Prologue

Tom is only seven years old when he loses his parents in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911. Taken to Mrs. O’Connor’s Home for Orphaned Children, he withstands miserable treatment for five years, until one day, Tom decides he’s not putting up with it any more. He escapes the prison-like orphanage, determined to be independent and support himself. But he soon discovers that making a living for yourself on the streets without a job is harder than it looks. After run-ins with wild dogs, police officers, and bullying street urchins, Tom has almost convinced himself to go back to the orphanage. But when a kindly gypsy by the name of Theodora opens her home and heart to him, Tom finds himself swept up in a world he never knew existed – a world of laughter and love and excitement. Follow him as he discovers the friendship he longed for and learns that sometimes, you can find family in the most unlikely of places.