The Chimney Sweep's Ransom: John Wesley by Dave and Neta Jackson

Stand alone novel

Summary: 

Ned Carter, an eighteenth-century boy of thirteen, has been working in the dangerous coal mines in northern England since he was five. He desperately wants to save his little brother Pip from the same fate. Like so many poor English families of the day, even the young children of the Carter family must earn money to pay the bills. Now Pip is turning five and Ned must find a way to prevent his parents from sending Pip into the coal mines.

But when Ned has an accident, Pip’s fate seems sealed—without Ned’s income, his father is sure to act. But instead of the mines, little Pip is "sold" to be trained as a chimney sweep. Before Ned can intervene, Pip has vanished—forever!

Despite his injury, Ned determines he must find Pip and try to buy him back. But where has Pip been taken and how can Ned ever earn the ransom money without his father knowing it? What might the preacher, John Wesley, do on Pip’s behalf?

Was no one there to care or to help?

Opening Lines: 

Ned Carter slapped the reins against the rumps of the mules he was driving and hunched his shoulders against the chilly drizzle. "Yup! Yup!" he yelled. "You mules gonna stand in the mud all day? Move! Move!" 

The coal wagon groaned as it lurched forward again. September had arrived in northern England, and it had been drizzling for a week. The dirt road leading from the coal mines on the outskirts of Newcastle down to the docks on the Tyne River had become a sea of mud.