why?” he asked.
    “We were dumped,” hissed a voice from the back.
    “Nobody wants girls like us,” another voice cut in.
    “We know you think it’s disgusting, but it’s better than putting up with some of the things that go on up there,” said the dark girl defensively. “Cooler too, in the summer.”
    “Rajani, shut your mouth!” It was the girl with the sharp voice. She pushed angrily through the crowd, elbowing the other girls to one side. “I told you not to tell him anything!”
    She stopped in front of Sharat with a nasty smile on her face.
    “I got you in the end,” she sneered.
    Sharat felt the shock of recognition. It was the one-eyed beggar girl from the palace gates; the one who had tried to take his gold.
    She grabbed his bundle and emptied his possessions on to the ground. With a hiss of triumph she picked up the bag of gold and felt its weight in her dirty hands.
    “Here we are,” she said. “At last!”
    “Hey!” Sharat jerked forward. “That’s mine! Give it back!” He felt the rope digging into his arms as the girls behind him tightened their grip.
    Nara sneered. “You won’t be needing gold where you’re going,” she said.
    “Don’t forget you’re sharing that with us, Nara,” said Rajani, stepping forward.
    “You’ll get your share, don’t you worry,” Nara told her. “Once we’ve disposed of the boy.”
    Sharat began to feel uneasy. He hadn’t been scared of the other girls, but this one was vicious. He could feel the force of her hatred glaring out of her good eye.
    “Let me go,” he demanded. “I’ve got to find my tiger.”
    “Tiger?” A murmur of interest filled the space.
    “She’s a white tiger,” Sharat explained. “She was stolen when we performed for the Emperor. That’s where I got all that gold.”
    Rajani’s eyes lit up. “I’ve heard stories about white tigers,” she said. “Stories about jinnis.”
    “Shut up!” snapped Nara, shoving Rajani out of the way.
    She turned to Sharat. “Never mind your tiger,” she told him. “You’re here with us now, and we’re leaving you for the
ghuls
.”
    There was a stirring among the girls.
    Sharat had never even heard the word before but it made his skin crawl. He glared at Nara. “What’s a ghul?”
    Nara was about to answer when one of the smaller girls took a step forward. A birthmark stained her pretty face.
    “You can’t leave him for the ghuls,” she protested. “He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
    Nara’s face twisted with anger. “Shut up, Lalita. Do you want them to get
you
instead?” she hissed.
    There was a murmur of fear among the others, but the little girl held her ground.
    “The ghuls never took anyone when Aya was here,” she said stubbornly.
    “Forget about Aya,” spat Nara. “She abandoned you, just like your mother did.”
    A shadow of pain crossed Lalita’s face. She dropped her eyes.
    Something nagged at the back of Sharat’s mind.
Aya
. He’d heard that name before. All at once he remembered the little girl by the river, the one who had taken him to see Uma.
    “I know Aya!” he exclaimed.
    There was a buzz of chatter. Lalita’s eyes lit up. “Where is she?”
    “I saw her by the river,” said Sharat, stepping forward eagerly.
    “He’s