Outside the wind is howling. Inside the empty house Taddy is shivering beneath a ragged blanket. He has been alone ever since his aunt and uncle died suddenly from a terrible fever. As his uncle was taking his final breath, he warned of danger in nearby Alexandria. Now Taddy is hiding, afraid of the unknown.

 

When two rough-sounding men sneak in to steal the furniture, they force Taddy into their horse-drawn cart. The next thing he knows, he’s in a tavern in Alexandria, working long hours for crumbs. He wants to run away, but he has nowhere to go—and something frightening waits for him out in the city.

 

Winner of the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award, Barbara Brooks Wallace crafts a suspenseful story of a youngster searching for a new life while battling his own fear.