Unsinkable Read Online Free Page A

thugs on Daniel.
“We don’t need him,” Paddy promised. “I’ll take you to your money.”
Gilhooley’s face darkened, and his bushy eyebrows came together to form a single black line. “I was wrong. You’re nothing like I used to be. I would have sold out my friend in a heartbeat to save my own skin.” In an almost businesslike manner, he removed a brass knuckle-duster from his pocket and slipped it over his right hand. “Take a good look in the pier glass, boy, because you won’t recognize yourself when I get through with you.”
If Paddy had been the kind to give in to bullies, he would have stayed in the village with his stepfather. But how was he to get away from Gilhooley? The gangster was blocking the doorway.
The man took a menacing step forward.
Paddy jumped up and grabbed the stool he’d been sitting on, brandishing it like a shield.
Gilhooley laughed a cruel laugh. “You’ll have to do better than that, boy.”
In a split-second decision, Paddy reared back and hurled the stool, not at Gilhooley, but at the shop’s front window. The glass shattered into a million pieces, raining down on the pavement outside. Paddy was through that window while the shards were still falling. And once his feet made contact with the cobblestones, he was gone.
He darted around corners, down lanes, and through back gardens, employing all the escape skills he had refined over the past year in order to stay alive. He made at least a dozen turns before even considering starting for home. Daniel had to be warned that they were being hunted by the worst gangsters in Belfast.
He scrambled up the wall to the fire stairs, then squeezed inside the loose board.
A stage whisper: “Daniel!” No answer. The abandoned print shop was empty. Daniel had probably gone out in search of food.
Further investigation revealed another detail. All of Daniel’s Titanic sketches were gone. The surge of excitement almost erased Paddy’s fear of the Gilhooleys. Daniel must have taken them to Mr. Andrews! He had solved the puzzle of how to sink the Titanic!
But that also meant he was out in the city with no idea that he might be in danger.
Paddy climbed back down to the lane and started at a run for Queen’s Island. The streets were crowded, but most people gave him a wide berth. A ragged street boy on the run usually had someone’s purse in his possession.
Just outside the entrance to the shipyard, he spied Daniel’s slender figure marching along purposefully, the papers rolled up in his hands. Paddy raced to pull alongside him.
“Daniel! Daniel, thank the Lord I’ve found you!”
Daniel was glowing. “Come with me to see Mr. Andrews! I have the answer!”
“Daniel, listen to me!” Paddy exclaimed. “The twelve pounds in the money clip! We robbed Kevin Gilhooley! That’s James Gilhooley’s brother!”
“How do you know?” Daniel hissed. “You tried to spend one of the notes, didn’t you?”
“Never mind that now!” Paddy pleaded. “They want to use us to show all of Belfast what happens to people who cheat the Gilhooleys!”
Daniel looked thoughtful. “Maybe Mr. Andrews can help us.”
“How? He’s a shipbuilder, not a copper! And anyway, half the police are on Gilhooley’s payroll!”
“He’s an important man,” Daniel insisted. “If nothing else, we can ask his advice.” He turned to the guard at the shipyard gate. “My name is Daniel Sullivan. Mr. Thomas Andrews is expecting me and my friend.”
The man checked his list, then regarded Daniel suspiciously. “You’re Daniel Sullivan? Can you prove it?”
“He knows something important about the Titanic,” Paddy chimed in. “He’s brought sketches to show Mr. Andrews.”
The man looked doubtful. “Well, all right,” he said finally. “Mr. Andrews is aboard the ship right now, supervising the loading of stores. She’s just back from sea trials, and a right lovely job she made of it, too.” He smiled. “You can’t miss her. She’s the big one with the four