Inside the Shadow City Read Free

intrigued, for the margins were crammed with the markings of numerous pens and pencils. Even the illustrations—fanciful sketches of river pirates, dance halls, and roving bands of teenage delinquents— had not escaped comment.
    But it wasn’t until I came across a short passage with the heading “The Shadow City” that my heart began to beat wildly.
    Police raids are common in the more colorful parts of town, and gentlemen explorers may be mistaken for common criminals. However, if in the midst of your adventures, you find yourself in a bit of a spot, do not despair. Simply ask the way to the Shadow City. Almost every palace of ill reputeon the isle of Manhattan will have an entrance to the city, a network of tunnels that can serve as a handy escape route when things get hairy. And if you are not disturbed by the thought of the countless criminals who make it their home, the Shadow City also offers an excellent means of getting about when the weather aboveground is unpleasant.
    Be forewarned. The tunnels of the Shadow City are uncharted territory, and anyone willing to give you directions is likely to lead you astray. Many have wandered for days without finding a suitable exit to the world above. Others have never escaped.
    By the time I lifted my eyes from the page, I knew one thing for certain. I had discovered the Shadow City.And if it were even half as vast as
Glimpses of Gotham
suggested, then I had seen only one small section of the tunnels that lay deep beneath New York. A hidden world of thieves, murderers, and pirates was about to be explored for the first time in a hundred years—not by scientists or engineers, but by
me
.
    â€¢ • •
    When I woke the next morning, the hole had been filled in, and the little park looked as if it had been rearranged in the middle of the night by an insomniac housekeeper. Washington Irving greeted a different side of the street, new shrubs had been planted, and the pagoda trees were missing. But otherwise, there was little to suggest that the park had been consumed by a sinkhole a mere twenty-four hours earlier. My only entrance to the Shadow City was gone for good.
    I purchased copies of every New York newspaper, expecting to find a story about the little room, and perhaps even a brief mention of the mysterious girl who had escaped from police custody.
    Mixed in with dreary stock market reports and coverage of city council meetings, I found:
    1. A fascinating account of a three-foot-tall monkey man with steel claws who was terrorizing India
    2. A tenderhearted story about a Brooklyn family’s tearful reunion with a kitten that had fallen down a sewer drain
    3. An investigative journalist’s report on secret shipments of grade “E” (for edible) horse meat that were routinely delivered to school cafeterias around Queens
    But there was no mention of the hole that had swallowed an entire park. And although I was disappointed that I hadn’t been immortalized in print, I knew that it meant that the Shadow City was safe. Only the little room had been exposed, and while it might long live in the lore of New York’s construction workers, it wasn’t enough to interest the
New York Times.
The creature and I were still the only two who knew that the tunnels existed.
    I can imagine what you’re thinking. What could a twelve-year-old girl do with such information? While I should warn you against underestimating the abilities of twelve-year-old girls, I’ll admit that I can’t say for sure what might have happened if I hadn’t met the person the world would come to know as Kiki Strike.
HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BEING A GIRL
    In the six years since this story took place, I’ve had the good fortune to enjoy (and survive) countless adventures. Each time I acquired a new skill, I recorded step-by-step instructions in one of my secret diaries. Until now, those diaries have sat undisturbed on my bedroom shelves, cleverly