1 – The Mark
There it was, the mark, the target of their quest. It sat kitty-corner from where Mickey and Angelo stood on the sun-drenched intersection of Broadway and Ann Street. Barnum’s American Museum!
Mickey tugged his cabby hat down low on his head so the only bit of red hair that showed was on the back of his neck. He carefully cased the five-story brick building and surveyed the throng of people lined up to buy tickets.
“How’re we gonna get in?” asked Angelo. His face was etched with the worried expression he always wore when he went on one of Mickey’s adventures. “I don’t see no fire escapes from here. Maybe ‘round back, ya think?”
Mickey turned and looked at Angelo through narrowed eyes. “Ya think?”
Angelo hesitated. “Uh... Yeah... I think.”
Mickey’s freckled face broke into a wide grin. His eyes sparkled with mischief. “What’s the fun in that, boy-o? Today, we’re goin’ in the front way.”
“You gonna pay to get us in? Huh? You got four bits? ‘Cuz I sure as heck don’t have two.”
“Who said anything about paying?” Mickey hitched up his pants and stepped into the street, making a beeline across the busy intersection to Barnum’s. “C’mon. Just follow my lead.”
– End Chapter One –
