Chapter 46 A Cold Lesson

• Lyra ran as fast and as far as her tiny legs could carry her from the sprawling rear gardens, no longer caring in the slightest if anyone was chasing after her.
• But her frantic flight was abruptly brought to a screeching halt when a vicious pack of local street children—the very same brats who routinely tormented her—deliberately blocked her path. They cornered Lyra just a few dozen paces from the towering iron gates of her own home.
• “Hey, look who’s here. The little bastard child!” one of them sneered cruelly.