Eel has troubles of his own: As an orphan and a mudlark, he spends his days in the filthy River Thames, searching for bits of things to sell. He's being hunted by Fisheye Bill Tyler, and a nastier man never walked the streets of London. And he's got a secret that costs him four p...recious shillings a week to keep safe. But even for Eel, things aren't so bad until that fateful August day in 1854--the day the Great Trouble begins. Mr. Griggs, the tailor, is the first to get sick. Soon it's clear that the deadly cholera--the blue death --has come to Broad Street. Everyone believes that cholera is spread through poisonous air. But one man, Dr. John Snow, has a different theory. As the epidemic surges, it's up to Eel and his best friend Florrie to gather evidence to prove Dr. Snow's theory--that cholera is spread through water --before the entire neighborhood is wiped out.
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