Microsoft Word - BETROTHED.docx by Noah Read Free Book Online Page A

there, off to the side, set apart from these two, was another large circular structure—although this one looked different from the others, classier.
    "Come see the new Will Shakespeare play in the new Globe Theatre!" yelled out a passing boy, holding a stack of pamphlets. He walked right up to Caitlin, and shoved a pamphlet into her hands.
    She looked down and it read: “the new play by William Shakespeare: The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet.”
    "Will you come, Miss?" the boy asked. "It's his new play, and it's going to be performed for the first time in this brand-new theater: the Globe.”
    Caitlin looked down at the pamphlet, feeling a rush of excitement. Could this be real? Was this really happening?
    “Where is it?" she asked.
    The boy chuckled. He turned and pointed. "Why, it's right over there, Miss.” Caitlin looked to where he was pointing, and saw a circular structure in the distance, with white stucco walls and a Tudor wooden trim. The Globe. Shakespeare's Globe. It was incredible. She was really here.
    In front of it, thousands of people were milling about, entering from all directions. And the crowd looked just as rough as the crowd entering the bullbaiting and bearbaiting. That surprised her.
    She had always imagined Shakespeare theatergoers to be more civilized, more sophisticated. She had never really considered that it was entertainment for the masses—and the crudest type of masses at that. It seemed to be right up there with bearbaiting.
    Yes, she would love to see a new Shakespeare play, love to go to the Globe. But she felt determined to fulfill her mission first, to solve the riddle.

    A new roar arose from the bearbaiting stadium, and she turned and focused her attention back on it. She wondered if the answer to the riddle lay just beyond its walls.
    She turned to Caleb.
    "What do you think?" she asked. “Should we see what it's about?” Caleb looked hesitant.
    “The riddle did mention a bridge,” he said, “and a bear. But my senses are telling me something else. I'm not quite sure—”
    Suddenly, Ruth growled, then took off, sprinting away.
    "Ruth!" Caitlin yelled.
    She was gone. She didn't even turn back to listen, and she sprinted for all she was worth.
    Caitlin was shocked. She had never see her behave that way, even in times of utmost danger.
    What could possibly pull her so much? She had never known Ruth not to listen.
    Caitlin and Caleb broke into a sprint after her at the same time.
    But even with their vampire speed, it was slow going through the mud, and Ruth was way faster than them. They watched her turn and weave through the masses, and they had to jostle their way to keep sight of her. Caitlin could see, in the distance, Ruth turn a corner, and sprinted down a narrow alleyway. She picked up speed, as did Caleb, pushing a big man out of her way as she did, and turned down the alleyway, after her.
    What on earth could she be after? Caitlin wondered. She wondered if it were a stray dog, or if perhaps she had just reached a tipping point with hunger, and was chasing after a meal. She was a wolf, after all. Caitlin had to remind herself of that. She should have searched harder for food for her, and sooner.
    But when Caitlin turned the corner and looked down the alley, she suddenly realized, with a shock, what it was.

    There, at the far end of the alley, sat a young girl, maybe eight, in the dirt, cowering, crying, shaking. Towering above her was a large, beefy man, no shirt, his huge belly sticking out, unshaven, his chest and shoulders covered in hair. He wore an angry scowl, revealing his missing teeth, and he reached back with a leather belt and whipped the poor girl in her back, again and again.
    "That's what you get for not listening!" the man screamed in a vicious tone, as he raised his belt again.
    Caitlin was mortified, and without even thinking, she prepared to burst into action.
    But Ruth beat her to it. Ruth had a head start, and as the man reached back his arm, Ruth