My Grandfather Jack The Ripper E-Book

Claudio Apone

• Herausgeber: Claudio Apone
• Kategorie: Krimi
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

13-year-old Andy lives in a seedy boarding house in London that has been run by the family for generations - in fact since Jack the Ripper, who murdered his last victim in Room 4. Andy befriends Massimo who is looking for new clues to Jack the Ripper's unsolved crimes, and he becomes involved in an astonishing and bloodcurdling adventure!---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------My Grandfather Jack the Ripper by Claudio Apone will have you full of suspense. A gifted child in present day London named Andy discovers that one of the Jack the Ripper cases happened in a room of the boardinghouse he lives in. Using his powers to tell the past, Andy, an Italian “researcher” named Massimo, and Andy’s best friend Lucy team up to figure out who is the real Jack the Ripper. With Massimo’s help, Andy travels back into the past and finds out who is the unknown murderer. I thought this book was great and it would be perfect for people ages 15 and older.

Leseprobe

CLAUDIO APONE

MY GRANDFATHER JACK THE RIPPER

UUID: 18b81c4c-c7cd-11e4-ba6c-1ba58673771c

This ebook was created with BackTypo (http://backtypo.com)by Simplicissimus Book Farm

Table of contents

185

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

XVI

XVII

XVIII

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XXI

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XXIV

My Grandfather, Jack the Ripper

Claudio Apone

© 2000 Claudio Apone

All rights reserved

I

“Do you want to bet I can’t guess what you have in your backpack for lunch?” says Andy Dobson, puffing out his chest with a smile and an air of challenge.

At that very moment, the school bell starts clanging, calling to order the children who are waiting in the entrance hall, none of whom is in any hurry to go in.

"Let’s go in now, and I’ll guess afterwards.”

Taking Lucy Catlett, his lifelong friend, by the hand, Andy runs toward their classroom. Though he had just turned thirteen years old, it seems to Andy that he has known Lucy forever. He is truly fond of her and would do anything for her.

This unlikely pair is living proof of the theory that opposites attract. They are so different from one another: She is scrupulous, meticulous and extremely rational for her age. He is a loafer, a dreamer, untidy and always ready to make fun of everything.

In spite of all this, the two are practically inseparable. Even so, their tender friendship often turns into a battle of wills every time one of them wants to convince the other of his way of thinking.

It should be pointed out, however, that Lucy usually comes out on top, with that little accusing finger of hers forever pointed like some implacable judge from the Spanish Inquisition.

London is already cold and damp in October.

A dense, insidious fog envelopes everything, giving it a surreal look. Even sounds change! Everything's a bit more muffled, deadened and … unsettling—because out of the fog something scary might suddenly emerge, something you would never have wanted to see in your whole life.

While Lucy is taking off her overcoat and her long scarf, Andy takes her backpack and, gauging its weight, says in the solemn tone of a TV announcer: “Today…chocolate cake, buttered toast and two fine apples…all wrapped up in a Harrod’s shopping bag!”

"Don’t pull that one on me! You’ve done it heaps of times already. Even so, I still don’t know how you manage it,” says Lucy.

Taking the Harrod’s bag from her pink backpack, she empties the contents onto her desk. Two lovely red apples roll out on the table, followed by a large slice of chocolate cake and two, cellophane-wrapped slices of buttered toast.

Andy’s happy laughter echoes around the classroom.

II

Andy had been aware of this gift of his ever since he was a toddler. Every time he held something in his tiny hands, something would immediately and effortlessly take shape inside his head—names, images. He was able to guess a whole lot of things, for example, the history of the object and the person it belonged to. Andy had never taken these gifts too seriously; mostly he had used them to amaze his friends.

He doesn’t care to talk about it much for fear of being thought “different.” Only Lucy and Andy’s Grandfather Bob know the whole story and, of course, his Mum. She, however, never pays much attention to Andy and his gifts; she is far too busy running the little East End boardinghouse owned by the Dobsons.

The East End is one of the lowliest and poorest areas of London. Here the kids have to play football in the streets because they have nowhere else to go. Their parents are too busy trying to make ends meet to look after their children much.

The Jack-in-the-Box is a small dilapidated guest house located at No. 23 Batty Street not far from Whitechapel Road, right in the heart of the East End.

Through all its years, God only knows how many poor devils have slept, for a few pence, on tattered mattresses in those damp, shabbily-furnished rooms.

Who knows how many weary, resigned legs have mounted those creaking wooden stairs in search of a bed on which to get some rest before facing another day filled with hardship.

Ah, yes! the Jack-in-the-Box may be a very poor quality guest house, but it is chock-full of history. Nearly 150 years ago it was built by Andy’s great-great-Grandfather, Alistair Dobson; and from that day in 1835 when it opened, the Dobsons have been running it as best they can.