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    Never According to Plan
    Never According to Plan
    Never According to Plan
    Ebook49 pages43 minutes

    Never According to Plan

    By George Berger

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    About this ebook

    After a criminal job gone horribly wrong, a handsome but disreputable scoundrel takes his latest victim under his wings and introduces her to the questionable world of life on the road. Though she's a ready study, his relationship with the student-a rather temperamental young lady-is delicate and complicated. When his foolishness embroils them both in a conspiracy that could see them framed for a crime they didn't commit, it's up to her to save them...

    A slightly dark early Victorian adventure in 11,000 words, Never According to Plan is the eagerly-awaited sequel to Well Met By Gaslight, and presents a dramatic comedy of errors sure to delight and thrill young and old alike.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGeorge Berger
    Release dateJul 7, 2011
    ISBN9781465709578
    Never According to Plan
    Author

    George Berger

    George Berger has written for Sounds, Melody Maker and Amnesty International amongst others. His previous book was a biography of the Levellers: State Education/No University.

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      Book preview

      Never According to Plan - George Berger

      Never According to Plan

      A Hortence and Zedock Adventure

      by the author of Well Met by Gaslight, &c.

      Copyright ｩ 2011 George Berger

      ISBN 978-1-4657-0957-8 (ePub ed.)

      Electronically published by Smashwords

      Visit the author's website at www.mendacities.net

      First Edition

      Thursday was the first terrifying day in her new and unexpected life, and Hortence was not enjoying it as much as she'd hoped. Breakfast at the hotel had been pleasant enough, in its own way; what the food might have lacked in quantity or quality was more than made up for by not having to eat it alone in her room, so she'd enjoyed that part at least, on the whole.

      Her introduction at Zedock's side, later that morning, to the mysterious and shady world of pawnbrokers had proved an unexpectedly eye-opening adventure, it was true. As if by magic, some of her belongings—cast-offs and hand-me-downs whose shabbiness and outdatedness had never ceased to anger her—were transformed and transmuted into hard cash; an objectively modest amount, perhaps, but more than she had hitherto ever been able to call her own.

      The train ride, as well, had been an interesting experience, taking her with speed and grace in a few quick minutes further from the place she'd called home for the better part of two decades than she'd even ventured before. It was all so very alien to her that she would have been hopelessly lost without the patient guidance of Zedock, who navigated this strange and exciting world with a practiced nonchalance, and whose vital assistance frequently caused her to forget, if only momentarily, just how frightfully much she hated him.

      That trifling matter aside, she had—at his advice—forgone luncheon, tempted no small bit by promises of a grand tea service at their destination, and a rather grander dinner to follow.

      They had just alighted from their hired hansom cab and entered the lobby of the Deepwell Hotel–famed far and wide, or so Zedock claimed, for their broiled trout—when a piercing and irritating voice was suddenly directed their way.

      So, Mister Hutcheons, it said, I see you've come crawling back just as abruptly as you departed, then.

      Hello, Hannah, Zedock said without looking, you seem to be in fine form, as always.

      Hortence turned to examine the speaker, and found her to be a short brunette in her late teens, bedecked in a fine ivory dress, and whose face, still round with the plumpness of youth, was adorned with conspicuously unsubtle traces of cosmetics.

      Still pretending to be a gentleman, the woman said. Are you going to introduce me to your companion, or did you neglect to ask her name? It's good to see you interested in someone rather less exotic than your usual Irish redheads, I must admit.

      Goodness! Hortence exclaimed, turning to Zedock before he could reply. You never told me they had a menagerie here! And a trained sea-cow, even. This is truly splendid!

      Stung by these barbed comments, Hannah flushed red beneath her makeup and sputtered indignantly, unable to speak.

      I must say, though, Hortence said, with a sly look at the other girl, "I'd never realized sea-cows were quite so rotund as this. Is it pregnant, do you think, or merely obese?"

      Letting forth a tortured, overly-theatrical wail, Hannah burst noisily into tears and stormed from the lobby.

      In fine form indeed, Zedock muttered as she departed. You don't suppose you were mayhap a tad unkind, do you? he added, looking at Hortence.

      I'm not apologizing, his companion said after a

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